BeefSupreme
New member
I was reading some threads earlier and came across some stuff about the Rainbow gatherings and whatnot. It reminded me of this time when I drove taxi and picked up these 2 guys in downtown spokane and took them to one of their parties up in the woods by the Colville National Forrest way the fuck up north from town. I actually wrote this some time ago as a short story submission making it rather long for a forum post, so grab some popcorn, a beer, a bowl, or whatever while you read....
Thursday nights were slow and quite boring for a cab driver in Spokane, WA. Especially during a warm dry spring. Who wants to pay a taxi meter when you can walk or just ride the bus? The snow and cold weather had vanished weeks ago and the unusually warm spring was a precursor to an even hotter summer ahead. He wasn’t going to make a whole lot tonight. That’s what was running through Steve's mind while he was sitting downtown in front of one of the popular bars waiting to fare off. He finished taking a few drags off his cigarette and went back to texting his girlfriend on the company phone.
Fuck almost two hours and not a single dispatch yet, he was thinking. He decided to clean the windows on his cab while he sat on the taxi stand waiting for a fare. After all most fares seemed to appreciate a well cleaned cab.
“Excuse me sir?” came the voice a few feet behind him. Steve turned and saw a kid not much older than 18 wearing a Bob Marley style beanie and hemp rope bracelets and necklaces. He looked like he hadn’t had a good shower in quite a few days. His shoes appeared to have about as many miles on them as his taxi did. Smokes. He thought this kid was going to ask for smokes immediately.
“Can you tell me where this is?” the Kid asked handing him a piece of paper. On it was the address of the destination at the top, with some quick driving directions scribbled down below it.
“Well not right off the top of my head but give me a second and I will look it up for you.” Steve was puzzled by the address, it didn’t look like many he'd seen before. And he had seen most. “Hmm” he was puzzled, rubbing his brow in confusion. “Well shit. The only road I'm finding in my map book by this name is way up north. It's in Pend Oreille County and this book only covers Spokane County.” Steve pointed at one of the roads on the driving directioins close to their destination, “But I do know where Sacheen Lake is.”
“How far is it to Sacheen Lake?” The kid asked him.
“About 25miles or so.”
“How much would it be to get there?”
“Around 60-70 bucks.”
“Ouch why so much?”
“2.50 drop and 2.50 per mile. Or you could take the bus up there to the end of the north line and call a cab from there. Shave off about 8 or 9 miles.”
“Where's the bus stop at for going north?”
Steve pointed a few blocks further down the road. “Actually just go down there, that big white building with the sliding glass doors next to Bank of America is the bus plaza. Go and get on the 25 route, it will take you all the way up north as far as the buses will take you atleast.”
“Okay thanks a lot man,” Said the Kid as he picked up his army green alice pack off the sidewalk and started off in the direction towards the bus plaza.
Steve went back to cleaning his windows and rolled another cigarette after that. Six o'clock already, he thought to himself. He had been sitting at that taxi stand for two hours now and hadn’t got a single fare. He was used to sitting in front of this particular bar, it was one of the more popular ones in town. Probably because it was the only place downtown that stayed open till 3am. They served breakfast in the hour after last call.
The building reminded him of something you see in horror movies or places where serial killers murder their victims. An old turn of the century warehouse that had been converted into apartments at some point and was now had a cocktail bar and diner. However it was the best place in town to get fares at night, plus the T.V. in the window meant he could watch the Seahawks game while he stood outside of his cab smoking a cigarette.
“Hey are you available?” The voice came from behind Steve, who was leaning up against his taxi, caught up in the football game.
“You bet,” he said, surprised to see that Kid back again; this time a much older man was with him. The Old Man was wearing the same kind of Bob Marley beanie and hemp necklaces as the kid. His army green field field jacket showed the dirt and wear of many long journeys.
“This is where we need to go,” said the Old Man handing Steve the piece of paper with the address.
“Ah, up north. Yeah, he showed me this earlier,” Steve told him, pointing to the Kid.
“Yes,” The Old Man replied, “How much will it be to get there exactly?” He asked.
Steve started to explain, “Well I don’t have GPS in my cab, and my map book doesn't cover that far north, but I know where Sacheen lake is. It's about 25 miles or so up there which is about a 60-70 dollar ride, and we're going farther than that so..”
The Old Man interrupted him, “Will you cut a deal?”
“If you pay cash you bet your ass.”
“How much will you charge?”
“60 bucks flat.” Steve was now studying the driving instructions more closely. There wasn’t many more turns past Sacheen Lake Road. The longest stretch is the drive up Division St. and down Highway 2 out of town, so it couldn’t be much more than $60 Steve was thinking to himself.
“Deal.” came the old man's immediate reply. He started to reach for his wallet, “Should I go ahead and pay you now or?”
“Nah don't worry about it,” Steve's cab driver instincts were telling him these people were genuine and had no intention of bailing out or trying something scandalous, “You guys seem legit. Here let me take your bags.” He reached down and grabbed the old mans military duffel bag from the ground, heavy with the weight of life's essentials. Both the old man's bag, and the kids alice pack were about all the trunk could hold on Steve's modest little red and gold Dodge Neon taxi cab.
