Tracy joined me for most of the local gigs. We drove a few hours South on Vancouver Island to see the guys in the town of DUNCAN. Tracy and I brought a couple of our loud friends along. We played at the Galaxy Cabaret, a stand-alone building on the side of the highway that used to have a HUGE stage and a big open space for the audience in the ’80s. It got renovated somewhere in time, and now there is a small stage, low ceiling and not quite the massive concert feeling to the place. The people are still great, the manager a smiling person full of good cheer, and the Chinese food kitchen now closed, a dressing room full of beer, pop, water and wonderful sandwiches.

There was a standing room only crowd of quite good-looking people, a clean and happy love-fest of music. We met our new merch-man there, Craig, a young guy with a ton of confidence. The band caught up on personal news backstage, I talked about swimming and having fun, and I drove our guests back (the loud people) after the show. The next day, Tracy and I invited her brother and his spouse for a drive up Island to another show. We became the cool tour guides and got to share a bit of our adventure.

At the town of Comox, birth place of a ferry terminal, under cloudy skies, we caught the ferry to Powel River, on the mainland B.C. Scott had his wife, child, sister-in-law, mother-in-law and niece, a total excellent entourage. We had separate rooms, and we all knew that it was to be a special couple of days. As it turned out, one of our guests works on the ferry system, so my car got on for free, not that I should be saying that here, but we drove on, chatted with truckers and played harmonica riffs.

(Oh, here we stop the van again as I write, we go to a music store in Edmonton, Scott buys a guitar strap, I tried to get him to buy one with the SUN on it, but he got a black one, and I played a wild electronic drum kit……….)

Ra and Frankie traveled the Island together, and Smitty went with his wife in his truck, because they have a house in the area, as we shall soon see. We got to the hotel early, because the ferry only runs a couple of times a day, and if you miss the early one, you miss the show. So, we had time to goof around in the hotel for a while before the fancy new limo arrived to pick up our guests and take them to the all-ages theatre show.  The Promoter, Gary, had his wonderful jazz vocal group open the night as we ate snacks backstage.

Frankie did a drum solo on the promoter’s kid’s early tricycle, and Frankie rode it onstage, and the show was a very decent rock event. Smitty knew a ton of people in the crowd, and for him it was a very special and massively successful night. The evening and party never really did end; it just switched locations, back to the hotel where a massive array of party food was arranged for a total hang-out and chat-it-up session that lasted well into the morning. Full buffet in the boardroom after a show, excellent. I remember a gig like that in Newfoundland years ago with more lobster than anyone could possible eat.

Ok, the thing that really connected me to the concert in Powel River was the amount of kids at the T-shirt booth, and I asked them all the same question, “Do you play an instrument?” THE ANSWER WAS YES EVERY TIME, EXCEPT FOR ONE TOTAL SPORTS KID. WOW, WHAT A MUSICAL COMMUNITY, A NICE LOVING COMMUNITY THAT WILL HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF GREAT MUSIC COMING FROM IT IN THE YEARS TO COME. I WAS REALLY TRULY DEEPLY IMPRESSED WITH THESE PEOPLE AND THEIR APPRECIATION for music. Sorry the caps lock was on the computer for that one, and I don’t feel like retyping that sentiment. Yes, every kid in that town plays some type of horn or drum. Imagine them on parade day. They will have streets full of kids playing music and no crime. Did you know that music in communities actually is proven to cut down on crime? It gives kids something to DO! Good values = strong community.

The next morning we had a plan where we would convoy our vehicles to the town of Lund, to see Brian’s new HUGE and gorgeous waterfront house. Ok, ready for a long windy drive with hills. Here we go…wee!………….ok, only a half hour scenic drive by the sea to a quiet neighborhood, park beside the crew truck, walk down the driveway, there it is: a brand new state-of-the art 3-story custom home (well, summer cottage) WOW, my GOD huge windows, fabulous modern kitchen, everything very tasteful all-around, well done! There above the stair way a maritime painting by Brian from 1968, awesome.

Every window overlooks the shiny sea, not overdone, very comfortable.

Ok, time to get nude go for a swim. It was getting into late summer, or early fall, and the ocean had cooled a bit. A bit too much for Frankie, who walked a way in and surprised a swarm of kayakers with his white arse. Lots of laughs, I swam for quite a while. It was really a great swimming spot, and quite warm in peak summer, I am told.

