Road Ramblings Part III – We love CHEESE!!!

I know it has been a few days since we have caught up with you, but we have been so busy seeing and doing…that getting out the computer to blog has been a challenge. 

Let me begin this posting by saying how very blessed we are!  In this band, each of us is blessed to be able to do what we love to do and make a living doing it.  The “road” is not glamorous!  It is not easy in any way…but rewarding in small ways each and every day that we are in a new place, seeing new faces and finding new adventures along the way.  However, there are sacrifices that go along with the joys of our job as musicians.  Much of the time we miss out on events with family and friends.  We miss birthdays, weddings, babies being born, the start of school and college…all the really important stuff.  But we are blessed to have the love and support of those friends and family members who encourage us to keep going!  We are grateful!  We miss you and we love you!  Each and every day we think of you and wish that you could be with us all the time.   (Having said that…Tino and Zoe…HAPPY WEDDING this weekend!  I wish I could be there with you to celebrate!  I love you both!!!)

Okay…so here is an update on our journey since we last left you.  The Mall of America is exactly that!  If they don’t have it there…you by golly don’t need it!  With 520 retail stores and over 50 restaurants (not counting the various other small snack shops)…the place is GIGANTIC!  They say that if you go in each store and spend 5 minutes, it could take you the better part of 2 days to see the entire mall.  Plus, there is an underground aquarium to see…so tack on another 40 or so minutes.  Oh yeah, and then there is the amusement park right smack in the middle of the mall…complete with roller coasters and all the other rides.  In other words, if you are planning to visit, plan a full 3 days or more at the Mall of America.  We had fun!  No major purchases to report…but Patrick and Tracy really like the third level of the mall the best.

After our Mall of America visit, we played Pavlitski’s once more on Thursday night.  Before we started, Corey, Tracy and I played bingo for $1000.00 prize.  Needless to say, our $2 bingo card purchases went unrewarded!  Otherwise, we would all be well on our way to the Caribbean right now J!  Sorry guys…better luck with the slot machines!  We had a great gig, but had a three hour drive ahead of us after all the gear was loaded.  We departed Spring Lake Park, MN headed for Holcombe, WI at around 2:45 A.M. (I think!?!).  The roads are unfamiliar to us up this way and it was really foggy…so we took it nice and slow.  Corey drove with Patrick at co-pilot until we got to the last 30 miles or so of the drive.  In think Corey was seeing double by that time so I took over.  Let’s just say there is a lot of wilderness in Wisconsin with lots of animals…very large animals.  Not wonder so many hunters pay to hunt in this area of the country.  The deer are HUGE!!!!  My Daddy would love this place and my Mom too…it has yet to make it up to 75 degrees!

We made it to Holcombe for our gig at Ted’s Timber Lodge.  What a cool place!  We love the staff too!  Thanks to Miss Sue for some awesome eats…the fried cheese curds are outta this world.  And thanks to Tammy for taking such good care of us!  We look forward to coming back to visit.  The guests at the show rocked…we had lots of bachelorettes celebrating with us on Friday and Saturday night.  Thanks for being such a GREAT crowd! 

Sunday morning came far too early and we set out on our journey headed for Proctor, MN (right outside Duluth on Lake Superior).  Once we arrived at the Powerhouse, we set up our gear and then CRASHED (literally) at the Willard Munger Inn in Duluth.  We were exhausted to say the least!  After some much needed rest, we headed to our gig…but we stopped off at Taco John’s first.  Much like Taco Bell…and something I will NEVER eat before I have to sing…or just perhaps ever again.  OMG…I almost died of heartburn!  To think, I had gotten one of the more healthy things on the menu.  (I have recovered though…barely!)  Gig went GREAT and had lots of folks who are planning to come back on Wednesday when we play again.  Thanks for a really cool Sunday evening. 

Okay, so here is the lowdown on the Willard Munger Inn there in Duluth.  Munger was a State Representative for Minnesota as well as an environmentalist.  He devoted most of his political career to protecting the land he so dearly loved.  His legacy lives on today with a nature trail that begins at the back of the hotel and is one of the longest running paved trails in the United States.   The site is breathtaking!  Now this is coming from a gal who grew up in the midst of one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the US…the Okefenokee.  However, the Munger trail runs a close second!  Along with our room rental, we could check out bikes and ride the trail.  I opted for walking though!  I got up earlier than the “fellas” (as I call them) and took a stroll.  WOW…so pretty.  Can’t wait to go back!

We gathered our belongings around noon and headed for Canal Park in Duluth…right on the water of Lake Superior.  We visited the Maritime Museum, grabbed a little food, enjoyed some shopping and saw a guy flying a kite at the park that was over 2,000 feet in the air.  The kite looked like a spec in the sky!  He was using a drill to both extend and reel in the line!  CRAZY!!!!  Lake Superior is beautiful!  We saw a barge carrying coal dock and unload, and Hunter really enjoyed watching the lift bridge operate.  Each time a boat enters the canal, the bridge must lift to allow passage…I think Hunter like the engineering behind what made the bridge work the best.  We barely got him away from all the gears and pulleys.  We spent all afternoon at Canal Park and had a great time.  Patrick found a very rare copy of an Art Tatum vinyl album and an awesome Kenny Rogers Christmas record.  Kenny looked so happy on that cover.  I think we might listen to it on the way home.  We just gotta find a record player that will plug into the cigarette lighter.   All in all, if you get the chance, go see Lake Superior.

We now have a couple of off days…so we are gonna get some rest to gear up for the last leg (6 days) of the trip.  We are back in Wisconsin for the off time and looking for more cheese curds. I gotta send some home to my family!  They don’t know what they are missing J Hunter and Corey will be doing a whole lot more fishing.   Fishing report to follow tomorrow…oh wait…it is tomorrow!  I gotta get some rest!

Brandi