Northern California Road Trip

 8/2-8/5

What a fun, whirlwind trip! We took a bunch of pictures throughout and stayed in touch with everyone through Facebook.  

8/2--Left for Fresno.  On the way we stopped for a little lunch in L.A.  where Roxy saw a huge dog left in a car with the windows slightly cracked in 90+ degree heat.  She found the owner and almost became Mrs. Mad Dog.  The owner was snide and obviously embarassed in front of the whole place.  When I quietly stepped in to calm it down, he got aggressive with me!  Calmer heads prevailed and they left mumbling under their breath.  Note...L.A. is a stressful place .

On to Fresno!  Nice drive with a trailer in tow.  Spent a great night with my folks and were surprised by my sister, and Roxy's and my 4 nieces and nephews!  My mom made us a PERFECT dinner and breakfast...life on the road is hard .

8/3--Off to Reno with bellies full!  Stopped in Stockton for some killer Mexican food.  Sat in some traffic in Sacramento.  Then drove through the picturesque mountains to Reno on Hwy 80!  We made a 'pitstop' after Auburn, where the people in the restaraunt were SUPER friendly.  Note...Clean mountain air and beautiful scenery=much less stress.  Arrived in Reno and checked into our rooms at Circus Circus . Finding the rooms was like a scene straight out of Spinal Tap.  We were ultimately successful in finding them.

The show at 3rd Street Bar was really special.  Mick, Tim, and Joe treated us like old friends.  We also made a bunch of new friends who had been told about us, and came out to welcome us.  The show was SOULFUL!

8/4--Woke up and had a BIG breakfast.  Before we checked out, we took a classic picture of our 'destroyed' hotel room .  Drove to Sacramento and checked into our rooms at the Hilton .  Spent the afternoon site seeing and eating some KILLER pizza in Old Town Sacramento.  The show at the Fox and Goose was ROCKIN', and we played with two really good bands, The Vintage Vandals (rockabilly), and The Delta City Ramblers (bluegrass/country).  It's nice playing to an appreciative audience who pays attention to the band... and not the TV's!  Very cool night!

8/5--Our 3hr drive back to Fresno turned into 4 1/2hrs due to the fine people at Cal Trans.  Actually, we will appreciate all the road improvements next go 'round.  Dropped Haley and Roxy off at my folks so they could get ready for our early 5pm show at Shooters.  I went ahead to set up.  Luckily our friend and President of the BMIII Fresno Chapter Fan Club was there to help--Thanks Michael!  The show KICKED ASS, and we were joined by Bill and John Clifton of the MoFo Party Band.

Show ended at 8pm.  Now for the fun part...we had to pack up and drive all the way home to San Diego (Roxy had a mandatory meeting at 10 am Monday morning)!  We were ahead of schedule after the load out, and decided to hit the McDonald's across the street.  Bad move.  Turned out to be a gang hang out, and there was a guy in one booth arguing with himself.  We decided to take our orders to go .  Hit the road at 10pm, and Roxy took us to Bakersfield.  I drove the rest of the way home, arriving on our doorstep at 4:50am !!

We had a blast, played hard, and got closer as a band.  Not one grumble or complaint the whole trip.  I'm really happy being in this band with my two awesome friends and musicians, Roxy and Haley! 

~~Scott

P.S.  You can view the full photo album at http://www.facebook.com/BlackMarketIII

    

   


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