So its time to do the annual August trip and I am glad you have decided to join me for this one. It will be fun as I will be doing 10 shows in 13 days and having a ton more adventures in between. Getting Started...

I went to go pick up the rental vehicle, expecting a Dodge Magnum but they were out of cars despite my reserving the car two weeks ago. So I waited around and the first thing that was available was a Dodge Grand Caravan. A mini-van cross-country? I know, I was peeved but it does have the space I needed and it was time to go. I went home to take care of few things and never got anything done. I slept a long time and so I ended up leaving on SF 6 hours later than expected but I needed the sleep so bad. I needed the sleep so bad that I pulled over a couple times and took naps later in the day. Crazy, I know but more on that later.

July 30th
450 miles

I broke out of the Bay and did some good time up to Vacaville until I could resist my hunger no longer. I pulled over to the Oak Tree, or something tree, restaurant to get my pancake on but the place was packed. I was getting dirty looks from the 65+ crowd but I held my ground and found a seat at the counter. The service was aiiight and my company great (the couple next to me was comparing their kids to everyone else's kids...ya know suburbia gossip)and the food was ok considering I walked out of there having spent less than $10. Fully full, I got back into my full-size vehicle and headed north. The drive was pretty easy as there was minimal traffic. I drove for a bit until I got out of the Sac area and found a rest stop to try out my new sleeping quarters. It appears that all my gear perfectly makes a frame around my sleeping bag and pillow allowing me to feel like I am in a bed but without my feet hanging off. That's right, plenty of room for the old footsies. I took a little nap, about 1.5 hours in the blazing sauna like comfort of the Grand Caravan (GC). After I got my drool on, I drove on only to stop a few hours later to take another sweaty nap at a rest stop in Nevada.

This reststop appeared to be heaven as it had plenty of parking a lot of open space and tons of individual bathrooms. I went to use one and went inside to find that these were outhouses but non like i had ever seen. There was a toilet bowl but it emptied into a deep dark vast black hole. I couldn't look down. I felt as though I were being sucked in. It was like Trainspotting except I wasn't high. After the deed was done and I escaped the Black Hole I returned to the GC for the afore mentioned nap. This time I was out for about 1 hour. After all this I was in need of lunch and some coffee to make my next trek.

I pulled into a small town with a population of 28. It seemed all 28 of them worked at this truck stop. I rolled up to the Subway counter (I'm back on the Jared plan) to find a lady that absolutely hated her job. She must have been the most unhappy worker anywhere. She had super thick glasses on and couldn't remember anything the guy in front of me wanted. he had to walk her through making the sandwich because she was so unwilling. Maybe somebody didn't show up for their shift or something but she was not happy when I walked up. It took a good fifteen minutes to make my veggie sandwich and then she took my money and walked away. I grabbed my sandwich, my fallen cup (she tossed my sandwich at me) and my change and I was on my way. The sandwich ended up being pretty good but that was probably due to all the care she put into it.

I drove for a bit more before I finally pulled into Battle Mountain, Nevada to rest up for the night. The lady at the counter was great and I got a nice room. I got all my stuff in and headed over to the hot tub because I can't resist bubbling water. I met some nice people over there who were up from Phoenix attending fire school. Apparently there is a school on how to put out fires and these guys were young fire fighters. Interesante. I settled back into the room, showered and it was time for a long night's sleep. I was so tired and I just needed to be dead to the world. Not bad for a first day out though.

Near Arco Arena in Sacto. This one is for you C-machine.

Much of my view so far. Desolate yet heavenly.

7/31
470 miles

I woke up in my Battle Mountain hotel room later than expected and quickly got out and moving. I noticed a little cafe just before the freeway so I stopped in to have something other than truck stop coffee. The prices were super cheap but I opted to get the BM Caramocha which was about par for SF prices. You know, you have to order the thing that is named after the town. It was grubbing. I downed it with ease and licked the cup clean (not really...or did I?). I got to the on ramp and I was introduced to the first bit of construction on the trip. If you have never driven cross country before, you must know that July/August is construction time because it is so hot,they can get things done. I sat at the on ramp for 15 minutes before we could enter the freeway.

I eventually got into Utah and the state of Mormons would be the state that would provide the greatest art display I have ever seen in my travels. Utah is more beautiful than it is weird. The first thing I saw when I got into Utah was a guy on his ATV zooming across the horizon. I felt like i was watching a movie. When do you ever see somebody busting out in the middle of nowhere jumping off hills. That was cool. I felt like a kid for a second before the lameness of the adult in me showed up to say "hey, that guy could get hurt." Thank heaven I work with kids so I don't lose that boyish silliness altogether.

