Notes from the Road – The Journey Home

Saturday, August 14, 2010 –

And so it ends – another Southeastern US Gas Hog Tour is complete.  No flat tires or serious issues (other than that camper leak which it appears I’ve plugged) and some great shows with friends old and new.  You can’t ask for much more than that.

I woke this morning ready to get underway.  Even as the coffee is brewing I’m putting things away and getting the interior of the camper road ready.  By 10 am I’m hooked up and ready to travel.  On the way back from Asheville last night I put a couple of gallons of pricey NC gas in the tank, just enough to get me over into SC where I know prices will be 15 to 20 cents per gallon cheaper.

I roll southeast out of Hendersonville on I-26 and in less than a half hour I’m in South Carolina.  It’s cloudy, but not rainy, a pretty good day for driving.  Sure enough, gas in SC is $2.47 as opposed to $2.66 just 40 miles back.  I stop and top off the tank and motor on across South Carolina.  I usually play a show on this route in SC either in the St. George area or up near Columbia, but bookings didn’t work out for that this year.  All of the town names are familiar and I don’t need the Navagatrix to get me home from here.  However, I keep her tracking my progress with the sound off so I can gauge where I might want to stop for the night.  Because it’s slow going with the camper it would take me about 10 hours to get all the way home and that’s farther than I usually like to run in one day while towing the big rig.  Nevertheless, I’d like to get as close as possible so that I have as much of Sunday to recoup as I can.

Much of the time on the road I ride in silence.  It’s almost like meditation for me.  I can let my mind focus solely on the road and shut everything else out.  Or, I can mull over a single subject at a time – booking for upcoming months, song ideas, lyric refinements, stuff at home, etc.  Silence is a valuable thing to me and long distance driving affords me that luxury when I’m out on the road alone.

However, sometimes you need some tunes.  And, I’ve had great ones to listen to on this trip.  In the CD player has been The Claire Lynch Band “Whatcha Gonna Do”, Lis Williamson “Deep”, a collection of tunes by Frank Serio, photographer extraordinaire who has had the opportunity to co-write with many great writers, 3 Penny Acre’s new disc “Highway 71”, Stevie Coyle’s solo release “Ten-In-One” and some compilation CDs for variety.  On the iPod I’ve had Bill Morrissey (what an extraordinary writer), the new Merle Haggard CD “I Am What I Am” which I recommend, Jorma Kaukonen “River of Time” and “Blue Country Heart” (exceptional), smatterings of Guy Clark, Johnsmith, Jack Williams, Jonathon Byrd, Cheryl Wheeler, Allison Kraus, Mary Chapin Carpenter, all favorites of mine, and many more.  Song ideas, rhythms and melodies begin to percolate and I periodically turn off the music to sing into my little digital recorder I keep handy just for such inspirations

The haul across South Carolina is a long one.  You’re basically starting up in the northwest corner and driving all the way across to the southeast corner, so it takes a bit.  But the drive is easy, though traffic around Columbia gets a bit dicey.  And, of course, anytime someone pulls over for any reason everyone else has to slow to 20 mph and rubber neck hoping to get a glimpse of a gory wreck of some kind.  Rubber necking ought to be a capital offense with serious jail time attached!  However, I’m soon on I-95 and bearing down on Savannah.  Time to fill up again before crossing over into Georgia.

I roll on through the tidewater area of South Carolina with its vast expanses of waterways, grasses, birds and trees.  It’s about 3:00 or so as I approach Savannah and I know from past experience it’ll be 4 1/2 to 5 hours from there home at the “towing the camper” rate of speed, a lumbering 60 mph.  I’ll be in Jacksonville in 2 ½ hours.  I’m starting to think that stopping just 2 or 3 hours from home, incurring campground fees, etc. makes little sense.  Plus, I’d love to get all the way today, sleep at home tonight, see the family and have all day Sunday to rest.  Hmmmmm . . ..

Georgia’s on my mind as I roll I-95 through the Peach State.  My gas mileage is much improved as I’m now on relatively flat Interstate.  Back roads are much more interesting to drive, but when you want to get on home the Interstate is the way to go.  However, even with the convenience, speed and ease of the Interstate as a plus, the overwhelming collage of billboards is still irritating.  While I understand the economic, advertising value of billboards they are nevertheless a blight on mankind as a whole!  Georgia and Florida in particular have an over abundance of them that swallows the view like kudzu swallows the landscape.  No wonder folks never really see the true Florida!

As I pass Brunswick, Ga. my mind is made up – I’m going to tough it out and roll on to Orlando tonight!  It’s been a long day and my back and knees are complaining, but I just can’t see stopping when I’m going to be so close.  Onward!

I cross into Florida and breeze through Jacksonville.  Now I’m really on the home stretch.  A fast food dinner keeps me plowing ahead as I pass St. Augustine, Palm Coast, Ormond and Daytona where I connect with I-4 and turn southwest.  I’ve pushed the cruise control up to 65 mph. sacrificing gas mileage for speed.  DeLand, Deltona and Sanford slip by and I’m now about 30 mins from home sweet home.  My pessimistic side creeps in for a moment as I wonder if any of the trailer tires will decide that this is far enough and blow out causing me to have to change one in my exhausted and edging up on irritable condition.  However, I roll on through Lake Mary, Longwood and Altamonte without incident and turn off on Fairbanks.  I pull into my driveway just before 9 pm road weary, but so glad to be home.  And, I receive the welcome from family that I looked forward to so much.  A scotch is in my imminent future!

As I say, it was a good tour.  I did note the effect of the economy on the size of the audiences, their spending habits in terms of CDs, etc. and the availability of booking opportunities.  While I did better than break even financially, I earned substantially less than last year.  Part of that is due to my own failings in getting my booking done early resulting in a larger number of high risk gigs money-wise than should have been on the schedule.  Lesson learned.  However, I added many, many new names to my mailing list, sold more than 50 CDs’ and broke into new venues and areas where I had not previously played.  I was healthy for the whole trip.  Judy and the grandsons got to join me for part of it.  The weather, though warmer than desirable, was mostly good.  I had no calamitous events with either the truck or the camper despite covering better than 3,800 miles of at times challenging terrain.  And, I got to enjoy to true beauty, wonder and freedom of the southeast portion of this great country that we live in.  You know, the more I think about it, it was a GREAT tour!  See you down the road.