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!

And the beat goes on....

Ok, so I'm back in West Palm Beach. It's 5:28 friday evening, we played a 1:30 show today and have a 7PM to go tonight. I'm sitting in little place called Greenberry's Coffee & Tea company sipping a mocha latte, watching the sun go down and typing to you all. Ok, enough for the scenery here. Last time I typed, I had just arrived in West Palm Beach (here after reffered to as WPB) Got situated, they didn't have power so I had to run the generator for the night, which was really alright since it was warm enough where I didn't have to run the space heater. The next day I spent routing through all the things in sight in order to figure out what needed to be mailed, thrown away, or packed for the 3 weeks ahead. I was packed in just the nick of time (and NO mom, the bus did not have to wait for me) In 3 separate waves, we took our scheduled bus down to Ft. Lauderdale where we spent the night at the Best western there, it wasn't the nices one I'd ever seen, maybe not even as good as the one I worked in Hershey way back when.....but that's another story. It was a bed to sleep in, and there was a Denny's next door (which usually turns out to be the unofficial food sponser for the the hometown edition tour......."a moons-over-my-hammy for the please" ) The next day we checked into the airport with out incident, no bombes were found on any children, and I was quickly reminded of how pricy airport food/water/smiles/anything really is. The flight left after dark and was about 2 1/2 hours. It went by fairly quick, I watched my Bolshoi ballet DVD until my battery died, but we all lamented the fact that we couldn't see the islands or the triangle of the bermuda triangle outside the window. We arrived in a steamy 76 degree san juan and we checked in and settled by midnight. What an unexpected joy it was to discover this place that would be my home for the next 3 weeks. Never before had I experienced "living" in a hotel and having it be paid for by someone else. It was also quite exciting to realize I was once again out of my element. Where in a place where US money is used, and the USPS sends the mail, but everything else was a new expereience entirely. Our schedule for that three weeks was basically this....... week 1: relax, enjoy, don't spend too much money or get thrown in jail week 2: Ringling owns you, work your little but off and top it all with a 9 pack weekend week 3: You thought last week was bad, well we thought we'd give you a 2nd week of 9 packs. So, in the face of the most intense playing I'd ever done looming ahead, I decided week 1 was relaxation time in order save my strength for the 2 heavy weeks ahead. I've realzed while trapsing around the globe that travelling an site-seeing is exhasting and I was determined not to start week 2 already tired. So basically that week, I slept a lot, took long walks on the beach ;-) and survived on bread, cheese, sausage, and wine. Actually, I did find some time to get around the island. After a few days of loafing, Ted (ringmaster) and I decided to get off our dairy-airs and see something, so we elected to do the bioluminescent bay kyak tour. So, we cought an evening shuttle and drove the 6 of us about an hour away. After some crazy PR traffic (is there any other kind in PR?) and some angry bumpy roads, we arrived in this little village that had a small boat port. We got out, it smelled like fish, but looked promising. We signed our life away, they gave us life jackets and then set sail in our 2 person kyaks alongside our fearless guide nestor. We paddles across the lagoon and were immediately entered a narrow canel lined with mangrove trees. And then, with out announcement or alarm, it hits you........there's no sound except for your kyak part the water, the coqui frogs, and your breathing. You it's toally dark, and you look up to see a heaven bursting with sequined-velvet. It's one of those moments in time that Thoreau alluded to at walden pond. Everything makes sense and you want to melt into the fabric of the creation that's around you. ok.......coffee time over, time to go do a show, na razia

Merry Christmas!!!!! (from detroit?)

