by Sarah (posted Nov. 2nd, 2004)

Oct 18th. Atlanta, Georgia - Cotton Club

I've been looking forward to this day. My good Johnson City friends are coming to town and judging from the amount of champagne they have during their 5 hour drive to Atlanta, they're ready to party.

First, I have a knee doctor's appointment that leaves me with nothing but a tiny little bit of hope that more physical therapy might actually help me. The knee's been a drag, but I don't let it get to me too often. After all, it's just a knee, not a cervix.

Consolation for the knee bummer is a very nice massage I get at the hotel from Rachel, the Skills tour manager/new friend/professional massage therapist. I feel ridiculously relaxed after and ready to face my slightly drunk hometown posse.

The night turns out to be fantastic. The Atlanta crowd is amazing (and plentiful) and so far, this is our best show yet. Our friend Kristen Hall is there too, on the eve of major success with her country band Sugarland. I loved seeing her and I loved being back in the city where I first moved to after California. Lots of memories.

Oct 19th. Nashville, TN - Third and Lindsley

This is probably the closest we'll get to home for me. It IS home though for everyone in Jen Foster's band, so they're happy to hop in nice warm comfortable showers and sleep in their non moving cosy beds. Not that I'm jealous or anything.

We walk to a coffee house where I have the best egg bagel ever. Picture this: perfectly toasted bagel, crisp bacon and an egg that's fried just right. Hmmmmmmm.

The show's really fun - again - and we have some unexpected friends show up, including Emerson from Tonic who lives in Nashville now to write songs for people. I love running in to people all over the world and remembering good times passed.

Oct 20th. St.Louis, MO - DAY OFF

Day off! Workout of course and the rest of the day is spent walking around and watching baseball. St. Louis is playing baseball tonight and we somehow manage to sneak into the stadium at the bottom of the 9th inning. This is America at its best, thousands and thousands of screaming Cardinals fans all dressed in red, watching a sport us Europeans barely understand. Gert and I get so caught up in the whole thing, we buy a baseball hat in between two pitches. When we walk back into the stadium, St.Louis gets a homerun and that's the end of the game. The next 10 minutes we celebrate with the locals and high five everyone who crosses our path.

We wind down with the girls laughing at girls' stuff at the hotel and that's that, time for bed.

Oct 21st .St.Louis, MO - Mississippi Nights

We get to see Eric's little boy today and he is even cooler and cuter than last time I saw him. He has such a vivid imagination and loves to talk and laugh. We take him up and down a hotel elevator a few times, walk around looking up at the sky for helicopters and he's happy as a clam. He's so adorable, he must take after his mother! Speaking of his mother, she baked us chocolate chip cookies, which were amazing and gone in less than 24 hours.

I hope this is not getting old, but the show really was fun again. I don't think there's a club in the United States we've played as often as Mississippi Nights. The fans keep coming back every time and we always have a blast. We tried some gambling after and I lost $50 so fast, I decided maybe going to bed was a better idea.

Oct 22nd. Chicago, IL - Double Door

Eric's 16-year old nephew Nick spent the night on the bus with us. Inspired by his spiky red hair and many piercings, I decide to go funky and have my hair blue tonight. He spends about 45 minutes putting blue glue in my hair and spiking it up and just for tonight, I'm a punk girl. Gotta have some fun with it, right? Not really something I can pull off in Tennessee, so I have to take advantage of the road. Uncle Eric is a little overprotective, so we try to get Nick away from him some, so he can have some fun.

Eric also gets his ass kicked by Rachel in pool, which is always fun to witness. He has a good sense of humour about it though, which is part of what makes him such a loveable guy.

Show is really fun and Curt, our new guitar player is absolutely awesome. What a lucky find!

Sarah