tropical storm vanessa (HOME, 34,568 miles)

hello dears,
i find it hard to believe i'm sitting at a computer, since i've been sitting in my car for the last ELEVEN hours, navigating I-20 in the midst of a blinding and driving rainstorm. I wrote a song on this tour - in fact, I wrote it on the first day of the tour, as I was driving to Indianapolis in the rain for SIXTEEN hours - and there's a line in the song about chasing the rain....well, today, the rain was chasing me. Twice, I tuned into AM radio to hear that I had just passed through a county in which funnel clouds had been spotted. I drove in a tornado watch for who knows how long, and there were many stretches of time when the only things I could see were two little pinpricks of red light belonging to the car in front of me. sheer madness.

and yet, I made it home. The Restless Traveler tour has drawn to a close - this leg of it, at any rate (though one could make the argument that my entire life is one big R.T. tour). And I have to say - it was SUCH fun. Thank you (again, a million times over) to the musicians I toured with and the friends who took me in. It would not have been possible without your kindness and generosity (and that means you - Doug, Heather, Emily, Shelley, Dani, Elisa, Vicki, Michelle, Beth & Ted, Cheri & Aaron, Aunt Sam & and the gang, Julie & Brianna, and Keith).

So I try not to eat junk food while I'm driving (and the struggle is a mighty one), but today I just broke down. I don't know if it was the gray gray skies or the incessant downpour or the fear of losing my life in watery blaze of glory, but I couldn't stop eating junk. I wanted to say "crap" there but that sounded gross. Anyway. For lunch, I ate Popeyes fried chicken (and mashed potatoes!), something I haven't had in forever....for dinner, I bought a chopped beef sandwich and a danish at a gas station (what???), and then later had to stop for milk for the danish...my breakfast was coffee cake (read: a pound of brown sugar, resting heavily on top of a thin layer of breading)....all of this while I had nuts and fruit in my cooler...something just possessed me, I suppose. The only other food breakdown I had was on the 10 hour drive from DC to Atlanta (lay's potato chips, a snickers, and a dr. pepper), so I guess I could be doing worse. I know that I will be eating lettuce exclusively for the next week as penance (save Thursday, of course).

I had a lesson in how-big-Texas-is today. I was driving from Birmingham to Dallas, and you pretty much take I-20W the whole way. Since I was heading west, the mile markers were decreasing, so I could always tell how far I had to go until I reached the next state line.... AL, MS, and LA are less than 200 miles wide (at least at the I-20 section of the state)....when I hit Texas, I nearly snorted my dr. pepper through my nose (yes, I had one of those too).... it's over 600 miles through Texas on I-20 - and that's definitely not the widest part of the state. Crazy.

What else? The new album is coming along and if God will grant me just one more favor I don't deserve, it'll be ready in time for the tour in January. If you've pre-ordered, you'll be getting an email from me shortly with a longer update, and if you haven't - what are you waiting for? You can click here to do so: http://www.vanessapeters.net/icecream/thinthread.htm
Makes a great Christmas gift! As would a copy of Sparkler for all of your nearest and dearest...

So I'll be taking it slow (-er) in December, then gearing up for the tour in January with the band (please please please mark your calendars now!), and then on January 31st I'll be skipping across the pond again for some touring, Continent-style. We just booked our first show in Italy for Feb. 24 if anyone is looking to take a late-Valentine holiday.

So please keep in touch. And of course, I hope your Thanksgiving is full of just that. I know I could never list the things I have to be thankful for, but if you have read this far, then I know you care (at least an iota), and that is just one of the things I am grateful for. :)
until the next time,
t.s. vanessa