Ok, so you’re reading this and saying to yourself, “why has it been so long since he’s updated” Well, it’s because I’ve been a very busy boy in the past few weeks, as you’ll see if you keep reading. Continuing where I left off, I spent thanksgiving in Sarasota with my great aunt pearl and great uncle doyle. It was a nice thanksgiving with Amish food and beautiful weather (70’s every day) While I was there, once I found out that the Ringling circus museum was near by I made sure that I left time in my schedule to see it. So, on sat. Morning my friend Justin (the drummer on the show) rode his k1200 up from his folk’s place and we went to the John Ringling estate. We had just enough time to tour his house and the circus museum. Now, John Ringling was quite a character and his house reflected everything that he was and had built. Within the first 10 seconds of when I walked in the house as part of the tour, it all made sense, the plush, flashy, fantastical sensationalism that embodies the word and event that is the circus. The first room was a receiving room with art on the walls, a silver tea set on a fancy table, all hardwood floors, dark red velvet enrobing the large vertical panes of multicolored glass; the whole room decked out in gold trim. As we continued through the house it was opulent, even by today’s standards, but when you put yourself in the mindset of the 30’s American, this place was utterly grotesque in its lavishness. But then, the over the top sentiment in the décor and style fit perfectly the man who developed the most circus in the world. Of all the rooms, I believe my favorite was his wife’s bedroom. It was decorated entirely by her, so obviously it not only stood out from the rest of the house but also created this quaint oasis of solitude. When you walk in from the powder room the color motif, a mellow pea green immediately surrounds you. Then there’s a wood border where the wall meets the ceiling and all along this border there are various forms of exclamation marks lining all 4 sides. Curiously no one, including the tour guide could figure out what they meant. Everything was simply elegant. After that we got a bite to eat and enjoyed the view on the outside veranda. Apparently back in the day John would often have the circus band play as his yacht was arriving up to the veranda. Afterwards we headed to the circus museum. It truly was a treat learning about the heritage and legacy that I’m now a small part of. They had everything from the Lou Jacobs’s clown props to old circus wagons used in the old circus parades which were once such a memorable part of the circus coming to town. A personal favorite for me was a vintage bandwagon that was part of their museum. I thought about having my picture taken while sitting on it, but I didn’t want to be accused of jumping on the bandwagon. We also learned a few interesting tid bits of circus lore, for example back in the days of tents, they needed a lot of help for setup and take down, so they would offer free tickets for anyone who world come and work a few hours, of course this was a good way for kids to get free tickets and for John Ringling to get the rest of their family there. After the day was over I had a much better understanding of how smart a business man he really was. So, on my last evening there, I got to sample some of the local seafood fare when my aunt and uncle treated to a meal at the Anne Marie Oyster bar. It was excellent, all except for the lobster bisque. You see, I’ve been noticing that the more I cook the more critical I’ve about food; the food I cook as well as others. Perhaps my palate is just becoming more educated, I don’t know, but in any case this lobster bisque missed the mark. It had good potential but missed the mark in that it was WAY too salty. (I let the cook know; hopefully he’ll fix it for future customers) In any case, it was a nice evening before I headed back to circus life. Later that evening is when I headed over to west palm beach where I was to park my RV for the up and coming weeks in Puerto Rico (hereafter referred to as PR ;-) ) ok, layover over (echo, echo, echo) time to fly back to my home on wheels…….till next time

And so the shows begin............

