Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

`On Tuesday we left the William’s house and started driving towards Bellville, Texas and the Spring Creek Bluegrass Festival. We drove all day and I got progressively sicker as the day went on. It was a very nice, sunny day. We drove by several trains. Or should I say that they drove by us? Well whatever the case was we saw several trains. One thing that I happened to notice that they all had in common was that they were all very highly graffiti-ified. We were just rolling into Bellville as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. I was all of the way in back of the bus but I could still hear my Dad yelling at Irene (the gps navigator.) Apparently she had pulled another fast one on us. Well we were in the right area but we weren’t in the right spot. The roads upon which we were driving looked somewhat like one of my 10 foot mazes so as you might guess it took us a bit of a little while to find the campground.

Wednesday I was still sick so I didn’t really do anything but my dad went off exploring the campground, looking for the laundry mat and other such things. Laura was generally obnoxious; meaning she was bugging me while I was doing my school work. Then she went outside and walked around the park looking at all of the other RV’s. Abby did her school work, practiced and ran around meeting people. Mom practiced violin and her voice warm ups. Which by the way are a good thing to be absent for. Maria Muldaur voice warm ups – compliments of Homespun Tapes and CD‘s. First mom closes all the windows, doors, and hatches in a futile attempt to screen the neighboring RV’s from the wild and disturbing sounds which are soon to ensue. Then she starts off with a few harmless stretches, deep breaths and A – E – I – O – U’s in the bottom register of her voice. As the following forty five minutes progress the vowels sustained in pitch which can hardly be described as melodic grow increasingly louder, higher and most alarming. Of course along the way there are numerable cracked tones as her voice gains fluidity……She usually yells at any one who hasn’t fled the scene and happens to be standing around that they need to get on the stick and join in or they will be sorry when they stand in front of the microphone. This is accompanied with the typical lactose interrogation and the evils thereof in which each person has to confess whether they have imbibed in ice cream, milk, yogurt, cheese or the like. Laura is usually absent; Abby, intent on doing what is right and good, most often comes clean; and I of course am the guilty offender trying my hardest to look innocent. Confession most recently: Klondike Heath Nut Ice Cream Bars which I enthusiastically endorse. Dad is actually the most guilty of us all but he lets my mom’s warnings drip off like water from a mallard duck…….When mom’s wails have reached their most startling and feverish-ed pitch she slowly backs off with a few less demanding scales and the final trill exercises.

To every ones relief she decided to air her head and following the voice exercises went for a long country walk on which she saw horses, donkeys, cows, farms, birds, a fox – and a good dried up creek bottom to duck into should a tornado happen by. Have I mentioned that she spends lots of time looking for potential shelters in the event of natural disasters? She also imagines what it would be like to be stuck in elevators, on a freeway twister in L.A. during an earthquake, standing on the shore of Padre Island along the Gulf of Mexico watching a fast approaching tidal wave and stuff like that. Go figure.

That evening they had the annual potluck dinner which consisted of Hobo stew and a lot of other exciting things. During the day we were able to watch the Hobo stew being cooked. It started with someone washing out a great big clothes basin then they added potatoes, carrots, onion, beef and other things of that sort. They cooked it over an open fire and stirred it with a holy canoe paddle. This operation involved about ten elderly gentlemen sitting around in folding chairs chewing the fat for the greater portion of the day. The stew was actually TERRIFIC and the cooks generously bestowed a big bucket of leftover stew to the Alaska String Band since I struck them as a strapping young man and we were parked next to the stew pot.

Thursday I wasn’t sick. Laura had met someone who sold tortoise shell picks that morning so she bought two of them in the afternoon.

Mom and dad had arranged to catch a ride to town in the early morning with Tom and his wife whom we had made acquaintance with at Turkey Track Bluegrass Festival in Waldron, Arkansas the month previous. They left us kids in the bus with orders to clean it (or else), and get started with school assignments. Then they went out for coffee and doughnuts at an awesome small town bakery. Happily they brought some back for us too. Tom also stopped at a meat market which showcased Texas beef steak, and other amazing foods. He generously bought us a big stick of Texas beef sausage which is delicious. Then mom wanted to stop at a grocery store to pick up apple cider, votive candles and three pumpkins for us to carve seeing as it was soon to be Halloween eve.

