May 16th, 2007.

At the Rainbow Planet Coffee House in Tucson, we saw a little bit of Portland. Here is a very cozy, homey place with organic food and kick-ass mochas (as gleefully sampled by Ji). Other hints of Portland infused the evening. The barista, Ash, (yet one more excellent sandwich-maker we've encountered on our travels) used to live in N.E. Portland, very close to our neighborhood, too. And sitting by the door, these two shining and outgoing women, Mary and Jamie, are thinking about moving to Portland. Mary happened to save me from a desperate situation by getting me a tampon from her Jeep. I can't believe I forgot mine back at the hotel room, but in a way, I'm glad I had to walk up to these two girls before the show and beg their assistance and acquaintance. It turns our that Jamie has been drumming for 13 years. She really seemed to enjoy Ji's creativity on such a limited kit, and also offered to supply him with any drums he might need should we come back through Tucson. This is definitely the kind of town where you say hello to people you walk by in the street. I didn't realize how much I missed that aspect of Portland until we arrived here. Thanks Tucson.

As we left Tucson and drove the spectacular road to San Diego we encountered lightning storms, sand dunes and dust devils! Here are some pics that Ji took of our sunset...keep in mind he just pointed and clicked--this is how the pictures came out of their own accord...