August 5, Rogers City Nautical Fest

 The second leg of the Stolen Horses minus one, add two mini tour is today.  We got a later start than planned because DJ and Brandy got stuck behind an accident in Grand Rapids. We met at the park and ride and all piled in the 5th wheel for the long ride to Rogers City. Shaky Sean quickly drank a beer and fell a sleep on the couch (in his defense he did get up and went to work this morning) We all got a chuckle when DJ hit a bump and Shaky Sean went air born. Every one grabbed a spot where they could and made themselves comfy until we reached Lake City where we stopped for gas. About an hour before we reached Rogers City every one was hungry, we ravaged the fridge and made sandwiches which were quickly hoovered....thanks Brandy. The band arrived in Rogers City and pulled in next to the lake...awesome sight. Set up was pretty quick, production was provided and the sound was amazing...little time to relax. Show started at 9 and we were off and running. DJ tripped over a monitor but recovered well...and THEN he...broke another string he's an animal. There's a huge crowd, lot's of dancers and the cold drinks are flowing. The sets flowed well with Jammin Joe and Randy trading off some smokin leads. In true Nautical Festival style by the time the band broke into the song Arizona at 1 a.m. every one was headed to the local pub for last call. Tear down was pretty quick and we all went to crash in the 5th wheel. Lot's of laughter when talking about "Jack Ass". Finally every one fell a sleep where they could find a spot whether it was the couch, chair or the floor. We were on the road again at 6:30 a.m.. 15 minutes out of Rogers City something didn't seem quite right. There was a vibration and a smell of burning rubber. We blew a tire on the 5th wheel. Can you say how many band mates does it take to change one tire? 5 would be the magical number 2 (Jammin Joe and DJ) changing the tire, 1 (Laura) spectator and 2 (Shaky Sean and Randy) to take pictures and video. At one point the trailer was released off the jack, it was a scarey moment when the trailer came down hard on the wood blocks that we used as an emergency stabilizer, the trailer jolted and rocked and then all was quiet (except when Jammin Joe opened the bathroom door wanting to know what had happened while he was peeing. For a second we thought the trailer was going to tip over on the entire band standing in the ditch.
  To make matters worse 45 minutes after getting back on the road...more bad news, someone stole the horses out from under the hood of DJ's truck litterally, so we limped into the parking lot of a truck stop, after further investigation DJ figured it was his lifters that had gone bad making it impossible to make it back on our own. Thank god there was a restaurant...air conditioning and vittles (Pam loved the bacon strips that were the size of a pig...just ask Randy) We all enjoyed Randy's description of food processing. The mood changed when Jammin Joe thought of calling Dave and Gail, 2 true Stolen Horses fans. Joe remembered that they also have a 5th wheel with a truck to pull it with. After a quick phone call Dave and Gail agreed to drive from Cedar Springs up to Grayling to come to the rescue. In the mean time some of the band found humor texting while using the restrooms, they just aren;t right. Then there was a GPS training...enough said. Kudos to all involved for keeping a level head and great sense of humor despite of lack of quality sleep, showers and laundry service.
  Dave and Gail arrived to an arousing round of applause to haul the band wagon to Croton so we could do the show at The Driftwood. Thanks Dave for breaking the land speed record and getting us there in record time. DJ needs seatbelts in the 5th wheel when Dave is driving.