Post 35
It is unfortunate that our tour was so one sided as far as four months on the East coast and only three months combined in the Rocky Mountains and West coast. Unfortunate for many reasons but mainly because we had limited time with family and friends in the West and were rushed through areas that are dear to us. In an attempt to maximize this minuscule amount of time, after our show in Cody Wyoming we drove nine hours through the night to Spokane Washington where my parents reside. In a delusional sleepless state, staying between the lines and maintaining consciousness by popping PepPods, we rolled into my parents driveway at 5am in the morning after gaining an hour crossing over into Pacific Standard Time.
Getting a fully unsatisfying three and a half hours of sleep we were up at 8:30 to start our day. We had less than 48 hours to visit with my parents, grandma, sister and her family. It felt great not to do anything but relax and visit that first day. We spent a uneventful day at my parents river property on the Priest River in Northern Idaho where Becky and I gotten married a year and a month ago.
Back to the grind the following day we had a show at the Spokane REI which was a homecoming of sorts for Becky who had worked there last winter. With a crowd of mostly familiar faces in coworkers, family and friends we inspired and entertained. My Dad sat in the crowd stern-faced with his arms crossed. It warmed my heart when we coaxed a few smiles from him with one of our cheesy jokes. My Mom sat beaming with a smile on her face the whole time, and admitted later that she wanted to stand up at the end and proudly declare to everyone that, “Those are my kids!”.
The next morning we said our goodbyes and headed across the Cascades to our next show at the Flagship REI store in downtown Seattle. Again this was a short lived reunion with our Seattle family consisting of my adopted parents and siblings and a couple close friends and their families. Also in attendance was a handful of Backpacker magazine sales reps, present and potential future sponsors. So not that we were nervous (maybe a little) but the pressure was definitely on. The show went off without a hitch and after some hugs and goodbyes we found ourselves driving South to Portland the next day for another show.
Getting a fully unsatisfying three and a half hours of sleep we were up at 8:30 to start our day. We had less than 48 hours to visit with my parents, grandma, sister and her family. It felt great not to do anything but relax and visit that first day. We spent a uneventful day at my parents river property on the Priest River in Northern Idaho where Becky and I gotten married a year and a month ago.
Back to the grind the following day we had a show at the Spokane REI which was a homecoming of sorts for Becky who had worked there last winter. With a crowd of mostly familiar faces in coworkers, family and friends we inspired and entertained. My Dad sat in the crowd stern-faced with his arms crossed. It warmed my heart when we coaxed a few smiles from him with one of our cheesy jokes. My Mom sat beaming with a smile on her face the whole time, and admitted later that she wanted to stand up at the end and proudly declare to everyone that, “Those are my kids!”.
The next morning we said our goodbyes and headed across the Cascades to our next show at the Flagship REI store in downtown Seattle. Again this was a short lived reunion with our Seattle family consisting of my adopted parents and siblings and a couple close friends and their families. Also in attendance was a handful of Backpacker magazine sales reps, present and potential future sponsors. So not that we were nervous (maybe a little) but the pressure was definitely on. The show went off without a hitch and after some hugs and goodbyes we found ourselves driving South to Portland the next day for another show.
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