One fine morning, to my own shock and surprise, I said to myself "I'm sick of Portland". Ten minutes later I was on the road. After spending a good deal of time wandering northern Portland trying to find a way across the Columbia river, I located the bridge and found myself in the great state of washington. The next city that I passed through was Vancouver: Vancouver, washington, not Vancouver, B.C. And then onward I went, riding the I-5 north. Well, let me tell you, there isn't much in Washington. Besides Seattle and Olympia (the capital), which are quite near each other, the state is deserted. So when my bike broke down catastrophically (the rear derailler got sucked into the back wheel somehow and was mangled beyond repair), needless to say, I was screwed. So I had only two options: try to hitchhike, a strategy I had had no success with in the past; or walk to civilization, a prospect I also didn't revel. So with little hope for success I stuck my thumb into oncoming traffic, but gave up two minutes later, convinced that no one would pick me and my broken bike up. And so I started walking. But I hadn't made it far before I noticed a pick-up truck by the side of the road; Surely he wasn't waiting for me, was he? But he was! An electrical worker heading home from a long day of work was waiting to drive me to the next city. Though I disagreed with his politics, it was an entertaining ride. And what's more, in a short time, I found myself in Olympia, Washington. I went out to a bar, this seeming the only sensible strategy considering I had no place to sleep and no way to get anywhere; Clearly, I needed a drink. But it wasn't long before I had found company. A couple of charming girls, after taking the time to get to know me a little (i.e. to determine if I was a psycho), offered to put me up for the night. So I had a warm place to stay for the night, and in the morning I made my way to the local college, Evergreen. Evergreen is another extremely liberal american college that has dispensed with the idea of grades - much like Antioch in Ohio. And why did I go there, you might ask? It was rumored that they had a bike shop that I might be able to use to repair my poor bicycle. I found it and was given, free of charge, a brand new derailler to put on my bike. I learned a whole lot about bike mechanics there, and after an hour or so of work, my bike was rideable again. I couldn't believe it! The day before I had thought it would never ride again! In the bike shop I met a lovely girl named Maya, who I hung around with for a while after my bike was fixed. She invited me to a presentation of Casablanca (it WAS Valentines day), but I declined for my own reasons. Anyways, I did end up crashing at her place that night. In the morning I went back to Evergreen to set up my tent in the woods. Evergreen is in the washington rainforest, and many of its students camp in the woods instead of paying dorm fees. So I decided to stick around Olympia for a little bit before heading north. Seattle is a day's ride away, and, Canada is not too far after that. But for the moment I am sleeping in the woods and partying with the "Greeners".