“How long do you think it will take to get up there?” Asked the kid as he was getting in the back seat with the old man.
“Probably around 45min or so depending on how bad traffic is on Division street. It's the main North/South thoroughfare in Spokane,” Steve was explaining to his new fares. “So you guys visiting someone or what?”
“Oh no man we're going to the Rainbow,” said the Kid, an enthusiastic grin growing on his face.
“The rainbow? What the fuck is that?” Steve asked.
“You've never heard of the Rainbow?!” said the Old Man sounding surprised.
“Nope, what is this Rainbow you speak of?” asked Steve while he was swerving through traffic trying to beat a yellow light. They had his curiosity now.
“It's like a big huge hippie gathering in the middle of the woods,” the old man said, “a bunch of people get together and smoke tons of pot, cook good food, listen to music, trade stuff, and just hang out and have a good time man it's awesome.”
“Yeah I hitch hiked all the way here from Maine to go to this.” said the Kid.
“Wow holy shit you hitch hiked all the way here from Maine!” Steve was blown away at the fact. “How long did that take?”
The Kid shrugged, “I don’t know a month or so. I did a lot of sight seeing and visited some people too so it took longer.”
“Yeah people come to these gatherings from all over the world. This one is a regional one so it's smaller but the national gatherings are the big ones and usually bring the most people.” explained the Old Man.
The taxi was moving faster by now and was out of the main downtown core of Spokane but still whisking through the concrete jungle. They were sitting at a traffic light by the city's biggest shopping mall when Steve reached forward and pushed in the car's cigarette lighter.
“You fellas wont croak if I smoke in here will you?” Steve asked them full well knowing they wouldn’t care.
“Shit! You mean we can smoke in here!” exclaimed the Kid.
The car's lighter pop'd out and Steve lit his cigarette. “It's your guys' car, you paid for it. I just drive it.”
“Fuck yeah, can you smoke in all the cabs in this town?” asked the kid as he pulled out a crunched up pack of Marlboro’s, pulled out two cigarette's and gave one to the Old Man. Steve was thinking about how when he first saw this Kid his initial thought was he would bum a smoke, instead he was smoking name brands. Steve would have to roll his next one. Things are never what you expect he thought to himself, accelerating past the countless fast food restaurants on Spokane's north side.
“It depends on the cab driver, some wont let you smoke in the cab but most drivers don’t give a shit because well, most smoke too.” replied Steve.
“Well you seem like a good driver thanks for letting us smoke in here man” said the Kid.
“Thanks broski and no problem.” Steve was wondering about the older guy's story. “So did you get here from Maine too?”
“No I'm from California,” replied the old man, “I'm getting too old to hitch hike anymore so I just took the greyhound up.
“Oh damn, how many days did that take?”
“Just two, it wasn’t bad but the ticket prices are what kills you. How long have you been driving taxi?”
“A couple of years now.”
“What's the craziest thing you've seen?” asked the Kid.
“Probably the guy who pulled a knife on me then later dropped a $70 dollar tip on the seat.”
“Holy shit what?!”
“Yeah he was shit faced wasted this one night and asked me for my card so I gave it to him. He said that he wanted a card with my personal number on it not the cab company's. I told him it was indeed my personal number and that taxi drivers are essentially self employed. He didn’t believe that, and pulled a knife. Said he was going to call the number on it and if my phone didn't ring I was dead. Well it being my 2nd night ever driving a taxi I just kept on going to his house not realizing I should have just pulled over and got the fuck out. I was telling myself Verizon.. you better not fail me now or I'm suing for injury and loss of profits.” The old man and the kid got a kick out of that and laughed about how crazy the whole situation was. “So anyway he called my phone and thank god it rings. I held it up to him since he was sitting shotgun so he could see the number on the screen and asked if it was his. He looked at me in a confused drunken way and said he was sorry. I told him it was alright dude just put your knife away. That’s where he snapped at me and told me to never call him dude. By this point he was getting out of the cab as we were at his house. I told him I'd never call him dude again and he threw 80 bucks on the seat for a 12 dollar fare.”
“Wow that’s scary shit,” said the old man, “Did you call the cops?”
“Nope I wasn’t hurt, he was just wasted out of his mind, and I got a massive tip so I just kinda shrugged it off and went about the night.” Steve replied.
“Crazy I bet you meet all kinds of people like that.” said the Kid.
“Dangerous too.” added the Old Man.
Steve nodded his head in agreement, “Yeah you meet just about every kind of person in this gig.” Steve said. By now they were past the Division street “Y” where the road splits into highway 2 and highway 395. They were on 2, moving at a good speed of about 55mph heading further north past smaller and smaller strip malls until the city finally yielded to the countryside. The Forest was getting closer by the minute.
“We must be getting close now huh?” asked the Old Man.
