Syosset, NY

Back to the hotel life in Long Island after Thanksgiving break. Had an awesome time with Janelle and my family; we had a huge meal with my grandparents on Thursday, had an open house for friends and neighbors on Friday, and then hiked part of the Appalachian Trail on Saturday. Today we were up at 4:30am to get Janelle to the airport, and then we drove straight from there to Long Island in record time. Had an early lunch in Hicksville, NY, and then the parents turned around and went back to Camp Hill.

So now back on tour! Only 20 shows remaining, I believe, and most of those in the Northeast. We'll have somewhat shorter drives, christmas songs on the radio, cities I'm familiar with, and a contract ending on December 23rd. Definitely weird having been away from it for a few days...I haven't really considered just how odd my life has been for the past few months, until I was able to step away from it.

Truth be told, I've only seen Michelle and Robbie since I've been back, so it's conceivable that the others were just a dream....

One pressing issue: apparently Burger King has released a video game in which you race that creepy king mascot...maybe I am still dreaming.

Tonight: Eagles vs. Colts. McNabb-less, but ripe for an upset

Harrisburg, PA

Home for thanksgiving! Drove from Norfolk, VA to Towson, MD yesterday with the crew, and then my dad picked me up and brought me home. We're about to go pick up Janelle at the airport...she'll be here until Sunday, which is the same day I'll be heading up to Long Island to get back on tour for 4 weeks. Got to drive a normal car (Saturn) yesterday and it was quite weird. Felt like my legs were going through the road surface since I'm so used to being higher up. Much more responsive, and less like a dinosaur lumbering through the mud. Glad to be with people I've known for more than 3 months, and looking forward to home-cooked meals, beds that don't change every night, and a chance to sleep in a little. Hurrah!

Philadelphia, PA

Staying literally in the shadow of the Ben Franklin bridge here in Philly. Was a crazy drive from DC, with wind and rain the entire way. It's cleared up a bit now and is actually a lovely evening. Last night stayed in the George Washington University hotel in DC and actually got a king-size suite. The hotel lost our reservations, so they upgraded us for free. No problem with me! Good truck drive on I-95 today and great cheesesteak and Yuengling when we got here.

Tomorrow after the show we head to Fredricksburg, VA for the night and then a drive to Greensboro, NC for the rest of the weekend and our show on Monday. Then a show in Norfolk, VA on Tuesday and then Thanksgiving vacation! Woohoo!

I recommend Anna's blog for some exciting pictures...

Pittsburgh

Glad to be back in PA! Went to Primanti Brothers for dinner...huge sandwiches with fries and cole slaw ON the sandwich. Wonderful.

Today I've had a bit of vertigo...woke up early this morning and the room was spinning. Throughout the day, I've been slightly dizzy a few times, and then when I laid down again before dinner the spinning resumed. Should be an interesting sleep...

Paintball

Went on a paintball adventure today on our day off. Mountainous West Virginia proved to be quite the setting. A local church group also had the same idea, so we had a good 30 players for our games. The facility was called Scary Creek Paintball. And what a scary creek...3.1 miles of driving on a 1-lane road through backwoods West Virginia. We survived, though. Got a couple welts, a mouth full of paint, and plenty of mud on my boots. Very successful.

Charleston, WV

Long drives this past week...the longest of which was today; Greenville, SC to Charleston, WV. I drove the first 4 hours...4 states in 4 hours, and then Anna took over for the hilly/rainy part of the trip. Didn't really plan it that way, but also didn't complain.

The included picture is from my second day driving the truck with Anna. We stopped by the Pilot in Kannapolis, NC and pumped some diesel and bought trucker hats. Genuine fun. We embarassed ourselves once again at the pump, and couldn't resist taking pictures and video of the place. Note the small Ryder truck parked amongst the 18-wheelers. We didn't pull it in too far for fear of losing it amongst the testosterone.

Last night in Greenville I had the honor of seeing Saw III at the local theatre. Absolutely brilliant film...well worth it if you want to cringe and barf for 90 minutes. Nothing beats the original Saw, however, but this one was certainly better than part 2.

Also visited Paris Mountain State Park yesterday, and had a lovely time hiking around the trails. Actually saw a real-live, albeit small, snake...also walked along a mountain brook and went to an dammed lake that was a project of the CCC in the New Deal era. Tom, Michelle and I saw two salamanders mating underwater, and then saw what was presumably the male start to change color. He had dark spots on his side that suddenly turned bright red.

Tomorrow, we will possibly be going to a local Paintball place. As long as the rain holds, it should be quite a good time. After 5 weeks on the road with the crew, it's quite possible we all want to shoot eachother, so this will be a healthy way to take out our aggression.

Charlotte, NC

Down south for now in slightly warmer weather. The small things make big differences...getting 4 pillows on my hotel bed is always a plus...continental breakfasts vary greatly and it's really a toss-up as to what you might find at 6:55am. Tonight, we have a pizza delivered and election coverage until bedtime. Long drives this week...average is over 2 hours, so nothing too crazy. Kind of all over the map, though...eastern NC to western NC to Virginia to South Carolina to West Virginia. Kind of insane.

Raleigh, NC

Took a trip today to a little park and lake for some relaxing time. Great sunset pictures, a few ducks, and a great blue heron.

Friday night we were in Marietta, OH...we visited a wine shop and met some very friendly husband/wife owners. They gave us plenty wine samples, and then we went to the brewery across the street. The wife, Babette, joined us for the meal; we actually met the mayor of Marietta and saw several of Babette's friends. Very surreal. We hadn't expected anything from Marietta, and yet it turned into our best stop yet. It did preserve some of the local flavor, as expected. Hence the gun show that was at our hotel on Saturday. Mmmmhmmm...

Change of Opinion

I must admit...Ohio is neither as boring nor ugly as I thought. Well, maybe as boring, but definitely beautiful. Driving down I-77 at sunset was amazing; we saw all sorts of farms and small hamlets and plenty of livestock. I guess I've been missing a lot just driving on the turnpike all these years. Definitely worth the trip.

Well, our week of shows is done...this officially completes our first full month. Tomorrow we drive for 6+ hours to Raleigh, NC...but for tonight we can rest, and tomorrow we don't have to get up with the sun.

Check Anna's or Tom's blogs for pictures of the crepuscular rays we saw on the way. You'll get it when you see them.

http://www.alpacanna.blogspot.com/
http://www.travelingactor.blogspot.com/

Cleveland, OH

Possible lake-effect snow tonight in Cleveland. Ohio is really boring...................................here are a couple of pictures of our last two houses, and a pretzel.

Akron, OH

Well, a slightly less-eventful 24 hours...probably to be expected from Ohio. Anna and I drove the truck today...the only weigh station was closed, so we didn't have that adventure, but we did get our first experience with filling both fuel tanks with diesel fuel and then parking in the 18-wheeler parking spaces. not that we were driving an 18-wheeler...more like 4...but it was cool.

Also got a random box of free donuts at the gas station near our hotel. Definitely pays to look like starving actors.

Tomorrow a show in Akron, then Cleveland, and then Marietta...hopefully then the end of Ohio for a while. So boring...