So we had some snacks at the Smitty house, went back to town, bummed around, that’s about it. OH, I forgot!  Brian had been telling me for years about this really ultra-cool 1950’s boat on a trailer a few lots over that has been sitting in a field for years and years. Brian found out who owned it, and had arranged that I could buy it if I chose to. So we (Me, Tracy and Craig) hopped into Smitty’s truck and took a look!

Tracy loved the boat right away, which proves how cool she is!, and I was immediately quite fond of it, and quite horrified at the sate of its interior. It was built in 1964, possibly the first fiberglass boat ever built. One of 14 built in the B.C. Okanogan, it is a lake boat, has never been in the ocean. It is actually Pre-fin, and has a wonderful shape with a near round transom. Looks like a corvette, if anything. 14’, with a decent tilt trailer.

I bought it. It took me a couple of months for me to arrange to pick it up, having to arrange a truck with a hitch, wire up some brake lights, find a day when the ferry isn’t cancelled due to winds (I did drive at 4am to a cancelled ferry once, sleep in line, drive through the rain, miss the ferry another day) and once I drove into the ferry line-up past the ticket booth with no one there, drove back again, got a free travel voucher, finally made it over, got the vendor to tow it to town, waited half a day, took the ferry back, drove at night with a hitch-hiker, whhhheewww, finally got it home! Here, folks, is my winter boat restoration project. FUNKY!

I am shocked by the grace of its lines! Going to be a showboat!

Tracy and I took our guests back home in our star Toyota along the old highway by the sea. I had saved up subway stickers from the summer road trips and handed them out to everyone, so we all had a snack and enjoyed the scenic ride home. Our guests later told us that the event was quite surreal and that they couldn’t stop thinking about it for a couple of weeks. Makes me happy.

Ok, back to a bit of home life; make a TO-Do list and tick things off every few days.

Scott and I drove onto the Vancouver ferry after a few days and into a town that was holding a fundraiser gig for a sports team, pretty vague I know, but my notes ran out here. There was a hotel across the street from the gig, and it was on the itinerary as well, but Scott and I went onto autopilot a bit and checked into a motel by the Horseshoe Bay ferry. We sat around in the hotel for an hour or so before the gig, but didn’t really USE the room.

We went on to the sold-out show (the promoter could have sold out another night as well) and the first thing Scott told Mike (Road Manager) was that we have checked into the motel. This was of concern to me because we had used my credit card to book the room. So, we had 2 hotel rooms; Scott phoned the Horseshoe Bay one, and was assured that we wouldn’t be charged if we return the key in the morning, and we can leave our stuff in the room overnight, no problem, don’t worry about it.

The next day, arriving back at the motel was a different story. The front desk guy said that we had USED the room and therefore we must pay. While Scott was negotiating with him, I went into the room, straightened out the pillows, flushed the used Kleenexes down the toilet and generally straighten-up.  So when the guy did a room inspection, he had to admit that the room looked unused and that we would not get charged.

No big wild story, and I bet Mike (road manager) has at least this much stuff to deal with all the time, and it was funny to see a bit of it myself, and I was proud of the team work of Scott’s negotiations and my chambermaiding to pull this caper off.

The hotel that we did stay at for the gig was a super luxury Ramada one with a gorgeous pool; the kind of place that I could stay at for a week and be quite happy. One night seemed a bit short, and I had wished that I has brought Tracy along to impress her with my luxurious rock and roll lifestyle. Scott and I often catch an early ferry back in the morning, and on with the day.

September 29, 2003 – Empress Hotel, Victoria B.C.

My mom was so proud that we were  playing THE EMPRESS! This is the big huge old parliament-looking building at the Victoria waterfront, the big fancy hotel in my Mom’s mind where anyone can pay a small fortune for high tea, and never get high. To my Mom, this is as good as playing Buckingham Palace. This is the fancy stuff.

In truth, I was pretty jazzed about playing the Empress as well. These Hotel ballroom gigs provide a wonderful opportunity to see the inner-workings of the bowels, labyrinths and hidden corners of grand old hotels that are inaccessible to guests. In particular, I live to see the huge kitchens that we always end up walking through at least once.