Anyhoot, I got moving again and it started to rain as I got to the Salt Flats of Utah. This was the first majestic scene. Clear , unmoving water with mountains in the background floating on top of it. It was so cool. I pulled over to take it in and to use the lieu and there I read that just before the mountains is the "1 mile land speed" track where they try to break world records. Apparently the world record is almost 700 mph. I think they just did a movie about it. That was interesting.

I finally reached Salt Lake City and pulled off to find the very helpful Kinko's I had found the year earlier. Since SLC is so easily laid out I came within two blocks of finding it by memory and then I called my boy Google and he/she/it hooked me up. I did a bit of work there and got my parking validated and was on my way again. After leaving SLC it really started to rain hard. I mean hard. I mean like the rain warmed its pimp hand and unleashed a smack on me as I tried to map out my next move. I found a Subway for lunch and enjoyed it despite being drenched in my shorts to and from the car. I ditched I-80 and jumped on I-15 instead. I tried to outsmart the weather and the traffic and jumped over to 6 to cut down to I-70.

This was the moment, one of the greatest things I have ever been privileged to be a part of. If you ever get a chance drive Utah's 6. It is gorgeous. Picture this: You're on a winding road going through the mountain chain at 60mph. At first you see regular mountains and then they begin to transform into shapes and coming out of the sides to make an art gallery of the greatest of sides. You're thinking that's nice and cute and all but you are only mildly impressed. But then, someone or something takes the opportunity to open you eyes to the perfect moment, sculpted especially for you. Conveniently enough Denali's "Do Something" (slow driving angels singing type rock music ...for those that don't know)comes up on my ipod and is blaring. The sun is just about set and faintly purplish. The mountain shapes are stepping out even further to greet every turn you make. You turn around a long bend and directly in front of you are two mountains making a v-neck for the sky filled with lightning. Right at that moment, that the lighting hits, the sky lights up and Maura Davis is yelling at you. For a second you feel disconnected from all that you are doing and you are just suspended in that blast of senses. Wow! I mean come on! I think that is what the gates of heaven look like because it was unreal. .................I almost lost it. I was yelling at the top of my lungs. That was definitely a moment designed for me to remind me why I do these crazy things. I wish I could have taken a picture but i would have surely swerved and fallen to a very sad death. I didn't and so I didn't.

Now that I have filled you with envy, I will continue. I finally reached the end of Hwy 6 and jumped on I-70 in the dark of night. I drove on in terrible weather to finally find a motel 6 I could collapse in. they left the light on for me but it was flickering bad due to the storm. I finally got the room after hearing stories of the night attendant's log. They almost forgot I was there. I passed out instantly.

Much of the view of Nevada and Utah. Unfortunately no pictures of HWY6.

The Salt Flats...look, floating mountains.

8/1
550 Miles

I woke up late again and headed over to a diner I had past the night before. Ben's was a classic diner that served southwest style food in addition to the typical. The place was empty except for one table with a dad and his boys slopping down pancakes. The waitress was nice but she had a quick tongue as well as she was constantly reminding the teenage bus boy what to do why he jokingly talked back. I ordered the huevos chorizo and some coffee and that would be the meal to last me the rest of the day. I ate later out of routine and fear of not finding anything else but my belly was full. The scene was hilarious because while I ate, the back and forth of the waitress and the bus boy was interrupted only by the singalongs of patriotic country songs. I finished up and left the sleepy side-of-the-road town of Green River, Utah.

I drove a bit before it was time to find gas and I pulled off to not find gas but a post office, the other thing I had to do today. I mailed off my rent check and a couple of postcards. I got back on the road again, found gas a bit later as now I was in Colorado. The mountains in Co. were pretty nice and one of them being a carving of the sphinx in the side of the hill. I passed it so quick that I didn't have a chance to stop. It was in the middle of nowhere, there was no pull off to check it out. Strange.

I stopped in Parachute, Co. to use the little boys room. I read the historical note posted there about Kid Curry and the last train robbery of the Old West. I read up more about the story and it's a good one, so here is your little synopsis; Kid Curry was Harvey Logan and he tried to be a lawful man throughout his life but all of his attempts at making legit money failed and he found himself into a bit of trouble. His family story is a long bumpy story with tales of love, killings,ya know the usual. Once he had killed a sheriff, been arrested and broke out of jail, he joined the Butch Cassidy's crew and got in all kinds of trouble. He robbed trains, banks, etc and always seemed to get his way out of the situations. They were a smart bunch. Even after all the Butch cassidy stuff he tried to go legit but it failed and so he went on a little spree, the last of them being in Parachute, Co.; a job Butch had always wanted to do but never did. The story goes that his plan worked perfectly but there was only $50 on the train instead of the projected $50,000. They took what they could and began running. A posse followed them and there was a shootout in a near by town. Kid Curry held them off long enough so his buddies could get away. Some reports say he then shot himself in a field just a few miles from the battle but others say he escaped to South America and lived on. Either way a cool story. If you google Kid Curry there is tons of stuff for the historically curious. My research is just beginning.

