The task of starting up the blog again has felt like a
school essay that needs doing. Except with this essay the deadline has already
passed, I won’t fail the class if I
don’t write it and each day I wait to write it another page is added to the
requirement. So, in an attempt to actually start being a regular updater, this
entry may leave out quite a bit.
Let’s see…
Currently, Amy and I are in Arizona. But you wouldn’t know
it with yesterday’s weather. We drove through a canyon in blizzard-ish
conditions and took pictures of snow in the dessert. Snow…on cactus. Bizarre. From
here we will be making our way up to Wyoming. By “making our way” I mean
busting our humps to drive 18 hours in 2 days with a stop to see the Grand
Canyon. From Wyoming we will be heading back down to the warmth of Texas. That
is the foreseeable future. Now to try
and tackle the past.
We got to Arizona from New Mexico after an amazing trip to
Carlsbad Caverns (We had a few shows in NM too). Though it may sound cheesy, it
was breath taking. The immensity of the underground world there is only
surpassed by the beautifully weird formations. Before New Mexico, we were lucky
enough to stay with my brother in Texas. The one full day we had there has
become known as “the day of gluttony”. Ribs, brisket, video games, lobster,
video games, hot tub, pizza. Good grief…it was awesome. Before Texas came
Minnesota. We had one show in Missouri on our way down, but other than that we
went from the frigid north straight to swimming in the sun of the south. In
Minnesota we were able to catch up with our long time family friends The
Holtmans. Within minutes my sides were hurting from laughter. Truly
reenergizing to see them all.
Huff, huff take a breath…
Before Minnesota, we were back in Michigan for a very short
stint. But it was not for the best of reasons. My Grandmother passed away and
we were able to get back for the memorial service. She was an amazing woman and
will be greatly missed. But I know where she is and am happy that her suffering
was short. She was super active and had a sharp mind to the end. I don’t mean
to skip quickly by this event, but I couldn’t explain how much she impacted my
life or even touch on her amazing one in any sort of timely manner. So, let’s
move on. Before our quick trip to Michigan, we stayed with some amazing people
in Iowa that are doing some cool things as far as working with troubled youth.
Iowa was a long haul from Tennessee. This trip to Tennessee we were unable to
stay with Amy’s family there, but we were able to stay with a couple of former
techs that did the same thing as us…20 years ago. Amazing people. It was almost
a totally different job back then. We had a blast comparing stories about our
time on the road. I will never forget the cough syrup they gave me. It tasted
like they compressed an entire douglas fir into a bottle and let it rot. But it
helped. The cold I was trying to get rid of was probably from the wolf park
that we visited in Indiana before driving down to Tennessee. We stood out in
the cold drizzle at night watching an entire pack of wolves eat bits of cream
cheese from their humans. We howled and were rewarded with howls from the wolves.
Quite an experience.
Gasp…
We have done and seen so much. This may be a few of the
highlights but really there is so much more. Even now I feel like I’m
overlooking something huge. Tons of pictures to follow. Hope this will satisfy
your craving for Swartz for a little while.