The place has total class, grace and elegance in such a huge stone building, and Scott freaked out the parking attendants by driving funny and pretending to bumper-car out our little group of cars. We were set up in the Crystal Ballroom and the audience was people from all over Canada, all members of the HOME LOAN ASSOCIATION (people who probably wouldn’t lend me a whole lot of dough.)

Hey, when I was about 11 years old, I walked by the entrance to the Empress and saw the drummer and singer (Stevie Nicks) standing by the front door, wearing their RUMOURS outfits, and looking like they were just bloody miserable, like they just has a big verbal fight with each other. They were really really huge at the time, the biggest band in the world, so I didn’t have trouble spotting them. A few years ago, I read the Mick Fleetwood autobiography (REALLY funny book!) and apparently the two did have an affair at the time, so I guess they went to the EMPRESS to have a fight as well.

Anyway, there was no cheese at the grand old hotel, except on the deli-tray, a masterpiece, and I know a good one from a stinker at this point. The gig was excellent, the staff super amazingly friendly and helpful, and I flashed my nude butt at Smitty and Joanne from the hotel room window to say good-bye as they loaded a new IMAC into their pick-up truck.

Back to lot clearing on Protection Island. Tracy and I canoed easily 50 times, raked, hoed, pick-axed, wow, I was sore every day for a long time. If I wasn’t eating like such a pig I would be in really good shape by now. We made a HUGE pile of salal, little trees, vines and forest-yard junk. A huge pile bigger than the cabin itself. It would take several days to run it all through a chipper, but we decided to sort it, and dispose of it bit by bit, by hand, and not burn anything. I would have taken pictures, but I didn’t want to bring the new camera with me in the canoe.

The vines were set free deep deep into the neighboring park, the small twiggy stuff (about 40 wheel-barrels full) made a nice floor for the path to the beach (later covered with maple leaves and then a thick layer of seaweed). The little maple saplings de-branched into a pile of spears, the tree limbs from the HUGE firs and cedars (all limbed by a previous owner) made into a gigantic firewood pile. This took days days, weeks weeks, about a month, I bet, to make this pile of organic crap disappear. I also buried a lot of stuff to even out the grade in some parts of the lot. If I knew how much work this was before I started, I might have been scared to even approach it!

So, with a pickaxe, a sharp maul and a rock bar, I removed 4 stumps (still one to go) and made the lot ready to be leveled (moving high spots to low spots). Stuff of dreams, if you are into it, and it is your own place. Tracy takes a half hour or so each trip to collect gorgeous old beach glass that washes up in her secret beach-glass tidal locations (she will use this to make table and counter tops). I just work like a maniac and eat peanut butter sandwiches. The goal here is to have a flat lot and a perfect lawn by the summer. No problem!!!!

I am also inspiring my 16-year-old nephew to enjoy getting dirty and lifting heavy objects (did I mention the piles of sandstone?) Jacob has gone from “my hands are getting sore!” to “I KNOW how to use an axe!” It is really neat to see him enjoy the experience, and also nice so see a few of the HUGE flat rocks make their way to the appropriate pile without the use of my tired old obsolete carcass.

We had 2 turkey dinners over Thanksgiving (my fave holiday!) and there was no Trooper gig this year, so I got to really enjoy the fall Thanksgiving scene at home. Magic! The maple trees dropped their leaves onto our beautiful new path, helping the composting process begin. In a few years, we will have the lawn extend right to the sandy beach.

It is a trend that people are building bigger, fancy West Coast style homes on Protection Island now, and these folks generally get a backhoe to do all the stuff that we are doing by hand. I like the idea of exercising the demons of the previous owner personally, getting dirty, sweaty, getting it all done EXACTLY how we want it, and besides the $20 for rakes and shovels, the whole experience doesn’t cost a dime. Great if you have the time, ambition, and the lot, I guess. Tracy and I don’t have kids, yet, so it is probably smart to get this enjoyable crud taken care of now.

Our friend Rick Scott and his wife Valley invited us to attend a concert on Protection Island, the closing night of the Dingy dock pub (open for the Spring and Summer) and they later gave us their 30 year-old unused Tee Pee. Cool neighbors hey? They also removed 20 tons of rock from their basement, built a sauna, and have a fiberglass shower stall to give us. I like these cats!

I can hear the BC ferry announcements from our lot, and also the train in town and the whistle from the mill, and the blind next-door neighbor kids are getting WAY better at the bagpipes.

