Tomorrow, early but not yet bright, I am taking my wheels on the road to Portland, Oregon. It will be the longest drive I have ever done by myself and I am getting excited. I have looked up the weather and it is in the 80's-90's everyday! The Pacific North West!! I am going up in time to catch the farmer's markets, on purpose. I will be staying with family who love to cook eclectic meals, take naps, and go on spontaneous adventures.
Yesterday, to join the modern age, I bought an iPod. I have been a rare San Francisco specimen: human in 30's without tell-tale cords streaming into pockets and ears. Truth is I don't much like walking around oblivious. My 
society tends to take advantage of such blatant disregard for danger. But I bought it as a gift for my car, and the long drive ahead. A costly check-up at the dealership last week makes me feel safer stepping on the gas and moving the gear shift around from one state to the other. So off I go!
music I'll be happy to have in my little silver and white contraption: LL Cool J, Rachel's, Rose Polenzani, Afrika Bombaata, Sleater Kinney, Team Dresch, James Brown (the stuff from the '60's), The Cure, Echo and the Bunneymen, Eric B & Rakim, Cat Power, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Sundays, Portishead, Black Eyed Peas, Rob Base, Sinead O'Conner, Beastie Boys, Arvo Part and others.
Safe journeys, Shuna! Portland is fabulous food, esp. the farmer's market on Saturday (and for general browsing or great food court eats, Saturday Market). I love it dearly and remember my driving ROAD TRIP up that way with great fondness. No iPod, just me singing at the top of my lungs.
There's even some good food in between ... in some unlikely places.
Posted by: Charlotte | 22 August 2005 at 12:56 AM
omg, eric & rakim. a high school blast from the past. isn't it amazing to be able to carry your entire music collection in the palm of your hand? anyway, have a safe trip. i hear good things about a bakery in portland called criollo. maybe you could pay a visit, and share what you've found? hehe.
Posted by: dexygus | 22 August 2005 at 04:59 AM
Until the 1970's the Southern Pacific operated two passengers trains between Oakland and Portland: the Cascade and the Shasta Daylight. The selling point for the Shasta was that (as you might suspect) it was scheduled to pass Mount Shasta during daylight hours. Then declining revenue made them decide to pull one train off; guess which they picked. And when Amtrak took over the route the kept the Cascade schedule, which passes Shasta around 2 am. It's still a great route but the track is so badly maintained that you watch ancient VW buses easily overtake your train as you sway from side to side.
So driving makes a lot of sense, and try to time your travel so you'll get a good look at Shasta going or coming, if not both.
Posted by: john | 22 August 2005 at 02:23 PM
Have a wonderful time, be safe, eat well and get rested.
BTW, I love that you have such a broad taste in music. It's very indicative of your personality, methinks.
Posted by: Fatemeh | 22 August 2005 at 04:26 PM
Yay! Road trip. But where's the Helen Reddy?
Posted by: Dr. Biggles | 22 August 2005 at 05:54 PM
Biggles, it appears that Ms. Helen is not my thang, but keep the suggestions coming; I have always been a music nerd.
Fatemeh, awh shucks, tanx.
Dexygus, thanks for visiting and commenting! It was fun to listen to the old school stuff today, made the driving more silly. Me alone with big cheshire smile, dancing in 5th gear.
John, you offer this site something magnificent, thank you as always.
Posted by: shuna fish lydon | 22 August 2005 at 11:43 PM
While in Portland you MUST check out Pix Patisserie! It is a pastry wonderland. They even have a website. And report back!
Posted by: Amy | 23 August 2005 at 10:12 AM
Just passing through, I'm digging the blog by the way.
Posted by: HumanityCritic | 23 August 2005 at 12:06 PM
AMY-- thank you for the suggestion! I know a bit about this place already but I will report back new findings! Thank you!
I love that y'all are giving me suggestions, keep 'em coming!
Humanity Critic-- thank you for visiting and commenting! I love that you write about music and came to find eggbeater. the blogosphere is large and mysterious. N'est pas?
Posted by: shuna fish lydon | 23 August 2005 at 01:51 PM
Hi Shuna,
I too got an iPod for my long commutes to the Bay Area. The second best investment I made after the iPod was a subscription to Audible.com. Audio books. They've been so much fun I've hardly noticed the hours on the road.
Have a great trip!
Posted by: Elise | 23 August 2005 at 10:36 PM
I second the Pix Patisserie recommendation! Also, I loved stopping in at Moonstruck chocolates. Have a great trip.
Posted by: Keli | 24 August 2005 at 07:53 AM
Are we there yet??????
Have a safe trip and I'm looking forward to reading about your latest adventure!
Posted by: Melissa | 24 August 2005 at 02:31 PM
Hi Shuna!
Enjoying a wonderful trip with Michael and Ellen for a few days! I too recently just got an ipod for the long trips mainly for the car and the airplane. Having a wonderful summer making ice-cream for a living. Quite different from selling cameras. I love ice-cream and cameras. Will have to combine it somehow.
Posted by: Colum Lydon | 25 August 2005 at 10:58 AM