Well the sun has set and so its time to take Destiny down in preparation for tonight's drive to Detroit. There is a BBQ tonight at 9 and bus call is I believe 11:30 so I guess I better get to work. Its my job; naybe I can start calling myself the Road Manager....nice title...nice to be needed, right?

Happy trails,

MLH

The girls and I met another very interesting guy today named Joe who has a band called Shut Up and Deal. He has a great Warped Tour story but I'll let Alec tell in her documentary. Long story short, she and Liz have been offered jobs for next summer doing another film project for the band while on Warped so they are beyond thrilled. Even if it doesn't come to fruition they are happy to have been given the offer; it validates the work they are doing now.

I also talked to Kevin Lyman today; such a nice guy!!! The more I get to know him the more impressed I am. Smart, sincere, compassionate everything you wouldn't necessarily expect from the head honcho of a rock festival. He was glad to hear that Double G had taken the girls and I to Dwayne's grave in Macon. Put a smile on Kevin's face..

Aunt Edna

So unfortunately my Aunt Edna in South Dakota has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and is now in Hospice care. My mom and brother Steve are flying out on Saturday and the girls and I may have to cut Warped Tour short to head that way ourselves. When I was with Edna just over 3 weeks ago she had been diagnosed with a kidney infection, but someone the cancer was not discovered ??? In any case, we will do what we need to do. I love my Aunt Edna and want to make sure that I do what I can to comfort and care for her. Such a total shock and bummer. It reminds that we should all make each day count, right? Do what you want to do now because you can't predict what tomorrow will bring. If Alec was slacking a little with her filming schedule she is running triple time now to make sure she gets all the footage she wants before we have to cut out.

The other Warped Tour reality is the Port O Potty. I've always abhorred them but now, I'm so happy to have one within a 1/4 mile walk of the trailer that I don't complain about the stench or lack of toilet paper. Even better, a semi clean restroom at a gas station. What I hate though is when there are blow dryers for your hands instead of paper towels; makes it harder to wash your face and other places. Baby wipes come in handy daily; I am even in the habit now of brushing my teeth with them while I drive. Sexy yes? Very effective though. So if you think that rock stars have it plush, not true. They are using the same facilities. That is why Warped Tour is not for sissy's and likely why there are so few female performers. But the community feel and the support of the staff is beyond believable and keeps people coming back year after year. The bands all get to socialize with each other and listen to each others performances which is quite rare I am told. The baby bands get to hang with the biggies and recieve mentorship and encouragement. Its pretty fun to observe.

We've also spent hours asleep in a gas station parking lot, some industrial parking lot and a few other sketchy spots. Unfortunately the Rest Stops don't always appear when you need them, though I certainly appreciate them now more than ever before.

The night before that, or rather about 2 AM when I was starting to enter a dream state while driving, I pulled into a McDonalds parking lot which seemed safe, and large enough to maneuver Destiny without getting into trouble. About 6 am I woke up and looked over my shoulder to discover that I had parked directly parallel to the drive through and there were about 20 cars lined up all of which had passed by my window by about 5 feet. The guy that caught me waking up was cracking up and shaking his head. I wonder how many My Space pictures were taken by those Kentucky commuters buying their Sausage Mc Muffins?

I mentioned our dietary style in a previous post but I wanted to write about the sleeping accomodations.

Last night Lizzi pulled into a rest stop somehow backwards from the flow of traffic and had to park facing the opposite direction between 2 semi trucks. Pretty funny picture I'm sure...California plates on the pop-up and three snoring blondes. The truckers are kind people.

Cincinnati's crowd was a bit more intense than say the suburban audiences in Florida. Today's crowd is very mellow; lots of chubby girls (too much Wisc cheese?), very Caucasian---though most of the audiences could be described this way. Parents who worry about their kids attending Warped Tour don't have to. Truly, except for a rare head banger, its a very friendly and easy going crowd. Everyone seems to be here to have a good time and enjoy the music and festivities. I haven't seen a single fight or even verbal altercation. The worst seems to be girls falling over from dehydration; the medical staff is kept busy. Or kids with injuries resulting from crowd surfing.

Thursday in Mil. Wisc

I am sitting here on my bed in Destiny looking out over the river which flows into Lake Mich. Seagulls, setting sun and a very comfortable breeze make my piece of realestate worth millions I'm sure. Johnny P was especially nice to me today allowing me to park here right on the river's edge. Even Kevin Lyman's bus can't shake a candle to this amazing spot with view view view. I'm one lucky girl!

So today was fun. We arrived on time (shorter drive, maybe 6 hours from Cincinatti) and parked quickly. Alec headed out to meet shadow the Eco team and Liz and I cooked home fries which was fun. Then we both took really good naps; woke up in the late morning and went into the venue. Our neighbors here are a band that just joined the tour yesterday, so I went to listen to them first on the Ernie Ball stage. They were pretty good! Then I cruised around. This is a great venue, big, carnival rides mixed in with ampitheater and all directly on the water. In fact someone said that we are on Jones Island and are surrounded on 3 sides by water; I'll have to check it out on a map.

