Saturday July 31 2021

 

Waking up sometime around 10 a.m. but the two hour difference really means it’s noon back home. Jimmy’s getting ready as I rise up out of bed.

 

Oatmeal Breakfast Bar. Tea.

 

Our van crew today: Debbie, Ron, Rebecca, and Casey. Bex takes the wheel with me at shotgun. Driving through some of the most beautiful Colorado mountain terrain – traversing through all types of weather (pouring down rain then sunshine) – none of it looks real. The steep slopes make it a challenge.

 

 

Idaho Springs for a pit stop. It’s a cute old western town with a lot of Gold Rush history.

 

After braving more steep grades of interstate we finally arrive in Beaver Creek, Colorado. On the resort there we’re performing at the Vilar Performing Arts Center. The high elevation and lack of oxygen wears us out as we march up and down steps.

 

Rebecca, Casey, and I grab a quick sandwich up the hill at a market/deli.

 

Setting up the stage.

 

They brought us dinner. I chow down on Mahi Fish Tacos with Fries.

 

The theater is absolutely packed! Great energy from the crowd. We had a few weird foul ups with the tracks but overall we put on a great show.

 

 

Afterwards we high tail it out of there because of the long drive. There was a disastrous mudslide that caused I-70 to be closed down through the weekend. So we’re forced to take a northern detour around it to get to Rifle, Colorado. Ron takes the wheel with me at shotgun – the girls in the back. Squiggly winding two lane roads the whole way – definitely not a boring drive. 3 deer sighted and then a pit stop in the middle of the road to look up at the stars. You feel like you’re in a planetarium. As Ron points out, “there are more stars than there are all the grains of sand on earth.” Really puts things into perspective.

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We continue on keeping ourselves busy with chatting. After 3 a.m. we finally arrive at the hotel. I crash hard.