Now that the history lesson is over, read on for the usual:

The freeway followed the brown water of the Colorado River as we swerved in and out of the sides of mountains and passed Vail, the famous ski spot. The houses in Vail were out a story book of the North Pole with the funny roof and the prominent chimney. I stopped in Georgetown, Co. for a little nap and to grab some Subway before I made off again. This time the lady gave me so much lettuce, it was a salad instead of a sandwich. I was making good time as I approached Denver and I was hoping to stop off and drive around a bit but as I approached Denver so did the storm. I got into Denver and it was a big wall of white. Nothing could be seen in any direction , accept the tail lights in front of me. I hydroplaned across the city and tried to outrun the storm as I pulled into Kansas.

I did a good job of beating the storm but every time I stopped it caught up. I finally gave up and pulled into Goodland, Kansas, a little ways inside the state border. I found my hotel , then tried to find food but got lost and so I retreated back and got some of the those nasty gas station nachos to put me away for the night. The hotel had free wireless so I made good use of that and stayed up late, again.

Some shots of the road

Kid Curry via Wikipedia

8/2
760 miles

I woke up and drove back into the main strip of town trying to find a diner but I got lost and gave up. I stopped at the gas station where I had my nacho feast the night before and got some coffee and donuts. I drove on a bit until I found a TA truckstop and pulled over to have a proper breakfast and to use the wireless to update this here journal. I had eggs, texas toast, bacon and hash browns for less than $5. Awesome! Money is getting tight at this point and diner food/Subway is working nice for my budget. I spent a ton of time online working out the finer details of my first few days before getting back on the road.

In the land of Dorothy, I drove on forever in a storm and as I remembered my childhood name of Toto I started to get nervous about the weather outside. I drove , it caught up, I drove , it caught up over and over again. I managed to pass up the opportunity to see the 8000lb prairie dog, the 5-legged cow and the Oz museum. Kansas' plethora of abortion homemade billboards also reminded me that I should thank my mom for choosing life. Thanks Mom! ...but this is no place to make fun of people for their politics so I move on.

Next up came the scary part. The storm was ridiculous and everyone was driving normally, including myself, until we saw the overturned camper on the other side of the road and then 3 miles up I-70 was closed for an exit. We took a long slow detour on a dirt road and finally got back to the freeway. Apparently a truck and taken a dive and there was attention needed. I hoped no one was hurt as I drove on with a sick feeling in my stomach. Thankfully I got a call on the phone that kept my mind occupied on other things.

I finally got out of Kansas as I paid a toll to leave the state. I thought that was funny. I imagined them saying,"Well we won't get any more money out of him so we better charge him to leave," as I pulled away. I guess I will never get used to paying to use the highways. Anyhoot, I drove on through the storm in Missouri and tried to make my way down to Saint Louis and the Atomic Cowboy (the coolest bar in STL) where I had scheduled myself to be the night before. I wanted to pay a visit in thanks as I was taken care of when I was there in April. I pulled in around 12:30am and they weren't serving food anymore so I had missed the owner, missed my chance to say thanks and missed dinner. I was so bummed.

I headed back up to the freeway and found the little town of Truesdale/Warrenton. I saw a Waffle House and immediately began craving the hash browns covered in onions and cheese. I went in to get my late night dinner on and sat down to see the waiter in a cutoff and army pants and once cook yelling up a storm. Apparently, someone had drove a forklift into the main gas line just outside of town and it knocked out the gas in the whole area. The waiter had managed to patch things up at the restaurant and they were back in business just two hours prior to my arrival. I didn't realize how privileged I was to have that meal until I checked into a nearby hotel that warned me of the cold shower that was to come. I got a sweet room for $40 and so I took it. I wasn't worried about the cold shower just yet. I finally crawled into bed around 3:30am as I set to get up early and head to Michigan.

8/3
565 miles

I woke up a little later than I hoped but earlier than I had in the recent days. I took that wonderfully cold shower that I was talking about. It was the only time I had shivered on the whole trip. Even when it was raining terribly it was still warm but nothing could be as cold as that shower. Still feeling the effects of my late night meal I went to go check out a music store I had scene from the freeway the night before. My luck would have it that they were open by 9am, they had guitars that were cheap and they had one I wanted. Sweet, I bought it. I was looking for a new guitar for school and this puppy would be it. It's a cute little diddy.