So the marathon of shows has begun, about 26 shows in 1 1/2 weeks. Granted the week of rest down here helps, and the 80+ degree weather makes the long days a little more paletable. So far we've done a couple days of rehearsal, then had 6 shows so far (not counting the 3 today) So, last time I typed I left you all with my musings on pikeville, KY. The little town that it is. Turns out that it's the region where the Hatfields and McCoys had their famous feud. Anyhow, I left the muddy lot Sunday night after the show, hoping to drive as far as Virginia, so that I could visit the DMV on Monday morning. So, after going across the border into Tennesee, I found a walmart to stay the night at (and of course I couldn't pass up a late night shopping trip to pick up a few things) I mean really, how many can pull their house up to Walmart and walk right in! (I know my mom would just live in the parking and shop there if she could) Anyhow, I got up the next morning, drove back across the border into VA and get my new motorcycle tags. You see, I had them stolen in Topeka, and ended filling out a police report and everything. Definately not a highlight of that city for me. But fortunately in VA all that you have to do to replace stolen tags is present your registration and pay the $10 for a new one. Most of the rest of the day I spent driving to Augusta to visit my old roomate and his family. I have to say, (and I know I keep saying it) it was good to see familiar faces. AND, I even got to cook a little too! You see, I've been carrying around my set of srpingform pans in my RV, but truth be told I don't have an oven or anywhere to use them. So mark's wife tiera was kind enough to let me use her kitchen to make one of my fav recipies, Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake And here was the result (Caution, viewing picture may result in drooling on computer) After visiting for a few days I headed down to florida to spend Thanksgiving with my great aunt and uncle whi live in Sarasota. Well, things can never be as simple as you plan. The schedule was to arrive on wednes evening, but just after I crossed the FL border I had a blowout on my front left tire. Fortunately I didn't lose control of the vehicle but it ripped off the mudflap and did a number on the paintjob. So, it spent a couple late night hours figuring out a way to rig the jack to get it high enough off the ground to put on the spare. So, I got the spare on and continured on my way, but at 3AM I started falling asleep on the road, so since FL rest stops are RV friendly, I pulled into one and spent the night and drove the rest of the way early Thanksgiving morning. One plus was that I avoided most of the holiday traffic, although FL drivers are crazy enough to make up for any bonuses gained. So, with aunt pearl's help, I made it to their winter residence in the TriPar mobile home park in Sarasaota. I had a mild case of dejavoux. You see, this mobile park was the same one my family stayed at for our FL trip when I was on 4th grade. If someone had told me I'd be working with the circus and staying there with my RV 17 years later, I probably would've never believed them in a million, but life has a funny way of working out that way. So, I arrived on thanksgiving, visited, and since pearl had to work that evening, we went went for lunch at an Amish buffet restaurant, and I have to say, the Amish know how to do food; perhaps that's where I get my inspiration (my Schlabach ancestors that emmigrated here were from germany were all amish) Anyhow, it was a wonderful and filling meal. Turns out the that owners are from Holmes county ohio, which is where my grandparents live. As I got talking to aunt pearl she was telling me that there are a lot of amish that come to Sarasota for the winter. They run vans back and forth between ohio and FL at least once a week during peek season. And, curiously enough, a lot of the amish houses in FL have ammenities such electricity and phones (which they would never have in ohio) Upon hearing I raised my eyebrows in surprise, and aunt pearl said there's a saying they have, "what happens in florida stays in florida" Anhow, it was a nice treat to me in good company have good food for the holiday. That night I got to bed fairly early so that I could be ready fo early morning sales on black friday :-) oh, have to go play the last show for the day..........more soon

Life is but a dream……….