“About halfway to the lake, after that I'm not sure how much further.” Steve said.
“Okay cool.”
“So how long does this Rainbow thing last for? I'm off on Sunday and Monday.”
“Oh shit it lasts for weeks, and some people stay around longer than that. This is only a regional meeting but the national meetings can last for months on end. I've been going to these things for almost 20 years now.”
“So I could come up here again on Sunday and camp out and get baked with you guys?”
“Fuck yeah man you're more welcome at our camp.”
“Sweet me and my old lady will just have to go camping this weekend. I'll bring my guitar and she can bring the pot fuck yeah.” Steve was getting excited at the idea of going camping, he loved to go play in the woods.
“You just cant bring any alcohol if you do come. They wont allow it and if they find out you have any they will ask you to leave.” the Old Man explained.
“Oh shitty, but I can kinda understand why.” Steve said.
“Yeah too many fights and stuff when people get drunk,” the Kid said.
“What happens is somebody will get smashed and lose something, then start accusing other people of taking whatever it is they lost and next thing you know all hell breaks loose. Everyone is completely tanked and nobody wants to back down so yeah.. you know how it play's out” the Old man continued. “They just ended up deciding to ban alcohol there all together, they don’t mind if you get drunk up there but just not at their camp.”
“So there's food and stuff too?” Steve was curious about this.
“Yep some people come in with big huge barbeques and camp stoves. Cook all kinds of stuff from pancakes and bacon to steaks and all kinds of other stuff.” The Old Man told him.
Steve could feel his stomach growling at him, “Yummy sounds bomb as fuck to have when you're camping out in the woods getting stoned all day.”
“Yeah this is the first gathering for me,” The Kid said, “It's going to be awesome, you and your girlfriend should definitely come up.”
“I'm prety sure we will.” Said Steve. He was sold on the idea.
They were driving through thick forest now. The air was much cooler as they climbed in elevation through the hills past the small Sacheen Lake. Plants were waking up from their winter slumber, blooming into colorful springtime flowers that seemed to greet them as they drove past. “Okay guys from this point on I have no clue where the fuck I'm at.” Steve told his fares. They laughed it off confident they were heading the right direction.
“You're doing good man. I'm sure you'll get us there.” The Old Man assured him.
“Yeah I Just hope that lady wrote down the right directions.” The kid said laughing as he reached into his coat pocket for his cigarettes.
“Oh she did this has got to be the right area.” The Old Man said. “This is the Collville forest right?”
“Yeah purdy close to it, its further north but it's essentially the same woods.” Said Steve.
“Good then were defiantly going the right way.”
They turned down the next street on the directions as the woods on one side of the road started to get thinner and thinner. Eventually they were in farm country on one side, and thick heavy forest on the other side of them. Steve had underestimated the cost of the fare. He thought the lake was about 25miles or so from downtown but in reality it was closer to 40 miles. The meter kept going further and further past the $60 deal he had made with the Old Man. It was now getting to be almost a $90 fare and they still had to find one more road to go down.
“You're not going to charge us that $90 are you?” Asked the Kid. “I've heard of some cab drivers making deals and then not honoring them just to call the cops.”
“Nope you guys don’t worry about the meter, I always hold up to my word,” Steve told him, “I'm only running that for my paperwork so I can make it match the mileage on the cab at the end of my shift.”
“Okay cool thanks man.”
“No problem broski.”
“Damn I'm glad I didn’t decide to walk all the way up here,” the Old Man said. “10 years ago it would have been no problem, but I'm about to turn 81.”
Steve's eyebrows raised in surprise, “Wow you look good for an 81 year old. No homo.”
The old man laughed, “Yeah I've outlived a lot of my friends. Even the ones who didn't smoke or drink. I'm telling you the secret to long life is to drink and smoke.”
“Expert medical advice,” the Kid said.
“Yeah no kidding,” Steve said laughing with them. “Oh look here's the road.”
The taxi turned off from pavement for the first time on their trip, and onto a bumpy dirt forest service road, barely wide enough for a single vehicle and ruts so deep the car almost steered itself. Signs saying rainbow that were written on paper plates and posted up by the entrance told them indeed they had gotten the right directions. The air up here was far more brisk than when they were on the outskirts of Spokane. The woods were thick and dark, the ground still muddy from the winter thaw. They bounced around inside the cab even though Steve was driving as slow as he could without coming to a dead stop.
“I guess these Neon's aren’t meant to go off-roading around the forest.” Steve said as his head bounced off the ceiling for a third time.
“Yeah no shit,” the Old Man agreed.
“I just hope this piece of shit doesn’t decide to break down up here. That would be my luck.” Steve was honestly starting to worry, he know the electrical system in that cab wasn’t the most reliable, and had left him sitting on the side of the road more than a few times.
“I bet your boss would be pissed if he you broke down way up here.” The Kid said.
“Yeah he would. But he'd cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it.” said Steve. “Hey I think I see some tents up ahead.” They were driving past a small clearing on their left where a couple of girls were camped out next to a strong flowing creek.
