Friday, January 06, 2012

Serendipity, or (and?): John Hayes has found his musical home in Portland

There we were, rolling down the I-5 toward Portland just before noon today, listening to a radio station  -- 90.7 FM, I believe, or something close to that. I was looking for NPR, and I never did decide whether I had found it. At any rate, they were interviewing a musician and playing a whole lot of bluegrass. I didn't hear the name of the musician or the interviewer, but I did manage to catch the relevant website. Its name, I'm afraid, is www.bubbaguitar.com, and as I listened to the music and the interview, I thought "I must tell John Hayes about this!"

It seems there's going to be a music festival in Portland next week -- no, not a festival. A Gathering.

We were supposed to be stopping to have coffee with John in Portland, but our timing was off. Friday is a bad day to try to see him -- so I just called him, caught him on the way into some sort of appointment, and gabbled furiously at him for a couple of minutes, trying to tell him about the Gathering. Finally, I just said "I'll tell you later." and let the poor man go. So here, John, is what I was trying to tell you. The Gathering will be held January 14-15 at the Scottish Rite Center on SW Morrison. It sounds like a lot of fun. And -- There Will Be Banjos.

I waved in John's general direction as we drove through the city. We'll be sure to arrive on a Not Friday on the way back!

On our journey today, there were also: a cold and nasty wind; flocks of geese and ducks flying overhead; and a tow truck carrying a burned out tractor whose wheels had essentially melted. Unfortunately, I was driving when the tow truck passed us, so I couldn't take a picture. The tractor looked like something Dali might have imagined.

We arrived at our Destination du Jour -- Sutherlin, Oregon -- at about 4:15 this afternoon, and checked into Hi-Way Haven, where we have stayed several times before. We love this place. The RV park is built on the site of an old drive-in, and Saturday night is movie night -- starting NEXT week, of course. You sit in your RV, tune your radio to a certain station, and watch a big screen film in complete comfort. (Next week's film is The Bourne Identity, so I don't really feel bad about missing it. Not my kind of film, that.) At any rate, film or no film, the park is attractive, clean, and well organized -- and about $10 less expensive than the big gravel parking lot where we slept last night!

When we had settled in, I came online and clicked on Robert Frost's Banjo, John's blog. I was delighted to see that his latest entry was all about the banjo -- Serendipity! So, John -- I hope you can make it to the Gathering and tell me all about it. I'll be in Texas by then, with any luck.

Tomorrow is The Day of the Passes. We'll check the Oregon State Webcams soon, to see whether the roads are bare, in which case we can actually go over the passes, or whether we'll have to brave Highway 1 (the coast road) again.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Speaking of musical serendipity: I just finished a guitar lesson, turned to my computer, & there was this post! Nice talking to you, albeit briefly! I will make a point of checking out the festival--I think I'd heard about it, but had no idea of the timing or anything, so many thanks. Hoping for better timing on your way back!

RLM Cooper said...

I love bluegrass. :)

Mindy said...

Count down is on. Enjoying your journey notes and looking forward to seeing you.

Sandra Leigh said...

AngelMay, I know. I was telling R today how you said that you loved bluegrass because they could sing about the most horrible things and make them sound cheery (or words to that effect). You were so right.

John, I'll see you in a couple of months!

Sandra Leigh said...

Thanks, Mindy -- I just wish I had been there to see that birthday cake!

Linda said...

We stayed across from the FDR Library once and the motel was right next to a drive-in theater. Same as you the movies weren't exactly what we wanted to watch.

Hope the passes are clear for you to cross.

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