The Call of the Road

steps...stages...eras...these all pieces of liner time that have a beginning and end, and sometimes fit into a larger picture or probably more accurately, a puzzle.  And so, that is what this week will be, then end of an era...a step in my stages of life...an event that will simultaneously end one part of my life and begin another.

6 years

That's 72 months...or 2,190 days...or 52,560 hours (hooray...I can do simple maths!) That's the amount of time I have spent in the circus life...living, breathing, and growing in that lifestyle.  When I drove the 2000+ miles to join up with the show playing Montana in August of 2005, I knew I was in for a wild ride, but had no idea of just how wild it would be...sure, numbers are numbers, but it is interesting look back and realize that I've played roughly 2,100 2 hour shows for over 2 million people in this time.  Most certainly not as much as Merle Evans, but more than your average working trumpet player I'd say.  In so many ways I've been blessed...since I graduated college in 2004 I've worked professionally in both degrees that I earned.  Of the jobs and friendships that have resulted from that expensive piece of paper...all have influenced me and become part of the tapestry that is my life as a 30 year old single male (who likes long motorcycle rides on the beach).  We are all the sum of the events in our lives, but it is what we do with those events that determine who we are...that determines our sense of self, ethics, and place as a human being on this planet.  Some one asked me last week what was the biggest thing I have gained from this intense 6 year life experience...and after thinking about it, I said, and still feel, it's perspective.  I've been to most of the US states, have driven most of this country's interstate system, have listened to hundreds of its people, and have parked/slept/practiced on a good handful of its Walmart parking lots.  So what does this perspective mean to me as I move forward?

Life is about story

Everyone has a story...if you take the time to sit down with mechanic in rural mississippi and ask him about his dog, you'll learn about his life.  If you ask the stripper doing laundry in the middle of missouri about her town, you will hear her life.  We ALL have a story, the faces that we pass every day are but the tips of the iceberg of the pain, passion, triumph, or sacrifice that lies beneath the surface.  And it's the power of those stories to transform us and change the way we will write our OWN story tomorrow that is the real meat of experience.  Listen, engage, grow, feed, and BE...these are threads of my own tapestry.  This 6 years has taught me to listen better and realize that not all is at is seems. I have realized that not all people in positions of power or knowledge really know as much as their position implies, and more importantly that most people are afraid.  Afraid to take a risk, afraid to fail, afraid to offend, and afraid to be themselves.  And so, as I move on to the next stage/step/era/ I'm jumping off into the delicious unknown...opening my arms to embrace the adventures that await and seek those relationships that will influence the next era in my life's story...my legacy

Albuquerque Blast

Ringing in 2009 in style: a ride report

Key West on a motorcycle.......it's something that I've wanted to do for some time now....the idea of gliding through the ocean with nothing but my bike and the bridge beneath me, needless to say I wasn't disappointed.

The plan was to leave Wellington, FL 2 up on the multistraada with my friend holly, arrive new year's eve, camp, enjoy the sun and surf, and then return a few days later. Looking back on it now, it was a great trip, and the bike performed quite admirably.

We started off a little after noon on December 31st....what better way to send out the old year and ring in the new than on a Ducati...and more specifically my multi. For me, this was my first real "trip" 2 up. So, packing for 2 people plus camping gear was a slight bit of a challenge for me, but we managed, here's a pic of the bike fully loaded and my passenger.

Having taken directions from a Wellington local, we ended up getting lost around Miami and ended in stop and go traffic for most of route 1 down to the keys. This delayed us a bit....I had planned on reaching the campground around dark, due to the delay about the last hour and half of the trip was in the dark. So it goes...at least we didn't hit any alligators. Once hitting key largo, the traffic pretty steady all the way down to our final destination, the KOA campground at mile marker 19. (in case you didn't know, key west is mile marker number 1) So we arrived at the KOA, we didn't have reservations, but I figured that they could probably fit us in tent overflow, and sure enough it wasnt' too much trouble to find a spot. Actually.....at the price of $60 a night...I'm sure the campground wasn't turning away anyone....and they were filled to capacity that night, so they must have made a small fortune.