“Hey pull in there,” said the Old Man leaning forward pointing towards the two girls.
“This the Rainbow?” Hollered the Kid who was poking his head out of the back window.
“What?” Came the confused reply back from one of the girls. Steve could see the look on her face and was smiling back at her. Without a doubt she was blown away at seeing a taxi cab this far up in the forest. “You mean the bus full of hippies?”
“Yeah” the whole cab responded to her all at once.
“Well you keep going down this road,” she explained pointing towards the way we were heading further into the forest. “Stay to the right on the first fork, and keep going till you get to the second fork. Stay to the right of that one also and go a bit further down till you come to a bridge. Once you cross it you will see their bus, you cant miss it.” She told them. Her and her friend were obviously surprised to see anyone taking a taxi up to the woods.
“Okay thank you,” was the response from the taxi as they pulled back onto the forest service road and kept going deeper into the woods.
“Did you see the look on their faces,” the Old Man said.
“They sure didn’t expect a taxi cab to drive up to their camp site did they.” replied Steve.
They laughed even more at the looks they got from a couple guys in a work truck further down the road. Everyone they went by was surprised, almost confused to see a cab from the city up in the forest. They passed the second fork in the road and were now heading up a steep hill that had a tiny creek flowing along side it. The water looked as clear as tap water.
“I bet you could drink that water right there.” Steve said, “That’s glacier water. Winter runoff. Don t get much cleaner than that.”
“Fuck yeah but don’t be surprised if you get the shits for a few days after,” said the old man. “Some people get really bad shits drinking mountain water straight from the stream.”
“Yup I used to,” Steve responded, “But over the past few years it hasn’t bothered me much really. I camp a lot too.”
“Shit I camp everyday,” said the kid, “Haven’t had a house in almost three years.”
“Damn that sucks bro,” Steve told him
“Not really.”
“You don’t mind not having a home?”
“I do have a home, just not in the context you see a home.” The Kid started to explain, “You see the whole world is my home. The whole world is my bedroom, my kitchen, my living room, and yes, even my bathroom. It all depends on how you look at it. Some people would kill themselves before living on the streets but then again some people turn it into the best years of their lives. It all depends on your outlook.”
Steve's right eyebrow was crocked up and he was nodding in agreement, “Well I cant argue with that. I can see your point there.”
“Sometimes it sucks, like when you're hungry and cant find a scrap of food cuz every dumpster you walk past has locks on them, or when it's cold and windy or rainy and you're stuck outside but you have to take it in stride; no matter what you do in life there is always some aspect of it that will suck.” The kid told him.
“You're damn right about that,” the Old Man said, “I've been traveling all over North and South America almost my entire adult life. I've seen places and met people and done things I'd otherwise have never done staying in one place. There are the days where it sucks but if I could go back in time I don’t think I'd change much in my 81 years.
The taxi clattered as it went across the bumpy wooden bridge crossing one of the streams carving its way down the hill. Just as the girls had told them they saw the big white school bus off in the distance to the right. They had made it.
“Looks like that's the spot there,” Steve announced gesturing towards the roof of the school bus. The cab reached the top of the hill and the Rainbow camp was now clearly visible just off the road a few dozen meters. Steve pulled the taxi as close to the edge of the narrow logging road as he could and put it in park and stopped the meter which had a fare of around $140 showing.
“Well here you go fellas, it was awesome meeting you guys and this is defiantly a ride I will remember.” Steve told them as he was getting out of the cab. It felt good to stretch his legs after the hour or so long ride. “Here let me get your bags fellas.” Steve pop'd the trunk open and pulled out their heavy packs.
“Hey guys glad you could make it. Welcome to the Rainbow,” came the voice of one of the campers, as he approached the cab. His long gray hair and beard were soaking like they were just washed in the stream. Steve couldn’t believe he wasn’t wearing shoes. It was a lot cooler up here than back downtown.
“Hey brother!” exclaimed the old man, shaking his hand and giving him a hug as though they were long time friends. “This kid here has never been to a gathering before so we gotta show him a good time.”
“Oh we will, everyone has a good time here.” Said the camper, helping grab one of their back packs.
“Well here's your stuff guys and hopefully I run into you fellas on Sunday.” Steve said handing The old man his army duffel bag.
“Yeah you and your old lady should really show up, you'll have a blast. Here you go.” Said the old man as he handed Steve a $100 bill.
Steve wasn’t expecting a bill that big, “One second lemme get you your change,” he said closing the trunk and heading back towards the driver seat.
“No man you keep the change.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah you were cool and were honest; you earned it. Just show up on Sunday we plan to be here for a few weeks at least. You'll have a good time”
“You got a deal brother,” Steve said thanking him for his generosity and shaking his hand. “See you guys in a couple of days.”
“Fuck yeah” said the Kid as he was walking away from the cab towards the Rainbow gathering. “You better!”
“Well I got nothing better to do,” Steve replied opening the drivers side door. “Beats sitting in my motor home at the Walmart parking lot all weekend.”
