Today involved a leisurely drive from Chico to Grants Pass, Oregon. We had a bit of brekkie and said goodbye to Michelle, and set out in search of some free wireless. Chico is such a cute town, totally Cali and a uni town to boot, so there's great people-watching and some very fun free newspapers. Good coffee, too.

The drive up I-5 got much more scenic as we headed into the mountains. The road gets curvier, there are some major hills, and all of a sudden Mt Shasta pops up in the distance, majestic and snow-capped. Nice! We also made a pitstop in Weed (heh-heh, hm-hm, settle down Beavis) to refuel and admire the really weird clouds forming over the mountains as the winds picked up. We heard later that some areas of Northern California and Southern Oregon experienced power outages due to the abnormally strong winds, so I guess we should be glad our little orange buggy wasn't blown off the road!

We arrived in Grants Pass a bit late to catch our CouchSurfing host, Rainbow (yes, that's his real name, and yes, he is a dude), before he had to leave for a bartending shift at the local martini bar. So we hit a movie: The Kingdom, starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner. First movie I'd seen in a lonnnnnnng time! And it was a good one! I wasn't too thrilled with the "reality cam" style that made me carsick after an hour or so -- guess I'm getting old -- but the story was engrossing and it was the kind of movie to make you go hmmmmm. Dunno if it's still playing anywhere or if it's been edged out by the next movie about Middle East tensions, but I highly recommend checking it out if you get the chance.

OK, on to our next 'surfing destination, which was a very different experience than staying with Michelle and Threnody! To be fair, it was Rainbow's first time hosting, so we took his CS cherry. And I guess sitting around watching TV and eating pizza is what most people *do* on your average Tuesday night. We did manage to have some interesting and spirited enough conversation to piss off Rainbow's roommate, who was squirreled away upstairs playing "World of Warcraft." (Never did see her, but you can imagine the mental image that developed in my little brain.) Mark and I weren't sure both of us would fit comfortably on the red couch-lounge-contraption, but somehow we managed to make it work, and got at least a partial night's sleep.