West Coast Adventures

I’ve been back to work since April 15th and I have literally been too busy to post. I flew out of Pittsburgh early in the morning of the 15th and landed in Yuma, AZ in the early afternoon. Since Cortney is both on the team and from Yuma, I got to stay at her house. Her dad owns a company called Audio Einsteins and they do video and audio system installations- their house was awesome. A TV outside, projector and screen for movies, a touch screen remote that I couldn’t figure out- it was awesome! Aside from all the tech stuff they also had several quads, a Rhino, and at least one dirt bike. Cortney’s house is right against the desert and foothills in Yuma so on our first morning there we gassed up the quads and hit the sand. We rode for a couple hours in the morning and then a couple more that afternoon. I had a terrible time getting mine started. I’m not used to riding one with a clutch so I kept stalling. Once I’m moving, I do great- I tackle big hills and fly along drop offs with no trouble- I just can’t get the thing started!

After Yuma, we headed to Payson, AZ for another show. The morning of the show, I was eating breakfast at my host family’s house and out the window we saw a javelina. They said the have seen elk walking along their driveway before too. While I didn’t see any elk at their house, after the show we drove to Flagstaff and we passed about a dozen elk on the side of the road. It was dark and our headlights don’t shine out that far, so you couldn’t really see them until you were right beside them so I didn’t get a good look at any of them, but they were definitely elk.

The next morning we were surprised with a trip to the Grand Canyon. Out of the twelve of us on tour no one had ever been there. I must say for such a fantastic landmark, it’s kind of out of the way. Once we found the road to there, it was an hour from the highway to the canyon. It was definitely worth it though. Although I must admit the whole thing looks fake. You know that FedEx commercial with the 3 guys that are supposed to be at a business meeting and they’re web chatting with their boss when their backdrop falls over and reveals that they’re on a golf course? That’s what the Grand Canyon reminded me of- Jack actually tried to push it over. It all looked so fake. It also looked completely different from how I had expected it to look. I expected it to be deep, but I wasn’t prepared for how wide it was. I expected it to be a sheer cliff on one side, a river at the bottom, and another cliff a long way on the other side. It didn’t look like that. It was a cliff, rolling hills of rock, you could barely see the river in one spot, more rolling hills of rock on the other side. There’s no way pictures could capture how it really appeared. It was awesome!

After that some people wanted to go horseback riding. Everyone agreed to it, but I think we were tricked- we thought we were riding at the Grand Canyon. We weren’t. We had to take the hour long road out of the canyon, to the highway, and back the way we came. Then we rode horses around a volcanic mountain for an hour. It was good I guess- I’m not into horses- I’m more into cowboys and there were no good ones there.

When we got done riding horses we headed for Vegas. If you’re a long time reader, you know my thoughts on Vegas. First of all- it’s amazing. Everything that I said in the the post about Disney is true of Vegas. All of the casinos are themed and your senses are immersed in whatever theme it is. Second of all- it’s sad. That town is the epitome of why America needs a bailout. People think they deserve to be rich and that if they play long enough their irresponsibility will be rewarded with wealth. No. It rarely works like that. I saw more people begging on the street in Vegas than I saw winning the jackpot. And the whole prostitution thing…it’s really the same idea. People think they deserve whatever it is they want- eventually you end up broke and broken.
Despite all of my moral qualms with the city, I do like it there. This time I was really sick- I had a horrible headache and just felt crappy for several days. However the town is never boring so I went out anyway. Jack and I walked from the Bellagio back to our hotel of the Stratosphere. If you’ve been to Vegas, you know that is no short trip. It was fun though. We walked it at night so we could see everything lit up. It was sweet! Since we were staying at the Stratosphere we decided to head up to the observation deck to have a look around. I can be pretty adventurous, but all of the rides at the top were a little to intense for me- so I just snapped photos instead.

I wasn’t in Vegas just to have a good time this year, I was actually there on business- of sorts. I spent a couple days at the National Association of Broadcaster’s show. Although different than I had expected it to be, it was still pretty sweet. Lots of production gear including a bunch of 3D stuff- it’s the way of the future. I also had the chance to hear author Malcolm Gladwell speak. If you don’t know who he is, look him up- good stuff.

