Waking up bright and early at 8 a.m. (New Mexico time).
Downstairs they offer free and hot continental breakfast. I settle on some Scrambled Eggs and nibble on some Pancakes and Fruit.
Hitting the road with John and Kevin up front in the rental car – Ron and I in the backseat.
It’s a 5 hour drive but the time flies by cause we get so caught up in conversation and keeping our eyes busy looking out the window. I’m completely enamored with the mountainous cliffs and ranges. We can’t stop snapping photos and videos it’s so beautiful and awesome. Spread out across the fields are these unique looking Soaptree Yucca plants with tall flowering stalks. The road changes from 7,000 ft elevation to flat land stretches. It seems endless when you look out – mirages and refractions appear in the distance – sometimes no gas station in sight.
The best part about a trip like this is the camaraderie you develop in the van, especially in the car. You start to poke fun at everyone else and create on-going jokes that never get old. The night before last we were using Kevin’s phone to play music on YouTube and an ad appropriately came on just as we arrive at a gas station that said, “And thus begins your depression...”
Sipping on a Coffee and eating a Date/Almond Bar.
Later on, we come across a minivan that just caught fire. Damn! That’s how hot and dry it is out here – vehicles just catch fire.
We arrive in Farmington, New Mexico, a small town. Playing at the Civic Center, which is basically like a convention center for the town. It’s nice to be able to do some laundry since we’ve been having to wear the same performance outfits show after show. I spend a lot of time researching and trying to figure out a way to control monitors on my iPad.
Olive Garden catering for dinner tonight. Chicken, Pasta, and Veggies for me.
200 tickets sold – nothing like the last two shows where they almost sold out. But this show was just a filler so we could make it worth our while to be over this side of the country. The show goes pretty well except right when we’re about to start the second set everybody’s in-ear monitors stop working. We have to stall just a few minutes. I run over to Russell who’s running the board backstage. Nothing seems to be awry. We decide to just turn the board off and on again. And action!
After the show the whisky bottle starts pouring and Stella’s start gulping. It’s the last show of the weekend and we’re all ready to get loose. Piling into the rental cars – John takes the wheel and blares some raunchy trap music. It feels good to just let go and be/say/do whatever we want without a care in the world. We roll into the hotel appropriately called Home 2 with all kinds of youthful energy. The whole crew and band congregate in #224 – “having such a good time” as Queen would say.
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