So, we got in, got settled, got the tent up, rested a bit and then headed into downtown Key West for some dinner and to watch the them drop the conch shell to ring in the new year. We rode the 20 minutes into town, found a nice seafood place (it even had motorcycle parking....always a good sign in my book) and had a nice dinner...our last one for the year.


Having had our fill, we meandered down the wharf checking out the yachts moored there and eventually ended up at Duval street. Of course it was packed, but we made our way to a comfortable spot and watched the last 15 minutes of 2008 drift away....although in those 15 minutes, we were almost puked on(twice), saw a fight start, and noticed that the countdown clock was 3 minutes early....that's right...Key West, a place with a reputation for its laid back mentality rang the new year in early...ahhh well, who's counting anyways right?


Day 2: Having slept the previous night off, I rode the bike to the nearest grocery store (about 10 miles away) to stock up on food for a few days. Got back....made some tasty breakfast new years day breakfast including my home-roasted coffee. That afternoon we made our way back into town to check out the sights in the daylight. It's amazing how different the exact same ride into town was in the daylight...I wouldn't have recognized it. Anyhow, we went to visit the southernmost point in the continental US, rode around the conch republic (tried not to hit the wild chickens and cats), got a milekshake at Denny's and proceeded to park the bike on Duval street (there's motorcycle parking only after 6PM..sweet) and check out all the shops and the people scene and settled on grabing dinner and drinks at a place called Mangroves. A good day.

(here's the bike with the southernmost point in the continental US)

(here she is next to the world famous Sloppy Joes)

Day 3: Plan was to spend it on the beach at Bahia Honda State Park at mile marker 37. After a quick breakfast at the campsite we packed the side cases and headed out to the sandy oasis awaiting us. The state park itself was quite a treat...only $6.50 for 2 people for the day. Some nice places to hike...there's a couple nice overlooks of an old bridge that was part of the legendary Flagler railroad built around the turn of the 19th century. The beaches we pristine...the sun was clean..although the water was chilly...I made sure to grab a few beauty shots of the bike.


Having had our fill of sun, we stopped at an oversized tiki hut called Boondocks....a little pricy, but then again everything in the Keys is, but to our delight, it was half of martini night...and I'm never one to pass up a deal....so we made sure we have their martini menu a thorough thrashing before the night was over. Needless to say...I slept well that night, even if the campsite was on lumpy ground.

Day 4: Our last day in the Florida keys before we had to head back to reality...the last thing anyone wants while on vacation is a reality check! So, I headed into town to grab, some food for the planned afternoon canoe excursion, try some local coffee, and track down a tail light for the bike......yup, the running light went out sometime on the way down and the guy that was trying to tell me about was hanging out the window as he drove by...I just figured he was a drunk reveler...anyways, 20 minutes at the local key west yamaha and a few borrowed tools had me back together in legal riding mode in no time.

So, I got back...we sought out a canoe at the KOA...got some libations to fuel our paddling and headed out for an afternoon lunch around Sugarloaf key. All was well, except we were paddling against the current and a stiff head wind on the way back....a bit of hard-earned sage advice should you ever have the urge to enter a canoe: rowing into the wind in NOT fun. So, we got back and rested our row-weary torsos...made some tasty ramen for dinner and spent the evening at the pub....yes, the KOA had a pub (I think they all should) the drinks were tasty, the tab was small, and there was live music....a perfect end to our short holiday in the keys.

day 5: It rained hard ALL night...like, noah's ark style rain. So, most everything out of doors had to be packed wet, and somehow we had accumulated things...so I have away the rest of our propane and food to the campers nearest us and holly and I hit the road with our fingers crossed hoping to dodge the ominous rain clouds. Well, 5 hours and a potty/slash fuel stop later, we arrived back at my home (aka-RV) stored in Wellington and the rain barely touched us the whole trip. What a relief! The past 5 days had flown by so quickly, but had been full of adventure, vistas, and memories I won't soon forget. The bike was beautiful the whole....and must have been the "hot chick" down there. There were gaggles of Harleys, yet vitually every time I parked there was an inquisitive on looker. Would I do trip again?......in a heartbeat.

8: Happiness is........

It is no secret that my life in the circus is a life of extremes, and the past 48 hours has been a lesson in extremes.