After flexing my credit, I got back on the road to head north to Michigan. I made very few stops as I moved up I-55 through Illinois and then cut right into Indiana to avoid the traffic of Chicago. I have sat through that too many times to know to stay away. In the end, the going through of small towns and being stuck in one-lanes behind trucks saved me a half hour if not more with all that traffic. I finally got up into Michigan only to hit more construction and then an odd slow down while three men were arrested and their van looked through for goodies. That was a fun one.

I pulled into Lansing and found my way to the Gone Wired cafe where I would be playing the following evening. I called my friend Jenilyn to meet up and hang a bit before I figured out what to do for dinner and a place to sleep. I tried to reserve some floor space at her place but a house full of ladies and a naked boy on the floor don't make for easy living so I found the Motel 6. I ended grabbing a bite at Denny's, right in front of the motel and then staying up because I was finally going to be stationary for a few days.

8/4
20 miles

I woke late and just in time to renew my room for the coming night so I could sleep in and have someplace to stay after tonight's show; the first show of the tour. I was woke up again later by the one fly in the room. I felt like Donald Duck ready to destroy the room in order to kill that one fly. That fly bugged me for the two days I was in that room. anyhoot, I finally woke up and tried to find some coffee. Apparently there are no mom-and-pop shops where I was staying. I went to Barnes and Noble and had to settle on Starbucks because I couldn't take gas station coffee anymore. Then I ran a bunch of errands, SF style and hit up Target and Office Max and then on to Kinko's to print some flyers and update the site.

After all that I went back to the motel and started putting together the cd packages i have created for the new compilation of demos that I just put together. called the Sounds of Streets. I realized I forgot to get something so I went back to office max, grabbed a subway sandwich and back to making stuff. I finished up, practiced a bit, got ready and got out so I could get to the venue on time. I didn't know my way there so I called up the homies and we rolled swingers-style to Gone Wired.

Gone Wired is a cool cafe in that it has good coffee, is multi-leveled and has free internet and access to computers. the place was packed upstairs and we had a small crowd brewing. Mainly there were a few friends and we coaxed a few people over with our sweet sounds. I was up first and I brought the SF songwriter stuff hard while I was sweating up a storm in the non-air conditioned section. My fans were there; my friends , a couple of new young ladies including the funny wonderful Kayla and gents and about half a dozen 5 year olds. they were going nuts for my stuff and dancing up a storm. I bet you didn't know, I am huge in preschool.

I had fun and then The Fabulous Heftones were up next. They do covers of songs from the 1800's and early 1900' s that are both beautiful and funny. They are a bass and ukulele duo that gets more from there sound than you could imagine. Lynn is on bass and she has a beautiful voice and Brian on the ukulele and he doesn't fool around. He was going nuts on that thing like he was the Josh Zee of the uke. His voice was great as well but in a whole different way. He could make it bend all sorts of ways to sound like a cartoon character, a trumpet, or just a regular sweet voice. They played some great stuff with some silly favorites like I Love Me and The Verander. They were tons of fun. Daniel the Minstrel finished off with some of his tunes and a few covers. He is a great songwriter and he has the feel of a fragile voice but out comes the power whenever he needs it. It is was nice to play with some good people, who were good people. Ya know Vern?

Nothing could top an awesome night like this like a cheap meal at Tbell's and another no sleeper.

my biggest/smallest fan ever dancing while I sweat to the oldies.

The Fabulous Heftones.

Daniel the Minstrel

8/5
205 miles

Today, I finally was able to find a non-Starbucks cafe but later found out they own Michigan and Starbucks is considered a little guy. Strange, very strange. At least they have free wireless and some really good coffee. I hung out for a bit and updated the journal.

I was moving slowly so I headed out toward Daniel's house, which was in Perinton, MI, a little late. He emailed me easy directions but for some reason. I could not follow them. Initially I missed the exit, found a rest area to look at a map and realized I had gone too far. I drove back, found my exit and then proceeded to drive up and down the same road in Maple Rapids for an hour trying to find the sign. I never saw the sign. What was worse was that I was getting no cell phone reception so I couldn't call him and I was out in the middle of nowhere, so there was no one to stop and ask. It was very frustrating. Finally I found a spot where I could call him and he was able to come and rescue me and lead me back to his place.

