We spent the morning yesterday in Arapahoe National Forest, just outside of Boulder, enjoying the scenery and getting some much needed work done.

We broke out the road atlas to start routing and planning our fall CD release tour; it seemed one of our forest friends wanted to help.

Apparently, he was really excited because he peed on the table--but luckily not on our atlas!

We ventured into Boulder last afternoon well before our show and experienced their HUGE weekly farmer's market, complete with organic veggies, cheeses, and delicious snacks, all ready to take home in recyclable or compostable packaging. Very cool. Not only does Boulder have a Ben and Jerry's ice cream store, but right across the street is a Haagen-Dazs--fantastic!

We played at Conor O'Neills, an awesome hometown irish pub with our friend t.Mule, a great Boulder-based folk/rock songwriter and Forever Growing, an instrumental jazz group from Oregon. It's off to Denver tonight, then we're beginning our travels across the desert!

Wichita, KS… famous for many things and people… the first Pizza Hut, Don Johnson from Miami Vice, Kristie Alley, and the original White Castle. But that is only scratching the surface… such incredible art and culture in Wichita as well as at the University, Wichita State.

We played at Kirby’s Beer Store, a historic landmark and awesome little rock club. This place has been around since the mid 70’s and has seen a lot of faces from many places. Totally shocked to see how many bands from around the country have come and gone through the walls and halls of Kirby’s and we’re glad to be part of the tradition. A point of interest: Steve, the previous owner/booker for Kirby’s, passed away the night of May 1st. Looking back through the files we booked the show the afternoon of the 1st, leading us to believe we were the last group Steve ever booked. So, we played with a higher purpose last evening and (hopefully) did Steve proud. As I conclude this entry I see tall, Rocky Mountains on the horizon… Westward ho!

Yesterday, we enjoyed our first day off by driving through parts of Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.

We camped in a beautiful Kansas state park; now we're ready for Wichita tonight and then Colorado!

It's been raining so much out here in the midwest, we've run into storms just about every day since we set out and yesterday was for sure no exception. Weather.com had wind advisories for the entire state of IA yesterday, warning us to take special care with our garbage cans and lawn furniture. . . but the result of the storms was a beautiful rainbow that appeared when we arrived in Spencer, IA.

It was so good to see everyone again at Shaky Tree; it's such a warm and supportive venue and audience. Thanks to Levi who took pictures!

One thing we saw often in the lake country in both MN and IA was live bait machines! We managed to snap a picture of one just outside Spencer.

Brainerd, MN, home of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox
was much fun! It was great to get back to see all the nice folks we met in Brainerd on our Spring tour. Unfortunately, the Eclectic is closing its doors this Sunday, so there were quite a few sad faces. We felt honored to be the last touring group to perform at the Eclectic. It's a great place and will certainly be missed.

Yesterday we left Wisconsin, saw a big moose

and arrived a little early in Minneapolis, home of . . . Mall of America! We had to go

and Chris found himself something to do as well. . .inside the mall!

We played at the Acadia in downtown Minneapolis and met (and re-met!) some fine folks and talented Minneapolis/St. Paul bands. We're on our way to the furthest North stop on our tour today, then it's westward!

***written very late Wednesdsay evening but, sadly, no wifi until today!***

Cheese!!! We got free milk at the Wisconsin welcome center this morning, a real luxury when you're living out of your car. . . and Chris made a new friend.

Don't forget the cheesehead though. . .

We headed into the captial for the evening and loved playing for the Madison, WI crowd; what a great audience at a swell venue. There's even a plaque to that effect on the bar. . .