Due to inclement weather the first night of music was held indoors. The room was packed and we ended up selling CD’s at a table with another band. Buffalo Nickel started the evening off. The other bands playing that evening were Polk Bros and Lone Mountain Boys, The Greer Family, Gammagrass Ramblers and us. We listened to as many of them as possible.

I especially enjoyed the Greer Family Band which consisted of Lawrence Greer (the dad) on bass; Lisa (the mom) on rhythm guitar; Jordan (19) on fiddle, mandolin and dobro; Adam (16) on banjo and guitar; Mandy (13) on mandolin and occasional twin fiddle with Jordan; Steven (12) on guitar and Stephanie (10) who sings.

After our performance Laura and I got to know Jordan and Adam some. Abby and my parents manned the table. It appeared to me that Jordan and Adam both were two gregarious characters and we struck off immediately. Later after we were done visiting Laura and I went off in search of a jam. We found one and joined it, Jordan and Adam showed up soon after. We stayed up till around 1:00 a.m., tired but having had a lot of fun.

Friday was a much nicer day – weather wise that is. The music started early on and the line up included: Glen Bonham and Southern Tradition, White Dove, Saltgrass, The Franz Family, The Bluegrass Brothers and Lonestar Bluegrass. We listened to several of the bands that day. During the day Adam Greer and I went running around exploring the swing sets and other exciting places. While we were over at the swing sets we found several fascinating dead bug shells. Adam collected them all, named them and then said that he was going to give them to his mother. We never did get around to giving them to his mother but that is probably a rather good thing. One exceptional find was a large, hairy, green caterpillar. Adam immediately christened it Huppert the Fuzzy Green Pickle of Death. The name suited him perfectly. I just so happened to have a plastic water bottle so we captured him and took him adventuring. We carried him around showing him to random people who we knew. We took him over to our cd tables and showed him to Adam’s dad and my big sis, Laura. And then we took him to the most terrifying place for Huppert to be. We took him first into our bus and let him crawl around on the counter tops and then into Adam’s camper. Later we took him back to his home by the swing set where we hoped he would be happy.

Around 3:00 p.m. my mom supplied my sisters and I with three pumpkins and carving knives. We sat at the small green picnic tables outside our bus and went to work. That evening we had the happiest twinkling pumpkin moonshines you ever did see sitting right out side our bus.

When we performed again that evening on the outdoor stage it was very nice. Abby soon made friends with Mandy Greer. After the evening performances Laura, Jordan and I joined up with a jam session. Abby and Mandy Greer showed up along with both sets of parents. Eventually the session petered out and Abby got her Ripstick and she and Mandy rode it around for a while. My parents disappeared. Laura joined a different jam and I followed along and listened. At about 11:30ish Adam came over with a mischievous glint in his eye. He addressed me and said “I have the most amazing idea ever.” I asked him what it was and he explained. He said that we should perform at the open stage the next day. Of course I agreed, so it was settled. He went back to jamming and I started to try to convince Laura to join our band. At about 12:30ish a.m. Adam came back and stated that we should get Jordan to join us. We did so swiftly and then at about one o’clock a.m. we all gathered together. First we had to come up with a band name. The two runner-ups were Terminal Velocity and Pickle Pie. Later one of Adam’s musician friends showed up and joined our band, he had just arrived at the festival. We found a common interest immediately which was Veggie Tale songs so Brady Bynum and I were friends before 2:00 a.m. Laura and I were supposed to have gone to bed by 1:30 so at about 2:30 we decided to head to bed. Before we did so though we decided where and when our newly formed band would meet later that morning.
Saturday Laura and I woke up rather early and headed over to meet Adam, Jordan and Brady. I had picked out a few of my wigs and a hat or two that we would be wearing on stage. No one was over where we were going to meet so Laura and I pulled out our instruments and started tuning up. Jordan and Adam showed up fashionably late and we commenced to practicing. Adam ended up with my Black Afro, Jordan took my Biker hat which included long silver tresses, Laura wore the Kazakhstan hat and I chose my redhaired wig. Brady didn’t show up for practice but that was ok. Eventually Brady showed up and we headed backstage and pulled instruments out of their cases. The band that was on stage before us did not fill their allotted time slot. So when we walked out on stage the MC and stage crew had gone missing. We stood around for about 10 minutes before we actually started. When we did start all went well, somewhat. We discovered that our name was Pickle Pie while on stage also. The songs that we played were Blackberry Blossom and Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. We were supposed to play for half an hour but we only had about nine minutes of music worked out so after that we asked the audience for requests. The rest of the set was very exciting from then on. After we were done we were talking to our parents and Jordan’s dad told us that he hadn’t recognized Jordan at first due to his styling biker’s hat.

