We have had a swell time this trip. A lot of it has been good pacing on the shows and driving and rest days, and a lot of it is we know some nice people in gorgeous places. After Bozeman we headed to Flathead Lake where the Gibson Family has a cabin and stayed up there for about 4 days and played in Bigfork, Whitefish, and Missoula.

Then we headed west to Richland, Walla Walla, and Gig Harbor. My sister and her family live there, so we got to hang out with them for a few days. The thing I did not know about Washington is that there, a blackberry is considered a weed. In Texas, we pay $6.99 for a pint of berries, and in Washington they grow along the side of the road. We walked around my sister’s neighborhood and picked a bunch and ate them with ice cream.

I also got some quality time with my nephews and niece. Jenny works at a coffee shop (and when you work at a coffee shop near Seattle it is SERIOUS BUSINESS) so we caffeinated and I saw my nephews off on their first day back to high school. Excellent.

We had a few days to get here to Livingston, Montana, so we stopped in Spokane on night one and saw a movie which rarely happens. Then we headed to Missoula and had a leisurely evening there, too, after stopping at the Cataldo Mission in Idaho – an interesting National Landmark along the highway.

It’s all about the pacing. From this evening for about the next 12 days we have to be somewhere every day…but again, all good places and good people. And I must say…my luck at finding wifi on this trip has been astounding. America is considerably more wired than it was even 2 years ago…I say as I sit in the Murray Bar in downtown Livingston, Montana next to a guy with a miner’s hat and beard.