5 states in one day......

Whew, what a week. So, since the last post about the unveiling of the new podcast I've done a full run of shows here in Savannah and visited/review about 15 coffee places. After the split week last week we had a jump from Jonesboro, AR to Savannah, GA. Well, had I been smart I would have driven a bit after the shows sunday, but since I was feeling pretty pooped from the shows I tried to get a good night's sleep and drive it all monday. Well, I forgot how it feels to drive 700+ miles in one day. So, I awoke monday morning to find that my pillow seemed all too comfy, but I managed to drag myself up out of bed and apprectiated the fact that I had house power all night due to the fact that I finally dropped the cash to get the generator fixed.

The new podcast is out!

So yesterday marks the world premiere of the Search for the Best Mocha Latte in the World podcast. It's been in the works for a while and is now finally a reality. So, tell all you friends, foodies, neighbors, cats, dogs, and ferrets to tune into the weekly podcast. You can subscribe through Itunes, or any site that updates through RSS feeds (i.e. google, yahoo, newsgator) So, check it out by clicking the link right below my profile pic on this page, leave some feedback, and drink some more coffee!

Going with the flow

Well, Hello, My name is Nathan and I work for the circus
Ok, I felt I had to introduce myself since it's been a virtual epoc since I've last posted. Yes, I'm still ok, it's just been a pretty intense past 4 or 5 months. Basically, so often it feels like I'm living life at a million miles an hour and eventually the rest of me will catch up. I've been trying to experience every oportunity that is possible or comes my way. Now, I know this sounds like I'm burning the candle at both ends, but the way i see it, you only live once on this earth and very few are blessed with the chance I've been given to see and experience so many things. Often I feel so overly stimulated that it pretty much overloads my ability to process and fully comprehend what I'm part of. I feel that some day when things slow down in my life (perhaps less adventurous? nah, I doubt I'll ever lose my zest for adventure) I'll fully be able to process and make sense of everything I've done and seen. So where, what, and when over the past months?
create your own visited states map
Well, I'm sure I could fill a sizable tome with that info, but in short; since my blog entry in April I've completly circled the entire US east of the mississippi river, flown in a plane to play a weekend wedding in Wasington DC, I've eaten some of the best cajun and creole food on earth, I've seen so many places on the bike (put a good 7000 miles on since that April posting), I've visited old friends, made so many new ones, visited family, and even expanded my coffee repertoire (almost at 160 reviews now, the podcast is coming soon.....as soon as I can figure how to post with RSS), I've crossed all the major rivers in the eastern US (sometimes more than once), I've learned a lot more about myself (as scary as that sounds) and what my body can and can't handle, I've seen marriages, celebrated anniverseries and birthdays, partied with the Bulgarians, finally had a real Geno's cheesesteak again, gravity always wins, replaced ANOTHER rear tire on the house, installed a new shower door and water faucet assembly, finally invested in a new convection microwave, driven through 19 states, partied with the bulgarians, bought a new trumpet, got new glasses (finally), fought an ant war (so far I'm still winning), ate lunch at the highest point east of the Mississippi river (i.e.Mt. Mitchell), been frightened by a clown posing as the easter bunny, had 3 haircuts (one barber who was 88 years old even came to see the show!), slept at a youth hostel in New Orleans, finally nailed a high F#, gave 6 people their first mototcycle ride (one of which bought a bike of his own soon afterwards :-) ), visited an aquarium in the middle of the smoky mountains with a girl from Ireland, did the historic triangle in a day, visited my great great great great grandfather's cabin in Indiana, learned the CORRECT way to pronounce Mobile, AL (i.e. phonetically moh-BEEL.....thanks anna), visited the Kosciusko house in Philly and the town of Kosciusko, MS, visited glow-in-the-dark gnomes, attended the international tarpon rodeo, finally got a pump-driven espresso machine to start experimenting, realized that most people don't do what they say they'll do or say what they mean, learned not to drive motorcycles through flooded roads, seen first hand how poor a lot of this country is, saw a tree fall on a car, and had lunch on an army base..........yeah, I guess I keep myself busy. So, today finds me typing to you all from a little place called Columbia Cafe here in Shereveport, LA. It's a little place on the corner of Creswell and Kings Hwy that has an upscale cafe feel. I'm sitting here in the more "cafe" part of the place where in front of me there is a giant mosaic of coffee beans growing in Columbia (I presume).....interesting, a few pieces of mirrors in the mosaic and it would be Philly style. Anyhow, we're here this week and it's toasty, but at least we're not in a farm field in a middle of a swamp like last week. Yup, that's right, last week there wasn't enough room by the venue for all of our rigs so we were all parked a few miles away at a "horse park" campground. Well, after turning into the main course for the local bug population the night I got in and unpacked, I knew it was going to be an icky week. Long week short.....I didn't like Baton Rouge, among many other reasons, the coffee scene was lame, it rained more than Seattle (and flooded each time it rained as well, hence my chain coming off the rear sprocket when I tried riding through 2 feet of water). So, like I always say, every city has a vibe, and Baton Rouge was less than stellar. I think the highlight of the week for me was getting to spend some quality time in New Orleans. I went down for a day and a half and stayed in the India House youth hostel. Hostelling in the states always has a unique feel for because 1)natives of this country don't usually stay there and 2)from past experience I inately associate hostelling with travelling in Europe somewhere. But this was a really great place; it was clean, laid back, cool people, and best of all it was budget priced (which always tickles my thrifty gene) All in all in was a good time in the "big easy", I got to try some seafood, saw most of the historic landmarks, had some decent coffee (I tried about 4 places), got to hear the Rebirth Brass Band, and met some new friends (we'll call them stacy and lucy to protect their identity). Anyhow, it was a good time all around. Turns out Lucy works for the city real estate records office and was telling me a lot of first hand accounts from Katrina. You see and hear a lot of stuff on the TV, but in chatting with her it reminded me how much of a spin is put on everything we're fed. Whenever you have the chance to talk with someone one was actually there, do it. Same thing with a good friend of mine who served in Iraq. You get a certain doctored picture of actual events in the media, but to hear the inside scoop, the unedited version from a first hand account, well, you start to get the picture. Anyhow, visiting the city was a definate highlight of the week and I look forward to getting back there soon to check out a whole lot more of the coffee that's happening there. When I was doing some of the research for the cafes down there I began to realize that New Orleans is really the Seattle of the South and South East US. Anyhow, I'll save my coffee musings for my other blog. This week we're in Shreverport, LA. So far it doesn't seem like too much is happening in this city, but at least the lot is level and not full of ants. So, till next blog, keep your stick on the ice.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth (yet)