So, the last time I typed to you, I was in Vegas preparing to voyage across the great arid expanse known as Nevada. One thing I forgot to mention about Vegas was, that as I got in about 7PM friday evening, I checked into the hotel, got in touch with my russian clown friend from the show (he was staying with his wife and kid at the Circus Circus casino KOA...yes, ironic, I know) Turns out he was going to the see the Cirque show "O" at the Bellagio, so, since I'm on vacation and very rarely get to see other people work in showbiz, I decided to pay the still hefty sum for a limited view ticket, and I have to say, besides the rude people with diarrhea-of-the-mouth next to me, it was pretty amazing. Basically it's a Cirque du Soleil show utilizing a giant water tank...so in a ways I had never imagined, they were able to incorporate acrobatics, with sycronized swimming, and state of the art theatrics (not to mention the LIVE band) to deliver a show that I will be thinking about and absorbing for some time. I'd recommend it.... spend a $100 bucks on that instead of the slots.....you'll fell better about yourself on the flight home :-)

Ok, on to Sat.

So, after sleeping off my late night Mexican food (Stas- the russian clown who was in town- and I hit up Tacos Mexico @ 1AM...haha, good times) I awoke to prepare myself (mentally) and my luggage for the ride ahead. About 350 miles from Las Vegas to my destination just inside Yosemite Park. So, after packing everything up, planning my route, and scheduling my dinner reservation at the lodge for 8PM, I hopped onto the bike in the balmy 90's weather and headed the 200 miles north to Tonapah, NV. OK, so the map quest thing says that the 350 miles should have taken me about 9 hours to there....well, I made it in a little under 7 (and I stopped for a 1/2 hour lunch at the BK in Tonopah) ......hmmmmm, how fast do you think I was going? Well, let just say that I wanted to spend as little time as possible in the 105+ degree weather in the desert, AND I found out that my bike will do 120mph fully loaded, not bad for a sophisticated Italian lady. So, it was a long ride, but I knew that the cool moutnains and a nice gourmet dinner were awaiting me at the Toulomne Meadows lodge......the last 60 miles up to the park were beautiful.....I had see the mountains starting to grow in the distance already when I was 100 miles out. Each mile brought a new dimension, and cooler temps. I took this about 30 miles out..... As I entered the park I started to notice snow on the mountains! It got to the point where snow was literally a few hundred yards away, and with the steep canyon walls, the shadows were becoming much more prominent and it was getting chilly for me. As I rolled into the camp, I noticed the parking lot was rather full, but then again it's the holiday weekend. So, I checked in, told me the rules about the bears (no food allowed in the tents, all food had to go in"bear boxes") and then was given a card with my name and tent-cabin number on it, just in case I wanted to "charge" anything to my tent! I've been a lot of places, but have never charged anything to my "tent" before. So, I got settled in....my luggage system has been working surprisingly well, I can unpack the entire bike in about a minute....the same with repacking the bike. So, I showed up for my 8PM reservation, not quite sure what to expect. Well, the lodge is nice and cozy...basically a wooden building structure with a tarpaulin top to it. Efficient yet rustic I'd say.....so after my name was called I sat down to a table with 5 other strangers. I choose a Guinness (figured I had earned it that day....and with the altitude, one beer so go a long way :-) ) and ordered the almond encrusted rainbow trout. Ahhhh....what a dinner, I ended up meeting these delightful people from Spain. So, we chatted about motorcycles, traveling, RVs, the EU, immigrations issues around the world....we covered a lot of ground in a simple dinner, but I think their company is what made it memorable for me. So, we traded email addresses and I headed off to my tent-cabin to try to illuminate some warmth for my humble shelter. Now, no electricity might be alarming to must...but after living in an RV for 3 years and driving each week, you gain instincts of what to expect with out electricity (I usually don't run my generator when I'm sleeping in Walmart parking lots between towns). So, in a small way it was vaguely familiar, except the bed was more comfortable and there was a wood stove next to me. So, I gave my best circus boy attempt to light the stove, and achieved some moderate success and passed out from the exhaustion of the day before I even really got under the copious amounts of blankets.....finally I did get under those blankets and awoke @ 7AM to birds singing, the smell of the camp woodsmoke, and the sun drenching the front of my tent-cabin with its golden paint.......