Steve got into his cab and honked as he drove away, down the hill and back towards town. Fuck yeah, he thought. I'm totally coming back up here on my weekend.
Thursday nights were slow and quite boring for a cab driver in Spokane, WA. Especially during a warm dry spring. Who wants to pay a taxi meter when you can walk or just ride the bus? The snow and cold weather had vanished weeks ago and the unusually warm spring was a precursor to an even hotter summer ahead. He wasn’t going to make a whole lot tonight. That’s what was running through Steve's mind while he was sitting downtown in front of one of the popular bars waiting to fare off. He finished taking a few drags off his cigarette and went back to texting his girlfriend on the company phone.
Fuck almost two hours and not a single dispatch yet, he was thinking. He decided to clean the windows on his cab while he sat on the taxi stand waiting for a fare. After all most fares seemed to appreciate a well cleaned cab.
“Excuse me sir?” came the voice a few feet behind him. Steve turned and saw a kid not much older than 18 wearing a Bob Marley style beanie and hemp rope bracelets and necklaces. He looked like he hadn’t had a good shower in quite a few days. His shoes appeared to have about as many miles on them as his taxi did. Smokes. He thought this kid was going to ask for smokes immediately.
“Can you tell me where this is?” the Kid asked handing him a piece of paper. On it was the address of the destination at the top, with some quick driving directions scribbled down below it.
“Well not right off the top of my head but give me a second and I will look it up for you.” Steve was puzzled by the address, it didn’t look like many he'd seen before. And he had seen most. “Hmm” he was puzzled, rubbing his brow in confusion. “Well shit. The only road I'm finding in my map book by this name is way up north. It's in Pend Oreille County and this book only covers Spokane County.” Steve pointed at one of the roads on the driving directioins close to their destination, “But I do know where Sacheen Lake is.”
“How far is it to Sacheen Lake?” The kid asked him.
“About 25miles or so.”
“How much would it be to get there?”
“Around 60-70 bucks.”
“Ouch why so much?”
“2.50 drop and 2.50 per mile. Or you could take the bus up there to the end of the north line and call a cab from there. Shave off about 8 or 9 miles.”
“Where's the bus stop at for going north?”
Steve pointed a few blocks further down the road. “Actually just go down there, that big white building with the sliding glass doors next to Bank of America is the bus plaza. Go and get on the 25 route, it will take you all the way up north as far as the buses will take you atleast.”
“Okay thanks a lot man,” Said the Kid as he picked up his army green alice pack off the sidewalk and started off in the direction towards the bus plaza.
Steve went back to cleaning his windows and rolled another cigarette after that. Six o'clock already, he thought to himself. He had been sitting at that taxi stand for two hours now and hadn’t got a single fare. He was used to sitting in front of this particular bar, it was one of the more popular ones in town. Probably because it was the only place downtown that stayed open till 3am. They served breakfast in the hour after last call.
The building reminded him of something you see in horror movies or places where serial killers murder their victims. An old turn of the century warehouse that had been converted into apartments at some point and was now had a cocktail bar and diner. However it was the best place in town to get fares at night, plus the T.V. in the window meant he could watch the Seahawks game while he stood outside of his cab smoking a cigarette.
“Hey are you available?” The voice came from behind Steve, who was leaning up against his taxi, caught up in the football game.
“You bet,” he said, surprised to see that Kid back again; this time a much older man was with him. The Old Man was wearing the same kind of Bob Marley beanie and hemp necklaces as the kid. His army green field field jacket showed the dirt and wear of many long journeys.
“This is where we need to go,” said the Old Man handing Steve the piece of paper with the address.
“Ah, up north. Yeah, he showed me this earlier,” Steve told him, pointing to the Kid.
“Yes,” The Old Man replied, “How much will it be to get there exactly?” He asked.
Steve started to explain, “Well I don’t have GPS in my cab, and my map book doesn't cover that far north, but I know where Sacheen lake is. It's about 25 miles or so up there which is about a 60-70 dollar ride, and we're going farther than that so..”
The Old Man interrupted him, “Will you cut a deal?”
“If you pay cash you bet your ass.”
“How much will you charge?”
“60 bucks flat.” Steve was now studying the driving instructions more closely. There wasn’t many more turns past Sacheen Lake Road. The longest stretch is the drive up Division St. and down Highway 2 out of town, so it couldn’t be much more than $60 Steve was thinking to himself.
“Deal.” came the old man's immediate reply. He started to reach for his wallet, “Should I go ahead and pay you now or?”
“Nah don't worry about it,” Steve's cab driver instincts were telling him these people were genuine and had no intention of bailing out or trying something scandalous, “You guys seem legit. Here let me take your bags.” He reached down and grabbed the old mans military duffel bag from the ground, heavy with the weight of life's essentials. Both the old man's bag, and the kids alice pack were about all the trunk could hold on Steve's modest little red and gold Dodge Neon taxi cab.