Yes, so as everyone has been reminding me, I haven't posted in quite a little while. Well, as with everything in my life, I have good reasons for my actions. Let's see.....the last time I typed to everyone in blogger land it was just after our jump from montgomery, al to carbondale, il. Now, I finally have a little bit of time to catch my breath here in chattanooga, TN. I'm sitting here in greyfriars, a little coffee shop in the middle of the downtown. (pretty decent coffee too, but that's for my other site) So, let's see, I'll try to give you all a whirlwind update on my past month of life. After the last blog entry we played carbondale, il and then did a split week between cape girardeau, mo and champaign, il. Made for a busy week and a half, but I did get to check some of the coffee places out and even got to take a beautiful ride out along the mississippi. Fortunately the jump over to cape girardeau was a short one, but on the down side the lot was on a hill. Basically it was next to impossible to get my house level. While this may seem a novelty for you non RVers, translated it basically means that unless you are level, the refrigerator doesn't work right, the doors don't open correctly, and the water doesn't drain from the shower properly. So, being level (and of course level-headed) is always an advisable thing. That split week also happened to be the week of easter. Unfortunately I ended up sleeping in on easter since we drove from carbondal and got set up in cape girardeau the night before. After I was as level as was possible and the generator hadn't even arrived by 2AM, I decided to finish settling in and eventually hit the hay. When I awoke the next day, I walked outside my RV and saw one of our clowns in shorts, a work-on-my-rv stained t-shirt, and a giant bunny mask, he was hopping around the lot knocking on people's RV doors and and shouting "happy easter"......I didn't know whether to laugh or be scared. hmmmmm, no 2 days are ever the same in the circus, that much is for sure. The more I travel, the more abnormal things I see and do, the more normal everything becomes....perhaps I shall call this "nathan's theory of relativity" Ok, so we played cape girargeau, champaign, and then bloomington. In champaign we played a cavernous place on the univ. og illinois campus that looked a giant alien spaceship

