Off the Road Again
To catch up from where I last left off…which was a long time ago…we made our way to Maryland. There we visited Levi’s mother, Carolyn, his two sisters, Emily and Audrey, and her quasi-boyfriend, Ed. We had a great time there. We went to the downs and bet on horses. I played the penny slots. You wont believe what happened! The second penny I put in the slot gave me $112! I cashed out and took the winnings home. Levi came out $30 on top. While in Maryland, Levi’s mother took me to her salon (she has been doing hair professionally since she was 16) and she dyed and cut my hair. It still looks really great. We had thanksgiving at the Old Country Buffet with Levi’s grandmother and all the rest of his family. Man, his family is SOO different than mine. They are crazy, but in a good way.
From Maryland we went to my home town--Philadelphia. Growing up, I spent every summer with my mother’s parents in Ventnor NJ (an hour and a half from S. Philly). While we stayed with my grandfather, we went back and forth from the shore to the city. We ate so well there. My moms side is all Italian--we ate GOOD. I got the chance to see family I haven’t seen in a while--hi Frankie!-and catch up with my grandfather. Two shows were cancelled on us in PA. They were supposed to be our big money makers too. When we got to the place-it was shut down!! Ugh some people.
From PA we went to West Virginia. I had such a hard time with my allergies in WV. I felt sick the whole time and almost drove Levi completely insane with the attitude that comes along with my being sick. We stayed with Levi’s close friend Ben in WV. Ben is really awesome. He is in a band called the Skinny Leonards. Go check them out on myspace when you get the chance. We helped Ben pick out an engagement ring for his girlfriend. He proposed to her on Christmas in Prague and she said YES! How romantic…..We played some great gigs in WV--thanks for hooking us up Ben!
From WV we went to Ohio and stayed with Levi’s brother and stepfather Brennen and Larry. We had a blast. Brennen is the coolest 12 year old around. We played a couple shows, played lots of poker with Brennen, ate lots of sandwiches (I’m the only one who can get Brennen to eat a sandwich with lunchmeat-roast beef and American cheese on white bread with a very small amount of mayo), went to an awesome science museum in Columbus called COSI, and played lots of football in Brennen’s backyard.
From Ohio we went Chicago and met up with Levi’s friend from childhood, Joey. We played a show at a really tiny place with great food and then spent the night at Joey’s apartment. Levi is so lucky to have kept so many good friends from so long ago. All of the friends that I had from grade school to college changed so much…I just don’t know who they are anymore.
From Chicago we got on our way to Kansas City. We stayed over night in Western Illinois. Keep in mind it’s December at this point---and freezing. We were going to stay at a motel (for like the only time ever…we try not to stay in motels in order to save money for gas and food) but we couldn’t get to the motel in time for our reservation. We wanted to cancel the reservation and find a hotel closer to where we already were, but the people told us that we couldn’t get our deposit from the reservation back. I was fuming. Its not like we screwed them over, we just couldn’t get there in time with traffic and whatever else slows drivers down! Anyway, I talked my way into us getting our money back, and we headed to a rest stop. We got through the night, but we were soooo cold.
When we woke up we got on the road to Kansas City. Kansas City is beautiful, but I gotta tell ya, I wonder if anyone really lives there! The streets were empty, and it was a Saturday! We played our gig and left to meet up with Levi’s brother, Andy, right outside of Oklahoma City.
Instead of paying for a hotel room or sleeping in the freezing cold again, we opted to stay in Andy’s remodeled travel trailer. Andy was on his way back to New Mexico from having done some work in Virginia, which was perfect timing for us. We slept comfortably and warmly through the night. When we woke up and left the trailer to go to the bathroom, we saw a very peculiar man dressed as a woman squatting under a semi truck. We could see that he had male genitalia, but he was squatting to pee. Not that we wanted to watch him pee, we just thought it was SO bizarre….he’s squatting under a semi in order to what? Get some privacy? Hide? I guess he didn’t realize that everyone around could see him seeing as how a semi is like four feet off the ground! To make matters worse, when he was finished, he wrapped his genitalia in toilet paper (why????), tucked it away, pulled his skirt down, and climbed in the semi.