The rest of that day was spent running around on the Greer’s golf cart, listening to music, performing, selling cd’s and visiting with people. That evening the Greer’s left but before they did Abby and Mandy decided to go trick or treating. Abby went as a pirate and Mandy dressed up in some of our Huki Lau hula costume stuff. They both knocked at the doors of a couple of dozen or so RV’s and were greatly relieved to discover that all of the bluegrass residents were in good humor and were happy to drop a treat into their sacks. They even received a few dollar bills from unsuspecting campers. After a bit Abby and Mandy decided to visit the food vendor booths. None of the vendors had any candy so instead they were severed various food items on the house such as corn dogs, lemonade and the like.

That night there was a haunted hay ride so I went off in search of Brady before it started. I found him and we scramble up over the rails of the hay wagon along with Laura, Abby, my Mom and a bunch of other merry makers. The big old hay wagon was strewn with deeply piled sweet smelling hay and a tractor was hooked to the front in order to pull us out into the beautiful moon lit night. We rumbled down the dusty camp road and through a gated fence opening, then out into a large pasture. Our wagon bumped along for quite a long while until we reached the edge of a dark and foreboding wood. As we left the clearing of pasture behind and slowly descended into the thick of the forest we could see distant fires glowing through the trees. Abby kept her head buried in my mom’s lap and trembled from head to foot in terror of what might be up ahead of us. Our hay wagon driver in subdued tones had begun to relate spooky tales of mysterious occurrences in the surrounding country side when a chain saw screamed into action just to the left of our wagon. Everybody jumped. As we were pulled deeper and deeper into the forest, ghouls and goblins of all sorts ran towards us and then limped away into the shadows. Eventually we cleared the forest and headed back through the open pasture. Then came the climax of the whole wonderful ride. The wagon plunged right through a heard of cows which were lying peacefully about in the moon light. The cows raised up and stared at us with their huge brown blinking eyes. We could reach out and brush their sleek coats as we rolled by. Up through the pasture, out of the gate and back into the campground we lurched. Back at the festival we scrambled out of the wagon, ran around to the other side and scramble back in. It was so much fun we had to do it again. The second time Abby sat up and watched as we assured her it wasn’t really so spooky after all. One fellow hay ride passenger came armed with cans of silly string and plastered the monsters which dared to approach our wagon in the depths of the forest. The second time around was just as much fun as the first.

That was the last night of the festival so after the music was over we started to pack up and we went to bed. The Alaska String Band has been invited to return to Spring Creek Bluegrass Festival again next year and if we do get to return I most definitely hope to resurrect Pickle Pie.