Life..........and living intensely

Early wednes. morn (or late tues. depending how you look at it) finds me sitting here in Carbondale, IL eating assorted vegetables with an experimental combination of spices and typing to you all on whatever screen you may be reading this from. Sometimes in life, from time to time there are people, events, weather patterns, or places that cause us to step back and examine our views on life and the world as we know it. We should always be open to these moments to heed the potential for learning they hold. None of us are perfect, nor will we be in this lifetime, thus we're always learning.....until the moment we close our eyes a final time, we are all impressionable sponges. I was traveling yesterday from florida to Illinois. (as rick steves says, "traveling is living, intensified") It was a long drive, so there was time to think, contemplate, and stop for a gas. Well, after driving 6 hours straight my bladder and stomach were telling me that it was time for dinner and a pee stop (but not in that corresponding order ;-) ) So, I got dinner at wendy's (I've been on this Frescata sandwich kick lately, AND by ordering it in a value meal along with a salad as your side, well, dang that's a healthy meal) and then purchased a king sized kit-kat for desert and decided to making my stop a culinary triumvirate by ordering a mocha latte (what? I hear you asking. yes. there was an old savannah coffee and tea company in this gas/rest stop, but my expectations weren't high) so, the girl seemed a little confused on the order (but I think it was me not talking straight because I was really really hungry and hadn't started in on the wendy's yet) she got a little testy, but hey, when you're working a coffee counter in a gas station I probably would be to. So, she finished the drink (thank goodness they didn't use powdered chocolate like the book&bean in Bruton, AL argh); rang up my order and asked me to try it to see if it was ok before I paid for it....well, anyone who asks my opinion of a mocha latte is setting themselves up. Anyhow, trumpet playing leaves me with sensitive lips, so I usually can't drink coffee or espresso right out of the can. I just said the drink was "OK" to avoid a long debate on the finer points of espresso and lattes of the mocha variety. Well, when I said something to the affect of being a mocha connoisseur she said that her favorite one was from a little hole-in-the-wall italian place in Detroit, MI. I siad , "Ahhh, MI, that's where I was born and raised." I mentioned Sandusky, but even most MI people don't know where Sandusky is. (all this has a point by the way, so keep readng) Anyhow, I asked how she ended up behind a coffee counter in po-dunk TN. Well, she went on to explain that she moved down there with her mom since her mom has family down in TN. Not unusual, but if she didn't like it there so much, then why didn't she leave? Well, turns out that her mom has a brain tumor and she is there working a job and taking care of her mother. We went from coffee to brain tumors in 30 sec. where do you go from there? I expressed my admiration towards her as a human being and what she's doing for her mom and then went on my way. I think someone once said said, "every man is an iceberg." I'll cliffnote it for you..........the people we see every day, those with frowns, those with the bags under their eyes, those with unkempt hair, even the ones with smiles.....all of them have a story, and we only see the %20 that peeks above the surface. Have you ever sat in a train car next to someone and wondered, "what did they have for breakfast? who was the last person they called? Did they have trouble picking out what they were going to wear? maybe they're worried about being fired today; what do they go home to at the end of a day...a week" There's always more than meets the eye to any person, no matter how transparent one claims to be. And it is our task to look at, and through this exterior to try to at least meet people where they're at. We may not understand them, but that's ok, and it doesn't mean that you can't have a positive affect on that day, or on their life. Keep on smiling. You may be that person's moment that causes them to step back, look; and it may even change their view of their life, forever.

At least it's warmer here........