“How long do you think it will take to get up there?” Asked the kid as he was getting in the back seat with the old man.
“Probably around 45min or so depending on how bad traffic is on Division street. It's the main North/South thoroughfare in Spokane,” Steve was explaining to his new fares. “So you guys visiting someone or what?”
“Oh no man we're going to the Rainbow,” said the Kid, an enthusiastic grin growing on his face.
“The rainbow? What the fuck is that?” Steve asked.
“You've never heard of the Rainbow?!” said the Old Man sounding surprised.
“Nope, what is this Rainbow you speak of?” asked Steve while he was swerving through traffic trying to beat a yellow light. They had his curiosity now.
“It's like a big huge hippie gathering in the middle of the woods,” the old man said, “a bunch of people get together and smoke tons of pot, cook good food, listen to music, trade stuff, and just hang out and have a good time man it's awesome.”
“Yeah I hitch hiked all the way here from Maine to go to this.” said the Kid.
“Wow holy shit you hitch hiked all the way here from Maine!” Steve was blown away at the fact. “How long did that take?”
The Kid shrugged, “I don’t know a month or so. I did a lot of sight seeing and visited some people too so it took longer.”
“Yeah people come to these gatherings from all over the world. This one is a regional one so it's smaller but the national gatherings are the big ones and usually bring the most people.” explained the Old Man.
The taxi was moving faster by now and was out of the main downtown core of Spokane but still whisking through the concrete jungle. They were sitting at a traffic light by the city's biggest shopping mall when Steve reached forward and pushed in the car's cigarette lighter.
“You fellas wont croak if I smoke in here will you?” Steve asked them full well knowing they wouldn’t care.
“Shit! You mean we can smoke in here!” exclaimed the Kid.
The car's lighter pop'd out and Steve lit his cigarette. “It's your guys' car, you paid for it. I just drive it.”
“Fuck yeah, can you smoke in all the cabs in this town?” asked the kid as he pulled out a crunched up pack of Marlboro’s, pulled out two cigarette's and gave one to the Old Man. Steve was thinking about how when he first saw this Kid his initial thought was he would bum a smoke, instead he was smoking name brands. Steve would have to roll his next one. Things are never what you expect he thought to himself, accelerating past the countless fast food restaurants on Spokane's north side.
“It depends on the cab driver, some wont let you smoke in the cab but most drivers don’t give a shit because well, most smoke too.” replied Steve.
“Well you seem like a good driver thanks for letting us smoke in here man” said the Kid.
“Thanks broski and no problem.” Steve was wondering about the older guy's story. “So did you get here from Maine too?”
“No I'm from California,” replied the old man, “I'm getting too old to hitch hike anymore so I just took the greyhound up.
“Oh damn, how many days did that take?”
“Just two, it wasn’t bad but the ticket prices are what kills you. How long have you been driving taxi?”
“A couple of years now.”
“What's the craziest thing you've seen?” asked the Kid.
“Probably the guy who pulled a knife on me then later dropped a $70 dollar tip on the seat.”
“Holy shit what?!”
“Yeah he was shit faced wasted this one night and asked me for my card so I gave it to him. He said that he wanted a card with my personal number on it not the cab company's. I told him it was indeed my personal number and that taxi drivers are essentially self employed. He didn’t believe that, and pulled a knife. Said he was going to call the number on it and if my phone didn't ring I was dead. Well it being my 2nd night ever driving a taxi I just kept on going to his house not realizing I should have just pulled over and got the fuck out. I was telling myself Verizon.. you better not fail me now or I'm suing for injury and loss of profits.” The old man and the kid got a kick out of that and laughed about how crazy the whole situation was. “So anyway he called my phone and thank god it rings. I held it up to him since he was sitting shotgun so he could see the number on the screen and asked if it was his. He looked at me in a confused drunken way and said he was sorry. I told him it was alright dude just put your knife away. That’s where he snapped at me and told me to never call him dude. By this point he was getting out of the cab as we were at his house. I told him I'd never call him dude again and he threw 80 bucks on the seat for a 12 dollar fare.”
“Wow that’s scary shit,” said the old man, “Did you call the cops?”
“Nope I wasn’t hurt, he was just wasted out of his mind, and I got a massive tip so I just kinda shrugged it off and went about the night.” Steve replied.
“Crazy I bet you meet all kinds of people like that.” said the Kid.
“Dangerous too.” added the Old Man.
Steve nodded his head in agreement, “Yeah you meet just about every kind of person in this gig.” Steve said. By now they were past the Division street “Y” where the road splits into highway 2 and highway 395. They were on 2, moving at a good speed of about 55mph heading further north past smaller and smaller strip malls until the city finally yielded to the countryside. The Forest was getting closer by the minute.
“We must be getting close now huh?” asked the Old Man.
“About halfway to the lake, after that I'm not sure how much further.” Steve said.
“Okay cool.”
“So how long does this Rainbow thing last for? I'm off on Sunday and Monday.”
