After surviving the intrusive “Wind Bandit”, we woke to an incredibly blue sky and all the possibilities of a day before us.
But first, coffee.
Now, we have a rule on tour. It’s a “No Judgement” clause. Meaning that whoever takes the time to find the coffee place, is exempt from the judgement of how good said coffee IS . . . or ISN’T. This coffee fell into the latter category, but I’ll tell you, the homemade cinnamon rolls more than made up for it. And I enjoyed mine, sipped my shitty coffee, and smiled in my judgement-free zone, because it was me who found this gem of a cafe. The ol’ I-5 Cafe, in Corning, CA.
Jared came back from the bathroom grinning like the Cheshire Cat because he’d found this “Cowch” in the lobby. My one regret thus far is that we forgot to get a picture sitting on it.
Although the resolution is blurry, that is also how our eyes felt after the seven-hour drive. Obviously, we’ve done longer drives, but the sun was setting for the last few hours of our trip, and we were all ready for a beer, a bathroom, and some baseball. Our Mariners were playing and we wanted to cheer them on from enemy territory. Spoiler alert: It did not end well for us… but, what a season!!!
Hanging at one of our favorite Pierpont local spot, Duke’s.
While we watched our team slowly crumble, we made several friends. Sports will do that. Everyone was happy to welcome the three, velour-clad fans from the great Pacific Northwest, and cheer on our boys alongside us. Understand, these are true blue Dodger fans. So they were really only cheering with us out of morbid, semi-torturous, curiosity. Honestly, L.A. was just laying in wait for the outcome of last night’s game to see which shade of blue they were going to have to dominate for the series. It was nice to have support, but if we HAD won, our new found friends would have turned stone-cold enemies before the celebration was even over. So, in some ways, we were fortunate to be the less tasty of the chum dropped into the shark tank, and our new friends became sympathetic shoulders to cry on once we’d lost. This one dude, Jon, offered possibly the most bizarre consolation prize; a four-player chess game that he invented… after finding out that NONE of us play chess, he thought that a chess game for four people would be the perfect gift. To be fair, the guy was a total sweetie, but I just found it funny in like a, “Oh, NONE of you play soccer? Well here’s a net, ball, and 4 pairs of cleats to take with you.”, kind of way.
Even Jared face is expressing a, “What am I supposed to do with this?”, vibe.
Our evening closed up parking behind Jared’s old apartment (where JP still lives), where we could shower, use the facilities, and sleep unbothered…a true gift while on the road. Since we’re hitting the studio in the morning, it was just the ticket. RIP Mariners season, 2025. Y’all played amazingly and we were happy to have sat first base line for one of the best games of the season! Tridents up!