Viva Las Vegas and happy 4th

I'm typing here from my hotel in Las Vegas.....that's right, after a busy and fun week in the Big Easy, I have now driven 1500 miles just to get to Arizona....then hoped on the bike yesterday to begin my western US bike adventure...... I'm now in Las vegas, am leaving in a few minutes for Yosemite....staying the night in a tent cabin in the high sierra mountains, and then spend three days in San Francisco....I'm excited and tired already. I got on the road around 12pm yesterday (about 5 hours later than I wanted) I was making good time, even in the 110+ temps, but then I got to the hoover dam....5 miles and 1 1/2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic in 115 degree heat!!! Needless to say, on a bike out and exposed to the elements, it was rough, one of the rougher riding situations I've been in I think. At one point, people were taking pity on me...the RV in front of me threw his rig into park and ran back and gave me a bottle of CokaCola....a bald-headed blessing he was. And then of course my bike overheated too....the bike is fine when you're moving.....but standing still is not good for and AIR cooled engine. When I finally got to the dam I was dehydrated and a little shaky...I had brought water with me in my camel back water thing.....but there was such a strong and dry breeze, that everything I drank when in and right out through my pores. Got to love it......today I'm riding across the desert along the old missile range where the US tested all of their nuclear bombs up to Tonopah, and then head west to my tent cabin in Yosemite park in the high sierras where it's projected to be 44F tonight....whew....now I'll to bundle up...oh yeah, and there's no electricity in the tent thing....so pending no problems in the desert today, you'll probably hear from me on Sun. till then......

Day 6 monday....my sabbath and day of rest

What a treat....a day without driving or circus in it.....that's good every once in a while. For most people their weekend is sat. and sun., but in the circus it's usually mon. and tues., and those are the days when you are usually fixing stuff on the RV, running errands, doing doctor's appointments, etc. Today I got quite a bit of internet stuff done with bills, returning emails, catching up on forums and such. Late last night I finally finished a foodie article for my friends website, wcdish.com Go check it out if you have a chance, always a good read and interesting stuff. I usually write coffee stuff, but in this case I felt inspired to write about a food/wine experience I had in southern Illinois wine country. So, other than that, that's about it, we don't open till thurs. this week, so on wends. night I'm going to be going down to New Orleans (one of my favorite towns in the country, a town I haven't spent enough time in for sure) to see the Red show. I have some friends in the teeterboard troupe there as well as the band, and it's always good to reconnect with friends...especially people who share the circus lifestyle. As I've said on here before, usually when someone comes to visit, or you're talking about a friend with someone on the show, sooner or later the question, "Are they circus?" comes up, kind of one of those things where if people have never done it, it a way those persons will always be an outsider....kind of in the same way that military people relate to civilians and non-civilians. Anyhow, it will be good to hang out again with circus people. Well, I'm off to bed...tomorrow more errands, prescriptions, and the coffee west trek prep....till then

Day 5.... all in a days work

So I'm finally here sitting in my RV @ the Farr Campground and RV/horse park....I haven't really seen an horses here, but the mosquitos are the size of horses. Actually, it's dark outside, so you can't see much except the swarm of bugs that turns up when a light switches on. Anyhow, I have 24/7 internet again!! You see, in Tupelo my internet was in "Extended" network, which meant that it didn't really work at all....nothing, notta, nicht, neine, nill. So, anytime I wanted to check on anything I had to track down an internet cafe, and while I'm not opposed to traveling around a bit, it makes the frequent posting for this blog a little of a task in my daily routine....but now I'm here in Baton Rouge (literally the Red Stick) and have my Verizon zippy connection back, so all shall be well....although I am making a few trips down to New Orleans this week (It's only an hour away, and the Red show is playing there this week......so, if you get any 2 circuses that close together on a tour, and the partying is imminent) Anyhow, I'm here, after getting up early this morning to warm up (I usually start playing at least 3 hours before call time...sometimes earlier if I had a hard day before and my lips are swollen....for instance, TODAY) and then played a show, ate a quick lunch, took a power nap...well an extended power nap, and then packed up and drove 6 1/2 hours (about 360 miles) to here, Baton Rouge. It was a good drive.....I just got in the zone, called a few friends, listened to a couple of podcasts, and only stopped once for gas and a quick bite. You know you drive a lot when you can knock 6 1/2 hours and it doesn't feel anymore than driving across town to visit a friend....crazy....some people's summer total summer vacations aren't more than 6 or 7 hours of driving. Anyhow, all in a day's work. This week is going to be a lot of prep for the epic motorcycle journey to come. After this town we have 10 days to drive out to Prescott Valley, AZ and relax.....our first break since winter quarters in December. I'm really, really, really, looking forward to hopping on the bike and just riding.....just me, the wind, and the road. I can't wait.