I was later to find out that they are also computer programmers, having developed blind software unique to the world. They built this site http://www.braillebookstore.com/marvelsoft.htm and every 3 days, the 2 teenage brothers haul several suitcases full of product down the big stairs into the park, onto their boat, into town, to the post office. I haven’t quite figured out how 2 blind kids drive a boat, but I am assured that they are true geniuses, the nicest people on earth, and likely to be millionaires soon (their company growth rate is 35%).  You would not believe these people. Amazing. We just love them!

2 WEEKS OFF !!!!!!!! YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Commuted by canoe to Protection Island, the beginning of well over 50 trips by the time I write this.  Swim in the ocean or river every day, good for your soul. Cook on a small open fire, good for your tummy.  Met some great people camping on Protection Island, did a couple of small video jobs, lots of river swimming, fun, life is but a dream.

OK, civilized 8:30 am leave meet Scott on the 9:30 am ferry drank my usual 3 apple tears on the ferry and took 3 different busses to airport in search of a place to take a pee.  Waited in usual waiting area of airport, met the guys, hyped about the great camping fun, flew into Toronto, loaded stage gear into hotel shuttle bus happy to see that the driver was a big happy bearded black dude with a pencil stuck in his beard. He said “ Hi Brother” which I have been using since.  He had mellow Hawaiian music playing in the bus and Ra got him to BLAST it. Arrived at the hotel at 9pm, super super boring hotel by massive highways, hot out, boring night off.

380km drive to Sudbury to play the Casino the next day.  Frankie commented how pretty the town looks, seriously (it looks a bit like the moon)  HOT out ill-advised jog in the city center, HOT,  lots of traffic, stopped at used book store, out of reading material, desperately trying to find anything to read, knowing what the next few days were to be like.

Casino gig, big tent, full, love-fest, everyone so happy, food backstage, I saw 2 staff people taking all the food away during the drum solo, I got them to stop, because it would be nice if we had a snack rather than see a bunch of decent food in the garbage can afterwards. It was so strange to be wearing shoes again after the 2 summer weeks off. Best conversation of the tour in the van after the show happiness and enlightenment that comes with age, and what is upsetting #1 waiting for people….

The food backstage was the first actual meal I have had since the last gig, having just snacked during the summer camping days.  We heard a story about the band Honeymoon Suite ruining a trailer at this gig, showed up late, rude to audience, making everyone mad and leaving drug needles, who know what is true but we were told that they would NEVER PLAYS CASINOS AGAIN!!!!!!  Ra saw their bass player a few days later who said that that stuff wasn’t true.

1290km drive (14 hours or so) to Tobique New Brunswick.  This required an early leave and a drive right through Quebec, the highlight being the crossing of the bridge into Montreal and seeing the site of Expo 67 and the Olympic Dome from 1976. Long drive.

Perth Motel on top of hill, big jog next day and discovered a grocery store and a highway culvert with wonderful acoustics. Must have been a holiday, there were big work trucks and machinery parked everywhere, construction cones everywhere. I spent hours in the culvert singing and playing the harmonica.  Jogged alongside a wide river into a total 1950s town, very dreamlike twilight zone atmosphere.  Jogged over a big bridge, all guys with moustaches, quite French.

Frankie drove us to the gig, wild wild through the narrow road on a twisty way through a reserve to the gig.

Ra saw a sign, neon paint on plywood, DAVE FOR CHIEF.

Big auditorium, lots of people, ham salad, (I had asked for no ham and it came in just loaded up!) super nice people everywhere. Tons of people backstage, super friendly party, 4am leave next morning 645km drive to MONTREAL fly to Calgary, 4 hour wait in airport fly to Regina, arrive at 8 pm, leaving the crew 20 minutes to set up. (They did it in 10!) Talk about a full travel day!

6:10 am leave next day, 7:25 flight to Calgary, hour wait in airport, 9:55am flight to Hamilton, 2 hour wait, 7:45 flight to Calgary, hour in airport, 9:55 flight to Hamilton, 2 hour wait, 5:45 pm flight to Montreal, 490km drive to Oshawa Ontario…some highlights of this trip:  long moving sidewalk under the parking lot in Montreal airport, through ambient sounds capes of cities and nature scenes, and wall images, very strange, I stole an extra bowl of soup in the café in Hamilton, sat next to 2 doctors on one flight, Frankie made a whole plane full of people laugh by banging his head on the ceiling, I read THE BAD NEWS BEARS and laughed a lot. I slowly fell out of camping mode, and back into road mode.