I'm here at a coffee plac ein Montgomery, AL. This week we actually had a few days off in one place rather than driving on our days off. Sonce the last time I type, we were in Macon,GA on a split week, headed up to Albany for the weekend; then played a full week in Knoxville, TN; last week was a split between Murray, KY and Bowling Green, KY; and now this week we're in Montgomery, AL for the week before we head up north for a couple of months. So, 2 blogs ago I never finished my trip from savannah to tallahassee.--- It was a smooth drive with the added bonus of discount spices at my dinner stop.....whaaaaaat? I hear you asking for an explanation......ok, so, get this- I stopped at a subway for dinner, "sorry sir, we only accept cash" hmmmmmmm, so being the silly/resourceful person I am, I went next door to the grocery to get cash back on a purchase. So, I walk in, it's looks abnormally bare for a stand grocery store in this so called land of plenty. After walking around a but, it became clear to me that this store was changing chain owners and they were liquidating most of of their stock. Since I have the thrifty gene from my dad, I grabbed a basket and went to town. Most of the stuff 50-60% off, but you can't imagine my delight when happening upon the spice section. Most spices don't go bad when they're kept sealed in a cool and dark place. So, needless to say, I pretty much cleared them out of their whole spices and most importantly their saffron. Saffron is one of the most expensive spices per once, in the world. So, to find it at 50% discount, well, I bought 4 bottles (which totalled about 8 ounces) and left with a smile on my face. So, from about a $111 bill, with the clearance discount it ended up being around $52. So, I continued the drive to Tallahassee, only to run out of gas a mile out from where the meeting point, so one of the clowns was nice enough to take his car off his trailer and bring some gas to me. It was interesting, when your house runs out of gas on a major highway and a clown has to save your but. Anyhow, we made it into town and we set up and hooked to poewr and water by about 2am. Not a bad day off, not too relaxing though either. Ok, off to do sound check then opening night show here in Mongomery.

In Macon making some bacon

So this week is what we on tour called a split week. Basically, it is when you play two town in one week. Fortunately this week the trip takes us from Mobile, AL -> Macon, GA -> Albany, GA. (not as bad as the 1000mi slpit we did last fall in Canada) Anyhow, not too much time here, but I'm at Joshua Cup coffee house here in Macon, GA. It was a brief stay here; 1 show yesterday and 3 today. Tonight we drive the 100mi down to albany and set the house up again, hook up to power, level the house, yada yada.....so I'm anticipating getting to sleep around 3 or 4 this morning. Then we have tomorrow off and a show fri, 3 sat, and 1 sun and then off to knoxville TN. Not too bad, yes, I know you're asking me to finish the last blog.....and I will, but not tonight.....I have to use this precious internet time to locate the wlamarts, laundromats, and coffee places in the next town.....which reminds me, I have discovered Google Earth Basically it ties the google search engine and global mapping together seamlessly, and it's pretty cool, download it and type in "forbidden city" and it flys you around the globe to get a perfect bird's eye satellite view, and you can pan, zoom in and out, even get terrain mapping on some cities, pretty cool stuff....I had always dreamed of something like this when I was little and would spin the globe around in dad's office. Anyhow, hope everyone in computer land is well, and just so you know....if you ever visit macon, there's not really any good coffee in this town, so try mobile, AL instead (more on that soon) tootles.....

