Apologies for missing a couple weeks of this newsletter. It’s been a little hectic…
The band van’s transmission blew out in Boring, Oregon as we headed north for Seattle. A van that’s carrying over 3,000 pounds of equipment and people across the country is due to give out at some point. You just hope it isn’t 2,000 miles from home.
Unfortunately for us, it was.
It was a straight-up disaster. Some fans that saw us the night before in Bend happened to be driving by and saw Rev. Peyton on the side of the road. They knew they had to stop.
And thankfully they did. This couple was living on the road, too, and had a van with just enough get-up to tow our trailer to a safer spot.
While Rev waited for AAA to come and pick up the van, Breezy and Max got a rental van while Aaron and I waited with the trailer. We loaded up on gas station food knowing we had a long haul ahead of us with little time to stop for food.
My hands were disgusting from working with the trailer and trying to get the trailer hitch—which had rusted beyond belief—out of the van’s receiver. This convenience store, of course, didn’t have a bathroom.
There was one a mile down the road. With no vehicle in the middle of nowhere, that was the first time in a while where one mile felt way too far.
We were eventually picked up in the rental van and made it to Seattle with enough time to soundcheck and put on a great show. In Portland the next night, we met a tour manager for another band that had a van for us to borrow while our transmission was being rebuilt.
This van had largely sat around since the beginning of the pandemic and had two-year-old plates on it…
So we headed south to play Sacramento and San Francisco in the van of a stranger, becoming further and further away from our cozy van in Portland.
We put our faith in this guy, Weasel, and his buddy, Ducky, to drive our van down from Portland to Sacramento and take his van back up north. It could have gone horribly wrong.
But somehow, it didn’t. Weasel and Ducky brought our van down safe and sound. We managed to avoid any trouble with the expired plates and didn’t have to cancel a single show. Phew.
Little sleep was had and a lot of money was spent. But no matter what, the show must go on!
OMG man that does sound like a Northwest disaster! Almost an idea g go or a Hallmark movie🤷♂️