Daniel lives on a farm, I believe a dairy farm but not sure. There are a couple other houses on the farm that surrounds a little pond where all the kids go nuts . He has a big family, many siblings. They all work and live, go to school on the farm. His brothers shook my hand and almost broke it with their grip. This is real country life. There were pigs in the yard, fresh squeezed milk (he he ), and eggs; the works. The place was very cool. Too many bugs for my liking but what's a little blood shared between species.

We spent our first few moments of arriving with Daniel's car alarm randomly going off and never stopping. He finally had to dismantle it before we could do anything else. I was two hours late and so we had no time to jam like we thought we would so we just headed up to Mt. Pleasant for the show. Once again, we got lost. We eventually pulled over to get gas and directions and realized we were a block off of where we thought we should have been. We found the Brass Saloon and unloaded.

We stepped in to find a beautiful bar with a little area, next to the piano, for us to perform in. We met all the nice people working, got setup and starting playing for the staff. This was a four hour gig and it started looking bad. About 1.5 hours into the gig, some folks came and sat down in our section to listen and hang out. We soon found out that we were playing in the smoking section and as our voices filled the room so the smoke filled our lungs. We had a grand old time switching off and playing our stuff and eventually we did have the crowd we were expecting.

Daniel had jumped on a couple of my songs and one of our faithful listeners runs up to tell us he loved it. He starts asking us to play together on every song to see what it sounds like. He later tells us that he is a producer that lives part time here and in Nashville and wants to put some of this together. So we played on each other's stuff the rest of the night and he loved it. We'll see what comes of that but it was great that he and his wife were listening so attentively. On top of our pay for the gig we made another $60 in tips and so we celebrated by spending a good chunk on some slightly-better-than-chain mexican food. We slurped it down and headed back to the farm for some well deserved rest. Daniel and his family took care of me and I climbed in to bed and prepared myself for the bug feast.

Tidbits: I saw a sign for "Hubcaps to Go." I am guessing you can drive up and order a couple Ford S-10 caps and a side of fries. Oh so silly.

8/6
60 miles

I awoke to find the house was empty and the family had left my pagan-self alone to sleep while they went to church. I quickly found out that they had left me all sorts of notes to help me on my way. Daniel had given me some free merch so I could love it and share it with the world. They had put out a bunch of breakfast stuff for me and made me coffee. Wowsers! Better than a hotel and it was all free. I felt like I should have left a tip but I wouldn't have been able to aptly repay them in anyway. I have got some tricks up my sleeve so Daniel, if you're reading this. Watch out, its coming.

I headed back to Lansing and found the same coffee shop to sit and update things while I sipped the good stuff. Conveniently across the street was a laundromat so I could get the funk out of my clothes. I was also able to catch up on some much neglected work. Once all clean I met up with some friends for some last day in Lansing sort of fun. It included more coffee, shopping for some knickknacks, seeing the old haunts , and wolfing down some pizza. I was able to score a floor to sleep on and got upgraded to a short futon (no complaints) but I copied every cd I could find before I finally hit the sack. It was a great day off but I was still so sleepy.

8/7
295 miles

Got up around 7am because my host kicked me out to go to work and I was able to get a few things done that I have not yet. I hit the post office to mail off a disc to a kiddie of mine and then on to a local coffee shop for some coffee and more free wireless. After a couple hours there I went to a couple of music shops, I had scouted the day before. This time there were no purchases, only drooling. I will be back in Lansing in a week or so and then the purchases may begin. I am so addicted to gear. Make it stop, but don't make it stop. Help me buy more. Click the donation button on the front page. I just need one more and then I can stop. Please!

Sorry, I was off my medication for a second there and now that I am reunited with my guitars , we can move on....I bolted out of Michigan and was making good time, not to mention the time zone benefit of driving west, so I pulled over at an Indiana TA for some alone time with more wireless. I updated like ten things and added some purchasing power to the website. Fun stuff. After draining the battery and my internet access time, I headed on for more driving.

It was smooth sailing into Chicago, right up until I hit the heart of I-90/94. That was to be expected. Once I found the club and knew where I was, I decided to find the hotel my sister had so graciously set up for me to stay for the night. The only problem was it took me 3 hours to drive 20 miles because the construction made life hell. I finally found my exit and rolled through South Chicago to get there. I was a bit nervous but I put on my pissed face that teachers are trained to have, tucked my beanie a little low and powered through the green lights. Only a couple times was I actually in fear of being the white tourist in the wrong place but I made it though. I got to the hotel and checked in to find that it was a palace. I only had a few minutes to change but I was blown away by what I was going to be returning to. SO awesome. I love you Jules! I bolted out and using my extensive map skills and memory, I was able to get back to the club just as my set was supposed to be starting. I ran in to find the place empty and two of the other artists sitting patiently in the stage area . Apparently I was early.