Day 4

Yesterday was a good day........I got out and about and finally got to break in my new pedometer. THe arena here in Tupelo is pretty much walking distance to every thing downtown and it seems pretty pedestrian friendly. I had to visit the post office and then ended up checking out a few coffee shops/cafes....partly for coffee research but mostly for the free wi-fi (my verizon card doesn't work this town) Once I got back on the lot I saw one of the Russian clowns and our cross bow guy from Finland were hanging out, so I stopped by and just chatted about what ever which end up in a little "field trip" to the local watering hole........ it was a nice respite...there were 7 of us, 2 russians, 2 Finnish friends, an Aussie, a Brit, and then me, the sole American. It was a good time had by all.....live music and we were the only customers there.....plus, they had gator on the menu......and of course we had to try.....nothing like eating gator with circus folk in rural Mississippi.....let's just say our table was.....lively. So we closed out the place and ended up getting free t-shirts and Jagermeister lanyards from the owner....nothing like free Tupelo swag.....and yeah....and there's the Tupelo meteorite......I'll have to take pic for you all. Well, that was about it for yesterday......more later on the events of today.

Day 3 Tupelo

Well, I made it and I'm here. What a long day.....Ok, so I got to bed pretty late, but it wasn't so bad, even though there was a light breeze.....but the breeze seemed to ignore my open window.....ah well. But here's where it gets interesting, sometime in the middle of the night (I don't know what time, but it was still dark out) Someone knocks on my door.....I wasn't really even awake enough to it register the fact the chances of a friendly person would be at my door in a Walmart parking lot.....so I opened the door and there was a police officer....the cops finally caught up with me!..... ok not really, he said that there was a bomb threat at Walmart and that I needed to turn off my cell phone and CB radio, so I did and he went on to knocking on the doors of the other truckers in the lot. So, I tried to go back to sleep, but didn't really get much REM cycles accomplished due to the heat in my RV, noise outside, and a single fly that would not stop buzzing around my ears.....I needed A LOT of coffee at the Cracker Barrel this morning, and for future reference (I didn't know this) you can get coffee to go....makes the $1.50 for coffee on the tab a little more worthwhile, especially since the coffee is so weak and really pretty crapy. So, after my bill was rung up by a middle-aged woman named Dusty (I kid you not) I pulled out the air compressor to fill up the air ride system (It's been leaking since I fixed it last) and then hit the road. After about 2 1/2 hours on the road I made it here this afternoon, unpacked, got shower, found out that my verizon card doesn't work here, and found this little coffee place across main street (yes, there is a main street through the center of this little town. Fortunately I did get a lot of the stuff that wanted to done today,even amongst the water battle going on on the circus lot..... I got some grocery shopping done too ......tomorrow..... well, maybe the Elvis place, errands and such, and then on thurs. we open the show. Well, that's is for now from Tupelo.....nothing too exciting yet.....but it is the circus after all and it's early in the week

