Awww, travel buddies! It was magical that I got to bring these two people together! Thanks for making my Wilhelm Reich Roadtrip dream come true, you two!
she unlocks the classroom and i go over to he car to change into pants. it was 90 degrees in portsmouth where we picked katie up, it's now 58 degrees and misting rain. she comes running out of the classroom, back over to her car and drives up to the chain to unlock the roadway up to the mountain top on which the rest of the building of the wilhelm reich trust overlook the lake below.
john hands me his giant ring of keys and i'm excited that i get to drive. i'm a little sore from driving the previous day, but the museum is only 10 minutes away. i try to leave the motel by way of a parking lot with no exit. i make one of the many u-turns that we've made on the trip due to not knowing where we're going and phone, map, gps problems. it is both funny and frustrating at the same time. but mostly funny.
ten minutes before noon, when we're supposed to check out, we finally get up to get
our stuff packed. we may not be adults who have all other aspects of our life
sorted out, but we are well-versed in the ways of quick-packing and
light-footed gypsy travel. the room is empty in minutes and the volvo is
loaded up. john cracks a second beer and packs a little marijuana
pipe while sitting in the front passenger seat with the door open.
an older local couple of mainers strolls past looking at us with poker-faced curiosity. i wonder if she can smell john's mary jane and wonder if what she thinks of it if she can. she catches me watching her and i give her a big genuine smile. she has won me over with her new england poker face. she sees my smile is genuine and smiles back. i see her husband notice my smile peripherally but he doesn't turn his eyes or head to investigate further. not out of unfriendliness, more of a no-nonsense hurry to get to the motel office to get some kind of thing squared away.
When I moved to New York in 1999, John was the first person I knew who'd converted a industrial space into a multi-person loft. He gave me all sorts of advice when we built out our loft space in Greenpoint in 2000! He'd since moved into a newer, bigger space and was in the process of building it out.
I also found 5 huge boxes of my stuff from college that hadn't been opened since May of 1998 when I deposited them in my parent's basement. Amongst some of the treasures I discovered was a photocopy of the original "TODAY WE LEARNED TO KILL. ME AND BILLY KILLED ALL DAY" drawing John Roche made in 1994!
Wanting to make sure we avoided a second round of trouble, Doug and John worked to befriend the bouncer! I had to get up early the next morning, so I ended up calling it a night around 3:30. Doug, Inka and one of the twins ended up going out to John's place in Brooklyn and pulled an all nighter! Great seeing you guys! Miss you all so much!
Despite our karaoke set back, it was only 2am so the night was still young! We decided to head downtown and check out Orchard Bar. We relaxed and had another drink...
Just in case the photos haven't tipped you off, we were pretty drunk by this point in the night. Right around this point, John put in a song, but they guy that was queuing up the songs accidentally played a different song that the same name twice in a row...and John, one of the nicest guys I know, totally got drunk and shitty with him...
John Roche and Mike Doyle (who was in town visiting from San Francisco). PS - What's with the "hip hop hands" again? I guess I was feeling big pimpin' back then.
John Roche (who I went to Keystone Jr. College with back in '95!!!) even showed up with a friend. Although once we got a look at how crowded it was inside he was like "Uh, happy birthday dude. Maybe we can hang out some other time?"
