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Monday, May 25, 2009

Travel Day - Ottawa to Cleveland, Ohio

So this is it. Passports in hand, guitars in the back of the Dodge Magnum, 12,650 songs on the 80-gig iPod and $150 USD. Let's go!

First stop is to pick Gilles Arsenault up in Kanata. Gilles is a friend of my and a singer/guitar player in his own right. He fronts a group called The Outsiders, but this time he's coming along as a roadie and occasional percussionist (we've packed bongos and tambourines, rattles, noisemakers, etc.). Off we go down the 416 toward the 1,000 Islands border crossing.

The US border is the one thing that can really throw a wrench into travel plans. Will it be busy? With they want to search us? Will we be stuck there for hours? Turns out, all of our fears and worries were unfounded. An 8-minute line-up culminated in the border guard giving us the thumbs up for a fun-filled, music-drenched couple of weeks!

Today is one of our longest days of travel. We don't actually play in Cleveland until Thursday, but the first stop on the tour is Cincinnati, Ohio tomorrow, so an overnight in Cleveland is the first thing on the agenda.

After checking in to our hotel, we head downtown for something to eat.

 

While there, we notice from the TV hanging on the wall that the Cleveland Indians are playing in town against the Tampa Bay Rays. The game was in the second inning and we were finished eating, so we decided to catch the last half. By the time we got there, the home-town Indians were down 10-0 in the 4th and people were already leaving. Gilles secured a couple of tickets on the first-base side and we settled in with a couple of cold ones.

The Indians, however, got a couple runs back and went into the 8th down 10-2. A three-run homer brought them to within five, and in the ninth, the Rays ran into pitching trouble. The Indians came back and won 11-10 (first time a deficit was overcome in that fashion since 1902). I caught the end on video. What a way to start a tour!

 

Tomorrow... Cincinnati, Ohio and the Northside Tavern!

Intro | May 20 | May 21 | May 22 | May 23 | May 24 | May 25 | May 26 |
May 27 | May 28 | May 29 | May 30 | May 31 | June 1 | June 2 | June 3 |
June 4 | June 5 | June 6