Day 34 Lowell, MA (Day Off)

We are in Lowell, MA today. We had two days off, and decided to spend it here because it's pretty close to mansfield which is where tomorrows venue is. Its a small college town with some nice shops and restaurants. We stayed at a double tree hotel yesterday, and checked out around 2 today. Its been a pretty uneventful day today, I went running in the morning and for a swim in the hotel after that. I haven't eatin anything all day and its almost 9 at night now. We were just about to leave the bus and find some food and it started downpouring. I am going to put some pictures in this blog of the canada show in montreal. It was an interesting venue, on an island right next to this biodome thing, and an amusment park.

Crossing the border was fun too....we crossed at around 4 in the morning. We were all asleep and had to wake up and go into the building with our passports and answer some stupid questions. They also came up on the bus and did a quick search just to make sure we didn't have any contraband on it. We didn't bring any of our merch with us except for a few small boxes because if they found it they would make us pay taxes on all of it. Well back to work tomorrow, another 12 straight shows in a row, but I get to see the family in two days, and maybe be able to sleep in my own bed with my own wife. Can't wait.

Day 29 Cleveland, Ohio

This venue is not my favorite, parking was a nightmare for all of the buses. The problem is that there are no parking lots so all the buses have to be shoe-horned into these little allies and empty lots. We can't even leave until 4 or 5 other buses leave in front of us. The venue is right in downtown cleveland, not far from the cleveland browns stadium and the rock and roll hall of fame...which I ran by this morning. I also won a Marine Corps shirt by doing 20 pull ups today too. I'm sore as hell from it now. I took a picture of the marine dude and the pull-up bar thing. haha. Kirsten came down yesterday to the Columbia, MD show with Becky and Layla it was awesome. Layla was such a good girl, she ran around all day with us, and even got to hang out on the bus. Detroit Tomorrow, then off to Canada.

Day 24 Miami, Florida

Its been three weeks, and there is still so much more to go. Still at least 30 more shows to go......uuugh. Yesterday was the the third show of 12 in row without a day off. I usually don't like days off on club tours, but this tour is different. I definitely look forward to the days off. Our next day off won't be until Canada, maybe we will drive to boston for the two days off.

Kirsten brought Cameron down to vacation with her parents this week in florida. This worked out perfectly because two of our shows were within an hour and a half of them. Saint Petersburg, and Orlando. What I didn't know before they flew down was that we were spending two days off in Tallahassee to get some work done on the bus before those shows. When I found this out it dawned on me that it may be possible to rent a car and drive down to surprise them at her parents in appollo beach, about a 4 hour drive south of Tallahassee. When we got to Tallahassee by 12 on the first day off I immediately had our driver drop me off at the rental car place, I rented the car and drove right down to see them. Kim and Kid knew I was coming, but Kirsten and Cameron did not. I pulled into the driveway and snuck around the back to the pool where they were hanging out. As soon as I turned the corner Cameron saw me and yelled "Daddy!" and Kirsten just looked around and said "what?", she had no idea why he was saying that. It was so great to see them and spend some quality time with them. We spent the one day at Universal in Orlando, we went on tons of rides and Cameron had the time of his life. He kept saying "This is the greatest day ever!"

Well yesterday was the last day with the family around, I miss Cameron and Kirsten soooo much already, It was so great to spend time with the in-laws too, their the best. Now back to the grind again. Won't see the family until the Philly show on the 25th. Not too bad, I definitely have gone longer before. I will post some pictures soon with Cameron and Kirsten on tour with me.

Day 15 Dallas, Texas

Its super hot here, so damn humid. I thought Phoenix was hot when it hit 114 degrees the day we were there, but the humidity is way worse. We just got done playing our set, I'm completely drenched in sweat. I already ran almost 4 miles this morning and just finishing playing for 30 mins in the heat. I'm pretty beat down right now. We got some free shirts today from a friend of ours who owns a clothing company, so that was pretty nice. Now I'm just cooling off on our bus, and writing this blog. I wonder if i'll be able to keep this up. I kinda doubt it...but I will try. We are spending our day off tomorrow in Austin, Texas. I really like Austin. There's this bridge there that a bunch of bats live under, and every night at dusk they come funneling out. Millions of them, its really something to see. I'll have to make sure I take a picture of them tomorrow. We are playing Selma, Texas the next day, which is right outside of San Antonio.

Day 11 Denver, Colorado

Well I meant to start this blog a lot sooner, but better late than never I guess. I actually just started this blog on my sidekick sitting on the toilet in the front lobby bathroom of the St. Louis Hilton. Haha what did you expect. I'm writing now while I'm walking through the parking lot to the bus. Its a very beautiful night, one of those nights when the air just feels perfect, not to cool, not too hot. It was a nice surprise after being couped up in the bus for 18 hours.....8 of which I slept in my bunk with my guitar that won't fit into the bays underneath the bus. That's what happens when your bus is at capacity with 12 people living together for almost three months.

I went running today along the Platte river before we played. It was a very enjoyable run. Saw alot of people out and about with their dogs and their bikes, I don't think I've ever seen so many people engaged in this much physical activity in one city at one time, and on a weekday ever before. Must be something about Denver. I even saw a Weimaraner playing fetch with his owners in the river (I wish layla would do that..haha). Everyday I get up with our guitar tech Dennis at 8:30 and we go to the Hurly stage where we play most of the time. We have to be there then to help unload all the gear or else we get yelled at by this long blond haired, bearded, gap toothed, really cool guy....the stage manager. All of our gear is stored on a semi at the end of the show and transported to the next city for us. After that I go run for 30 mins to an hour, that's my alone time...I really need it. The schedule changes for all of the bands every day. We could go on as early as 11:30, and as late as 7:30. Kinda sucks but I actually like changing it up everyday. Keeps things interesting and its fair for all the other bands.

It feels like I've been away from home for so long now. I guess thats because I have. Our honeymoon started on May 9th and its already almost July. Definitely been a while. I miss Cameron like crazy, can't wait to see him when Kirsten comes down to florida a week from now. We're gonna have a blast. He's been telling me how well he can swim now, and I always joke with him and say that I won't believe it until I see it. He's so excited to show me. Kim and Kid's house has a pool, and I'm sure we'll be using it.

So off to Saint Louis tonight, maybe it will be a little cooler there.