It was a whirlwind trip to Montana this past weekend for some friends' wedding. I had an interesting journey. I flew out of Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport on Friday evening around 9:30 or so. This was my first time flying with my guitar, and I'm happy to say America West Airlines were commendable in their flexible-ness with my paranoia. I’m not really much for flying, so I decided to stop into the airport bar to take the edge off. Oddly enough, Christopher Walken was the barkeep. Seriously, this guy looked and sounded just like Christopher Walken. I connected through Las Vegas and I had about 45 minutes of layover. Coincidentally, 45 minutes in the Las Vegas airport is exactly how long it takes to lose $20 in a video poker machine. I arrived in Billings at a little past 3:00 am Saturday. I was pleased when at 7:00 am two hotel workers decided to have a deep and meaningful conversation about hotel towels right outside my room. My friend Bill called and we decided to grab some breakfast and check out a Volkswagen shop in town. Word to the wise…don’t eat at Denny’s in Billings, Montana. I realize this is common sense for most, but I just wanted to throw it out there. The wedding was great on Saturday afternoon, and then it was off to the reception, which was big fun as well. Sunday morning Bill and I had brunch with some friends before hitting the road for Fargo, ND. It was a great car ride and I’m thankful Bill was able to give me a lift. It was great singing with Bill again in the wedding, and it was great catching up on the car ride home. I think we may try and do a few shows together again in the near future. We hadn’t sung together just the two of us for a long time, and we both thought it felt pretty good. We only managed to get one speeding ticket on the way home, and the trooper was kind enough to knock a few miles off the radar to prevent Bill’s insurance from taking a hit. We arrived back in Fargo around 11:30 Sunday night and pretty much hit the bed right away. Up again at 7:00 Monday morning to catch the Greyhound back to Minneapolis. The bus ride was uneventful and didn’t take as long as I thought it might. We only stopped three times…once in Alexandria, once in Fergus Falls, and once in St. Cloud.
Overall it was a fun trip that came together sort of last minute. I’m notorious for last minute travel plans, and I should really try and be more on top of these things. I’m glad it all worked out. It was great to see friends and mountains, and I really wish I would have had more time for both.
Trip Listening: David Sedaris Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim; John Gorka Temporary Road; Extreme Pornograffiti; Back episodes of Michael Feldman’s WhadYa Know;
Those who actually read this journal may have noticed that Extreme’s Pornograffiti record has been getting a significant amount of iPod time as of late. It’s really just that I can’t get enough of Nuno Bettencourt’s solo in Decadance. That’s really the only song I’ve been listening to I swear.