In Transit

We left S'toon at about midnight. I had driven from Lethbridge at my own request and I was the only one who'd gone napless that day. W took the wheel and once we were out of town I allowed myself to enjoy some van "sleep". I missed all of SK and some of MN in the process. By now, the sun was up and we needed to eat. The first place we tried had just done away with their kitchen. They should also do away with that sign that alludes to having a kitchen. Next, we stopped at a place that seemed to specialize in hot dogs and otherwise looked like a seniors' pick-up joint. I could live with that, but the menu was no good. We tried a third diner, but their grill had just broken and the waitress cheerfully informed us that all they had was toast and coffee. The place was packed. Evidently, Manitobans love their toast and coffee. Luckily we didn't have to get back in the van again, as there was another diner just across the parking lot. This one was marginally acceptable. Fourth time's a charm.

We left and I slept a little more, lasting just about until the ON border. Eb was now behind the wheel. We plugged on through the endless wilderness, arriving at tBay in the early evening. Food was procured and it was time to get back at it. You've got to understand though... this is a brutal drive, and the S'toon gig was the only thing we'd seen outside the van since Lethbridge, Tuesday morning (it was now Wednesday night). W said we should go bowling. I thought this sounded absurd, but no more so than starting a 24-ish-hour drive through nothingness at 9pm. We all got behind the idea, and did two strings of big-ball 10-pin. It was a blast. I sucked so bad... I've done my share of candlepin, but never big-ball. The left gutter was my only friend for the first few frames. But by the end I had righted the ship somewhat. More on that when I can upload my pics.

We left the bowling alley/tBay at 11pm and I took the wheel. I got us to SSMarie by 7am. We had a group van-sleep for about two hours, then kept blasting through with Eb back at the wheel. It seemed like the worst of the drive was behind us, but then we got caught in traffic for 90 minutes while a fatal accident was dealt with by the authorities. In the end, we arrived in North Bay around suppertime and decided it was motel time (on our own nickel - the band fund was getting low from not having a big payout since Cal). To put it in perspective, we'd been driving, eating, playing shows or bowling since Tuesday morning. It was now Thursday night, so some spoilage was in order. To that end, I grabbed some beers, clicked on a football game, ordered a pizza, and drank myself unconscious. I exaggerate a little... the unconsciousness had more to do with lack of quality sleep. The beer didn't hurt though.

Got up this (Friday) morning, drove into the nation's capital. We met the guys at the house we're playing. They seem cool. Their band plays spastic weirdo hardcore like we do... we haven't played with rock and roll soulmates in a while, so I'm very pumped for this show. I think we'll be able to really cut loose. We've got to hustle some merch though... the band fund has 2-3 more fill-ups to cover and the cupboard is getting bare.