“Oh shit it lasts for weeks, and some people stay around longer than that. This is only a regional meeting but the national meetings can last for months on end. I've been going to these things for almost 20 years now.”
“So I could come up here again on Sunday and camp out and get baked with you guys?”
“Fuck yeah man you're more welcome at our camp.”
“Sweet me and my old lady will just have to go camping this weekend. I'll bring my guitar and she can bring the pot fuck yeah.” Steve was getting excited at the idea of going camping, he loved to go play in the woods.
“You just cant bring any alcohol if you do come. They wont allow it and if they find out you have any they will ask you to leave.” the Old Man explained.
“Oh shitty, but I can kinda understand why.” Steve said.
“Yeah too many fights and stuff when people get drunk,” the Kid said.
“What happens is somebody will get smashed and lose something, then start accusing other people of taking whatever it is they lost and next thing you know all hell breaks loose. Everyone is completely tanked and nobody wants to back down so yeah.. you know how it play's out” the Old man continued. “They just ended up deciding to ban alcohol there all together, they don’t mind if you get drunk up there but just not at their camp.”
“So there's food and stuff too?” Steve was curious about this.
“Yep some people come in with big huge barbeques and camp stoves. Cook all kinds of stuff from pancakes and bacon to steaks and all kinds of other stuff.” The Old Man told him.
Steve could feel his stomach growling at him, “Yummy sounds bomb as fuck to have when you're camping out in the woods getting stoned all day.”
“Yeah this is the first gathering for me,” The Kid said, “It's going to be awesome, you and your girlfriend should definitely come up.”
“I'm prety sure we will.” Said Steve. He was sold on the idea.
They were driving through thick forest now. The air was much cooler as they climbed in elevation through the hills past the small Sacheen Lake. Plants were waking up from their winter slumber, blooming into colorful springtime flowers that seemed to greet them as they drove past. “Okay guys from this point on I have no clue where the fuck I'm at.” Steve told his fares. They laughed it off confident they were heading the right direction.
“You're doing good man. I'm sure you'll get us there.” The Old Man assured him.
“Yeah I Just hope that lady wrote down the right directions.” The kid said laughing as he reached into his coat pocket for his cigarettes.
“Oh she did this has got to be the right area.” The Old Man said. “This is the Collville forest right?”
“Yeah purdy close to it, its further north but it's essentially the same woods.” Said Steve.
“Good then were defiantly going the right way.”
They turned down the next street on the directions as the woods on one side of the road started to get thinner and thinner. Eventually they were in farm country on one side, and thick heavy forest on the other side of them. Steve had underestimated the cost of the fare. He thought the lake was about 25miles or so from downtown but in reality it was closer to 40 miles. The meter kept going further and further past the $60 deal he had made with the Old Man. It was now getting to be almost a $90 fare and they still had to find one more road to go down.
“You're not going to charge us that $90 are you?” Asked the Kid. “I've heard of some cab drivers making deals and then not honoring them just to call the cops.”
“Nope you guys don’t worry about the meter, I always hold up to my word,” Steve told him, “I'm only running that for my paperwork so I can make it match the mileage on the cab at the end of my shift.”
“Okay cool thanks man.”
“No problem broski.”
“Damn I'm glad I didn’t decide to walk all the way up here,” the Old Man said. “10 years ago it would have been no problem, but I'm about to turn 81.”
Steve's eyebrows raised in surprise, “Wow you look good for an 81 year old. No homo.”
The old man laughed, “Yeah I've outlived a lot of my friends. Even the ones who didn't smoke or drink. I'm telling you the secret to long life is to drink and smoke.”
“Expert medical advice,” the Kid said.
“Yeah no kidding,” Steve said laughing with them. “Oh look here's the road.”
The taxi turned off from pavement for the first time on their trip, and onto a bumpy dirt forest service road, barely wide enough for a single vehicle and ruts so deep the car almost steered itself. Signs saying rainbow that were written on paper plates and posted up by the entrance told them indeed they had gotten the right directions. The air up here was far more brisk than when they were on the outskirts of Spokane. The woods were thick and dark, the ground still muddy from the winter thaw. They bounced around inside the cab even though Steve was driving as slow as he could without coming to a dead stop.
“I guess these Neon's aren’t meant to go off-roading around the forest.” Steve said as his head bounced off the ceiling for a third time.
“Yeah no shit,” the Old Man agreed.
“I just hope this piece of shit doesn’t decide to break down up here. That would be my luck.” Steve was honestly starting to worry, he know the electrical system in that cab wasn’t the most reliable, and had left him sitting on the side of the road more than a few times.
“I bet your boss would be pissed if he you broke down way up here.” The Kid said.
“Yeah he would. But he'd cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it.” said Steve. “Hey I think I see some tents up ahead.” They were driving past a small clearing on their left where a couple of girls were camped out next to a strong flowing creek.
“Hey pull in there,” said the Old Man leaning forward pointing towards the two girls.
“This the Rainbow?” Hollered the Kid who was poking his head out of the back window.
