Vancouver to Calgary

September 3, 2005

Just leaving the lower mainland after a stop in Chilliwack, the town that sports Vedder Road and Vedder Canal. We couldn’t resist stopping to take a few photos. We are finally on the road now and things are beginning to fell more real. We have been to two shows already but I think since after both shows we stopped at home in Vancouver it didn’t really feel like we had started this trip yet. Regardless both shows were really excellent, the band is so full of energy and playing really well. I really believe this is going to be that defining tour.

Yesterday before the Vancouver show we picked up a guy named Joe from the bus station who had come up to Vancouver from LA. He will be joining us in Thunder Bay, but also flew up to catch the Gorge and Vancouver shows. Joe seemed like a really cool guy and I am looking forward to Thunder Bay when he will be joining our crew. He is planning to bring a guitar and uke when he meets up with us which is pretty excellent.

While we have only just started this trip we have already lost someone who was suppose to do the full tour. After waiting 3 hours for him to show up we had to leave, as we needed to make it to Calgary. I hadn’t received any contact from him since the day before and it didn’t appear like he would be coming. He did say the day before that his mother was really sick, which may have been the reason he didn’t make it out. Regardless a phone call would have been nice to let us know and not make us wait around for hours in Vancouver.

However we do have 2 guys for this leg of the tour, Dirk and Mike. Dirk is from Winnipeg and will be doing the full tour with us, while Mike from Albany, NY will be coming just to Calgary.

Today we did some new decorations to the van, I added the Alive stickman, then Jason added a maple leaf behind him. It looks really excellent, the whole van does, I love the way it is turning out. I think by the time the van gets to St. Johns it is going tot look pretty wild.

Just driving into the mountains now, feels like we are finally going. The tour has officially started for me. We stopped in Revelstoke to change drivers at like 2am. Some stoned dude came by our van and asked “Any of you guys have any rolling papers?”. We told him no. He responded “You drive a van like that and don’t have any rolling papers?”. He then ran off into the woods. It was a pretty funny encounter to say the least.

Tomorrow we cross the Rockies and probably the hardest part of the trip for the van, not to mention one of the most scenic. After some sight seeing we will then rock Calgary. It the show is anything like the Gorge or Vancouver shows with the same levels of intensity it will be a really great show. Here is hoping.