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

Thursday when we left we drove down to Duncan, Oklahoma where we were going to have our newly improved generator put back into our not so newly improved bus. Once it was done we drove back up north to Washington, Oklahoma where we were to play at a senior center that evening. The gig went well that evening. Our friends the Young family came to listen to us. After our concert was over Laura, Abby and I danced with Clint, Hailey, Faith and Nathan outside in the parking lot.
On Friday we were scheduled to play at a bluegrass festival outside of Perrin, Texas at the Mitchell RV park. Since we were supposed to be playing my dad arose before the rest of us and started driving to Perrin. We arrived at Perrin at about 11:00 in the morning. The year before they had closed the pools before we arrived so we weren’t able to go swimming but this year they kept them open for Abby at her persistent requests. The owner told Abby that she had to stay in the pool until she turned blue. After we were parked Laura, Abby and I went off in search of a jam session. We did find one and we were henceforth mobbed by about a million senior citizens. Once they were done mobbing us someone handed me a bass and Laura and Abby went back to the bus to get their instruments. I played along for a while not knowing any of the songs and then Laura came back. Once she was in the group they had her play one so I henceforth knew what it was that I was playing.
After a while dad came and got us because we had been invited to someone’s house for a late lunch. They had been up to Juneau on a cruise ship that summer and we had taken them out to the Mendenhall Glacier. Then we had eaten dinner together at the Twisted Fish in downtown Juneau. After we had been treated like royalty at these good friends home near Perrin, Texas we returned to the RV park to prepare for our evening performance. This year there were two bands we had met at this festival the previous year: Star Canyon and the Alaska String Band. There were two other family bands there this year as well: Digger Davis & Tombstone and The Triple L Band. As you might know we had already met The Triple L Band in Duncan, Oklahoma but we hadn’t met Digger Davis and Tombstone yet. In addition to the family bands, Lonesome Prairie and Honey Creek Highway also performed. Mike Powell was the M.C. again and Frank Cleveland was doing sound like the year before.
Our set went well that evening except for one simple fact. That fact was that it was stinking cold out. The Triple L Band used hand warmers which I thought was a very smart idea. In Alaska we usually perform indoors in the winter so it’s not a consideration. After we were done that evening we were invited into our friends DL and Clara’s camper for banana pudding. The Triple L Band went back to their camper but extended an invitation to us to stop in to visit also. Then another couple, Billy and Rhonda, invited us to come by their camp fire for a visit too.
We packed up our CD table and then we went back to our bus. Once at our bus we had a rather quick mini conference and then we decided upon what we were going to do. We went to the Triple L Band’s bus which was right next to ours to visit. After we were done their we went to DL and Clara’s bus. We didn’t stay for very long because it was late and we were rather tired. When we left Laura, Abby and I headed back to our bus and my mom and dad stopped over at Billy and Rhonda’s camp fire before calling it a night.
Saturday was spent cleaning the bus, practicing, manning the table and then finally performing. We performed twice on Saturday once in the afternoon when it was still rather warm. And then again that evening while it was cold. We watched Digger Davis and Tombstone when they performed and it was amazing. The dad did one of the most impressive Elvis impersonations I have ever seen. It involved two elderly ladies rushing to the stage trying to get a shirt that he had wiped his sweat upon. After they were done that evening we visited with them for a while and got to know about them. After all of the music was done that evening I helped Frank Cleveland pack up all of his sound equipment. Once that was done we went to bed as early as possible.
Sunday the festival was over so we headed out somewhat early. We were scheduled to play at a church in Lillian, Texas that day. We arrived at the church on time (which was slightly surprising, seeing as Dad got lost on the way there) and set up. After the service was over we ate chili with the congregation. It was their annual chili cook-off so there happened to be a lot of chili. My personal favorite was the habanera chili.
When we left we drove to our friends the William’s house. We stayed there that evening and all day Monday.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

The Hunt’s house:

On Tuesday we arose early enough and after cleaning up the bus and doing our school we started driving to the Hunt’s house. It was later in the afternoon by that time. When we turned on to the final road which would lead us to the Hunt’s (it was way out in the boonies) someone who was driving along it stopped and asked us if we knew where we were. We told him that we thought that we did. We then asked him where we could find the Hunt’s house. He told us to continue on where we were headed. When we arrived at their driveway we saw Andrew and Mr. Hunt standing there. Later they told us that they had watched us approach from their house. They helped us get parked and level our bus. Jonathan came out then and we all visited for a while. Mrs. Hunt was teaching a piano lesson at the time so she didn’t come out till later. When she was done with her piano lesson she came out and we all stood outside visiting for a while.
The Hunt’s house is situated out in the country alongside a dirt road. They are surrounded by fields and they have a small pond nearby. When we were headed inside we noticed a big blackish burntish crater in their parking lot. Mr. Hunt then related this story……. It seemed that Mr. Hunt was coming home from work one day. He parked his truck next to his house and got out. He had been inside for about twenty minutes when he went back outside. When he looked over to his truck he saw that the whole thing was enveloped in flames. All of the family rushed outside and watched it burn. The fire was so hot that it melted the siding on their house. That day there were strong gusts of wind, but thankfully they did not blow the flames towards the house and the house did not burn up. So the Hunt family ended up having to get a new vehicle.
That night Mrs. Hunt had prepared an amazing home cooked meal consisting of chicken and dumplings, garden fresh green beans, dinner rolls, homemade jams and jellies, salad and lots of other delicious stuff. She is a most excellent cook and hostess! After dinner was over that evening Laura, Andrew, Jonathan and I went into the living room and did some pickin and grinin for a while.
Later Jonathan and Andrew took us out to their barn to look around. It was rather exciting. Inside were a trampoline, a tractor and several model airplanes that Andrew and Jonathan had made from scratch. The planes were constructed with all sorts of supplies such as wood, Styrofoam, paper, wire and paint, etc. While out in the barn we found a small brown scorpion. Andrew, not fond of scorpions, stomped on it. Abby found three farm cats. One had black fur with white paws. The other two were also black. Abby spent about twenty minutes trying to catch a cat which she finally succeeded at. After we were done exploring in the barn we went back into the house for a while.
Once we were done terrorizing the house we took Jonathan and Andrew out to our bus. We showed them around, which took all but two seconds. And then Andrew saw my hat box. Of course he had to try them all on. He went through everything and then he found my red wig. He tried that on and we all just about died; he was very dashing in it. But then again by dashing he might have been dashing out away from us. After much insistent persuasion Andrew also tried on Laura’s big pink feather boa. Sadly, he absolutely refused to allow us to take his photograph for Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings blog. Just an interesting side note….on my fancy dancy computer I just typed in the word blog and the spell check doesn’t recognize the word. Kind of funny seeing as a blog was invented for the computer!

