Louisville, KY to Nashville, TN
Driving day.
"Birds! I don't know where you are. But I will find you. I will kick you!" - Valerie
We awoke on the patio, hot and sweaty. Well, I did anyways. I think one of the others did, too. While the patio seemed like a cool idea, and it was certainly our only option besides a motel or something, it still wasn't ideal. For one thing, Matthew has lovebirds that live on the patio. They get pretty squawky in the A.M. Valerie wasn't pleased; none of us were really. Matthew also has a couple parrots he lets fly around his shop before he opens, which is when we were trying to load out. He laid on the couch near the door and instructed us to keep the doors closed as we moved our gear outside.
Once we were done I was more sweaty and/or just plain damp than I've literally been in years. It was amazing. Easily the hottest I've been so far, although Birmingham will turn out to be a close second.
We left Louisville and Kentucky behind us, and headed to Nashville. Valerie's got an uncle in the hospital there, and since we had the day off, it worked out perfectly. I treated the band to Taco Bell because I am a pimp, and then Val went to see her family while we waited. After a short while she called us up, and we joined her and her grandmother in the waiting area.
Valerie's grandmother Rolien was a hoot, and she was kind enough to offer us her hospital hotel room for showers and/or napping and/or watching a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream on tv, performed by puppets. Then she bought us all dinner in the hospital cafeteria, where we met Valerie's Uncle Russ and Aunt Joyce.
We said our goodbyes and drove through Nashville, right down Broadway where all the glittery touristy neony music venues are piled nearly on top of one another. NashVegas! or NashOrleans. Whatever, it was cool. We rolled the windows down and Cristina sang Magnetic Fields songs to the pedestrians with her ukelele, and pretty much everyone in the vehicle resolved to return to Nashville again for a proper stay.
We drove south of the city for about 30 minutes and arrived at the home of John and Cindy, old friends of Valerie's family, who were incredible hosts. They were friendly and warm and put us right at ease. Since it was late, they headed to bed before too long while the band practiced some quieter versions of their songs for the early show in Logan, Utah's Hot Topic store:
