29August2007
Posted by nate under: Uncategorized.
I made the ride from fargo to grand forks. it was a bit of a disaster. i took highway 81 which is a totally straight and narrow, shoulder free, poorly kept highway that seems to only attract semi’s carrying sugar beets, and one idiot on a bike. I spent way too much time gripping the edge of the road as the curteous drivers of scary large 18 wheelers did thier best to accomodate me. by the time i got to grand forks i was fried. my shoulders were crazy tense, my right calf beet red, (and i know how red those beets can be), and my arse was in so much pain that i named it partway through the ride to make the conversations i was having about it in my head a little more interesting. Gunthar. I pronounce it GOON-thore. (oddly similar to glute soar) So in grand forks i gave my father in law a ring who was actually leaving fargo at the time and who’s home in walhalla was my destination and i asked him to pick me up at the starbucks where the iced drinks were ventifull.
so if you’re doing the math, this means my 3 day trip only took 2 days. but i’m totally okay with that. i’m not sure if i could’ve made the last day physically, but mentally i was kind of shot – i didn’t need any more time on the road with semis and combines.
i’m at the church right now where i just got done with a rough mix of my father in laws gospel quartet, border harmony. i recorded them two days ago and wanted to give them an idea of how things turned out before i left – it’s a pretty fun cd.
also in walhalla i’ve had fun helping my brother in law’s family move (i’m so sick of moving!), cleaning out a garage, and mounting antlers onto the front of my mother in law’s bicycle that jodi rides around when we’re here. it looks pretty sweet as you can imagine, but it does require that you wear orange when you take it out. anything with antlers is fair game in these parts.
sure shootin, tex.
21August2007
Posted by nate under: Uncategorized.
finished packing up the house, moving everything to storage, and cleaning the house last night at 8pm. slept at friends. woke up said goodbye to my family and my minivan, got on my bike and started my 80 mile ride to fargo. i only have 23 feet to go. I’m in moorhead at atomic coffee drinking a latte and eating chocolate and staring at amazement at my thighs and how much pain they are in, a pain rivaled only by that of my posterior. ow.
the ride in brief: amor to rothsay – hilly but fine, cool weather and a healthy dose of optimism.
lunch in rothsay – with that healthy dose of optimism still very present i rewarded my first 40 miles with a huge mushroom swiss burger and fries. they were delicious. they were my death.
rothsay to barnsville – the wind picked up and i quickly learned why power bar hasn’t gone into the burger business. my stomach was lead. really sick lead. i cursed my optimism and contemplated calling my brother in law for a ride. yes dear reader this indeed was my darkest hour.
barnsville to atomic coffee – i walked around a bp in barnesville and had a cup of coffee and took a 15 minute rest. this helped. and yippee the wind had stopped! and been replaced with rain. I put on my yellow jacket of inspiration and headed out on old 52, which until sabin, was a totally ill-maintained road and i may point out has succesfully knocked my rear wheel out of true, or as mr. may would say, ‘wonky.’
atomic coffee to ? – i’m no fortune teller, but i do have a plan. i’m going to finish my latte, get out in the drizzle and find my brother in laws work place. i’ll walk in and scare everyone away with my practical albeit unflattering biker shorts and rod and i will find a bike store to true my wheel, a place to eat anything but mushroom swiss burgers, a shower and a bed. my bedtime is 8pm. i’m shot. then in the morning i’ll decide if i’m heading on to grand forks or hitching a ride with my (favorite) father in law who godblesshim has an appointment in fargo tomorrow morning.
now i’m going to stand up.
ow. ow. ow.
15August2007
Posted by nate under: Uncategorized.
Monday night I played a little rock and roll with Rachel Kurtz at the Cokato Corn Carnival
Micah took a few shots http://micahtaylor.com/MT/photoblog/
It went really well – I’ll sum up quickly
No rain during show (always good during an outdoor event)
Discovered Lap steel + tube screamer sounds great through acoustic amp which meant i could do mandolin, banjo and steel all throught the same amp, a wonderful back saving discovery!
Craig Dion on drums, Michael May on guitar, Micah Taylor on bass, Rachel Kurtz up front – What a freaking talented group – it’s also the first time I’ve played with the same rachel kurtz band twice (we had the same band in lacrosse back in february/march sometime)
Was able to pass off 4 acoustic guitars, a mandolin, a banjo, two electrics and a tiple as well as a hodge podge of thumb pianos, chinese flutes, rain sticks and chimes to Micah who took them back to Mpls and will store them for me till we move the end of this month which means no leaving instruments in hot storage bins or moving trucks. God bless you Micah the moving man Taylor! (and lindsay for going along with it all)
Drove through the worst lightning storm of my life on the way home. For 20 minutes the sky was strobing to the point that my wipers looked like they were in slo-mo and for a few minutes lightning was hitting the ground around me every 5-10 seconds with blinding flashes and instantaneous thunder. It’s the first time I’ve ever been freaked out driving through bad weather. Luckily I was following a semi so it was okay that I couldn’t see the road, I just followed his tail lights.
Above I lived to tell the story of my rock and roll adventure.
and while i was gone little elsa rolled over for the first time. growth happens.