Almost Famous: Memoirs of the World's Oldest First Time Roadie

Young Mr. DD and I made it home this morning from our quick trip to Kelowna. Despite the glamour and excitement of the road, I don't think I'll be signing on to travel with a rock and roll band any time soon. I did discover that, somewhere outside of the Prairies, there are green plants and flowers:

Young Ms. DD's Backyard

When you spend +30 hours out of 68 riding in a van through 3 provinces, you have the time to observe a few things:

• When you do the drive to Kelowna in one day, that stretch from Regina to Calgary is really, really long. And flat. It's longer and flatter on the way back.
• Despite your best efforts not to do so, you will eat a lot of junk food and drink far too much coffee.
• When you do the drive in one day, Gravol is your friend.
• The Rockie Mountains are really, really spectacular. If you are not humbled in their presence, there is something wrong.
• Some highway drivers are very, very stupid. You will not win a head on challenge with a semi, especially in the mountains. You will probably take out several other vehicles when you lose. You do not need that open slot four cars ahead that badly.
• Life on the road as a musician is a lot of "load up, drive, set up, wait, play a bit, wait, tear down, load up and drive." 
• Old cowboys playing country music can't resist the urge to flirt. With everyone.
• It takes longer to check your ID than it does to do a round of shots, then leave the venue without checking out the entertainment. I don't understand the appeal of this.
• Sigur Ros is a fine group for mountain music listening.
• Brad Neely is a strange man with a strange (and wonderful) audio interpretation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. (No, I had no idea who Brad Neely is or what this cd entailed. Look it up here.)
• You can teach an old dog some new tricks.
• Away from the city lights, away from the interference of humankind, there is nothing like the clear prairie night skies.
• Musicians rarely get rich. In fact, making music usually costs them money. They rarely become famous. They do it because they love what they do, just as all artists do. We should honour our artists more.

The band is Son Howler. Check it out. See them perform live if you can. You won't regret it.

At the summit of Roger's Pass.

Namaste.