February 7, 2003 - Ft. Collins, Colorado

We're on that same bus ride heading to Boulder and we had the time, so we figured we might as well do this entry also. On the ride from Jackson I woke up very early. It had to be about 8:00AM. I went up to the front of the bus with the driver just to enjoy the scenery. Everybody else was sleeping in their bunks. The mountain scenery was incredible. I think we were in Cheyenne, Wyoming close to the Colorado border. As soon as we crossed the Colorado line we stopped at a truck stop. I went into the cafeteria and ordered a veggie omelet. It was pretty good.

We got to Ft. Collins early enough to check into our hotel. So I checked my email for about an hour. I got some cool email from my new friend John Spurrier. And I got an email from Bibi Green who handles a lot of Marcus Miller's business. I've been getting a lot of email from people checking out the site. Everybody thinks it's a great site with a lot of neat stuff on it. A lot of people have been asking for sound bites on the web site, so I have to get on top of it when I get home. The recording studio is almost done.

But anyways, I made the 12:30 bus call and we arrived at the venue at about 10 minutes to 1:00. Merav was there - she's a friend of the band. She was going to be serving as our temporary tour manager for a day, since Danette had to travel back to California for a day. It was good seeing Merav because she always has a smile and a soft touch for everybody.

Victor had to leave to go do a bass clinic so after we loaded in and set up, I 'sound checked' in his place. I had fun sitting in for him. It was kinda' cool standing in the middle of the stage at the 'mike', playing the bass and singing with the spotlight on me. I could learn to like that.

Later Andy Blanton, Jim Abraham and Kit from bass camp showed up. And then the person I had been waiting for finally arrived - my wife. She showed up with Hilary Lauer, who was one of the nature teachers at Bass Camp. So we all went out to dinner and we ate at an Indian restaurant called 'Taj Mahal'. I FINALLY got Indian food - I've been wanting it the whole tour. I ordered "Alu Saag" which is a curry spinach and potato dish.

When we got back I went inside to hear the opening band, Marcus Eaton and the Lobby. They are the same band that opened for us in Boise, Idaho. They are also opening for us on the last show in Boulder. Their CD is very good. When they were done, we did a quick change over and we went on about 10:15PM. The 'house' was packed, and despite a lot of technical difficulties, the show was very good.

After the show, Michael Dietrich brought us some food from his restaurant on to the tour bus. He gave us a cheese, pasta and spinach dish and a sweet potato, pecan pie. I gained 5 pounds just looking at it. It was good to finally meet him after corresponding by email for a couple of months. He actually bought a bass from the store that I teach at based on my recommendation. He's also coming to the Boulder show. I'm going to try to find time to give him a bass lesson.

When we got back to the hotel I realized that I was probably the most exhausted I've been the whole tour. A month on the road is starting to take its toll on my body. I slept soundly through the night with my beautiful wife beside me…listening to me snore.

LAST SHOW TOMORROW!!

peace & blessings,

anthony