so there's not a whole lot to this story, but i found it pretty funny so i thought i would share..
after damn near a week recovering from all the drunken debauchery that was folk/squat life 2010, its pretty much consensus among everyone who was still around that it was time to get the fuck out of seattle. some folks with a van were headed east, a few of my friends were attempting to haul ass towards the bay for the filth reunion shows (josh if your on here, did you make it?), and i planned to just bus to oly and catch up with old friends for a bit before heading to portland and then shooting east. we woke up reasonably early and started to work on getting up some bus fare. were getting close to the fifteen bucks we need for the three of us when we bump into another good homie whom we thought had already left town. he inquires if we have beer pitch, and in an oh so predictable manner our bus fare quickly becomes beer money. we spend the afternoon drinking forties and laughing about all the previous weeks shenanigans...
in our elated forty sipping sunny afternoon state we decide to say fuck the bus and just catch a train from georgetown to tacoma that night. sure its among the least scenic rides ive taken and would only save us a $2.50 bus ride, but i hadn't been on a train in almost a month and was itching for any ride.
so at about dusk we head towards the yard, and on the way bump into three more friends who are also intending to ride south, to vancouver. so at this point we are six deep. i should mention that of the six half had never ridden a train before! the whole scenario is completely ridiculous but for some reason i am excited about it rather than sketched out . we get to the yard, and it immediately starts pouring rain. we take cover under a semi trailer in the shadows, maybe a hundred yards south of albro place overpass. were sitting there sharing our last two cigarettes among all of us, when we hear people approaching..crazy gibberish being interrupted by crazier gibberish, the creak of a loaded down shopping cart, frantic hand gestures and a gait somewhere between a drunken stumble and choreographed dance...instantly identifiable as a group of georgetown's finest crackheads. as they approach i call out a greeting as to not scare them if they came up on us in the shadows. well, they still all jumped about a mile and took a solid five minutes to adjust to the presence of new comers in their hangout, but once they calmed down we exchanged introductions and they were ready to fucking party!
we had no beer pitch and made that clear but we were asked to throw down on beer easily fifteen times. they referenced everyone homebum in king county by first name as if we were totally familiar with them. they shared their last two tall cans of OE with us and spun a black n mild among the whole group. much appreciated when we were without either beer or smokes. we tried repeatedly to let them know we were trying to be discreet and get out of town, but no one was having it. they told us we could stay at their "house" (three big lengths of plastic piping lined with plastic and blankets) for a while and that tomorrow we were gonna PARTy Like SHEEEIT! at this point half the group was was pretty annoyed and on the verge of moving to a new spot..being in no particular hurry myself, i was thouroughly enjoying their company.
at this point one of the dudes produces a stereo and announces that we're gonna bump some fucking tunes because hes got a killer tape collection. im curious to hear what the soundtrack to our good time will be and couldn't have been further off my guess when the B52's "Love Shack" begins BLASTiNG. at this point I actually am a little concerned about our (or their rather) complete lack of discreetness. but just as this thought enters my head a whistle cuts through the B52s and a slow rolling double stack comes into view. we quickly all gear up, much to the excitement and surprise of our new friends who didn't seem to believe we were actually going to get on a train. it seemed like they had never met riders before, which i found peculiar, living in such close proximity to the tracks. our train is still creeping and passes the signal before the albro overpass and i become concerned that its not stopping for clearance for some reason.
so we start hauling ass and find a pair of 53 mini-wells which we catch on the fly, all the while LOVE SHACK BLARING and three crack heads all out boogey dancing and yelling at the top of their lungs YALL MUTHAFUCKAS CRAZZY! GIT THAT SHIT! GIT IT!! DAMN!!! their excitment multiplied my own easily ten fold, and i was hard pressed to think of a sillier song to get on a train too at that moment.
only four of us ended up getting on. a younger couple who had a dog and had never ridden before decided not get on, being uncofortable with the speed and the safety of their dog. glad they were smart and didnt press their abilities. the ride itself was uneventful, suburban sprawl and pouring rain. our train sat outside tacoma yard for a 45 minutes and then pulled off the mains, so i imagine it was going to the port to be loaded or unloaded..got off in tacoma and raided the ashtray at the 76 station and went to crash out.
so all in all a pretty uneventful short ride, but with the most amazing fucking send off i have ever had the priveledge of receiving.