Regina Exhibition Park, 3000 people outdoor concert, very happy and friendly people. Day off in Oshawa, bored, slept, nowhere to go of particular interest, looked at Marine store, jogged around the HUGE GM plant, saw an assembly line in action, saw new trucks being driven, breathed fresh exhaust, all highways around here, jogged through the paint fumes for the GM plant, found a huge lake park, finally, long long jog. 100s of chimneys at the GM plant. Never have seen anything like it.  Factory is at least 5 blocks square.  Tried to sit on lawn, too many paint fumes. Bored. Went on a drive to the mall with Ra, really enjoyed his company, huge talk about life and ambitions. He knows my stories very well and we can pick up any conversation and add to it at any time.

Got to talk to Tracy for an hour on the phone. Her mom is visiting from Alberta, looks like I won’t see her this time. The river is FINALLY up to decent temperature, having been a bit on the cold side during the 2 weeks off.  Waa, I wanna go swimming.  There was a nice potluck diner on Protection Island hosted by the local restaurateurs; I will miss that as well. Double waaaaaaaaaa.

Gig in Oshawa, huge crowd, huge club, sure excited scene, polite and full of compliments. I was told that I have a killer organ sound, I like that. Thanks! Frankie’s China cymbal fell off of his riser and almost took a bite out my new keyboard, and almost crushed Ra’s guitar. (this happens every 50 or so gigs). I am always keeping a eye out for things that may damage Smitty’s guitars, and I have actually caught a few things over the years!)

A huge huge security guy went backstage during Frankie’s drum solo and Ra and I saw him leave with a mono-huge sandwich that he pilfered from the deli tray. Funny stuff. The guy was about 6’5” with arms like telephone poles, totally bald. This is the kind of guy you want as a friend, as long as the food holds out. By the time we had finished meeting people at the T-shirt booth, the staff had completely raided the rider.

Loud backstage, cement walls that do not hit the ceiling. Opening act was raunchy and Frankie put his naked butt against a mirror for a laugh.

I ate fruit for 2 days and a piece of Scott’s pizza when he was in the shower. My feet are slowly getting cleaner, after not wearing shoes and camping for 2 weeks.  It takes a few days of showering to get this together.  Lots of old coal dust in my hometown.

We had a day off and decided to drive to Kingston for a festive and scenic adventure, no more boring beside the highway. The most festive cultural adventure by the Oshawa highway hotel was the stripper bar and boat store. The people didn’t exactly return my “HELLO!” when I passed them during my walks.  I thought I looked pretty friendly with my orange GLASS TIGER and lovely harmonica riffs. Lots of time to THINK these days.

So, back home, all of the lumber that Uncle Mikey is donating to our cabin has been milled. 2by6 2 by8 shiplap, all dimensional, clear firs, many 16 footers. Best lumber in the world, kinda happy about that. Thousands of dollars worth of beautiful lumber.  Uncle Mikey owns and runs a very successful sawmill and offered to give us enough lumber to get the Protection Island cabin restored, and who am I to refuse?!?!?!?!?!?

The boards have been loaded onto a flat deck truck (3 huge, strapped, piles) and unloaded at Tracy’s dad’s house, for storage until I figure out my transportation (barge) situation to my beloved Protection island lot, with a path to the beach. During the camping 2 weeks, I tarped off the cabin’s roof and added temporary supports under the cabin floor. It is a funky old shack, legally grandfather-claused into the city’s strict building code, so I can restore it and not have to rebuild a $$ new home. THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!!!

ANYWAYYYYYYYYYYYY>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Got out of the bored-by-the-highway hotel and onto Kingston Ontario, home of tons of beautiful stone mansions.

OH, update, we have arrived in Edmonton as I write this, gotta go, back tomorrow…ok, it’s tomorrow now, back in the van on the way to Saskatoon to the BRIAR curling thing. There was a chiropractor backstage last night, cracked my back, feels weird, strange dude with Clark Kent glasses, just bought a book The complete idiot’s guide to Boating and Sailing.