So here I sit, on my balcony in my room in San Juan Puerto Rico on an 84 degree Fahrenheit day over looking a dozen shades of blue ocean stretching out to the seemingly endless horizon. Could this be real? This is what I asked myself as I awoke this morning to find this vista outside my window. It’s a busy couple of weeks. Last time I typed I believe it was for thanksgiving and turkey day. So that week we played Rapid City, SD, then Spencer, IA and lastly Topeka, KS. While in Rapid City, a bunch of us with bikes on tour took a day trip through Sturgis (the town of the annual Harley festival) and Deadwood, the site of the infamous wild Bill Hicock’s shooting death. Anyhow, we stopped at a place that supposedly had good steaks, the waitress was friendly, and even convinced the chef to bring out the steaks even though it was only lunch time. But, I have to say Big Al’s prime rib did leave something to be desired, but then again I don’t know if anything will even compare to the Prime Rib I tasted at Philly’s Restaurant named the Prime Rib. It’s a standard which I don’t think will soon be surpassed. Anyhow, it was a good set of shows despite my lips being injured. Then, in Spencer, it wasn’t much but flat land, but flat land is ideal for speed in a wheeled vehicle, and I found out that my bike can indeed live up to its speedometer. The other exciting thing I found in Spencer was a niche little bakery/café named Carrolls. I had my standard mocha which turned out to be mediocre (they needed to use better beans with a bolder flavor) and some baked goods that knocked my stomach off its small intestine. Between my repeat visits I had a good sampling of their offerings and highly recommend it. It was neat to sit in their establishment for an hour or so and watch their interactions with the customers; it was a tableau of small town America. They knew their patrons my name and profession and within that short hour I learned all of the news of the town (the unedited version). One down side of Spencer was that it got down to 18F one night and forced water through the flush valve in my toilet, so basically my entire RV flooded, so between shows I had to go out and rent a shopvac to get most of it up, but it still smelled, so in Topeka I went out and bought a carpet shampoo scrub thing and spent the better part of an evening shampooing the carpet of my entire RV. I think most of the smell is out of it. Then we finished the week up in Topeka, KS. It was an OK town, had lot of potential, and was trying pretty hard, and I don’t think I got its best impression. They did have some cool coffee places, name the Classic Bean and the World Cup Café, but between the weather and my motorcycle plate being stolen, I decided that Topeka wasn’t a place for me. I’ll include some descriptions of the aforementioned cafes when I start my new coffee/café review section. Anyhow, the next day I drove up to Omaha to hang out with my friend Holly who had just flown out to start rehearsals for a musical tour she was playing with. That also happened to overlap with my B-day, so it was nice to celebrate it with a familiar face around. On Wednesday I drove to St. Louis to check out the Blue Show of Ringling Circus. I parked the RV at a place called the Casino Queen, which was quite a nice RV park, but I got lost in the ghetto trying to find it, always an interesting trip when I’m driving I suppose. Anyhow, got to the show, and in the words of my friend Tom, it was like a parallel universe but on a much larger scale. I was back stage, and everything that we do, it was just, more. But it was neat to see some of these performers since a fair number of them are retiring or moving to other shows, so in a very real way it was witnessing a closing to the end of an era. That evening also got to check out the circus train, which is a part of the traditional circus experience (if such a thing exists) that I’ve missed out on. But after seeing how small the things are and the different lifestyle, I feel very blessed to be with the unit I’m on. Basically if I were living on the train my room would be an 8x8ft space. The next morning I awoke to a beautiful sunny St. Louis day with the mission of touring the world headquarters of Annheuser Busch, stopping in Evansville, and arriving in Pikeville, Kentucky that night. Well, all of this went as planned. The tour was great, after working 3 summers at Busch Gardens; I had to make a stop at the headquarters there. In Evansville I wanted to stop because 1) the national headquarters for my music fraternity is there and 2) on of my former teacher colleagues and friend now lives there. Once again, it was quite a delight to see a familiar face and she even was kind enough to make a meal! And for anyone who’s even been on the road for any amount of time knows what an unparalleled treat that is. Late that night I finally arrived in Pikeville, KY. Now, this place is quite off of the beaten path. In fact, their biggest claim to fame is their “Hickville Days” festival, yes, that’s right, you read it right. That and the big cut through project which rerouted the river around the town. But, the people were nice and were very thrilled about having the circus in their little town. They had just put in a brand new arena (which was pretty nice I might add) so I think this was the first time the circus had ever been there. Anyways, the weekend shows went by rather quickly, but I daily lamented the fact that there was no espresso machine in the whole town! There was one place that advertised soup, sandwiches, AND espresso. But I just had to shake my head with a frown of compassion for the espresso advertised was that of the gas station variety (i.e. that nasty powdered stuff that they mix with hot water and resembles the taste of a powdered chocolate pop) So, the town has room to grow in its culinary side now that they have the arena built. Ok, enough typing for now, I need to enjoy this weather while I have the free time. Send you all 86 degrees, sun, and ocean breeze wherever you’re reading this from……………

Turkey day...........

Happy Turkey day everyone!!!! (even to those of you in Europe who don't celebrate it) I spent it here with my great aunt Pearl and Uncle Doyle in Sarasota FL, a very WARM and sunny florida. We went to an amish buffet place down here, and I have to say it made me miss that old PA dutch cooking. It was good, simple, hearty food. Appearently they keep some old amish lady in the kitchen that cranks out amazing food all day :-) Anyhow, tomorrow morning I excercise my american capitalism muscle by observing my annual ritual of waking up before the chickens to buy extremely discounted electrical mechandise, sounds like a good time, eh? AND more importantly I'm going to visit the Ringling museum here in Sarasota! till then.........

Circus boy is Birthday boy for a day....................

So, it's that one day a year, the day of your birth which, as far as I know, is celebrated on most if not all cultures around the world. Now, some cultures bring special attention to certain landmarks, we silly humans seem to prefer signifigance when things are in threes, fives, or tens, or even "stages" of life. In any case, this year adds another click on to my life odometer, I've reached 25. Lord willing I will have three more sets of 25 in the years to come, but I'm thankful for each day my heart keeps beating. So this 25th occasion for cake finds in a snowy Omaha. As you all know, this week was loooong circus week. We call it a split week, it's we play an extra town midweek. Now, we did a split up in Canada (between calgary and grande prairie) but that was only 2 shows midweek. This week we did a full run of shows in Rapid City Sd, and then drove the 8 hours on monday to Spencer, IA. We did 5 shows there then had one day to drive another 8 hours to Topeka, KS. Got there Fri. night and did 5 shows between sat. and sun. This would have been a heavy week with good chops, but due to the fact that I injured myself in Nampa by pushing myself to hard (and possibly playing incorrectly) at the end of a 3rd show on a Sat. So, it's been a challenging couple of weeks. But's it's been a humble learning experience and I'll definately take better care of the chops in the future, and pay more attention to what my body is telling me. Ok, I'm here in Omaha and heading out to Outback to celebrate the B-day with my old PA dutch friend Holly. Having a steak with someone named Holly in the midwest, that's so 50's america...........