We all sat around and talked smack about where we were from, our t ours, etc. It was good time because the show was a dud otherwise. There were a few people there so we basically played for ourselves. That was enough of a treat to make the night worthwhile as I ended up playing with some musical studs and one studette. I played my short set and than the sweetly voiced Aaron Hale from Dallas, Tx. was up next. His voice was incredible, lullaby style but great quiet songwriting. After him followed another Texas songwriter and road warrior Taylor Davis. He played a John Lennon guitar that growled and he had more of a loud to quiet and back Jeff Tweedy style. We than sat around talking while we waited for the final artist Sarah Archer to show up as she was stuck in the crazy traffic trying to get there after playing an earlier gig. She was a short beautiful thing with a huge voice. She bellowed though a few originals and cover before we called a night. Silvie's ended up being a cool little place to play despite having almost no one show up. Dave, the sound guy was great. He made everything sound big and was a generally cool guy. Hopefully I can make it back next time and bring the folks so we can all make a bit of money.

I headed back to my plush hotel and grabbed a bit to eat in the lobby restaurant for $10 before finally passing out around 3am. Awesome bed. Thanks Jules!

Here are some bad cell phone photos of the performers:

Aaron Hale

Taylor Davis

Sarah Archer

8/8
42 miles

I soaked in every last minute of the hotel I stayed in by sleeping in and not leaving until the clock had chimed for checkout. That prevented me from being able to order breakfast at the lobby restaurant, so I packed up and headed over to the next parking lot and found IHOP. I am the type that needs breakfast, even at the cost of the taste buds but IHOP was actually decent..It was a chaotic meal with them losing the ticket and things not coming at all but I was still grateful as I slurped my coffee and finished some work that was lingering.

I then had about 7 hours to kill before the gig and so I strolled through Target for about an hour and picked up some gas on a tip from a friend (the prices went up at the end of the day).I emailed Dawn to see what our plan was for the show and she gave me a tip for a cafe to go hang out in. The Bourgeois Pig was a cool little cafe that sits in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, just a few miles south of the show venue and right near Depaul University. I arrived there, found parking and stepped in to find a documentary or something being filmed there. I got some iced coffee , as it was warmer than a blanket (more like an oven mitt after baking some biscuits). I hung out for a couple of hours and did more updating before taking a short walk around the neighborhood. It was nice to walk again after driving all these days. I almost forgot what it's like.

I then set off to find the venue and ended up driving around and around until I figured out that for some streets there is a road going in opposite directions but called the same thing as if they were opposite sides of the same road. I eventually found the cafe and parking and I hung out there until the show was on. There were many beautiful ladies working the cafe, so it was easy on the eyes to hang out and they were all so accommodating towards me as a musician. I sat down to eat as I still had time to kill. I had a humus and avocado dish that was grubbin. I was trying not to order anything unhealthy as the menu of my trip so far has been far from it. Very good.

Dawn Xiana Moon showed up and we all got setup for the show. I rifled through 9 hits and she jumped up to do a bunch of stuff on guitar and piano. Dawn has some great songs, not to mention she can play some serious piano and is blessed with beauty. She also brought out a good number of people and a magazine writer showed up to check out and possibly review both of us. Also a tv crew from the local show Nude Hippo showed up and got some live footage out of it. Hopefully we'll make the spot on Thursday night. Pretty nice! Dawn scored some points as she wrote a song on the spot using the crowd suggestions for subject. The crowd came up with llamas, beach and the L. It was pretty funny. The sounds was good as run by the cutie Mallory except for some buzzing at the end of the show that was probably a dishwasher being run rather than a bad chord. Good show anyway.

Afterwards we headed out with a couple of friends to grub at a local diner. Only a few of us were eating but still could not decide and in turn delayed the waiter longer than any of us could stand. I ordered some food and coffee and found out the hard way that the sugar jar was filled with salt. Apparently, the waitress used the wrong stuff and she had to replace all the jars. I then proceeded to spill water that turned into milk. After a bunch of laughs and a cleaning of the plate, we packed up and headed out. Dawn offered up her couch and I excepted and we ended up talking until about promotion 3:30 am . It was a long day but the show and hanging out made it all worth it. Tomorrow is a day off so I plan to do a whole lot of nothing. Sweet!

Tidbits: Much of the neighborhoods I drove through today had streets with trees that made arches overhead and therefore made them cool and full of shade; very nice. I think I could live in that part of the city but that would mean living in Chicago. Yuk.

My tshirts were delivered today. Now I have more merch. If you want my silly drawing come pick it up yo.

