Hey All,
Well as usual, I don't know where to begin. I am sitting in our hotel room in Lancaster, PA about to check-out which signifies today is Sunday morning. I'll rewind the tour log to share how we got from my last update til this one, and I'll fast forward a bit to give you a glimpse of the week to come.
I wish I was kidding when I mention that the days run together and that it genuinely takes several minutes to figure out what day it actually is. That said, I don't remember when what will undoubtedly be called 'The St. Louis Fiasco' truly occurred. Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday is by best guess. The St. Louis Fiasco involved a 27 hour repair to some electrical weirdness on our bus. Previously, I suggested the fix to the intermittently flashing dash and lights would be easy. I was unbelievably wrong. So much so that we ended up sleeping in the bus overnight, locked inside the RV repair place only to have another group of mechanics troubleshoot and attempt repair the next morning. Needless to say, we were all feeling a little 'grrrr'.
When we finally did hit the road after getting everything worked out, we had essentially lost 2 days. Luckily, we hadn't booked shows so we didn't have to exacerbate the fiasco by having to cancel shows too. Knowing that we needed to be in Lancaster, PA by Thursday morning, we had A LOT of ground to cover. We all consumed a bunch of coffee and hit the road. We took a break and slept at a truck stop in Spiceland, Indiana (that is really what it was called) and woke up VERY early to continue our Eastward trek. It was very cold and persistently rainy when we woke (and hasn't stopped even as I sit here days later). We topped off our fresh water, emptied our waste tanks and fueled-up (none of which were fun in the freezing rain) and hit the road. We drove through the rest of Indiana, Ohio, the tip of West Virginia and into Pennsylvania. Personally, I've never seen such beautiful farms, streams or fall leaves. I was clicking photos through the window constantly to try and capture the reds, oranges and yellows. I'm not sure if I was successful, but will upload the photos anyway.
As my driving shift started I had the (insert sarcasm here) utter delight of driving through a half dozen tunnels entering Pennsylvania. That might not sound like a big deal, but when the tunnels are 3 miles long and you're still getting used to driving a 34 foot bus with a 10 foot trailer...and you really feel like driving 28 miles per hour but the truckers behind you would rather do 80.........uh...........YIKES. The first tunnel alone, I think I gave birth to 33 purple twinkies and possibly doubled that number with each tunnel that followed.
Arriving in Lancaster was great as it marked the first time we've checked into a hotel on this tour. I'm not embarrassed at all to admit that each of us took 47 minute showers. We did that, partially because we were grimy, but mostly because we have a limited water supply on the bus and the hot water heater has been renamed 'the thing that attempts to heat the water to a temperature of hot but falls quite short to offer tepid showers at best'.
After our lengthy showering and such, it was time to get set-up for the trade show. We've traveled with a booth and as many of you know, is the purpose of this tour. I suppose I could blog for days about the inter-workings of NACA, but I won't. I'll encapsulate the experience by saying that we met representatives from over 70 universities on the East Coast and garnered SERIOUS interest from a dozen or more. Oh, and by 'serious interest' I mean actual contracts. As of right now, we're slated to be back here on the East coast in April of 2010 and will be rocking on many college campuses. We've also relished in the opportunity to meet and network with other artists that are quite literally at the top of their game. When not at our booth (that area is only open during certain blocks of time) there are showcase performances happening along with networking banquet-style dinners. I can certainly speak for the three of us when I say we've made some connections that are sure to impact our future, and we've added some new friends and fans.
This week holds a few question marks. For me, the biggest is 'WILL IT EVER STOP RAINING?' We've agreed that today is football and laundry day. We're going to find a place to watch our teams and then burn....errr.......wash our clothing. We'll also need to top off fuel and fresh water on the bus and will likely resume travel tomorrow morning. We perform in Madison, WI, my HOME TOWN this Friday night and have just firmed details for our Bloomington show. We will also likely be picking up a show in Chicago and South Bend this week.
As per usual, each of us is missing home and our loved ones. We feel victorious and exhausted, and it's only just begun. We wish you the best and thanks for reading.
Love,
C, J & D
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