Coffee is catching on.......

Ok, had a minute to put something up today. I'm at the Cafe Latte agian, and I just got around to reading this blog of coffee places in Spokane check it out good stuff.........I have to say, I may be inspired to start a totally new section just for my coffee forays. Also, my family has been extremely cutrious with questions and all about the circus life, and so I figured a lot of people have the same curiosities. So, feel free to leave quesitons in the comments area and I'll do my best to answer in a circus manner. Have a good TGIF

Blow thou winter wind

Today I type to you from Cafe Latte in Rapid City South Dakota. Rapid City is better know for its proximity to Mt. Rushmore, and Deadwood, Wall Drug, and Sturgis. But, just as well, this is where we are this week, getting ready to jump off into a heavy week of shows......the rundown: Rapid City- 1 fri, 3 sat, 2 sun, drive to Spencer IA wednes 2, thurs 3, drive to Topeka KS Sat 3, Sun 2. So, I'm going to have some tires lips, but at least it will get me ready for our marathon of shows in Puerto Rico. In any case, I was last typing about last week in Nampa ID, a suburb of Boise. It was a productive week, as I mentioned before I got a lot of work done on the house. I had mentioned in one of my earlier blogs that my friend the ringmaster was in a motorcycle accident in Kennewick, so, he is well on the mend. But, since it was the other person's fault, the owner of the bike, one of the sound guys Elliot, ended up getting insurance money for the total value of the bike. So, in looking for a new one he decided to upgrade to the 1200 sport BMW bike, quite a nice bike it is, I've never really fancied the BMWs, but if I'd get one, that'd be the one. So we all took a ride to the loacl BMW/Ducati dealer and drooled over the bikes, and elliot got set up for the new bike. I also discovered this great little coffee shop in old town Nampa. Now, if you ever get in that part of the country, Boise has really done a lot to fix up and revtialize their downtown area. With ina 2 to 3 block radius there is a plethora of coffee shops, micro breweries, and clubs. Quite a hopping little place on the weekends, or so I hear. I was actually just down there to pick up the new mirrors for my bike and maybe do some shoe shopping (I desperately needed a new pair of work shoes) So, I checked out little coffee shop, it was ok, had very much the independent philly vibe (anti-bush stickers, pridefest posters and the such) It was decorated festively for Halloween. I got my standard mocha and also some oatmeal rasberry square. The coffee was average, but the square was intrigueing to say the least. In any case, I didn't get to try all the coffee joints downtown, but I definately sensed good coffee potential. But, in Nampa I found this little mom and pop coffee shop called the "old town coffee shop", or something to that affect. I went in not expecting much, but they had 2 soups, 15 bean and chili, both homemade and they looked delicious. So, once again I ordered my standard mocha and then got that with the 15 bean soup which came with fresh corn bread. mmmmmm....mmmmmm.mmmmmmmmmmm. It was everything that I expected a small town mom and pop coffee place to be. It wasn't exactly a coffee house since it was attached to an antiques shop, but everytijng was fresh and quality. I got to know the owner Bob, who had bought the business in his retirement, and was commenting how happy he was with his current employess, since it's so hard to find quality among today's workforce. He also filled me in on some history of the town, appearently the town is haunted. As the story goes, like so many towns in the west Nampa was a railroad town in the 1800's. The place where the cafe is now used to be a motel witha brothel in the upstairs, and at times, they say you can still hear the occupants walking around and even knocking on the doors. And, to top it off, there is a network of tunnels that run under the whole town. Appearently there were a lot of chinese that worked in the area and there was a law stating that they were not allowed to been seen at night, so they dug a tunnel network and that's how they got around. The network still remains todyay and is largely unexplored. Pretty crazy stuff, anyways, so I like their soup so much, that I went back on sat. morning to try their chili, and afterwards I took a stroll through the little farmer's market and ended up buying some fresh honey and some palate stopping cinnamon pecan buns. (I think I need to get back into my long distance running with all of this food!) The shows went pretty well, for the most part they were well attended and the audience seemed to enjoy it. It had only been 3 years since Ringling Bros. was last there, compared to 40 or 50 in some other towns. But, the people were still excited. Another highlight of the week