Dawn Xiana Moon

Dawn's evil twin on piano.

The new shirts yo, in many sizes and colors. pick one up over at the shop

8/9
0 miles

Today was a decent day off, in that I pretty much sat around and did a whole lot of nothing. I followed my usual pattern of waking up late and updating the site. After I felt I could stands it no more, I headed a few blocks east to find a cafe to chill in. I didn't find a cafe but I was able to find a restaurant, named Toast, that was still serving breakfast.

I sat down at the counter and checked the menu to see if I actually wanted to repeat my dinner from the night before or if I should try something different. I went different. I ordered the pancakes with pine nuts and marscarpone topped with some orange honey and lavender flowers. I know what you're thinking, what the hell was I doing ordering pancakes , cheese and flowers. I asked myself the same thing by about halfway through the second cake. It was good but it was hard to sustain interest. What made it worse was the waitress had an ultra quiet voice like the mom for That 70's show and I had a hard time hearing her. I made up answers to the questions I thought she was asking and she seemed to be satisfied them so I went on slurping the coffee and cakes. All in all, I think it was good but I ordered too much of something I was unsure of. Anyhoot, I continued on a little walk around the hood to see what went down and ended up back at Dawn's place for some more website overhauls.

After getting my fill, Dawn and I chatted it up a bit before I took a little nap. The nap thing is awesome. I will miss once I get home and have to do that work all day thing again. After the nap I did a little cleanup of my stuff and the car in preparation for tomorrow's journey to Wisconsin. In that time I watched a little of a softball game starting up across the street and the fireman filling the local pool from the hydrant. I had no idea that is how they did it. After all that we went to Chinatown for dinner with a bunch of Dawn's friends from the University of Michigan. They all went to school there at some point and became friends by linking circles of friends together. Interesting, very interesting.

Our crew consisted of Dawn and I, Bryan:an avant jazz sax player that is a professor, James; a crazy experimental bass player that is working on a couple of music degrees in San Diego, and Josh; an electrical engineer that does electronic noise music. We grubbed down at a pretty well-known Chinese restaurant and ate a ton of food. As each order was placed the waiter talked us out of ordering and choosing something else. We still ordered a ton of food and then grabbed tapioca/freeze drinks afterward. We hit the little square in Chinatown and I found out that I am a snake and snakes make good teachers. Ha! We then climbed a small view tower and discussed ways to climb to the top level without falling to our death. After that little fun we headed over to Josh's house to listen to some music and watch some ridiculous movies that are floating about on the internet. We listened to everything from Detroit Booty to electronic noise to soul mash-ups. We also watched some ridiculous videos of Rock N Roll Hallelujah from the #1 band in Europe last year. Craziness. They were a lot of fun hanging out with and I think I would eventually be smart enough musically to hang out and at least have something to offer to the conversation. At the very least it all makes for an interesting story on a rather uninteresting day off.

8/10
187 miles

I woke up before Dawn and snuck out the house to grab a bite to eat. I roamed and found a Dunkin Donuts for some health food and coffee. I came back and chilled on the couch, making my bed (he he). I loaded up the car and waited for Dawn to come out of her beauty sleep and get ready. It wasn't long before we were out and about taking care of bidness. We made a stop at her work in Schaumberg so she could do some stuff and I stayed in the car and watched some of Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn, on the back seat dvd screen. Sweet!

We rolled out and on up to Oshkosh. We arrived in town a bit before our scheduled time so we went for a walk. We saw a music shop so we went in to play a bit but were quickly noticed and made uncomfortable by the owner and his two grandchildren. The kids got quiet when we walked in and seemed to not breath the whole time while the owner stared us down. Not feeling welcome, we quickly left and found a bookstore that was much more inviting. They had little frogs that made noise and plenty of colorful books to look at with glossed/tired eyes. We then walked into a gallery that had some interesting stuff including several paintings of a man who had lost his legs. It was the same man that was running the gallery, which made me feel a bit weird. We walked out just in time to meet Dan Vaillancourt, the other musician on the bill.

At the New Moon Cafe we chatted it up a bit with another musician, Jeremiah, which we would see later that evening across the street. I played first, Dawn second and Dan last.The show was decent and there were a handful of people there that made it all worth while. There was an artist doing some work in the back and his friend Ben. There was also Kristen Deborah who was an absolute riot with all her crazy stories. She had some funny jokes and all sorts of things to keep us laughing. There were a couple of sets of guys that hung out for the whole show and were really nice and then there was Cassie, whom ended up being our room and board for the night.

