Well, I guess staying in the hotel last night did me good but still, I did not want to pay that much $$$ for sleeping. I really should have run the risk of sleeping in the car but I tell you my nerves are really getting shot. When people ask me how long I am gonna be out for I answer, as long as I am physically and mentally able. The physical part is fine so far. I skate every day regardless of where I am. I may actually be skating less right now. I have to drive everywhere, find the park then pussy foot around while I figure out lines and then wimp out on all the obsticals. Suck
My new goal when I get back to Chi-town is to do the door at Whiting, frontside and backside, and slash the deep in the big bowl as a regular thing. I cannot keep being a cop-out and it just really makes me mad at myself when I drive 3000miles and don’t go over stairs or big openings.
Now I know, I know, I am trying to pace myself and not get injured so I can do the whole trip… Yes, but when I get back things need to be stepped up. I think this trip is just what I needed to make that step. Sometimes you get better and not even notice, other times you work on shit for weeks and weeks and still not progress. Then suddenly, you learn shit and it is like bread.
The parks are gnarly out here and incredible but we have good parks in the Midwest too. Now I know and it puts things into perspective. I do wish we had a real pool to ride in Chicago but I think that I will have to build it… I kinda wanted to do a kidney but they discriminate depending on the way you ride… hmmm
So I got on the road and things felt much better to me. I spent the morning figuring out my next move. I was having the fluttering money trifle again and did some math. From Lincoln City (one of my major destinations) it would be a little under a 1000miles to LA and then 700 to Salt Lake City, where I have to meet Calabro. Now he has been asking me to drive back to Montana to do a Quad trip with him (the original reason for doing this trip).
We were supposed to drive out together do the quad trip and hit parks all the way to Oregon. Well, procrastination, scheduling and life happened and I ended up on this thing alone… Anyway, if I were to do all that and still drive to Salt Lake for his trade show, it would be 1200+ miles… so, I am still thinking Cali. Ugh but it would be a must faster visit. I am planning to take my time and slowly move south through Oregon the next week. I hope to camp the whole way and really be sure that I have a place to stay. That will be my main priority. It sucks to skate all day and still scrounge around for a site to crash…
So the first park I hit today was Donald. This is a tiny town with only 800 people. The park was very easy to find and it was built by Dreamland. It is an older park by the look of it and my have been added on to. The main attraction for me was the kidney painted in creature green. Very cool and very gnar!! The transitions were tight but I could drop in so I guess not as tight as Powell. It was a better design than Missoula (less flat) and the same shape but no death box. Just a big set of stairs and a huge chunk in the coping just above them…
The other half of the park was a 4’ mini with a 2’extension on either end with a burnside bump. In the middle and to the north was a snakey bowled extender for more action. The burnside bump feature is ingenious. I have ridden three or four parks with them now and you can just hit it from any angle and get speed. Those guys really know what is up!!
I was getting good lines in the kidney and all kinds of stuff in the mini area. I was having a good time, skated for 2hours and then decided to check out the state park near by. I figured, I would get a campsite and then go back and hit up Newburg later. When I arrived at the state park the place was booked for the weekend. I was sooooo pissed. I just don’t get it, RV parks are everywhere but usually do not allow tents and State parks are always booked on weekends…
This is a real bummer so I went into super stress mode. I just want to keep going and do this thing. So I found a place on the map where there was BLM land and what looked to be a few campsite symbols. I decided to move on towards that direction.
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