The cemetary is really old. You go down the hill, hang a left at the Confederate grave yard and there is Dwayne and Raymond Barry Oakley (Almond brother band member) side by side in a well appointed grave site with black wrought iron fencing surrounding pristine white marble grave markers. Double G discovered the hard way that the top of the fence was covered in axel grease to discourage fence climbers. He wasn't climbing, just resting his hands. The whole scene was touching; the sun setting, the crickets (?) chirping and the four of us processing it all.

As we were leaving, another group of Warped Tour guys were walking down the hill. They were having a good time too.

So out of slight parking lot Marilyn rage came a new friendship and a fun spontaneous adventure. Alec will have to be sure to tell Kevin Lyman that Double G was gracious enough to take us out to Dwayne's grave site. Again, there is a loyalty and bond between the Warped Family that eminates from Kevin Lyman. Everyone is so happy working for him and truly enjoys being part of this special scene. It translates into these generous moments given to us. People are happy and so they are happy to share their grace with us. It is inspiring; I hope our new Principal at Miramonte has this sort of spirit. I can hope...

Macon eve cont..

So tonight we go down to get a bite of dinner and this other Warped Tour driver whom I have seen around but didn't know comes up to the table to appologize for the fact that I was asked to move. That's when I realize that the other guy was also Warped Tour. George, or Double G as he is known has been driving for Warped for 8 years. I ended up apologizing to him and the other driver for being short tempered. George bought me a beer and we all wound up having a nice evening. Then Jim texted me to note that Macon has Southern Rock history about the same time that George tells me that Dwayne Alman's grave is in Macon. In quick time we hire a cab and head towards the cemetary which is very close by to visit Dwayne's grave. George pretty much knew where it was because he is a Georgia native and big southern rock fan. So we had a blast! The taxi driver munched on a corn dog while he drove us out. George who is quite the talker shared stories and we sat facinated by it all in the back seat.

Macon Georgia The Fun Part

So I didn't post about my slight parking fiasco. In general I am a bit of a pain in the ass to the parking system. Though I try to stay clear of the semi trucks and 60 tour buses, despite my efforts I get in the way. For example, in Charlotte I arrived really early and asked the venue parking folks where I should go. A very nice guy named Glen guided me to the farthest courner of this one area near the back stage. As it turned out, that was where Johnny P needed to park his 60 tour buses, but by the time it became an issue I had already set up the trailer and moved the van behind it. It turned out to be the perfect spot for us; near production, the bathrooms, the showers, the ampitheater and right dead center in the foot traffic route so everyone had to walk by us to get anywhere.

Then last night in St Petersberg, we were late arriving after looking at colleges and so I was told by the venue people that there was no more space near the tour buses. Even though I have a tour bus number and belong with them on some level, I'm a pop up trailer and the venue staff never believes me when I say that I get to be behind the security fencing. Yesterday I wound up about 4 blocks away on the city street, which would be ok except we have, what 25K worth of medical equipment in the van. Long story short, I wound up getting into the fenced area (another story) last night but it was work. So tonight, when I got here, I asked the hotel staff where I should park and followed their instructions procisely. No sooner had we unloaded the therapy vest and all Alec and Lizzi's crap when a very kind but insistent gentleman approached me and said that I couldn't park there. Unfortunately, I didn't realize he was a Warped Tour employee; I thought he was a hotel person and I was not very nice. I basically said that I was tired of being discriminated against because I wasn't driving a 500K tour bus, but I ended up moving just the same.

We're thinking about heading out and exploring Macon; according to Jim their is music history to be noted, and from my window I can see what looks to be a very cool historic area. Lots of old steeples and brick buildings. Or...since Alec is now snoring away in bed, and I have consumed the 3 beers graciously provided by Jim, it is possible that we will not make it out at all. Air conditioning seduces. And I make take another shower or 6 tonight too....just because I can! So we'll see. We should really get out there and climb aboard the Warped Tour Laundry shuttle too...I have no clean underwear left (TMI) but ug....this does NOT sound fun, this sounds like work. Stay tuned to the next episode to find out what wins out...a cozy, soft, clean bed....or a hot, steamy, crowded laudromat...feel free to take bets.

Monster

So Monster energy drinks and water is a major sponser of Warped Tour and everyone basically gets as much product as they want. Many many of the band members and techies have strongly stated that they consume only the water. One techie declared that Monster energy drinks were likely cancerous. I don't know about that, but I can say with certainty that the day we each had 2 (maybe Alec had 3) we were flying very high. Lizzi was a complete manic maniac. She was hysterical and couldn't stop giggleing. It was weird.