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The story continues, KINGSTON Ontario, summer, old hotel, 1809, right downtown, tons of people, festive, grocery store down the street. I went to the open market to buy some maple syrup for friends back home. There was a big crowd gathering across the street into the park by the lake, what the heck? I go outside to join the crowd, whoever they are ( Tracy and I did this in New York once and discovered that we were the only whities in a Black rally.) This time it was a stage with a guy singing to backing tracks, the main attraction being RYAN from the Canadian Idol show, which I know nothing about, and it was fun to see his hometown fans form a mob of support for him in the park. There were about 1500 people there (I am getting good at these estimates!) and over 4000 people according to the local newspaper the next day. He showed-up the crowd roared and he sang “ rolling, rolling, rolling on the river” into the mic. I stood with some funny kids and we held up a big I LOVE YOU sign for the guy.

WOW, the power of TV in our modern age, hey?!?!?!?!?

Speaking of loving the guy, I actually went to the park to make a little I LOVE PATRICK book, as a going away present for him. It turned out very well, quite funny I thought, with nice illustrations. This is a good gift idea, by-the-way, for anyone, doesn’t cost anything, other than some thought, time, doodles and good intentions.

Yes, Patrick, our excellent merch guy, has given his notice to spilt the scene, being a guitar player with a band and ready to concentrate on that. We will miss him; he is a very cool, even-tempered guy with lots of good intelligent things to say about everything.

Ra, Scott, and Frankie were also in the RYAN RYAN RYAN crowd, and I went for a jog about town; by the street where I sometimes see a green classic MORGAN parked. There was another mob of people, all in yellow shirts, everywhere, some in yards, drinking and pulling pranks. I couldn’t figure it out, being that I never did go to university, and am not familiar with fraternity traditions. Looks like fun.

Mike made his tallest Inukshuk ever (he later went to the park to dismantle it, thinking it unsafe, and it was already trashed.)

This, being a day off, was full of wonder and wandering. I ended up accepting in invitation to watch movies at night in Ra’s room. The feature was a documentary about 4 old men, all brothers who live together in a little house with not much going on. We ended up talking about life stuff until 3 am.

The hotel is a haunted one, and the room Scott and I shared was the main ghost room.  Frankie had attended a local guided ghost tour and was told all about it. We had eerie cathedral windows under a huge bell tower. Cargo (lighting director) had a mirror move in his room. We had no ghost stuff, but I did see Patrick, Cargo and Frankie in the lobby at 4 am, so we went for a walk to see an old truck.

Smitty went to a University in the morning, with his niece who is going for her PHD. He got caught up in a protest with people yelling and sticking their fingers up. Smitty had no idea what they were on about. I noticed that the 1^st day college initiation thing on the streets had some guys punching other guys out, which is also something I missed out on, having gone on the road after school rather than getting my master of the Universe degree.

Ok, a few hour drive to Russell Ontario (by Ottawa) got to the hotel, fell asleep.  Frankie walked in to the room and we went to do laundry and to a mall food court. We talked about the fine art of drumming. It was our first official hang-out, serious conversation. I asked him what his main music THING is: funky, ‘80s, rock, or what, and he said that he is a bit of everything. He is his own thing, really. Frankie is a great guy, with really really good intentions all around.

Sushi, and a full arena crowd. Patrick liked his I LOVE PATRICK BOOK, and said that it will go into his box of special things forever. He told me that he had a friend who made books years ago, some really funny ones that told stories about parties that they went to, and what went on, and that his MOM had read the books later. YIKES!

There was a lady with a Japanese guy at the T-shirt booth that night. “He  is SO GOOD AT FARM WORK!!!” “You guys are BETTER THAN ZAPPA!” “What’s your name? CO-CO?!?!?”  “ Do you even know what haberdashery means?” “ What? Did Ra tell you??!?!?”

I felt so bad for the Japanese guy having to listen to her. It’s OK, back at the hotel; the pool had the most amazing acoustic for harmonica playing.

How the tour ended is one of God’s secrets, because I don’t remember. I know that we flew home at some point, and Scott and I went on to catch the ferry and I was thrilled to see the Pacific and then Tracy and I got nude and jumped into the river. All wonderful summer bliss. There were a couple of local shows within a couple of weeks; just enough to shake up our home lives a bit. This whole summer presented a huge dichotomy of camping and travel. The sound of ocean waves and the roar of festival crowds. Shoes, no shoes, clothes, no clothes. All fun, all very very trippy indeed.