… travel day – driving from Tucson AZ to Abilene TX and decided we should stop in Roswell NM to look for aliens and hang out… Didn’t make it to the museum as I was doing paperwork… Then went out and fully intended to leave after eating and two pints (of Alien Amber!)… However waitress totally misunderstood the request for “another round of wings” and brought out another round of drinks… Would be rude to return them them so had to drink them! Still was vaguely sensible and had a glass of water with each pint so now I have a nice buzz but shouldn’t get the hangover!
Main down side to todays activities was not making it out on the bike… Often a bit of a gamble riding on tour… Not managed too much this tour but been pretty good so far…
Sacramento was great for riding – found a great path – being the weekend and sunny it was busy, but enough ladies out riding or jogging to make it quite pleasant viewing. Managed to tag onto a chap on a time trial bike and managed to hang on until he slowed down towards the end of his ride. Nice camaraderie amongst most bike riders – was touched that this guy was really concerned I had enough “fuel” to get back!
Provo UT on another travel day was a bit of a fail… had planned to do something called the “Alpine Loop”. Headed out in a light drizzle and in a totally rookie move didn’t dress correctly… As I headed up the canyon it got colder and colder and the rain got heavier and heavier until it was more like sleet. Once I had lost all feeling in my fingers and toes I decided I really should turn back… had to neck a boiling hot tea when I got back to the bus to try and thaw out a little… Pretty brutal day…
Anaheim day off was kind of cool – got out on the Santa Ana River path (well they call it a river – whenever I have been there it’s a dried up storm channel!) which took me out to the coast and Long Beach… Rode all the way up Huntington Beach. Realised that the pier there is the one from the shoot out scene in “Falling Down” (great film), I think the storm channel (or Santa Ana river??!!) is where the truck and motor bike scene from Terminator 2 was shot (not a bad film) and that Angel Stadium that I passed at the start of the ride is featured in Naked Gun (very funny film!).
Still not a fan of LA but generally whenever we do shows there the actual venues and staff are very very cool but I lose at least three days of my life for every one LA show – amazing how draining one show can be! We played at the “legendary” Roxy the other night and was a pretty cool show – trying to get into the “legendary” Rainbow next door after the show wasn’t quite so cool!
Met some great people on this trip and as the tour has been extended hoping to meet more! The addition of shows might be good for the bank balance (and the bands career!) but it means I’m going to miss the family holiday which was booked months ago… Was quite looking forward to that… Life just gets in the way sometimes!
Pointless bus conversations! What is the grimmest, darkest Vietnam war film? This started as we were watching “Full Metal Jacket” – we all agreed that we had missed the best bit – the first half which is deeply disturbing before we even get to any combat scenes! But then opinion was divided as to wether “Apocolypse Now” or “Platoon” is the more messed up film!
However, they are all way better than “U571” which I had the misfortune to watch a couple of days ago – what a total load of garbage… You want a classic Naval war film? Nothing will ever match the grimness of “The Cruel Sea” and film makers should learn to stop trying…
Anyway… Need to pack up the office and hang around waiting for the 0400 bus call… The glamour just never ends…
Mark aka Gus 