was our Halloween extravaganza. We did trick ot treat for the kids on sat. between the 2nd and third shows. And no, I was not stingy, I did get candy for the kiddies (but I didn sneak a few pieces for myself) Basically the kids were dressed up for most of the day, and they between the 2nd and third shows they came around to the dressing rooms for trick or treat. And I have to say, there were some awefully cute costumes. After they came to the dressing rooms, we all went out to the main ring and Tom, one of the clowns, announced them one by one for the company. It was a good time, and it really reminded me that we really are our own little community unto ourselves. So, that night was the party for everyone, I didn't have time or monetary means to rig up a costume, but I did contribute to the food by making some peanut butter popcorn. Our last show was on Sunday, that night I went out to eat mexican with some of the other bike guys, and then started packing up that night for the mon. trip. On mon. I go ton the road by about 10AM to start my 1000 mile trip to Rapid City SD. My goal was to reach Jackson, WY that evening. So, after a short stop at the Gas station and Walmart in Twin Falls ID I made it into Jackson st about 6PM, So, after finding out that all and any RV places were closed for the season, I found a coffee shop and typed the last blog entry. Afterwards, I drove around town looking for a place to park and ended finding an RV park place abour 15 miles south of town. A little out of the way, but at least I had electricity. The next morning, got up, paid my bill, and then headed up to the town of Jackson. Now, I faintly remember being through there with my family when I was younger, but it's funny how tihngs change as you get older and visit the same places with different experiences under your belt. Anhow, took a gander at the antler arch, and got some coffee mocha and a croissant at a health foods shop (that mocha was average, at best, there was hardly any espresso taste at all) and then headed to the tourism building where I planned my escape from the Tetons. Thus I began my day of journeying across wyoming. My goal was to pick up a trumpet I was buying in Casper and be in Rapid City before it got too late. So, I headed across the mountain pass (with a top elevation of 9624ft) where I encountered some snow and some fluffy guy ina red suit training raindeer. I didn't ask questions, and just kept driving. After about an hour or so of climbing and then going down hill I reached the other side in what appeared to be an almost desert landscape. It was amazing how quickly the scenery changed. After a couple of hours, it occured to me, I was running out of gas. And here I was, driving across the middle of the oil fields of wyoming and no gas stations in site. FINALLY, with about 2, maybe 3 gallons the pricy petrol left in my tank, I came Hiland....population 10. But they did have an ancient (working) gas station. I didn't a price posted, so I put enough in to get me to Casper. The inside shop was everything a quintessential tourist shop in a town of 10 people could ever be. There were dried, posed snakes for sale, and of of course the ice cream fridge, along with some cowboy hats that had been patiently collecting the dust of the past 40 years. The lady behind the counter was an older frial women, thin, white curly hair, perhaps lower 70's. We had a common understanding due to the fact that we both had a nasty cold. While my credit card was running, out of burning curiosity, I asked her "are there really only 10 people in this town?" She said it was usually more like 6, with sometimes 10 on the weekends. After chatting a bit, I learned that she had been there for 30 years, and the little shops exits mainly for the tourism/gas in the summer. And I imagine it serves a watering hole for all of the oilfield truckers too. It's a different way of life, yet we all live in the same country and pay taxes to the same uncle sam. After another 45 min, I arrived in Casper, picked up the trumpet for the brass professor a the community college and grabbed a bite to eat at the famous Wonder Bar, down town, and proceeded to travel the reamining 4 hours to Rapid City. Well, it was quite the trip, I found out that a strong crosswind and sleepy Nate didn't make for very pleasant driving, but, I had the radio and CDs going....pretty loudly, and that got me there (thank goodness I had looked up the directions to the arena BEFORE I left this time) I arrived around 11:30PM and was hooked of to the power and unpacked by 12:30AM. After which I practiced and then slept....more like hibernated for the winter. That was tues night, today is thurs, more on this week later in the weekend....till then, stay warm and don't play chicken with the wind chill (it will always win).........na razie

Seattle....the continuing story (and more)

