32,855 and counting - Indianapolis, IN

hello!

all week long i have been wanting to write in my blog...finally, i have exciting stories to tell! but the stories had all week to ferment in my muddled brain and now most of them have vanished or lost their original luster (what was funny about that guy at the toll booth anyhow?). but i will press onward and regale you all with many a tall tale of one girl's trip through the midwest...

1. Little Films is out! But you may have already known that.
2. Colette and I parted ways. It was a terrible, sad, painful separation, but she just couldn't handle my needs. I needed SPACE and all she could give me was love, which sometimes isn't enough.
3. So now I have Charlotte. I'll post pictures of her later. She is a Honda CR-V and holds ALL of our equipment, 3 guitars, 200 t-shirts, 300+ CDs, 3-4 suitcases, one guitar amp, and 3 people...plus gets great gas mileage to boot. Hard to beat that. She and I are getting along well (though of course this is still the honeymoon phase - we'll see).
4. New website! It'll be up by the end of the week and is too damn cool for its own goood.

This week we have been to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and back to Illinois. It was brutal but fun. Fun only because Heather and Manuel are with me and we spent most of that week cracking each other up, doing stupid stuff like playing the alphabet game (which apparently I have too many rules for - doesn't the word have to START with the letter and not just contain it?) and generally being nutty. When we got really really tired we started talking to inanimate objects in the car and on the 12-hour drive to Chicago we even taped a strand of my hair to the air-conditioning vent in my car, just to watch her blow in the wind. She's actually still there and we pet her like a dog or cat but she hasn't yet been named. I've always wanted a tour pet and now I think I have one. Yes, I realize we are insane.

The shows have all gone really well too. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us, especially in Manhattan, KS (and thanks to Jake Fisher at Wildcat 91.9 for having us on air and promoting the heck out of our show). Amy Lotsberg in Minneapolis is the absolute bomb and we love her for letting us stay at her beautiful Victorian home - same goes for the Koenig family in KS, who had no problems with us arriving at 2 am one night and leaving 2 days later at 6 am. The McDonough family also wins a major prize for putting together an amazing house concert, providing excellent wine, and putting us in the car with homemade dessert.

Minneapolis is, as it turns out, a way cool city. Aside from being the home of Target and the The Jayhawks, it is entirely lovely, full of beautiful parks, lakes, trails, museums, and darn good food. May I most highly recommend Butter (a bakery and coffeeshop) the next time you are there? Really, we were all so impressed with that city.... if it weren't for the unGodly cold I bet I could even see myself living there (if I can see myself living anywhere).

Shows this week are in Indianapolis and Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Easy cheesy. Oh yeah, we bought cheese curds in Wisconsin (why do they squeak?) and took pictures next to a giant mouse holding a sausage. Good times.

Check out Chris Trapper. He is a great musician and super kind - we opened for him on Friday night and I really enjoyed his set. I got one of his CDs, "Songs from the Drive-in," and it is beautiful. www.myspace.com/christrapper

I'm out, folks. Thanks again to everyone who has come to the shows and made us feel like this is what we are supposed to be doing. More news from further on down the road.
lots of 28 mpg love,
vanessa