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Sunday, May 18, 2014

Road Journal - Michael Katon Tour - 2/9/14



 Tanya  and Bee share one of the many fine dining experiences available in England.

Sunday, 2/9/14 – Driving, driving, driving – well, I’m not, but Tanya is. She’s doing the hard work, and she’s sick, so I’m inclined to forgive her blasting “Smoke On The Water” from the radio for now. I may have to find a way to destroy the radio if this goes on too long, though. Now it’s “Rocky Mountain Way”. Oh God.

A quick, kind, overview of my room in Wales.

That huge, insane drive through the wilds of Wales cumulated with a gig at the Marine Hotel in Colwyn Bay, in a small hall there. Good playing from all, nice people, mediocre food and really pretty crummy rooms. Toilet across the hall, threadbare sheets, uncleaned sink and tea maker, and a smell of fustiness at best, and some true stomach-turning smells at worst…especially in the stairwell, where apparently something must have died and decomposed into the carpet. The hot water tap ran yellow and brown with bits of unknown particulates spitting down into the basin. Rinsed my hair with clear cold water, and forwent breakfast. They said it was built in 1840, and apparently they hadn’t cleaned the hallway carpet in all that time. It really did have an appalling stench.

Giant straw Dalek. 
You see strange and beautiful things on the road – before I could get out my camera, we’d passed the 30-foot Dalek statue that was just standing in a field!! The fact that none of my fellow travelers had a clue as to what it was was strange. Oh, well, I can tell Cyn about it via Skype later. We’ve been communicating that way when we can, if I have time and a wi-fi available, all the way through the tour. Sometimes when there’s wi-fi but the signal’s weak we’ll IM on Facebook, which is fine. So much better than the old days, trying to make a phone call in the middle of the night in some booth in Germany…or sending postcards that arrive after I get back. My last tour before this one, there was Internet available occasionally in hotels, usually on a machine in the lobby. Even email was a luxury for staying in touch with your spouse. Really, the new technology makes touring and staying sane so much easier!



 Our Dutch brother and manager of Boogie Headquarters In Europe, Henny Houben.

And with luck we’ll be at Henny’s tonight! We’ve been driving 4 hours or so, and I suspect a few more to go before the ferry. At least we’ve got good clear weather! I wish we’d had it for our drive up yesterday, it would have been even more stunning in regards to the scenery. Wales is largely wild and quite beautiful. But I’m looking forward to seeing The Netherlands and Germany again – and I’d like to get some edible and healthy food, too! Then there’s Spain…that should be interesting. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there.

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