Sign says.. Woo... stay away fools,
'cause love rules at the Lo-o-ove Shack! Babbbbyyyy!
after damn near a week recovering from all the drunken debauchery that was folk/squat life 2010, its pretty much consensus among everyone who was still around that it was time to get the fuck out of seattle. some folks with a van were headed east, a few of my friends were attempting to haul ass towards the bay for the filth reunion shows (josh if your on here, did you make it?), and i planned to just bus to oly and catch up with old friends for a bit before heading to portland and then shooting east. we woke up reasonably early and started to work on getting up some bus fare. were getting close to the fifteen bucks we need for the three of us when we bump into another good homie whom we thought had already left town. he inquires if we have beer pitch, and in an oh so predictable manner our bus fare quickly becomes beer money. we spend the afternoon drinking forties and laughing about all the previous weeks shenanigans...
in our elated forty sipping sunny afternoon state we decide to say fuck the bus and just catch a train from georgetown to tacoma that night. sure its among the least scenic rides ive taken and would only save us a $2.50 bus ride, but i hadn't been on a train in almost a month and was itching for any ride.
so at about dusk we head towards the yard, and on the way bump into three more friends who are also intending to ride south, to vancouver. so at this point we are six deep. i should mention that of the six half had never ridden a train before! the whole scenario is completely ridiculous but for some reason i am excited about it rather than sketched out . we get to the yard, and it immediately starts pouring rain. we take cover under a semi trailer in the shadows, maybe a hundred yards south of albro place overpass. were sitting there sharing our last two cigarettes among all of us, when we hear people approaching..crazy gibberish being interrupted by crazier gibberish, the creak of a loaded down shopping cart, frantic hand gestures and a gait somewhere between a drunken stumble and choreographed dance...instantly identifiable as a group of georgetown's finest crackheads. as they approach i call out a greeting as to not scare them if they came up on us in the shadows. well, they still all jumped about a mile and took a solid five minutes to adjust to the presence of new comers in their hangout, but once they calmed down we exchanged introductions and they were ready to fucking party!
we had no beer pitch and made that clear but we were asked to throw down on beer easily fifteen times. they referenced everyone homebum in king county by first name as if we were totally familiar with them. they shared their last two tall cans of OE with us and spun a black n mild among the whole group. much appreciated when we were without either beer or smokes. we tried repeatedly to let them know we were trying to be discreet and get out of town, but no one was having it. they told us we could stay at their "house" (three big lengths of plastic piping lined with plastic and blankets) for a while and that tomorrow we were gonna PARTy Like SHEEEIT! at this point half the group was was pretty annoyed and on the verge of moving to a new spot..being in no particular hurry myself, i was thouroughly enjoying their company.
at this point one of the dudes produces a stereo and announces that we're gonna bump some fucking tunes because hes got a killer tape collection. im curious to hear what the soundtrack to our good time will be and couldn't have been further off my guess when the B52's "Love Shack" begins BLASTiNG. at this point I actually am a little concerned about our (or their rather) complete lack of discreetness. but just as this thought enters my head a whistle cuts through the B52s and a slow rolling double stack comes into view. we quickly all gear up, much to the excitement and surprise of our new friends who didn't seem to believe we were actually going to get on a train. it seemed like they had never met riders before, which i found peculiar, living in such close proximity to the tracks. our train is still creeping and passes the signal before the albro overpass and i become concerned that its not stopping for clearance for some reason.
so we start hauling ass and find a pair of 53 mini-wells which we catch on the fly, all the while LOVE SHACK BLARING and three crack heads all out boogey dancing and yelling at the top of their lungs YALL MUTHAFUCKAS CRAZZY! GIT THAT SHIT! GIT IT!! DAMN!!! their excitment multiplied my own easily ten fold, and i was hard pressed to think of a sillier song to get on a train too at that moment.
only four of us ended up getting on. a younger couple who had a dog and had never ridden before decided not get on, being uncofortable with the speed and the safety of their dog. glad they were smart and didnt press their abilities. the ride itself was uneventful, suburban sprawl and pouring rain. our train sat outside tacoma yard for a 45 minutes and then pulled off the mains, so i imagine it was going to the port to be loaded or unloaded..got off in tacoma and raided the ashtray at the 76 station and went to crash out.
so all in all a pretty uneventful short ride, but with the most amazing fucking send off i have ever had the priveledge of receiving.
Sign says.. Woo... stay away fools,
'cause love rules at the Lo-o-ove Shack! Babbbbyyyy!