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Ok, so yeah, I've been kinda of MIA, but hey it's been a busy month and a half. Let's see, I was in a motorcycle accident, got my RV registered, went through winter quarters (almost worse than HS band camp, I'm going to start quoting, "this one time at winter quarters......." ), went through the whole insurance process w/ the bike, got a new bike, broke it in in a week, bribed an elephant, tried to figure out the roads of Fayetteville (for anyone who has been there, you'd understand), bought Jason and the Argonauts, braved wintry Salisburg MD, made shark kebobs w/ old friends, flying dutchman met circus train, new coffee finds all along the east coast, walked in the ocean at sunset, williamsburg revisted, finally cooked my bratwurst from Spokane......just a brief summary. So this week finds circus boy circusy as ever in Tallahassee, FL (I found out the hard way, 2 ss's and 2 ee's) We're at the civic center on the edge of the FSU campus right downtown. It wasn't too bad of a drive from Fayetteville down to here. I took a detour to get the bike its first service and decided to camp out and spend the night on Tybee island outside Savannah, GA. I had always heard from a good friend that Savannah is quite the quaint quintessential southern town; and she was unanimously right. I had planned on going out that evening and checking out the night life, but due to the fact that I had risen at an insane hour to get the bike to charleston for its service, I ended up falling asleep. But, secretly I think I needed it, for I arose the next morning to the chirping of the birds and the sound of the wind (both big advantages of having your house parked on an island :-) ) A side note of a moment of inspiration.....it ocurred to me while I was lying there listening to the birds.....why do they sing, who teaches them, the brighter the sun became, the more of them joined in as if to encourage the rest to celebrate the beginning of a brand new day...no sour notes, only praise. Ok, so back to Savannah, got up that morning, got the bike out and headed into town for the coffee that awaited. I arrived in town around 10AM. Now, this was a wednesday, hump day for most people, but my equivalent of the weekend. (Now, for anyone who has even been in entertainment, you'll understand this) One thing about this job, this lifestyle, is that it gives you a unique perspective on the "normal" world where everyone works a 9-5, watches 30 hours of TV a week, drinks starbucks, and drives an SUV. (for example tonight, I'm at a coffee house. I walked in at 10PM; the place is packed and there's a line at the counter. I think "this is unusual" because for me, it feels like a wednesday, and then it hits me, "it's a friday night in a college town, so of course people are going to be out and aboot, guys trying to coax pretty girls laugh with their less-than-dim remarks") ok, back to Savannah, I rode around for a while exploring the copious little town parks and picture-perfect old southern estates. After some near misses on the one-way/yield streets I arrived at the highly recommended Gallery Espresso. Well, I won't go into full review mode here (that's for my other site) But, lets just say that if passing within the confines known as the borders of Georgia, eat a peach and make a visit. So, I continued on my quest of coffee and happened about the local cathedral, and the organ/church enthusiast that I am, I had to walk in and explore....it was beautiful inside, slightly more ornate than I'm used to, but very beautiful all the same. When I found out the it was about to get very crowded (due to the fact that it was ash wednesday) I ventured across the street to cafe vas (latin for "seize the cup" ) , it was an interesting little place (again, you can read the full review on my other site) once I got my mocha latte, I sat outside to enjoy the weather and watch people....I see a lot of different people in the course of my job, usually they're families, small children, the ocassional group of friends or guy on a date with his dream girl. But, as you travel the country, or just travel the world in general, you quickly start to get the vibe of a place, of a town, a region by spending some time quietly, thoughtfully, respectfully, w/out talking....observing. For anyone who is mildly intrigued by the dynamics of the human psyche, the more you watch the more you are in awe of the diversity on this spec in the cosmos. So, as I sat watching the comings and goings of the ash wednesday church goers, it once again made me re-examine the state of organized religion in this country of ours. Finished the espresso-based drink and had just enough time before the campgroud check out to eat at this irish place on the waterfront that was recommended by a fellow circus friend (the fish and chips came highly recommended) so, of course that's what I ordered (with a guiness of course; what is a good irish meal w/ out a guiness??ss??ss??) it was good, the fish was fresh, but the deep fried coating of the chips and fish could have used a little more seasoning, but then again....I get picky when I pay attention. Made my way back to the campground, packed up the bike and made the 6 hour drive to tallahassee. It was a smooth drive with the added bonus of discount spices at my dinner stop.....whaaaaaat? I hear you asking for an explanation......ok, so, get this- I stopped at a subway for dinner, "sorry sir, we only accept cash" hmmmmmmm, so being t..........opps, closing time = end of free internet, more next time, ciao

MIA

Yes, I know I've been out of contact for a bit and haven't posted for awhile. Trust me, it's been for good reason. In the past few weeks we've put together a brand new show, so hopefully this week we start to get back to a normal routine (as normal as life on the road can be) So, I hope to put up new pics and updates on here (and my new coffee blog) within the week till then........keep your stick on the ice

