Riding on Ken Kesey's Bus

The bus known as Furthur is famous for housing Northwest writer Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters on a road trip across the country where they experimented with LSD. This bus, a symbol of the hippie-movement, sat on the corner of 13th and Kincaid the other day before classes. After climbing inside and resting on one of the various couches hidden by a tapestry, I examined the art covering every inch of the bus. The background was neon splatter paint chaos, with random pop icons from the 60's glued sporadically to the walls. Random words of revolution were pasted as well, the overall picture being simultaneously beautiful, creative, and cliche.

After socializing with a couple of friends for about 10 minutes inside the bus, we were told by a man, who we would later discover to be Kesey's son, Zane, that we could either leave or drive around with them until they reached their next location in downtown Eugene. Being the insane people we are, we decided to stay and experience what Furthur had to offer.

Zane blasted music that played both inside and outside of the van, consisting of a playlist of songs from the 60's such as Everybody Must Get Stoned, Ballroom Blitz, and In the Jungle. When driving by, everybody was stoked to see the bus, waving, yelling, and even at one point having a skateboarder cling onto the back until we took a turn onto a busy road.

30 minutes later, however, when the excitement of seeing the communities response to the bus dimmed down, people on the bus began to get a little impatient. Instead of continuing to dance and sing, people began to pull out their cell phones and take pictures of themselves to 'put on their facebook'. One man on the bus, a friendly reporter from the Wall Street Journal, began interviewing people on their knowledge of Kesey, family histories, and ties to the Northwest.

By the end of the ride, the glitter of stepping into the 60's seemed to be wiped away.  The cliche-ness of the event was unavoidable, that even though it had been a fun day, it was merely a glimpse into a world we could never truly participate in. The moment we stepped off the bus, we reentered the breathing world, leaving behind Further and the history that went along with it.