Jonathan or Andrew, I am not really sure which, said that they had an Armadillo that lived under their front porch so we went and looked at that… We found the Armadillo’s hole but we couldn’t see the Armadillo. The hole was very exciting, we found a role of duct tape inside the entrance. Maybe the Armadillo was planning to make an elephant. Once we had determined that there was nothing other than a role of duct tape in the hole Jonathan took us in to see their recording studio. It was in Jonathan’s room. Jonathan and Andrew explained how they did all of their recording and such. Jonathan is in charge of doing all of the mixing for their CD’s. They did all of their recording in their bathroom due to the fact that the acoustics were so good. We understood that due to the other fact that we often practiced in our downstairs bathroom in our home in Juneau for the superior acoustics as well.
The Hunt Family as you might have guessed is comprised of Mr. Terry Hunt (the dad); Mrs. Leanne Hunt (the mom); Andrew (17 years) and Jonathan (14 years). They like us, or us like them, travel around playing music at festivals, churches and whatnot. In fact we met them at the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival when we were there and that is how we ended up at their house. The Hunt Family Bluegrass Band is a top notch, hard driving bluegrass machine. They won the KSMU Youth in Bluegrass Competition held each year at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. Mr. Hunt plays banjo and guitar, Mrs. Hunt plays the upright bass. Andrew plays the mandolin, fiddle and guitar. Jonathan plays the banjo, guitar and bass. They all are terrific singers. Andrew and Jonathan taught Laura and I a great tune called Daybreak in Dixie. My mom loved their rendition of Rawhide. On the side it was impressive to us to note that Mr. Hunt was the manager of the flight program for the Oklahoma State University.
The rest of the evening was spent visiting with them and jamming and such. When we did go to bed we slept in the bus for the night.
On Wednesday we arose at around 6:00 a.m. so as we might make it inside in time for breakfast. We did clean up the bus before we went in so we might maximize our visiting time. When we did get in they were all awake already and breakfast was almost done. We spent the next hour or so visiting and eating breakfast. After breakfast was over we jammed again for a bit. But after a while we had to say our goodbyes. We packed up our instruments, checking and rechecking to make sure we hadn’t forgotten any of them. If we had it would have been a problem and a good thing at the same time. The good thing would be that the Hunt’s would have some more instruments and another good thing would be that we could get new instruments. But luckily for us we didn’t leave anything behind.
We are very grateful for their hospitality and we hope to see them again someday soon, either in Alaska or back in Oklahoma or elsewhere.

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

Kansas City, Missouri: The Mall:

After the SPBGMA showcase was over (Sunday) we drove to town and ate lunch and did some laundry. The rest of the day was spent trying to figure out what we were going to do over the next few days….besides the ever present school work assignments. By the time we decided what we were going to do it was dark so we stayed the night at the fair grounds. Our plan for the next few days was to (Monday) go to a mall and (Tuesday) go and visit the Hunt family. The Hunt family is a family group of musicians from Oklahoma which we had met at the International Bluegrass Festival in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

On Monday we arose somewhat early and started driving to Kansas City. On the drive we worked on school assignments and Laura and I each took turns driving. As we neared the city my dad demonstrated the utmost in devotion to my mom by driving the bus through hairy scary Kansas City rush hour traffic to find the mall. The roads were of course all under construction and full of detours on temporary roads which appeared to be half as wide as normal freeway roads. Indeed, at one point, he even stooped to the lowest point of manly humility and stopped to ask for directions. We arrived at the mall at about 12:30 p.m. And my dad was in a most jolly humor.