Winter Quarters 101

So the first week of Winter Quarters is almost over and I'm not sure I'm going to make it through the 2nd one. Ok, for those of your asking "What is Winter Quarters?" Well, every 2 years Ringling takes 3 weeks off to develop a brand new show and put it out on the road for another 2 years. But, for whatever reason (perhaps money, space, or world domination) they decided to do ours this year in 11 days. So, to take entire company of people, 90% of whom have never been together, and put a brand new show together........well if not insane at least gutsy. So, this week finds circus boy very tired, we've been putting in 12 and 14 hours days since monday. So, for any of you out there in the music world, you'll know how long a day of rehearsals like that is. So, needless to say I was excited to finish at 10PM tonight, which finds me here at the arena typing to you all at your computers. It may sound like I'm copmlainging, but I'm not...I'm very grateful to have a paycheck and insurance, and as someone with a lot of bumps in their life right now has recently told me, "it could be worse" and that's rings very true.
So, last update was Lakeland..........I think the highlight of that town for me was the fact that I had family come to see the show. The last time that happened was in Spokane when my aunt and uncle came out to see the show from Seattle. So, in Lakeland it was 2 of my great aunts and uncles that made the drive over from their own "winter quarters" in Sarasota. I wasn't able to spend much time with them unfortunately (due to the fact that it was a sunday i.e. move out day) but I was glad that they were able to be there and see the show. Here's a pic that my great aunt anne sent through email So, I we left that night and made my way up to Anderson, SC. Now Anderson is an inteteresting little town, didn't really get to see much of it,but I did do my laundry there and on top of that I even discovered a great little home-roasted coffee joint there in the downtown area. (review soon to follow on my new coffee review site ) I was surprised that we actually even played their aren since the ceiling clearance was so low that we had to swap out 2 of our acts that we do in normal arenas. But, the general public seemed to enjoy the shows, and out our ringmaster, Ted, even got the key to the city (not that it really opened anything, but it would have been nice, eh? ) Finished up there week there, and already you could feel that "senioritis" one gets when coming to the end of something big. Oh, one thing I forgot to add, I met some of the coolest people I've ever met in my life that week. As it turns out, one of the original "Our Gang" (for those of you who don't what that was, like me, they were the little Rascals) He was part of the little Rascals when they still doing silent films! He is now 92 and has been with his wife over 60 years! For someone at my point in my life to meet people like that, actually for anyone, there's so much that one can learn just by simply being around them. You know, I've found that you learn a lot more by watching rather than talking. They still sweet to each other, and even though his wife has alzheimers, he still takes her driving, one of her favorite things to do together. To top my week off, I was lucky enough to be invited over for dinner with the 2 clowns on our show and the show juggler. It was an experience that I'll never forget, to hang out with someone who's been in showbizness all their lives. He also had other cordial company including this little spitfire of an Irish lady who used to be Harry Truman's personal songbird. She still has more get-up and go than my middle school students last year. She was born and rasied an Irish Jersy Girl (yes Sara, another person from Jersey :-) ) and now resides in Anderson where she bragged that she even had her own stool at the local Irish pub downtown. I think real people are better than any fiction we could dream of writing. It was such a warm feeling to be there, and they were elated to have fellow showbiz folk from the cricus to visit. It was definately a highlight of my time on this tour.
Upon finishing the week there we headed to our last stop of the Hometown Edition tour, Daytona Beach. The weather was a pleasant surpsrise, and even better, the arena was right across from the beach! So, of course the first day there I had to walk over and get a rocket double and milk shake from Johnny Rockets and take along walk on the beach (yes, I DO like long walks on the beachh ;-) ) anyhow, it was a great week, my chops were doing well (finally) and we had a lot of visitors from other cicuses and companies. It was a good week, amongst the shows, I got to visit Kennedy Space Center and caught some shark deep sea fishing (we're going to grill it Jess when we visit next) Anyhow, I will the exciting details for a future entry, until then, (for you RG fans) keep your stick on the ice, and if your wife doesn't find you handsome, at least she'll find you handy.......