Ok, so here I am typing once again.....especially since I had a specuial request for an update from a recently engaged relative :-) So, last time I was typing, I was just arriving back in Seattle on a thursday night after a wonderful day of ridinging and island hopping around seattle. That evenng my counsin's boyfriend and his roomate were kind enough to put me up for the night. I was good times.......the next morning I awoke early and headed back home....or to where my home was parked for the week. So I got on the roas around 8AM and of course had to stop at one more coffee shop (which came highly recommended) on the way out of town. It was called Vivace cafe, and yes, it was yet ANOTHER amazing coffee house in Seattle, thus further convinving me that I will sometime in my life live in the coffee city. This particular cafe had the italian vibe, my bike wold have been right at home there amidst the the tables and and espresso machines.....I probably would've tried, but the ducati dealer finally convinced me that ducatis don't run on espresso...but they sure ride like it ;-) Anhow, the drive back was so beautiful, I know I say that about so many places, but when you're cruising down the highway, past the beautiful seattle skyline, with tress all around, the birght morning sun, the sound of the wind rushing past my helmet, and a perfectly clear Mt. Rainier setting the backdrop......it's just one of those things. So, I got back safe and sound, didn't get pulled over for speeding (becasue I wasn't of course) Upon arriving back in Kennewick, the first thing I find out is that our ring master was in a motorcycle accident over that past week. A very harrowing reality, basically a woman wasn't payoing attention and ran a red light, and ted plowed right into her. Totalled the boke, he would've been too except that he had a helmet on, wihch is essence saved his life. But, he was still badly injured, but with the aide of pain killers he hasn't missed a show yet. (although the pain killers have made for some interesting ringside narratives) In any case, he's recovering quite well and we're blessed to have him around. We did 5 shows over the weekend in Kennewick. There's really not much to do there besides shop and go to the local wineries. According to my coffee shop scale....kennewick was barren except for a starbucks, and it was a drive-thru one at that. So, after our last show on Sun. (which was finally a strong one for my chops) We did the normal routine of packing everything up and moving on to the next town, which brings me to Nampa Idaho. Nampa is a little city right outside of Boise, the capital. I have to say this week, if I had to sum up I would call it a housekeeping week. Pretty much all of the stuff that I didn't get to lsat week, and even some long pending projects were finally completed. For example, I've been wanting to make my place a little "home-ier" so I finally got around to buying and installing a wireless doorbell. Also, my bead curtain from philly, finally got that put up; fixed the shower curtain; I even put out my awning for the first time! It downright flattered the motorhome, made it appear to be a serious place of residence :-) So we were parked at a place named the "horse park" where, as the name suggests, they park horses, or more accurately, park the trailers and put the horses in stalls. But, even though it smelled like growing up in MI, we still had a good time, I even made one of my fav dises (pitachips and canellini bean dip) for a b-day party early in the week. Ok, enough for tonight, thehy're closing the place up. Maybe more tomorrow, pending a non-encrypted wireless signal... do widzenia.................. also, got this from my friend meghan, I guess I'm a little of everything...........