Mom, Laura and I were the only ones going into the mall. Abby and my Dad, much to my mom’s relief, had opted to go to a city park in hopes of de-stressing. As we prepared to disembark the very messy bus, my dad started hollering about being left with all the cleanup chores. In case you’re wondering what a very messy bus might look like I’ll fill you in with a few details: Imagine if you will….. a 40 by 8 foot cylinder cubicle packed to the gills with left over food debris lying about; unwashed dishes in every imaginable resting spot; school books and papers littering the beds, counter tops, tables, couch and floors; clean and dirty clothing strewn from stem to stern; assorted boots and shoes and socks to trip over; mom’s garden spilling out into the walkway, my ever growing hat collection overflowing the confines of it’s wicker basket which is perched on top of the refrigerator and covering the counters, tables and floors; computers, ipods, cell phones and other technical paraphernalia and random cords lying about; dad’s maps and papers sprawled across the couch; tubs of clothes half open and barricading passage through the main hall of the bus; cupboard doors and drawers hanging open; unmade beds with the pillows and quilts spread helter skelter; damp towels hung from the curtain rods and cupboard door knobs; costumes in a pile on the floor in the back room; the typical bathroom explosion; not to mention the every day grime on the walls, windows and floors;……you get the picture….. Mom had the great idea of racing across the parking lot to escape from the duty of cleaning up the bus. It was a brilliant idea and worked beautifully. My dad usually is the one who disappears just as bus clean up begins and once again makes an appearance just as soon as us bus dwellers have restored every thing to it’s proper order in the bus.

The mall was very interesting and we spent all afternoon and part of the evening in it. While there we went into practically every shop, but not really. The main reason that I went into the mall was due to the fact that my mom lured me into it with the promise of Taco Bell. When we were about halfway done walking through the mall I saw the food court and found out the devastating fact that Taco Bell was closed. When we were walking through the rest of the mall that day and looking at the various shops we noticed one thing that each of the shops had in common. That thing was the music or maybe lack there of. Oh my goodness it was the weirdest stuff we had ever heard in a store. BLECH!

While we were shopping Laura and I tried the trampoline bungee jumper things which were situated in the center of the mall. They were very exciting. The person operating the jumping wonder hooked us up into a harness and set us upon some inflated water trampolines that weren’t actually in water. He then hooked bungee cords onto us and tightened them and finally he told us to jump. Laura and I jumped a little too high and performed a few too many flips because we both were a little sick afterward. Luckily for us we did the bungee jumper things before we ate. When we finally decided on a place to eat the choice was Chinese food, which I considered to be a let down after the promise of Taco Bell.

None of us are really big spenders when it comes to shopping at malls. So Laura and my mom just window shopped. I on the other hand ended up finding an amazing costume store. And we all love costumes. With Halloween just around the bend I decided to look for costumes that we might go trick-or-treating in at the Spring Creek Bluegrass Festival in Belville, Texas. (I didn’t know if bluegrassers observe trick-or-treat traditions at bluegrass festivals but we were going to find out.) Laura, Abby and I decided we would accept loose change in place of treats should the need arise. Laura thought that maybe she and I could go dressed as Bonnie and Clyde and that would make the loose change pitch a little more fitting if it came up. In the end I purchased a pirate outfit, mom picked out a pirate dress for Abby too and then she pestered Laura into choosing a parrot hat with a big shocking pink feather Boa. I, no doubt, will confiscate the parrot hat for my hat collection and Abby will want the feather boa for her pink collection. If we are ever in Texas over Halloween again I would like to go back to the costume store and buy the gorilla suit. It was amazing!

At Macy’s department store Laura and my mom drug me through a million clothing sections. Mom chose Laura as a mannequin and tried every hat in the store on her. Laura was not exactly cooperative. Then mom found the dishware section so she spent about an hour gooing and gawing over all the fine china. She’s a dish fanatic and never needs an excuse to update her collection at home. I got bored with all that in short order but did discover a couple of easy chairs with message units attached to them. So I sat down and tried the message out for the next hour. It was pretty nice.

