DAY THIRTY-TWO: February 20, 2008 DAY OFF!! Travel to Antigo, Wisconsin

I am writing to you from inside an old log cabin with a wonderful heater, a quilted bed, tasteful country touches and old, knotty pine on the walls and ceiling. The sun is streaming in the window on my fluffy pillow as I lay here incredulous that they say it went down to –20 here last night! There are mountains of snow outside. This is a sweet reward for making it all the way to Tomah, Wisconsin, and playing the concert after all. You may have thought we fell by the wayside because yesterday’s writing ended so abruptly. After waiting until about 10:30AM, we noticed that all the truckers had gone. That’s how fast conditions change around here; sometimes for the better.

We carefully made it on the I-80 to Des Moines, fully intending to stay there, but we kept on driving. The roads north on the I-35 were so much better than the day before! Reverently driving passed hundreds of abandoned vehicles buried in snow, some overturned, we were thankful ours was not one of them. We were pretty beaten down from the past couple of days of treacherous driving, and were taking this trip one step at a time. Last night’s concert was luckily still on, because we ended up making it the whole 333 miles without incident. We rolled into town just in time for our sound check.

My coat, being a mess and stinking like burnt goose feathers, was all I had for warmth. I wore it through the parking lot into a little outlet mall along the way to buy a new one. Looking like I had just been in a pillow fight and smelling like something died, I couldn’t find one coat. It was –2 outside and February, and all the stores had was Spring attire! Frustrated, we went on our way having wasted precious travel time.

When we got to Tomah, Frank had a great idea. He located a seamstress who would patch the three burn holes in my coat. We met at Wal Mart, matched some fabric, and she had it fixed by that evening! Good thing, because we’re traveling into country with 80” of snow and arctic temperatures. Spring fashion? Are you kidding?

I played on a Yamaha piano last night to a healthy crowd at Tomah’s High School Auditorium. These people drove through canyons of snow to get there. Afterward I thanked the many who showed up. They said Wisconsin folk don’t let any weather stop THEIR fun!
Allen, our contact person and also the guy who announced us, was extremely helpful, knowing we had come a long way and had limited time to set up. His announcements took a little longer than usual, as we stood backstage ready to go on. Later, just before entering the stage after intermission, he came running back with his microphone. Breathless, he said he needed to go back on stage. He told us that in his first announcements, he had talked about someone from their community having just died. As it turns out, she was sitting right there in the back row!! On stage there he stood red-faced, saying something about not having his glasses on during his previous announcements. He even had her stand up to show everyone that she was alive and well!
I walked on after that, grabbed the microphone, and said that was the funniest thing on our whole tour! Later, when I was introducing my tune “Joie de Vivre” as meaning “The Joy of Life,” I dedicated it to that woman in the back row. Boy, what a fun night!

We’re well on our way to Antigo now, having stopped for a great lunch at a Wisconsin chain called “The Charcoal Grill.” We’re not much for chains, but this one had the best hamburger we can ever remember. This is a MUST if you’re in Wisconsin!
We found out from the waitress that we just missed Hillary Clinton right here on this I-39 North! Well, yesterday was the Wisconsin primaries, after all. Maybe that’s who was wailing in the log cabin next door! I’m glad she didn’t hear us listening to Obama’s big speech.

This blog is turning out to be more controversial than I had ever intended. There seem to be lots more readers now, and I guess it’s easy to offend someone without meaning to. I’m just reporting on our adventures in the Midwest from my perspective as a first-timer.

So, on politics I will stay mum. What’s great about music is that it can transcend all politics, party lines, cultures, age barriers, race, religion and attitudes. I just play. It’s fun touring the Midwest during a Presidential Election year, though. We’re getting an idea what these campaigners go through, what with the travel, the “performances,” and the public relations. It’s rigorous. They had weather to deal with, too. I think Hillary could handle a 36-city concert tour, but I don’t know if Super 8’s have Presidential suites!

We’re enjoying a glorious night off doing a whole lotta nothing here at the Super 8 in Antigo. We even got massages today at a Wellness Center. Ahhhhhh. We have 20 more days to our Odyssey. It’s going fast.