Daytona Beach

Greetings to everyone in cyberland from Daytona Beach. It's a Friday afternoon and I'm typing to you all here from Starbucks (yes, you heard right, unfortunately Daytona doesn't have many other coffee choices to offer) looking out over a rainy Atlantic Ave. where the traffic is rather meduim on this afternoon. We're at the Ocean Center this week which happens to be right on Atlantic Ave. which is right across the street from the Atlantic Ocean.
So, continuing on the PR update, that week first week went by much more quickly than I had anticipated. I felt somewhat sad that I hadn't seen and done more, but after the second week I'm glad that I had spent it resting. As I said before, we did 13 shows in that 2nd week, which included a 9 pack (circus talk for 3 shows on a fri., sat., and sun.) After that long week we had one day off (tues.) before we started in on the 3rd week of shows. Since I had arrived that first night and found out that the Arecibo radio telescope was only an hour away, I had a strong desire to visit this unique place. (you ask why it's so special, well it's only the largest radio telescope in the world in AND the main hub for the SETI project ) So, on that tues. I decided to brave the PR drivers and rent a car to make the trip to Arecibo. Well, believe it or not, it's about the same price or cheaper to rent a car rather than a scooter. AND, since I had just joined the quarter centarian's club, I no longer had to pay the extra fee for being young. All, in all, it was a good day. There's nothing quite like driving around in a different country, just exploring, and only knowing enough of the language to not get too lost. So, I set out to find the observatory.....it was an odd feeling ; driving that is. You see, when I travel with the show it is usually in my RV or on my motorcycle. So, it's very rare when I actually drive a car. So, the car they gave me was a little chevy Aveo. Sporty little car with a tropical flair, and truth be told, I didn't even know they existed until I rented this one. Anyhow, made it to Arecibo ok, got lost in the town, got directions from a pretty girl, and then arrived at the gate to the telescope complex. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, they are closed mon. and tues., so, the guard wouldn't let me in and I then decided to drive around the roads in the local area to see if I could find a good vantage point of the telescope. Well, I found a semi-good view, but more importantly I got a good dose of the local culture. Basically all of the roads around there are single lane and very steep. Most of the houses looked very poor and maybe had a car. It was definately interesting to so the contrast between the cities and smaller villages. On the way back to the expressway I decided to stop at a little bakery that I had spotted on the way in. I was very delightfully surprised by the place. It was definately family owned, and since it was the wimter time and the telescope was closed that day, the customer traffic was pretty slow. The mom behind the counter spoke good english and her little girl peeking from behind the counter had the cutest toothless smile you've ever seen. I decided to order a pastrami sandwhich and try on of the many deserts they had there. Not only was it a pizza/sandwhich place, but also a bakery. So, you know me, I tried one of everything and hgot a "to go" box. The pastrami sandwhich was very good and there's also one thing I noticed amongst the smaller mom&pop places in PR,you don't worry about paying for your food until you've finished eating. It's a form of hopstiality not often found in small eateries stateside. But, I digrss, I drove around a bit more, then headed back to the hotel in San Juan. I did have the car for 24 hours and was going to make a trip out to the Wal Mart to pick some things up, but turns out that there are no 24hr WalMarts in PR! It was the same thing in Canada.....hmmmm, so the 24hr must be an american thing, makes sense since we tend to burn the candle at both ends. Anyhow, just spent the rest of the evening relaxing and hanging out at the pool to rest up for the next week of shows. So, the last week of shows went by rather quickly. The highlight of the week was the little shin-dig that the venue threw for us that thurs., they had a real PR pig roast! I seen and trasted many things, but never in all my life a real pig roast. So, yes, circus boy was excited and definately not disappointed. As you can see on my PR pics gallery it was tasty, and there was sop much food. To top it off, that had some live PR music show up, it just all seemed to fit and was a good ending of sorts for our time there, everything that the trip had meant, everything that we'd been through (there were a few life-threatening circumstances during our weeks there) we all celebrated together as an entire cast, around PR food, with our PR hosts. So, on mon. afternoon we flew back to Ft. Lauderdale and took the shuttle back toour houses in West Palm. It was weird at first being back home, that whole process of readjusting begins anew, but deep down there is a sense of comfort being back in your own space.....we all have to have a little bit of space that's our own. Spent the night in my house, catching up on mail etc., and the next morning woke up early to catch a flight up to Harrisburg to see the folks for Christmas week. Well, after arriving to the airport soaked from the rian and having trouble activating the parking gate sensor with my motorcycle, I think it might have been against my better jusdgement to ride and leave the bike there. But, I made it up to Harrisburg with out and troubles and was mostly dried out by the time I deplaned. It was a nice week of seeing family and friends and even getting to talk to some of you about this blog :-) But alas, I had to work on the 27th through new years, so I caught my flight on Christmas afternoon and arrived back in West Palm early early mon. morning. I was relieved to see that no one had messed with my bike during the week and rode back in a humid my dry night to my my home parked on the West Palm fairgrounds. On tues. we began our run of shows that would carry through new year day. The week as a whole went by pretty quickly, and to our surprise A LOT of people decided to make the circus their entertainment for the holiday season, almost every show was packed (even the 9:30AM new year's eve show was almost sold out!) The amount of people doesn't affect my pay, but I know that week made the concessions people very happy. So, new years was brought in (as you can tell from my earlier entry) with my circus family. The company threw us a few bones for a small feast and refreshments and it was, for sure, a good time had by all. It was intersting to think of where I'd been over the past several new year advents, and I never would've dreamed I'd be celebrating 2006 in a West Palm Beach fairgrounds parking lot with 130+ fellow circus people; but live has a way of teaching us that the only thing we can expect is the unexpected. So, we finished that week and headed NW to Lakeland, FL. It was a quite drive, and I spent most of that mon. (new year's day observed) trying to find a place to fix the valve stem for one my duelie tires. After a frustrating half a day of trying to find a place to fix it, turns out that one tire place, upon a quick inspection, finds that it's just the extension on not the stem itself........well, now I know (I really think it was just a lesson in patience) Anyhow, reached Lakeland, had a few days off, not too much to do or see there, but there are a few good eating places downtown and they do have one homegrown coffee shop, but the hours did not match their website, so I tried to visit and they were closed. Ok, my coffee is finished.....time to go......till next time

Yes, there are lakes in Lakeland......

