Little Rock to Red Rock

In this past week we managed to safely get the rig (and ourselves) from Little Rock, AR to Sedona, AZ.  We've been doing a lot of urban camping since the trip started including some inner city campgrounds and also free camping in the parking lot of a mega department store whose name we'll leave out because they are evil scum.  

The only hairy spot of travel from the week was heading from Oklahoma City to Lubbock, TX.  We're talking some Texas Chainsaw Massacre looking shit.  There were abandoned towns, yards with ten rusted old cars in the front yard and some seriously unfriendly (or just confused) looking faces.   I told Alyssa that if I saw the blues in the side view mirror anywhere in Texas we were just going to make a run for the border.   Fortunately we made it through the panhandle of TX without having to make an OJ-like episode.   I will say the wind coming through Lubbock was blowing at 45 mph and I was really thinking the camper was going to topple over. 

The only two things to do in Oklahoma City in the Winter/Early Spring appear to be visit the very cool indoor tropical botanical garden and visit the American Banjo Museum.  We did both in about an hr and a half.  

I played a show outside Lubbock at a winery out in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday at 1:30 in the afternoon.  It was one of the strangest gigs I've ever had.  For my first set I sang in this enormous barrel room where they store the wine.  There was two (very proud) Texans sitting five feet from the stage and the rest of the room remained empty.  

I don't know if you can picture it or not but this is a pretty surreal moment for a Boston raised boy to be sitting in the middle of nowhere in Western Texas on a Sunday afternoon  in a dark warehouse singing to two strangers while they sip a bottle of Cabernet.  After the first tune the lady commented "Not bad for a North Carolinian." They turned out to be good folks but that was a rickety start.   Here's a shot below of what Alyssa does while I play my shows.  Hopefully she can get on the stage soon! 

The Caprock Winery in Lubbock, TX...very church-like.  Wine is holy though right?

By my last song at the winery I had a little crowd.  They seemed to want a lot of Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz...WTF? 

We've had some inquiries as to how two vegans survive on the road driving through the south.  The most crucial element in our survival is this feller strapped in below.  We call him three tier and we stock him at every Natural Food store we come across.  The top shelf is all tea items (Kyoto sencha, herbal teas, some bagged assam for driving and of course a few different tea pots).  Middle drawer is all dried legumes, beans, basmati rice, quinoa etc, and yes we travel with a pressure cooker ha!  Bottom drawer is all spices and oils.  

Three tier is a life saver and keeps us from having to eat lettuce sandwiches from that gross nutrition-less sewer they call Subway.  Everyone should keep a three tier in their car.  In fact I think three tier is the cure for cancer.  There, we did it.  

Amazing Ayurvedic veggie restaurant in Albuquerque.  We literally pulled off the highway, ate here and got straight back on the highway, no offense to Albuquerque but we had business with this place.  Great food and amazing masala chai.  

Woke up in Flagstaff, AZ to this giant piece of shit outside the window blocking the mountains.  I don't know if this is the company owner...John Jelly-Belly or whatever the fuck, but he needs to definitely stop pedaling diabetes onto America's youth (and simple minded).  This is a true cooperate high fructose corn syrup monger...this guy is just another dingle berry caught in the butt hair of America.  

I'm sure he's a nice guy but I wouldn't be pissed if this rolling billboard for obesity got flattened by an 18 wheeler while he was in the bathroom. We read that the red jelly beans are made with a dye that comes from crushed insects too...little food for thought.   

Flagstaff is incredible btw.  You really get the Colorado vibe.

Sedona is an incredible place founded back in 1902.  It is in the heart of Red Rock Country and some of the landscapes are absolutely breathtaking.  I'd love to write a ten paragraph blog post about the wildlife and incredible plants here but 90% of you would be bored to tears.  It's also considered one of the spiritual capitols of the world.   Do a youtube search on Sedona Vortex for more info.

First amazement then observation ha!  As you can see I don't get to pick ALL of the pics that go up.  

Alyssa with one of her clients..

We rolled into Sedona on a Full Moon.  The Moon has a serious effect on water here on Earth and we primates are made mostly water.  I can't help but think we were pulled here like some rolling tide meandering across America.  

Thanks for reading and PLEASE leave comments/ subscribe...let us know what you need more or less of.  Criticisms greatly appreciated.  We are very grateful for all the readers last week...we had over 300 hits in the first hour of posting.  We're gonna go hike red rock country now, hopefully we won't be needing any anti venom.  

In the spirit of Sedona here is a great quote from Abraham Hicks: 

"Whatever you're thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you're worrying, you are planning. When you are appreciating, you are planning...What are you planning?