When Abby and Dad did return from the park all they did was eat and do the trampoline bungee jumper thing at the mall. We left after dark, drove out of the city and found a place to camp for the night.

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

Quinn’s Extraordinary Travel Ramblings:

Kirksville Missouri: SPBGMA Showcase:

The day after we left Branson (Thursday) we spent driving to Kirksville, Missouri. Laura was sick with the stomach flu that day. On the drive we Worked upon our school work. We arrived in Kirksville at 4:00ish; I took the wheel during the last portion of the drive along secondary roads (which would have been scary enough if I had just been on the interstate.) We weren’t exactly sure where we were headed but we got there eventually.

When we drove into the fairgrounds we were greeted by Chuck Steerman, the founder/director of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA.)

Later Dad and I went into the show room to find out what we needed to know I.e., where we were supposed to set up our CD’s and put our instruments, etc. My mom and Laura started ironing our costumes for what seemed to be the hundredth time for the evening’s performance and Abby brought her rip stick into the show room and rode it around. The floor was a huge and incredibly smooth concrete slab, much like a roller rink and perfect for the rip stick. We then brought our instruments into the showroom and opened up all the cases so as they might acclimate to the temperature of the building. Later we ate a light dinner and put on costumes.

Ours was the first scheduled performance for the evening. I wore my wig for the Walker family, aka the Redhead Express, who were in attendance. After the show I lent my bass to Meghan Walker for the Redhead Express performance which followed ours. We then went back to the table and sold some stuff. Presently Buster, the fan club president of the Redhead Express, approached my dad and told him it would be great for the Alaska String Band and the Redhead Express to join their efforts in a future concert together. I have decided that if we do we should have all of them do the Huki Lau with us.

Over the course of the weekend we enjoyed meeting the other bands and noted that there were some great family bands in the mix such as the Punches and Curreykorn. While I was sitting at the CD table one afternoon wearing my red haired wig I had a roll of Duct Tape and I decided to make something. I did so and I ended up with a curious donkey and an amazing elephant, both which took the name Lisa. That evening a man came up to me and he said, “You know you are a pretty good looking young man but you would make a pretty ugly girl.” I wasn’t sure what to think of that.

On Saturday, the last day of the showcase, we woke up entirely too early and got ready for our show. The Southeast Alaskan Odyssey Show had been requested in addition to our previously scheduled main stage performances. I helped my dad prepare for the show by setting up a DVD player and hanging a large sheet up on the front of the stage to show the pictures on. Before we could hang up the sheet my dad decided we needed to iron the wrinkles out of the sheet so as to produce a smoother picture for the show. So my mom retrieved an iron from the bus and then she and my sister Laura stood around and watched while my dad ironed the sheet on his hands and knees. They were sure to bring to his attention every wrinkle and ensure that he went back over the ones which were not ironed to standard. Pretty soon the M.C., sound engineer and other SPBGMA organizers were standing around watching too as it was all quite entertaining.

The stage by the way warrants a description as it was rather unique. It was the brain child of Mr. Chuck Steerman, director of SPBGMA. Mr. Steerman and his assistants had built the stage on top of a flatbed trailer roughly twenty feet long by eight feet wide. The stage was enclosed on three sides with wood paneled walls, the fourth wall left open for viewers to watch the show through. It was covered with a tin roof. Performers could access the stage from behind in two places via short flights of steps which were positioned behind the doors which opened up off the back wall of the stage. The back wall of the stage hosted a huge SPBGMA red, white and blue insignia. Mr. Steerman told us that the stage is pulled around the country from event to event to host various bluegrass shows.

Before the show started all of Laura’s personal photo’s were being displayed onto the big screen which my dad and I had so expertly set in place. There were several of random faces, feet and mouths. Once we changed it to the actual Alaskan Odyssey photography people started to show up. There was a tremendously positive response from the audience for the show that day.

Late that night after all the main stage performances were over we joined a jam session which included some awesome players and singers from other bands that were in attendance. The Punches Family and The Men of the Week were enthusiastic jammers and inspiring to play with and talk to.

The Redhead Express’s Show

The Redhead Express’s show