The Early-April Tour So Far

It's our first tour since the Stimulus began, and we're racking up our share of adventures...

The Early-April Tour So Far:

• Day Minus-One: Tasha loses her voice. (Come on!) New bag of cough drops saves the day. (Leaves me smelling like medicine @ our shows, but -- singing.)


• Off to Akron.


• Day One: Stranded north of Columbus because ignition won't turn. AAA guy saves the day, which gets us to Akron, where Justin's cousin-the-awesome-mechanic REALLY saves the day.
  

  

  
  
• Off to the University.


• Day Two: Flat tire for no identifiable reason. Fix-a-Flat and nearby tire&lube place (and new tire) saves the day.


• Off to Pittsburgh.


• Day Three: Leave early from Pittsburgh for Penn Tech in Williamsport. Spend 80 minutes getting out of the city; now running VERY late. Construction on every state hwy and interstate, ALL the way to Williamsport. (No really: every highway & interstate. And we hear this is typical of Pennsylvania; anyone want to verify this rumor?) So: Oh the angst! Arrival time: 15 minutes after showtime. In this case, the incredible patience of the college staff (and our kind listeners) saves the day.


• Off to Newburgh NY for the night.


• Day Three (later): Check into name-brand hotel that is inexplicably skanky. We are disturbed upon entry... Then the toxic cleaner-fumes give us crazy headaches & sore throats. Disturbing--->Scary! Check out (with grace from a kind front-desk clerk), and drive down the road.


• Day Three (evening): Explore Algonquin Park in Newburgh.







• Breathe fresh air, take pictures, watch the sunset. Are totally wrong about what we think all those old stone buildings are.







• Go to the PetsMart across the street & de-stress by staring at adoptable cats. Go back to cower in our room for a while. In short: Slowly perk up. (Chocolate and those "veggie chips" from Whole Foods certainly help.) (And Colbert.)


• Currently: Justin's playing guitar along to some music on his laptop, but he's wearing headphones & I can't hear anything but the (not-plugged-in) electric. Sounds cool. And hilarious.


• I'm turning my phone off with a delight reserved for the most hermit-ish of hotel dwellers. "Ha," I say. "If you call, I can't hear it." (I mean this with love.)

Speaking of love, oh, has it been good to connect with kind audiences. With these eventful days we've been arriving at shows in a rather ragged and desperate state... Only to find the loveliest of people waiting for us. So, our many thanks to U of A, Howler's, and PennTech for welcoming us--

• Tomorrow: The drive to Massachusetts: always beautiful. And we'll collide with Lucy Kaplansky's tour again at the lovely Center for Arts Natick--