We finally made it back to New Mexico and had a great Christmas and New Year. In early January we left NM and headed to Colorado to stay with my dad and step-mom in their new house. They are gracious enough to let us stay with them until the summer.
What a weird and terrific journey we had.
Right now we are working with Americana Media Pro on radio promotion, booking like crazy in the Denver metro area, and trying to get as much press as we possibly can.
Keep a look out for what happens next!
From Maryland we went to my home town--Philadelphia. Growing up, I spent every summer with my mother’s parents in Ventnor NJ (an hour and a half from S. Philly). While we stayed with my grandfather, we went back and forth from the shore to the city. We ate so well there. My moms side is all Italian--we ate GOOD. I got the chance to see family I haven’t seen in a while--hi Frankie!-and catch up with my grandfather. Two shows were cancelled on us in PA. They were supposed to be our big money makers too. When we got to the place-it was shut down!! Ugh some people.
From PA we went to West Virginia. I had such a hard time with my allergies in WV. I felt sick the whole time and almost drove Levi completely insane with the attitude that comes along with my being sick. We stayed with Levi’s close friend Ben in WV. Ben is really awesome. He is in a band called the Skinny Leonards. Go check them out on myspace when you get the chance. We helped Ben pick out an engagement ring for his girlfriend. He proposed to her on Christmas in Prague and she said YES! How romantic…..We played some great gigs in WV--thanks for hooking us up Ben!
From WV we went to Ohio and stayed with Levi’s brother and stepfather Brennen and Larry. We had a blast. Brennen is the coolest 12 year old around. We played a couple shows, played lots of poker with Brennen, ate lots of sandwiches (I’m the only one who can get Brennen to eat a sandwich with lunchmeat-roast beef and American cheese on white bread with a very small amount of mayo), went to an awesome science museum in Columbus called COSI, and played lots of football in Brennen’s backyard.
From Ohio we went Chicago and met up with Levi’s friend from childhood, Joey. We played a show at a really tiny place with great food and then spent the night at Joey’s apartment. Levi is so lucky to have kept so many good friends from so long ago. All of the friends that I had from grade school to college changed so much…I just don’t know who they are anymore.
From Chicago we got on our way to Kansas City. We stayed over night in Western Illinois. Keep in mind it’s December at this point---and freezing. We were going to stay at a motel (for like the only time ever…we try not to stay in motels in order to save money for gas and food) but we couldn’t get to the motel in time for our reservation. We wanted to cancel the reservation and find a hotel closer to where we already were, but the people told us that we couldn’t get our deposit from the reservation back. I was fuming. Its not like we screwed them over, we just couldn’t get there in time with traffic and whatever else slows drivers down! Anyway, I talked my way into us getting our money back, and we headed to a rest stop. We got through the night, but we were soooo cold.
When we woke up we got on the road to Kansas City. Kansas City is beautiful, but I gotta tell ya, I wonder if anyone really lives there! The streets were empty, and it was a Saturday! We played our gig and left to meet up with Levi’s brother, Andy, right outside of Oklahoma City.
Instead of paying for a hotel room or sleeping in the freezing cold again, we opted to stay in Andy’s remodeled travel trailer. Andy was on his way back to New Mexico from having done some work in Virginia, which was perfect timing for us. We slept comfortably and warmly through the night. When we woke up and left the trailer to go to the bathroom, we saw a very peculiar man dressed as a woman squatting under a semi truck. We could see that he had male genitalia, but he was squatting to pee. Not that we wanted to watch him pee, we just thought it was SO bizarre….he’s squatting under a semi in order to what? Get some privacy? Hide? I guess he didn’t realize that everyone around could see him seeing as how a semi is like four feet off the ground! To make matters worse, when he was finished, he wrapped his genitalia in toilet paper (why????), tucked it away, pulled his skirt down, and climbed in the semi.
We finally made it back to New Mexico and had a great Christmas and New Year. In early January we left NM and headed to Colorado to stay with my dad and step-mom in their new house. They are gracious enough to let us stay with them until the summer.
What a weird and terrific journey we had.
Right now we are working with Americana Media Pro on radio promotion, booking like crazy in the Denver metro area, and trying to get as much press as we possibly can.
Keep a look out for what happens next!
posted by Dean Station | 10:14 AM
|
2 comments