“What?” Came the confused reply back from one of the girls. Steve could see the look on her face and was smiling back at her. Without a doubt she was blown away at seeing a taxi cab this far up in the forest. “You mean the bus full of hippies?”
“Yeah” the whole cab responded to her all at once.
“Well you keep going down this road,” she explained pointing towards the way we were heading further into the forest. “Stay to the right on the first fork, and keep going till you get to the second fork. Stay to the right of that one also and go a bit further down till you come to a bridge. Once you cross it you will see their bus, you cant miss it.” She told them. Her and her friend were obviously surprised to see anyone taking a taxi up to the woods.
“Okay thank you,” was the response from the taxi as they pulled back onto the forest service road and kept going deeper into the woods.
“Did you see the look on their faces,” the Old Man said.
“They sure didn’t expect a taxi cab to drive up to their camp site did they.” replied Steve.
They laughed even more at the looks they got from a couple guys in a work truck further down the road. Everyone they went by was surprised, almost confused to see a cab from the city up in the forest. They passed the second fork in the road and were now heading up a steep hill that had a tiny creek flowing along side it. The water looked as clear as tap water.
“I bet you could drink that water right there.” Steve said, “That’s glacier water. Winter runoff. Don t get much cleaner than that.”
“Fuck yeah but don’t be surprised if you get the shits for a few days after,” said the old man. “Some people get really bad shits drinking mountain water straight from the stream.”
“Yup I used to,” Steve responded, “But over the past few years it hasn’t bothered me much really. I camp a lot too.”
“Shit I camp everyday,” said the kid, “Haven’t had a house in almost three years.”
“Damn that sucks bro,” Steve told him
“Not really.”
“You don’t mind not having a home?”
“I do have a home, just not in the context you see a home.” The Kid started to explain, “You see the whole world is my home. The whole world is my bedroom, my kitchen, my living room, and yes, even my bathroom. It all depends on how you look at it. Some people would kill themselves before living on the streets but then again some people turn it into the best years of their lives. It all depends on your outlook.”
Steve's right eyebrow was crocked up and he was nodding in agreement, “Well I cant argue with that. I can see your point there.”
“Sometimes it sucks, like when you're hungry and cant find a scrap of food cuz every dumpster you walk past has locks on them, or when it's cold and windy or rainy and you're stuck outside but you have to take it in stride; no matter what you do in life there is always some aspect of it that will suck.” The kid told him.
“You're damn right about that,” the Old Man said, “I've been traveling all over North and South America almost my entire adult life. I've seen places and met people and done things I'd otherwise have never done staying in one place. There are the days where it sucks but if I could go back in time I don’t think I'd change much in my 81 years.
The taxi clattered as it went across the bumpy wooden bridge crossing one of the streams carving its way down the hill. Just as the girls had told them they saw the big white school bus off in the distance to the right. They had made it.
“Looks like that's the spot there,” Steve announced gesturing towards the roof of the school bus. The cab reached the top of the hill and the Rainbow camp was now clearly visible just off the road a few dozen meters. Steve pulled the taxi as close to the edge of the narrow logging road as he could and put it in park and stopped the meter which had a fare of around $140 showing.
“Well here you go fellas, it was awesome meeting you guys and this is defiantly a ride I will remember.” Steve told them as he was getting out of the cab. It felt good to stretch his legs after the hour or so long ride. “Here let me get your bags fellas.” Steve pop'd the trunk open and pulled out their heavy packs.
“Hey guys glad you could make it. Welcome to the Rainbow,” came the voice of one of the campers, as he approached the cab. His long gray hair and beard were soaking like they were just washed in the stream. Steve couldn’t believe he wasn’t wearing shoes. It was a lot cooler up here than back downtown.
“Hey brother!” exclaimed the old man, shaking his hand and giving him a hug as though they were long time friends. “This kid here has never been to a gathering before so we gotta show him a good time.”
“Oh we will, everyone has a good time here.” Said the camper, helping grab one of their back packs.
“Well here's your stuff guys and hopefully I run into you fellas on Sunday.” Steve said handing The old man his army duffel bag.
“Yeah you and your old lady should really show up, you'll have a blast. Here you go.” Said the old man as he handed Steve a $100 bill.
Steve wasn’t expecting a bill that big, “One second lemme get you your change,” he said closing the trunk and heading back towards the driver seat.
“No man you keep the change.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah you were cool and were honest; you earned it. Just show up on Sunday we plan to be here for a few weeks at least. You'll have a good time”
“You got a deal brother,” Steve said thanking him for his generosity and shaking his hand. “See you guys in a couple of days.”
“Fuck yeah” said the Kid as he was walking away from the cab towards the Rainbow gathering. “You better!”
“Well I got nothing better to do,” Steve replied opening the drivers side door. “Beats sitting in my motor home at the Walmart parking lot all weekend.”
Steve got into his cab and honked as he drove away, down the hill and back towards town. Fuck yeah, he thought. I'm totally coming back up here on my weekend.
