Regular readers forgive me for not posting anything in a while. We arrived home from the tour after closing the tour in AZ at the Mohave Fair (That's how they spell it there, not Mojave, like in Cali) in Kingman, AZ.
After being on East coast time with a few pop overs to Central time our bodies kind of went through a pit of shock the three days of the fair and the subsequent days since. James and Victor went through violent allergies in AZ leading both of them to be in pretty bad shape backstage. You couldn't see it on stage, they are pros.
The rest of us just suffered weird sleeping disorders, moodiness, and strange eating times.
I suppose the physical hit on my body was so much that I didn't suffer that "Back In California Dread" I get when I cross the border from AZ. Though the $5.00 gas in Needles, CA kinda sucked.
A high point is before driving straight home from Kingman, which we would regularly do, was changed up this year by stopping at a friends house outside of Barstow near Calico at a secret little Oasis where there is a lake, swimming pool, and more. So the kids got a chance to spend one day swimming, sleeping, fishing for catfish, and paddle boating. The sunset was amazing.
We also picked up a puppy for Mami. Little Girl is almost as small as a Tea-cup Poodle and definitely smaller than a toy. She is a scrapper and often instigates play fights with the bigger Belle and Tator-tot and often has to be rescued by one of us. She has totally bonded to Mami and it's wonderful to see them together. Isn't that a great word "wonderful". I think we use it too much because it has lost it's original intent, to describe something that is full of wonder. And when you see the contentment of both Mami and Little Girl (the puppy) faces Wonderful is the only word to describe it.
Since returning home I must admit I a have done two things...sleep and spend money. One was easier and nicer than the other. Both the washer and dryer greeted us with noises and leaks. So we now have a new set. Bills were stacked to the ceiling and had to be paid. The emergency room trip for Mami in Ohio back on tour was another surprise since a loop hole in her insurance put all but $100 on us. Then while driving home we discovered our main van (the Ford) had a tiny vacuum leak. Ford is evil in one sense; the place they put the vacuum canister in their vans. If one went by the book it would take over 10 man hours to get to the can. It is hidden and buried deep between the engine and the inside of the vehicle. So my mechanic came up with a time and money saver....a junk yard can was put in and the original canister was by passed. They moved some hoses around and ballabing-ballaboom. But it was still an unwanted expense. Then of course there is the various little welcome home I need to be fixed or replaced little items like an empty fridge.
A not so welcome home gift was both vans in our drive way were drained of their gasoline while we were away. The security light out front had been damaged as well. But the two security camera's on the roof captured everything. Except the spiderwebs that covered the lenses makes it impossible to tell anything. OH, well.
By now I am sure you are all convinced that show business is glamorous. The fact is with gas prices so high and the surprise bills we are broke again. Ain't that the way it goes.
A point of note is that to travel with only an RV pulling a small trailer (8X10) and a van pulling a trailer (8X13) we clocked our gas at $500/8 hours on the trip until we hit Cali where it jumped to $700/hours. How traveling shows are going to keep going in these gas price times is beyond me.
A nice thing since coming back is that the kids get to back to AWANA and church and see their old friends. Also I have been blessed to spend time with my two best buddies. In fact, we celebrated Uncle JC's Birthday yesterday here with a Japanese lunch and a chocolate roll cake. Bill and I had a great 2 miles or so walk a caught up on things...with much more to go.
Well, next month is our California tour. Chico, Santa Rosa, Calico, and (hmmm) can't think of the other place. Not in a place to look it up so I will post that some other time, maybe.
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