Southern Oregon is a crazy place

Posted on October 06, 2007 @ 6:55 AM

I’m in southern Oregon with the Kink team right now, and all I can say is that southern Oregon has some rugged looking people in it.  We rolled into Ashland this morning and were greeted by several dudes wandering about who I guess I’d best describe as drifters.  They appeared homeless, but homeless by choice – in addition to the ragged clothes, long beards, and funky smells, they also had backpacks equipped with what looked like legitimate camping gear.  At one point, a man emerged from the woods and immediately started skating the park wearing a pair of thick, camouflaged hunting gloves that crept the hell out of me.  For some reason, I just kept picturing him chopping up people with those things on.

We rode the concrete park for a while, and eventually a gentleman appeared from out of the abandoned-looking building across the street and stopped to watch us ride.  He was wearing a dirty white lab coat and sandals, a combination I can’t say I’ve ever seen before.  Socks under the sandals, dirty jeans, and a sketchy beard rounded out his ensemble.  He looked like he had just escaped from a mental institution, first killing one of his doctors in order to use his lab coat as a disguise.  He silently watched the dudes ride for a good 10 minutes before returning to his shed to do god knows what.

From Ashland we made the 5-mile drive to the cement park in Talent, along the way spotting at least 5 permanent, enormous monuments to Dale Earnhardt erected in front of various homes and businesses.  Once at the park, we witnessed a full-grown man chase down and threaten to stab a 14-year-old scooter kid over $2 in a drug-deal-gone-wrong.

We’re sleeping in Grants Pass tonight, hoping the weather holds out to ride the concrete park in the morning.  We stocked up on food at the local grocery store, and the girl at the cash register was named “Kareen,” as in, “Did you see that car careen off the road and into the ditch?”   I wondered if her parents had ever heard the word “careen” before they chose her name, or if they’ve heard it since.  I guess I’ll never know.

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