Your Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

10% Upper Midwestern

10% Yankee

5% Dixie

5% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Seattle 2

So, last time you tuned in, I had just arrived at Kennewick and had FINALLY found the arena, which apparently in Kennewick is called the convention center. So, that noght, I got everything set up and working by about 3AM. So, since I didin't have to report to work until 4:30PM Fri., I had planned to take the week riding up in Seattle. That afternoon I left and made the 220+ mile ride up to my aunt and uncles place in Seattle. I have to say, that I thoroughly enjoyed my week up there. It was nice to be out and about and travel a bit. The ride wasn't too cold with the new coat purchased only 2 days before the trip, but the most grueling part of the trip was actually the seat on my bike. You se, there to types of riding positions on bikes, the sport or the touring. Well, since mine is of the sporting variety, lets just say that my gluteus minimus was not too happy by the end of the ride, but I got there safe and sound and there were no close calls, even with the moderate rain in the snoqualmie pass. So, got there monday night, had a great baked chicken dinner (prepared by aunt Lynn of course) and also had the pleasure of seeing my long lost west coast cousin Janine and her significant other known as Dan. Now, Dan is an IT guy at a company, but not just any company....a COFFEE company. So, needless to say, I always something to talk about with anyone in the coffee industry. (and he had lots of insider info!) All this I file away for my future coffee house business aspirations........you see, I've been taking notes at all these coffee houses I've been visiting around the country. The way I see it, most people experience coffee in its various forms and creations in their native town, plus one, maybe two towns in any given year. Well, I've averaging about 1 new chain/mom&pop coffee joint a week, that combined with my international coffee travels and amateur baking status makes me a potential triple threat coffee entrepenuer........although I should learn how to roast the beans first I suppose. Ok, back to Seattle; Tues. was the day Janine showed me a native's perspective of this northwest city. We spent most of the day in the expeience music project, wihch was quite the experience. We only paid half price with a coupon to get in, and I'm not sure I would have paid the full $25 admission, but it was something to experience. With the digital audio guide we got to see hand written being described by the artists themselves, the history of hip-hop, the history of guitars, and even learned to play a guitar. A lot of hands on stuff and info, but once agiain, not sure if it wold have been worth the full admission. The rest of our day consisted of checking out the Pike Place market (even though it was closed) Buying a pumpkin spice latte at the first starbucks in the world, saying hello to the freemont troll, checking out a nightime city vista, perusing used CDs at a place called the Warehouse, and dinner at the local Red Robin. It was a good day. Wednes, I spent catching up on sleep and practicing, (since it was rainy anyways) and also visiting the local Ducati dealership, which is where I finally.....finally found some saddle bags for the bike. You see this purchase became necessary when I shoved everything for my road trip into my backpack, and on the ride up the weight of it on my shoulders gave me nice numb tingely feeling in my wrists. Plus, I never have enough storage for laundry and groceries. Then that evening I arrived at the Seattle youth hostel and checked-in followed by a delightful cafe mocha and apple pie at Cafe Ladro near by. It was a disorienting experience staying in a hostel in the US, all my previous hostel experiences have been in Europe......so it was interesting to see how the US does it. In any case, the bed was clean and there no smelly people in my room (you're laughing, but that happened to me one night in Berlin, and it's not a pleasant experience.....trust me) The next morning, woke up, checked my mail and such on their in-house wireless, and then left to check out the pike place market followed by a day-trip around the local islands. So, here I am walking in the market, when this girl offers me an apple sample after which she asked if I was with my bike (I had my riding jacket on) and we got to talking, well it turns out her boyfriend was working at a coffee shop down the street and was an avid rider. So, after a bit walked down there, got a great cafe mocha and the down low on where to ride around the islands. In the few years he's had his bike he's put 40,000 miles on it, and it's a sport bike! There are definately 2 kinds of riders, I consider myself in the 2nd. Anyhow, finally got on the road and top the 1st of 3 ferries for the day. It was such a beautiful ride over. In some ways it was very similar to the Surrey ferry in VA, but these ferries are much bigger and have larger and more luxurious passenger compartments. Anyhow, it was a short 30min hope over to Whidby island where I basically just set out in a direction and rode. Just beautiful scenery, everything coastal you picture when you think of the northwest. Although, I had to be very careful because there was actually a fair amount of moss and wet leaves on the road, which on a motorcycle is baaaaad news. So, after some exploring my gastric acids were sending me messeges I couldn't ignore and I stopped in a little hamlet named Langley. It was a quaint little town with a summer tourist spin on it, but was able to find a hearty no-frills local lunch at the Doghouse tavern. After ordering lunch I put a good dent on their in-house puzzle until the food arrived. I have to say, the locals in the bank I knocked over were right, (ok, so I didn't knock over the bank, just took some cash off of the plastic leech, since I'm STILL living off of it) they do make one heckuva burger and fries. Following this gastronomic adventure, I wandered the town, snapped a few pics, and mounted the bike to ride up the island toward the Greenbank farm where, island rumor has it, is the best pie on the island. Well, upon arroving, the first thing I noticed was that it looked like the pictures AND it had nice landscaping (something that anyone who has worked in this field can duely appreciate) After doing a mini wine tasting of the local varietals, I tried some the pie, and yes ladies and gentleman, there is good reason why it is famous..........it's not Pennsylvania Dutch, but it was good. So, by this time is was getting cloudy and cold and I needed to reach Seattle befire it got too late, so I headed up to catch the Pt Townsend ferry, after which was a beautiful ride down the peninsula to catch the Bainbridge ferry. I stopped in Paulsbo, a little Swedish town which good coffee. Ok, dead battery= more next time.....