The first leg of my fall tour - NV, UT and CO

Thursday September 30th, 2010 – Chama New Mexico

Well, today marks 13 days on the road and since I was born on the 13th day of November, thought I’d take the night off at an RV park in Chama, NM. I wish I was better at journaling, it is certainly a gift some people have but I have never been very good at keeping a diary of my time. In fact, I rarely take pictures and wish I took more photos of the amazing souls I get to encounter in my travels. It’s all fodder for songwriting I think.

I started out the trip heading for Las Vegas, not realizing the steepness of the grade taking me there on Hwy 15. Drove on Thursday night til my eyes were crossing and pulled into a truck stop to sleep. Arrived at the Floyd Lamb Park just in time for the Farmer’s Market run by Steve & Ginger Johnson on Saturday Morning. Had a great time under the trees which helped me survive the heat. Made new friends Stella & Kelly Jo and bought a few beautiful glass beads from Craig & Cindy.

Saturday night I played Garage-Ma-Hall a music series hosted by Richard & Betty Stewart. They have turned a back garage space into an incredible music venue with a full stage complete with lighting rigs. The walls are covered with music memorabilia and I am honored to have my poster hanging up among so many of my artist friends who I have respected for years. One of their daughters Debbie spent some time with us and we sipped whiskey and chatted into the wee hours. On Sunday, I got some errands and a little gambling done and had the day off browsing thrift stores and casinos til it cooled off. Monday night I had made plans to play at Borders Books to a group of twelve people with their backs to me and their noses in books. I realize that Monday wasn’t a regular night for music there and thinking about all my friends at the Furthur shows in Santa Barbara that night made me even cry a little during a song. I pulled myself through it like a pro and even made a couple of new friends like Ferdie there in LV that night. Tuesday afternoon I played the LV Farmers Market again, tis time at Gardens Park in the SW part of Vegas. The wind ripped the cover off of the vent in the back bedroom but calmed down in time for the market. Las Vegas was good to me, a wonderful visit and wonderful folks! Thank you all!

I left the park Tues at 9pm to find my friends at the Hard Rock Hotel as they were coming into town for the Furthur show. Furthur is the newest project led by Grateful Dead Legends Bob Weir and Phil Lesh (in a nutshell) We wound up with a group of like 22 heads from Ventura and celebrated Lisbet’s 40th birthday in style! I fell asleep and missed the Hummer Limo ride before the show and they all figured I needed the rest. They were right. The show that night was incredible and we all had a real good time, I even saw a long lost friend that somehow I knew I’d run into there after like 12 years. I busted out a tiny ice cream cake I had in the freezer for after the show and we sang that Happy Birthday song as the girls blew out the rainbow flame candles I had found at the store. Yes, the flames were different colors. Look into it. Gray was also celebrating her birthday and I gotta say she was such a sport, getting on the plane at like 5am the next morning to be at school in Santa Cruz by 10? Go get em Gray! ;) So I leave Las Vegas, contented and grateful to have survived the heat.

Headed east into Utah I got a late start out of Vegas and then hit traffic due to an accident so waited on the 15 for an extra hour in the heat. Fatigue set in after we started moving again and as is the rule, no driving the bus with my eyes closed. Mostly uphill on that leg of the trip, after a quick nap I realized there was no way I could make it to Mystic Hot Springs in Monroe that night. Total bummer. It happens. So onward into Provo! Great time at ABG’s in Provo, Dane who manages the place was amazing and met up with Jessica, a friend from home who surprised me by walkin through the door. So nice to have a familiar face in a strange place. People were digging the Rachel show and we had a really fun night. We spent the next day in the Uinta Nat’l Forest and were unable to get tickets to see the Timpanogos Caves as it was free day in the park and it was jammed with people. So we took a nice drive and ended up at a spot called Cascade Springs which was beautiful. We kissed goodbye, I was headed into Salt Lake and Jessica was moving on into Yellowstone on her journey. Fare thee well my friend, see you back by the beach.

I pulled the bus into the neighbor’s driveway which caused a bit of commotion but finally landed in a nice shade spot at my next venue, Magpie Houseconcerts in SLC. Grant and Laurel are an amazing team and it was such a joy to get some time to get to know them. We had a wonderful night of music and then spent some time at breakfast and a little thrift store shopping, my favorite pastime. What a great couple these two are! Also was wonderful to see my friend Alicia McGovern, a singer/songwriter friend who lives there in SLC as well. Played the People’s Market on Sunday and ran into a woman I had met briefly on my 2006 tour in Billings, MT while getting my nails done. Small world. I guess I get around after all.

I headed south then and into Arches National park on Monday and was thankful to finally be out of the heat on the road although it was plenty warm when I got to Arches. Amazing rock formations there that can almost convince you that you’re on another planet. Love that. Then I made what was a very good call and decided to see Mesa Verde National Park. Hadn’t really planned on it and didn’t know much about it but decided since I was there to spend the gas money and see the park. At Mesa Verde I saw and stood on the same spot as ancient ones of over 800 years ago. They built cliff dwellings that were incredibly advanced, some having up to 200 rooms along with cooking areas and ceremonial kivas. It was definitely an experience I am thrilled I did not miss. Wow!

So, today is now Friday, October 01, 2010 and I am headed for Santa Fe for a little dinner and song at Anita’s, a friend of some of my friends from San Luis Obispo and Live Oak Music Festival. Dave-O had sent along my email and she called me. I’ll have a nice chance to hang out, play some music and have a great dinner as til a week ago, I hadn’t been able to book that Friday night. Really looking forward to it. Then I’ll be playing in Albuquerque on Saturday and Monday night, taking Sunday in the hopes of checking out the hot air balloon festival that’s happening this weekend and the following week before I head across the Texas panhandle and into Oklahoma.

That’s the long and short of it for now. I will pipe in sometime next week.