A whole week off.
I hardly know what to do with myself...
We got back last week from our big trip everywhere,
had a little too much fun and the drive home from Nashville was AWFUL.
just ask the guys, they're the ones who drove it.

I wish I had Nashville pictures, but I kept forgetting to take my camera-
very unlike me. And when I did have one, it was Silva's and he hasn't downloaded them yet.

We got to play a live radio broacast on the BBC with Bob Harris.
Get this - before us was Rodney Crowell,
and after... T Bone Burnett.
One of these things is not like the other.
During the interview, I turned around to look through the window at our manager,
Mark who was listening outside...
I'm making faces at him,
stick my tongue out, you know... I act like a retard a lot.

Then I turn a little bit more and look a little to his right
and there stands T Bone.
First of all, he's huge.
Second of all, he's T Bone Burnett.
Tongue promptly back in mouth.
Smile, wave, and turn back around.
I saw him laugh, so I guess he didn't think I was too much of an idiot.
Or maybe he did. And rightly so.

Anyway, later that night I got to see Glen Campbell...
You wanna see me act like a fool, get me in front of Glen Campbell doin his thing.
Silva didn't want to have anything to with me.
And rightly so.

SO....
as for the week off, the majority of us made it out to ACL at least yesterday.
All I wanted to see was The Raconteurs and WOW.
It was unreal.
And Brendan Benson is dreamy.

So, yesterday we went hiking...
Rocky Mountain National Forest just west of Estes Park, CO.



The whole place is unreal.



Shane and Silva tried to push this big rock over
but the little rock was in the way.


Then we ventured off the beaten path and found this beaver damn.
How do we know it was a beaver dam?
Well, there were gnawing marks on the wood - that's how.
And we found further evidence of beaver activity throughout the rest of the day.



This was our destination: Alberta Falls.





We went over to the other side of the falls
(very dangerous, by the way)...





Got in everyone else's pictures...




(you can see them over there trying to get a good shot of the falls...
instead they got us meditating.)

And then we posed for some of our own. :-)





Evidence of beavers:



These little guys were everywhere...



And Shane befriended them.




Isn't he cute?
And adventurous:


Alright, there's seriously a hundred more of those,
but you can only take so much flawless beauty.
And I'm not just talking about Cody.

Onward to Omaha.
I-80 smells.
Later.

We're about one hour in on our seven-ish hour drive to Lubbock.
Tonight starts our three-week outing and so far is quiet.
Always a good sign.
We got a new trailer... well, "new" is definitely a loose term here.
It's basically a 5' x 8' plywood box with a fiberglass top and a lot of expensive stuff in it.
My husband made it, though, and he's got a sweet-ass mustache:



I think he grew the 'stache just to build the trailer...
like it's a requirement.

We played the Kerrville Wine & Music Festival last week...
I've never seen so many hippies.
And they're so nice.
I'm not used to that... this business is not full of nice people.
I guess they're all in Kerrville.
They put us on the cover of their program. :-)


notice the retard thumb.
yeah, that's mine.
I got it from my mom and I'm proud.

Also, I was proud of whoever put this together:


Alright, wish us luck down the road.
We may need it.

Would you shake his hand for me?



And tell ol' Burt that I've seen all his movies.

Yesterday was our first gig of three with
Scott Miller and The Commonwealth.

Got to the show and realized we had excellent billing.



There were two of those huge banners... one on each side of the huge stage.
In a huge civic auditorium.
It was a graduation party for the electricians' union.
They had a catered dinner of fried chicken and ribs...
that was comical to me.

These things were also comical to me:









yes, that's a ramp.
and a shopping cart.
video footage to come.





Enter: The Commonwealth.
This is Sean, Scott's drummer.
In my swimsuit... well, it WAS mine - now it's more of a community possession.









It's always great with the show ends early.
Some shots from the afterparty:



Big Al:











Scott's band:



The man with the beer is in charge of our career.
He sure is fun, though. :-)



Scott and Maude:















Just before this, Cody told me that he felt like a goat.
Then I understood.











A lot of love in the room...



If you're around Asheville, NC, there will be more of the same tonight.
More pictures to come...

We love you.

I was sitting in the very back seat of the van
the other night riding somewhere in Mississippi
just listening to the conversations from the front seats...

about midnight or so,
about a case into it,
I decided to transcribe it for you:


Shane: "Hey Cody, think of a good way to describe the sound of a beer opening"
Cody: "What?"
Shane: "The sound that a beer makes when you open it... try and describe it."
-pause-
Cody: (leaning forward, with his beer): "I think... a baseball bat, um, after it hits the ball... in slow-motion, you know... about half-way through. There's an echo, you know. like that. That's what it is."
Shane: "Yeah, YEAH. Good one."

- a moment of reflection -

Shane: "I know... It's like the sound of a football team running through a big paper sign. Here comes the party!"
Cody: "yeah, man... yeah."

This shit's cracking me up.

Here comes the party.

So, here is a picture by picture look into our weekend...

Thursday in Corpus with Reckless Kelly:



That's the view from the playground. Yes, there was a playground at the bar - complete with slides, swings, a basketball goal and one of these fish-eye things:



I spent a lot of time in the playground.

Our merch table was set up beside theirs, as it always is when we open.
And this is the scene more often than not.


... theirs has customers, ours has shot glasses.
And with salesmen like this, I don't know what the problem is.



Friday...

Yes, we do rehearse.
Sometimes.
and generally, it looks like this:









and finally... my practice station.



This thing HAS turned into a runaway train.

AND... finally
Saturday in Austin with Hayes.

This was a great turnout at Threadgill's, and
kudos to Hayes for letting us be in on it. We like him.

Here's where he was making fun of Lance:


He's a good sport.



The Brothers Foote:



Welcome home, Kelley.

... and THEN we went to G&S and played Jenga.

Jenga should be at every bar.

I just had to share this picture.
FM 173 from Devine to Jourdanton today...



Soooo many funny things in this picture.
ha.
ha ha.

I need to call my brother.
He'd love it.

I was having some fun with the built-in camera tonight...









Sorry... Shane was on the other side of Cody.
And I'm lazy.