The first few days of tour have been pretty exciting. This is our first tour ever, so we had no idea what to expect. Let's just say that we have experienced both joy and frustration so far, and we're only on the morning of day 4.
I'll start from the beginning.
The drive up to Pismo Beach was a good time-our van doesn't have a/c, so driving up the cool coast was great. We arrived at my (Lee) parent's house and were greeted with amazing hospitality as they always give. They are such a blessing to me and to Phinehas-we appreciate them so much.
Our first show was at my home church in Pismo Beach, and we got there early to set up and sound check. I wish the turn out was a little better, but seeing some good friends was definitely a blessing. We had a fun set-End The Century let us play after them since it was my hometown and it was great.
Following the show, Doug, the head youth ministries pastor hooked us up with gas and food-of course we ate at Burger King (my parents franchise Burger Kings in my hometown). It was delicious as it always is at their Burger Kings.
Sleeping at my house was very nice-we all got a good night sleep and ate breakfast at-where else-Burger King in the morning. My parents gave us $100 to use for lodging or for gas, this was a HUGE blessing for us. They are so giving-we certainly appreciate it so so much.
The drive to Sanger, CA wasn't too bad. Since it's inland, it got pretty hot once we started driving east. Once we arrived, we spent some time at a Walmart Superstore to escape the heat/have some late lunch.
The venue eloquently entitled "The Venue" in Sanger was a suprisingly fun place to play. On the outside, it doesn't look like much, but the inside is pretty sweet.
The show was fun, we got to play for some of the locals as well as some of the earlier bands. Many people left before we played, but it was still a blessing to play in front of even just a few people we didn't know.
After the show in Sanger, we regrouped with ETC at the Walmart to clean out the van, move any unnecessary luggage to the trailer, have a quick bite, then drive overnight to Wilsonville, Oregon-about a 13 hour drive.
The night part wasn't too bad-Sean and Glenn are troopers for taking the shifts-Ryan, Scotty, and I got to rest a bit.
Once it heated up, however, it was pretty uncomfortable. Initially, the scenery in Northern California and South Oregon was gorgeous. Unfortunately, in the midst of high temperature, thousands of trees flying by gets a bit old after a while.
We stopped at yet another BK for breakfast. This one wasn't nearly as awesome as my parents', but the food was still pretty tasty.
We filled up our tank and trekked about 400 more miles to Wilsonville where we got to partake in a tour of the Audix microphone factory there. This was very informative-we got to see how casings were made, how they test new equipment, and lots of other cool stuff. Sean purchased an OM2 at cost which he was pretty stoked about.
Following the nice air-conditioned tour, we jetted over to a nearby Costco to enjoy the food court. This was the first money I've actually spent on tour aside from pitching in $5 for earplugs. So far I've spent $6.50 for the entire tour-I've been living off of peanut-butter sandwhiches which I brought with plus some Cheerios my parents gave us :)
My goal was to not spend more than $5 a day and I'm currently dominating that goal! I'm pretty happy about it.
Anyhow, after enjoying the Costco early dinner, we set out for a mere 2 hour drive to Olympia, Washington to stay at Sean's sister's house there (which is again, another huge blessing for us!)
This is where Ryan, Scott, and I got the most sleep in the van while Sean and Glenn drove and co-piloted respectively.
This is where it becomes more of an adventure.
About 5 miles out from getting to shower, change, and sleep in a comfortable place, the van begins to smoke a tiny bit. So, we pulled over to let the engine cool off and added some water to the coolant tank (since we unfortunately didn't have any). 10 minutes later, we were off again and driving smoothly.
That is, until about 2 miles later when the engine got really ticked and began to smoke profusely. We pulled over again and let the smoke fade. When we popped the hood, coolant had sprayed everywhere.
God was with us.
Normally a situation like this would be so frustrating and full of anxiety, but all of us were relaxed and calm. Sean phoned his sister (who is out of town but still graciously letting us stay at her and her husband's house). We ended speaking with Sean's sister's husband's father, who lives nearby, and he was Johnny-on-the-spot. He arrived with a mini-van and we hooked up our trailer to it. Sean called Triple-A to get the van towed to a mechanic. Meanwhile, a state officer showed up and called in to Triple-A to expidite the service. He plays the bagpipes and was friendly.
Also, a dude stopped to offer assistance, saying "he didn't want us to be late for our gig". He was really friendly and said he would check us out.
Hopefully he knows how to spell Phinehas.
Anyhow, I went with Sean's in-law to drop the trailer off and pick up the bench seats for the mini-van so that we could go back and pick up Ryan and Scooter. Sean and Glenn went with the tow-truck to the mechanics which is where we all regrouped and packed the mini-van with everything we would need.
As I said, God was with us. Sean's in-law gave us his van to use for the next few days while our van gets fixed, so we have the means to get to shows with our gear!
We prayed for the van-hoping that it was just a hose that needs replacement, not the radiator.
Once we arrived at Sean's sister's, we all took turns showering and headed off to a good night of sleep.
I woke a bit early to call the mechanics, but they are busy today and won't get to the van until later. They know our situation-we are here until Tuesday morning, so we're hoping that that is enough time.
Sean grabbed BK for breakfast (I think I may be getting everyone hooked!) and went back to sleep. Everyone else is still catching their Z's in the comfort of this home.
I'm currently editing together an update video-I should be able to finish it today and get it uploaded tonight.
Until then, I'm going to explore the town a little bit.
Be praying for our travels-specifically for our van, that it would get fixed; for us, that we would get rest, stay healthy, have high spirits, and eat well; for our shows, that we would play excellently so that we get the chance to share Jesus with everyone and have their ears be open (and not ringing too much :); and for our relationships with each other, that we would be flexible, maintain a positive attitude, and enjoy each other's company.
It's been an adventure so far, I'm excited for the R&R today and for the show tonight.
Until next time, peace be with you.
Lee