After the show we went across the street to check out Jeremiah and friends and then over to the Distillery Pub to meet up with Cassie's friends. They started a drinking fest with $1 beers and $3 pitchers while I sipped some bad soda and listened to their loud stories. Towards the end of our time there, a gentleman in his late 40's came over to talk to me and tell me of tales of drinking beer all day and the conspiracy theory behind the platform to rid America of pennies. I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone and we spit and shook on it so I must keep my word. For those who might be into conspiracy theories, I only give you this; it has something to do with the effect of copper on electronics. After he told me this and to confessed to his families many crimes in town, we left to find our sleeping quarters for the evening.

Once at Cassie's house, we talked in the kitchen about which state looked more like a hand Wisconsin or Michigan, until 3 or 4 in the morning before we all settled down to sleep. We were in the living room with only one couch. Dawn got the couch, and Dan and I both pulled up recliners next to her and slept soundly. It was quite the scene but we slept well.
or
Wisconsin or Michigan (not counting the rabbit like thing attached to the top); which looks more like a hand? You decide!

Dan "the Funktified Folkman" Vaillancourt

Our awesome sleeping arrangements.

8/11
132 miles

I awoke to the sound of one of the other roommates (super hottie) making breakfast. I stumbled out of the recliner and into the shower. I was dirty so I took my sweet time which made the third roommate mad and she waited outside the door for me. Already feeling like the bad guy, I sat down in the kitchen and started cooking up some of my homemade cds especially for the show up in Manitowoc later that day. Shortly after, the mad roommate came back out of the shower and I apologized again until her boyfriend came stumbling out of the room to take a shower. Many peoples were aware that I was there at this point. Eventually the final roommate came into the kitchen but she pretended I wasn't there.

Dan woke up and Dawn shortly followed and they both made fun of me and my cd's before showering themselves. We eventually made it out of there and onto an IHOP where Cassie, so wonderfully treated us. We dropped Cassie off at the University and found our way back to the house and eventually to the New Moon Cafe to sit down and get some use of the wireless. After a couple of hours we rolled out of Oshkosh and onto Manitowoc.

We pulled into town about an hour early so Dan and I went to play some basketball while Dawn took a walk. We shot around for a while before we actually could make anything and then some kids rolled up asking to shoot around. Before we knew it , they had started a game of 21, known as hunch at the club. These guys were terrible but they were faster than us so they kept up. After draining a couple of my patent threes, we set up a game to 6 and I started over so we could get to the show in time and so I would stop killing them. I still launched threes but they made enough of their wild shots to call a win at 6 points. In a teacher moment, I gave the winner my basketball (the one I had bought only days before) with the condition that he take care of it. Man, if you could have seen his face. He was so pumped. Dawn had come up just as we finished and told us that someone had recognized her from the paper. We peeled around the corner and up to the Premier cafe in time for our show.

Once we arrived we found out that no one had saved the copies of us in the local paper. Luckily, someone later had a copy and Dawn was plastered all over the cover of the weekly entertainment section. The article was interesting as it was a bit off from the truth but it didn't matter because we flooded the place that night. There is room for 16 people in the performance area and there must have been about 40 or 50. Any other town this would be decent but to pack this place that way, was phenomenal. We all played well and everyone stuck around to buy our merch and chat us up. It was a lot of fun to see old friends like Anna H. whom I wasn't sure would make it out unless she got my show-reminder postcard. She didn't get the card but came out anyway and she also brought the very cool Alicia, who forgot her Doghouse Records shirt. Then there were new friends like Chelsey and Anna S., Mike, Shaey, Leslie and Natalie. Another interesting new friend was Tom Tittle, a 6'9" artist that shared his stories of his SF brother-in-law and other fun things. All around there were plenty of people to meet. Manitowoc ended up being the best part of the tour two years in a row. I am pretty sure I will be heading back there very soon.

After the show, our sleeping arrangement fell through and so another new friend stepped up to give us a place to stay in Green Bay. We followed the beautiful and talented guitar/mandolin player Beth to her Green Bay hideaway where we met the super silly Heidi. We unloaded and headed out for some late night grub. We went into a diner that had a mini statue of liberty outside and we ordered some greasy food. Our hostesses did not share in our need for grease so one of them got just coleslaw and the other got oatmeal or some other strange liquidy thingy. We laughed it up a bunch before heading home and then staying up until 3 am playing guitar. Beth chickened out of singing but we forgave her because she played along with our silly banter so well. Dawn and Dan took beds and I got the couch and we were all down for the count.

Tidbit: link to the article

No pictures from the Manitowoc show because there was a huge tree branch blocking the stage from any type of good photo op.

Beth; doing what she did every minute that we were at her house.