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July 27th 2005

Show day Portland,

It is a beautiful day here in Portland, Oregon. Last night I had a great Sushi dinner, so I am going back today for lunch. I start getting excited about the show around 12 or 1 o’clock on show day. We are playing another zoo and I hope this is better for me than the gig in Seattle. At least we can have a soundcheck at this gig. And I think it was a definite help to all. The crowd here in Portland is just amazing. When we take the stage there is a dance area set up in front of the stage and it starts to get full before the first note. The band is energized by the crowd from the start. The sound is great, the band is hitting it hard and the crowd is taking all we can give them. At shows like this with the give and take from the audience the time seems to just fly. At one point the audience starts singing and it is magic to us. What a great night it was.

After the show we are on the bus to Salt Lake City, UT. This is going to be very long ride and I am going to get my drink on.:-) This is when the bus is not so fun. We have music, refreshments and television. But this is almost 800 miles of road.

After a couple of hours into the ride we get into a great conversation about music. It turned into the old guys verses the young guys. I love playing the devils advocate in these conversations. I found much amusement in frustrating the young guys. Time is just creeping by, I turn to look at the clock. It’s just 5:00AM. Yikes! Are we there yet? No says bussington, he is the driver. We have 7 hours to go, I am now in hell. How did the early pioneers do it? A horse and wagon, are you kidding me? I finally fall asleep on the front couch, it is 6:00 AM, only to wake up to the sound of someone making expresso. I don’t even drink coffee :-{ It is now 8:30 AM, and I feel like a truck has run over my face. I have had too much Jack Daniels and too little sleep. I am so glad that we have a day off. Maybe I can recover enough to function. Once everyone wakes up, we start the music discussion again. I love this stuff. At 12:30 PM, we finally arrive at our hotel. Thanks bus, you did a great job. I am now in my room it is 2:45 PM. Why am I still awake? I have come to realize a few things about myself today. Number one, I am stupid for not going straight to bed, and number two. I am really, really tired. :-{ Goodnight John boy;-)

Peace from somewhere deep in Dreamland, JV :-) zzzzzzzzzz’s