Ce qu'il y a d'admirable dans le fantastique, c'est qu'il n'y a plus de fantastique : il n'y a que le réel.
André BRETON


Day 40

am (Hot)

pm (Hot - 95F)

Rides = Bus
Arrival = On the road
KM travelled = ...
$ spent = $3.00
Time passed on the road = 2:45 am - 12 pm

km walked = 0.5



La Californie!


2:45 am
I spent the first leg of the voyage sleeping. Nobody was beside me so I used both seats as my bed. I woke up at seven with the driver announcing: "Welcome to the Beaver State! Yes folks, this is Oregon. We're gonna take a breakfast stop here. Make sure that your back on the Dog at 7:30." We all rushed in and ordered the customary eggs and bacon, ate fast and went to the washroom. The bus left at the scheduled time with all of the passengers. I went back to sleep only to open my eyes long enough to see the landscape around Eugene. It was starting to look different, more desert like. I went back into my land of dreams.

2 pm
I woke up again and finally felt rested. I did not know where we were but I was taken by the fast moving landscape. I put my nose against the tinted window of the bus, the air conditioning was blowing stale air on my face. It looked totally amazing. The hills were burned by the sun and dotted with little green and dusty bushes. I was in the Far West! The guy beside me said: "This is Gold Hill, they have The Gold Dust Day Festival in June, you know. I was there once for that." He smiled and gave me his hand to shake, he introduced himself as Bob. He was dressed like a biker and said that usually he travelled on his bike. I don't remember what he said about taking the bus. He got off in Ashland but before he warned me that to arrive at midnight in San Francisco was not the best possible time. It could be rough.

3:40 pm
We just crossed the border, and are in California!

Midnight in San Francisco.
Damn! Nobody wants the Canadian money, which they call Funny Money. Even if I wanted to buy a bubble gum, I could not. I met Tom a guy from Ottawa, we became instant friends and spent the night exploring the streets of the City. I don't know where we were but it got pretty rowdy. One guy was drinking his port from a baby bottle, one was smoking every cigarette butt on the sidewalk, another guy was walking back in forth in the middle of the street yelling to anyone that came close to him. Many people were crunched over in alcoves and in alleys. There was one person lying down, maybe passed out, in the entrance way of an abandoned store. There was quite a bit of wind and every once in a while, little twisters of trash enveloped him. It was like a dark cloud of sadness had settled over the city. We kept walking until we reached the Port, thinking that it would be nice to see the sunrise. Before we saw the sun, we noticed a lot of shadows, people walking behind train cars, along fences, shadows of people meeting other people. The sun rose slowly around 6:15 am. It was cold and I felt tired.

- Daniel




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