Day 2

Well, after a rather full day of packing up and driving, I am here at my home for the night......the Walmart parking lot of Pell City, AL. One of the great things about an RV is that once you close the blinds and wake up the next morning......you have that wonderful disorientation of travel and have to look out the window to remind myself of what part of the country I am in. I've always felt that I have a pretty good memory of places I've visited (I like to think that I have a working drivable map of a few hundred cities in the US) and am hence hesitant to buy a GPS for fear I'd stop using my memory/adventure skills and be crucially at its mercy (because lets face it, sooner or later technology will fail you) So, I sit here at Walmart typing away to you this early summer evening with nothing too exciting to report today. I left Winston-Salem around 12:30pm and arrived here around 9:45PM. I stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel (I've been craving that place lately) and stopped for gas a few times and decided to park early to relax a bit and get some internet and emailing done......I'm still getting caught up on all the stuff I should have been doing the past month......it's amazing how quickly one loses one's social interactions with the online community in a computerless vacuum......very sobering in a way I suppose. Anyhow, all is well, the new axle on the trailer seems to be adjusting to the circus itinerary well....oh, and I passed some colleagues, or a few fellow circus people I should say. I saw a few rigs from the Henneford Circus on the road......there were some horses, and I recognized an elephant trailer. It's weird to be rolling down the road and causally glance over to the lane next to you and say, "huh, there's some elephants, I wonder what they had for lunch...." But then again.....I playing for dancing elephants for a majority of the days in a calendar year...oh yeah, and they like it. Tomorrow, a shower, breakfast at the Cracker Barrel next door (the Old Timers' breakfast sounds in order), and then a quick 2 1/2 hours to Tupelo, MS to get settled in, spend some time on the horn, and maybe do some grocery shopping.....yeah, that would be a good day.

Day 1

Ok, nothing too exciting today. It's a sunday, so on the circus that typically means 1 or 2 shows and then packing up the house to move on out to the next town. In this case we're here in Winston-Salem this week and the lot we're on has its own power/water/sewer. So, since we're usually on a lot generator for power and water, this week is nice and gives me an extra incentive to stay over tonight...plus I still have dishes to wash and need to pack the house up. So, I'm here typing on the new computer which I continue to grow fond of. I have to admit, during the show today I couldn't wait for the it to finish so that I could get back here to spend more time on the computer and finish setting it up with all my files and podcast stuff....and yes, the podcast is still going, I just did an interview on Fri. as a matter of fact with Kim from Counter Culture Coffee. She's their sustainability and direct trade person there.....cool person, very interesting and enlightening conversation.....look for that in the months to come....and I say months because I'm about 2 or 3 interviews behind on getting stuff up......even so, I feel a surge of great coffee things to come out of this RV. Now that I have the new computer and the circus coffee pilot in the midst of a re-edit in gifted hands, the next few months could be very exciting. And, as some of you may or may not know, I have invested in a high-end home(i.e RV) roaster and having been bringing freshed roasted coffee to the circus lot......everyone who has tasted has fallen in love with it so far....so, business has been growing.....AND my epic coffee/motorcycle trip itinerary has been starting to solidify......I'm hoping to fit in a few podcast interviews on that trip amongst the riding and tasting as well.....it's crazy to think, that as I sit here a few hours from the atlantic ocean, in a few weeks I will be in San Francisco at the threshold of the Pacific ocean.....and not by plane, but all driven by yours truly via RV and motorcycle......last year between those 2 vehicles I averaged about 42,000 miles......maybe I should be a truck driver Happy father's day Dad

computer drama

OK........let me explain.

As fate....or shall I the computer fates shall have it, the day after I resolved to blog every day for 30 days and posted about it, MY COMPUTER DIED.  No, it wasn't funny, wasn't funny as all.  So here I am, pretty much exactly a month later typing on my NEW Apple Mac Book Pro....and I have to say, I love this thing and there's a lot to love about it.  

Basically, my old computer was an IBM/lenovo R52 series laptop.  As far as PC laptops go, IBM is probably one of the better ones you can buy, but I can say from personal experience, their customer service on their machines is not.  And that, ultimately (and the fact that Apple builds a superior machine compared to IBM), is why I have now switched to Apple.  Kind of reminds me of the that old song from yesteryear that goes, "anything you can do I can do better."  Which is what the Apple laptop is.... superior and innovative in so many ways.  I won't wax on about them here except to say that after a month of no computer, now that I have the equivalent of a computing sports car in my hands, my creativity is renewed and my mind races to give form to all of the wondrous creations that are to come from this keyboard and screen.

And so, I set the challenge for myself, once more, on this very laptop I am typing on; I will blog every day for the next 30 days......eat your heart out IBM

Blog a day?

Ok, so after some recent conversations with friends and family in regard to this here blog. I think I'm going to endeavor to post one blog a day for the next 30 days....I can't guarentee it will be good, but it will most certainly be interesting, I mean....it is the circus after all.