So, it's a thurs. eveniing in a brisk chilly lakeland, Fl. and I'm sitting in a local florida chain called Crispers. The sun just went over the horizon and I'm watching a big train loaf by outside the giant picture window. So, updates, the last time I typed I had just experienced the bioluminescent bay kyak trip with Ted; quite the expereience. So, that was early in the first week in PR. The next day I went for a brief foray to old san juan with my Romanian teeterboard friends. We all decided to take the public transportation since taxis in PR don't have meters on them! Thus, a taxi ride from our hotel near the airport to old san juan cost around $20 each way, not exactly affordable. We arrived a the the bus depot near the boat docks, and immediately your feel the tourist bureau reaching for your wallet. But, we ignored the money magnet (for a brief time anyways) and made out way up the san juan hill towards El Morro fortress. On the journey we were surrounded by youths of the middle school variety who were all wearing red shirts. They weren't militant, and as I later came to find out, they were all making their way from the campus or field in front of El Morro from some PRday celebration. It seems that this area is often used for large events and concerts. Further on our way, Aaron (one of the elephants huys) and myself were hungry, so we decided to look for something local, and after wander by bugalos and a haphazard movie set we stubled upon a corner eatery (I don't know the name in spanish). So we walked in, to our delight there was nothing tourist about it. But, on the other hand, in this small cafe of a counter and two tables, we stuck out like two yankee thumbs. But, a smile is a greeting in any language, and before long, the guy next to us piped up in broken english and helped us order. I had a special (roasted pork w/ red beans and yellow rice) and Aaron had a pastrami sandwhich. All in all, is was local, good, and cheap; which in my travel book is a good find. we countinued on our way and made it to El Morro and paid the admission and continued to venture around this old abandoned fort. It was most certainly a beautiful day, which made it perfect for pictures (as you can see on my Pbase site) and just enjoying the caribbean climate. Sometime in that first week it hit me, this was the farthest south that I'd ever been in my life. It was a pretty cool feeling to be sitting by the pool while friends in Buffalo NY were watching snow accumulate, than again I did kind of miss the snow. I suppose you can never totally take the childhood out of the kid. That evening as we went back to the hotel rested and checked out the music at the in-house bar/cafe/restaurant. To my surprise there was a band every night and on weekends there were sometimes 2 or 3 bands until 2 or 3 in the morning. All these bands were more or less traditional PR music, which as I came to find out was anywhere and everywhere. In PR pretty much anyone who grows up there can dance and feel the rhythm, it's ingrained into the culture......the music, the movement, the feeling......it's all something that is part of a culture, part of a people. In the states, we have a culture, but it seems to me that everything has become so diversified that there is no specific US anything anymore, nothing uniting us as one group of people. In PR there is such a strong sense of music, art, movent, food that when there's a holiday or celebration everyone can participate (not everone does, but they can) And all the traditional music in just happy, full of feeling. Even the tunes in minor (which in the US is taught to young ones as "sad" sounding music") is just as rich and full of intesity as the upbeat major keyed tunes. (and yes, and my friend meghan J so aptly pointed out in her blog, dancing for dummies is all about the hips :-) ) So, the rest of the week in a nut shell, I had one more foray to old san juan, practice (of course), swimming in the free form pool, pina-colatas, food at Metropol, salsa dancing in the lobby, Piu Bello gelato, waking up to the ocean breeze, and Pueblo made me bankrupt. muze isc.........must go, more soon

Happy New Year from circusland.......

I just wanted to take a minute out of today to say Happy New Year!!! To all of you no matter where in the world you maybe reading this from. I actually worked all day yesterday on most of the day today of New Year’s, but I’d rather have a job and work on a “holiday” than be poor with out one. So, here’s to you all from west palm beach to your computer screen, happy new year and may this one be more blessed than all that have come before…….szczenliwe nowego roku!