And we're off...

Working in Riverside, I waited for Bryna to join me, talking incessantly about her to anyone trapped in the car with me as we dropped flyers at every video store, record store, 7-11, and campus in the area.

Mike, co-owner of Spike and Mike had seen me bounce around from girl to girl. I wanted him to know how sincere I was about Bryna. I was having a hard time convincing him, but I figured when he met her and saw us together he'd understand.

I wasn't the only person asking Bryna to be the love of my life and when things with a coworker in Yosemite got uncomfortable she came down to Riverside early. Pete and I were already crowded in the studio apartment the festival had rented us. With Bryna added to the mix it would have been unbearable had we not all gotten used to cohabitating in Pete's VW Bus.

One of my coworkers asked why we were together when we fought all the time.

"What are you talking about? We haven't had a single fight since she's been here?" I asked, getting defensive.

"You were just fighting last night about politics."

"Oh that. That's not fighting. That's just what we do. There's no hard feelings. We enjoye debating."

"Okay. Call it what you want."

Pete decided he was sick of baths and so took a shower despite our apartments lack of a shower curtain. He had a simple solution. When he was done, he spread out his newspaper all over the floor, figuring he'd just scoop it up and toss it when he got home. That night, as we chiseled newspaper off the floor with a spatula and tried in vain to scrub the newsprint stains off of the bathroom tiles, Bryna may have started to feel the need for space. And so Bryna was happy to answer the call when my brother Erick's wife broke her leg and needed help managing her three littlee monsters, my nephews.

I visited my brothers on Bryna's second day there. Sitting on the porch, drinking malt liquor, Erick leaned toward me. "Dude, did you see her with those kids? This girl is mommy material. If you let her get away, or turn her into a lesbian I'm going to kick your ass."

While I had no desire to see Bryna being a mommy anytime soon I appreciated my brother's sentiment.

Mike was equally impressed when he hired her to work the t-shirt booth at the weekend shows. "I'm telling you Mike, she's the one." I told him after he'd spent most of the night playfully flirting with her.

The show came to a close, and we said goodbye to Mike and Pete and the rest of the crew. We loaded the bus up with more stuff than you'd think would fit and Bryna then added a few well placed pillows and blanket and made it look like a home.

Armed with a pile of cassette tapes, an atm card with access to not nearly enough money and a few credit cards, we headed to our first destination; San Diego. Just me and my sweetheart rolling down the highway.

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