After Vegas we headed northwest for a show in Oregon and one in northern California. After our shows we were blessed with more time off so we spent a couple of days in the Redwoods. It’s so beautiful there-if not for all the trails you could easily walk into the woods and be lost forever. We went to a place called the Trees of Mystery. They had a sky ride that took us up over the top of the Redwoods. There was a lookout up there and we could see for miles to lots of rolling hills with even more trees. The next day we headed for the Avenue of Giants- our Redwood spot from last year. We found the same rope swing the guys used and everybody took a turn. I was scared to do it, but Paco and Jack finally convinced me to. I’m so glad I did! As soon as I landed I said “Let’s do it again!” and I took another swing. Then we went to the Eel River with the marbled rocks that I love so much. After a stop at the Grandfather Tree- which is HUGE- we headed for our hotel outside of San Francisco.

The next day we decided to go into the city. I was in San Francisco a couple times last year so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go, but based on the people going I was pretty sure that it’d be fun. We drove into the city and across the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at the overlook and I walked half way across the bridge and back. Yes, I know that means I could have walked the entire way across, but Jack didn’t want to pick me up and I didn’t want to walk the entire way back. It was really cold the day we were there and it was also very windy on the bridge. By the time I walked back everyone was ready to go. We spent most of the day driving up and down the steep streets. We paused momentarily for a bit of shopping including an outfit that I put together for Jack. After dinner we drove down the twisty, turny Lombard street before heading back to the hotel.

The following day, Wednesday, was dedicated to filming. Our tour manager has a brother-in-law that is a Jimmy Buffett lookalike- not intentionally, he just is. George is a good friend of the tour. Whenever we’re in the San Francisco area he always takes us out in his boat for a day of wakeboarding and jetskiing. I love all things water so this is always one of my favorite stops on the trip. Well George recently started a Jimmy Buffett tribute band (check them out at http://www.jimmyandthewaverunners.com/) and they wanted to make some music videos. We shot 3 songs in 1 day! It was crazy! I was so tired I fell asleep on the way to the hotel and I rarely sleep on our bus. It was really fun though- I’m nervous to watch the footage tomorrow. It’s always fun to film, but I hate watching it later. I have a lot of editing ahead of me.

The next day George took us out on his boat for a day of fun after our day of work. I was so glad I brought my wetsuit all the way from Pennsylvania because it was in the low 70s all day and water was really cold! I kept my wetsuit on all day- even before I was in the water. He only had is wakeboard with him so I decided to give it a try. Just like last year I got up with no trouble. It was easy for me to stay up too, as long as I didn’t try to cross the wake. I actually had no idea how to cross it. George kept motioning from inside the boat for me to cross it and I kept shaking my head no. Finally I yelled “I don’t know how!” So there we were speeding down the river system and he was yelling instructions to me from inside the boat. I tried several times to cross it and fell every time. I was getting more and more exhausted and as they circled the boat around once more I said, “I just can’t get it.” George said, “Don’t say that dirty word. Can’t is a four-letter, dirty word. Don’t say you can’t do it. You can.” I few tries later, I did it. Then I fell again. And got in the boat.

We stayed on the river as long as we possibly could- as much as I love it out there, George may love it even more, so we didn’t come in until after 8 o’clock. We headed for the steakhouse we usually go to when we’re up there. Dinner was full of joke telling and George giving me some tips on how to pick up men (he gets picked up a lot). I tried them on him so we’ll see where this goes *wink*

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, but I’m constantly reminded of how blessed I am to lead this crazy life that I do. It definitely makes me question the future. Am I crazy to want to leave all of this craziness behind? Am I crazy to not leave it? If California’s so fun, should I stay out here? If it’s this cold here should I just move back home? I don’t find a lot of answers on the road, but I find more questions than I could ever fathom. I’ve learned to live every day to the max, don’t let fear get in the way of trying something new, and to hang on because life is crazy.

World’s longest blog post: completed.