But as I said, Monster is everywhere. If you look across a vacant field after a show you will see hundreds of empty Monster cans. It reminds me of when we used to do the highway cleanups for Lattitude 38 and we were amazed at all the McDonalds trash strewn. Here is it Monster cans.

But day before yesterday I really saw the upside of Monster water. Across from the van, one of the semi drivers was showering behind his drivers side door and rinseing off the soap with cans of Monster water. Later, while I was treking back from the shower grumbling to myself about the hassle of it all, I walked by two legends band members lathering up their privates (under their boxers) and again cracking cans of Monster to rinse off with. Cracks me up. Do you think that Monster would approve of this brand placement? Its as if the government just started printing money; the stuff has no value to anyone so it is freely flowing as bath water. For someone like me, a California native drowning in guilt over water conservation, it is almost more than I can bare...though honestly, if I were on the Monster give-away train, I'd be washing my hair with the stuff every day! True confession!

So basically my pie in the sky ideas of cooking up social specialities for us and our new band friends turned into a pipe dream quickly. Most days, it is Pilot "Travel Center" specialties in bags and/or some form of caffeine. We are poster children for something just not sure what.

Dietary delights

Let's talk food. So today was very special indeed. Breakfast in a southern farm house restaurant and then a delicious fresh fruit and beer basket here at the hotel to enjoy compliments of Jim. Highly unusual.

For example yesterday I had a half bag of cheesy doodles spread over about 10 hrs, a sugarless Rockstar, several waters and a couple of cans of diet cherry Dr. Pepers. Do you think perhaps there is a corelation between my dietary intake and the falling asleep at the wheel phenom?

Alec and Liz had: BBQ pork rinds (we have developed a hankering for these fatty salty things, I have no idea why) and several cans of spaghetti Os. Oh, and water of course. ....and Lizzi confesses a Monster, maybe two. YIKES! Sadly, this is pretty much the norm.

Our problem is this. We buy fresh veggies and fruit but then are too hot, sweaty, tired, busy to actually cook any of it. So it sits in the van, rots and I throw it away. I told you earlier about the tri-tip fiasco, well Delawares organic corn, green beans and tomatoes came to similar ends. Actually Lizzi and I did share a tomatoe one morning for breakfast. Ultimately, it is the canned food that fairs best. We do have colliard greens in a can though; we found a yummy brand that we can eat cold and it is at least...well...green!

AFter that the drive was pretty uneventful though I did forget about gas and was surprised when the light came on. I've been really good about filling up at half, but not this morning, so I pulled into the next available gas station. It was really old and funky, the pumps were pre-digital. Reminded me of the old slot machines at Harveys. I wasn't completely confident, so I only bought 20 bucks worth. A little while later we decided to treat ourselves to a meal at a sit down restaurant. WOW!

I had a Georgia cured ham/cheese omlet, grits and biskets. Lizzi had a poached egg, hash browns and a chicken fried steak and Alec dined on 2 poached eggs, a pork chop, side of pan cakes and toast. We also ordered a quail to share. When the waitress asked us "fried or grilled" we looked blankly at each other. So she responded, "I'll just fry half and grill the other!" Southern hospitality! Everything was delicious and despite what appeared to be an enormous amount of food, we ate it all. Go CF! Our bill? 34.95! I wanted to buy a shirt too, keep this great locally owned restaurant in business but they didn't have any tank tops. Since the flood, and the fact that all my clothes remain in storage, I have really missed most of all my tanks.

After our delicious southern meal, the drive to Macon was uneventful and quick. It was weird to drive during daylight. Even Lizzi commented that she kept noticing the Burger King signs advertising "open 24 hrs" even though we could feasibly eat anywhere we wanted since it was during business hours.

Georgia cont.

After the Warped shut down last night the girls and I couldn't decide whether or not to head out early or stick around for the party. Since St. Petersberg was followed by a day off we thought that the party might be worth sticking around for. We hung in the van for awhile and actually fell asleep. Our widows were wide open and we awoke to one of the security guys asking us to move so that a tour bus would be able to leave. This is about the 3rd time that some staff member has had to wake us up; its kinda a pattern.

So we moved and now awake decided to check out the party. It was 11:30. Prior it had down poured again and we were absolutely drenched to the bone, but by midnight the wind was blowing hard but it was clear starry skies over water. Beautiful. But weirdly the party was mellow. We did enjoy petting Lola though, a big furry bear of a dog who appeared from some bus. By 1 or so we were ready to leave.

Despite the nap, I didn't last long behind the wheel. I can't decide about this; I have never really been someone who gets sleepy while driving yet a pattern is developing where I drive for a while and then literally can't keep my eyes open and have to pull over. I think I even start going in to a dream state, its sort of alarming actually. So about 3 after I had dreamed something about a call box, I pulled in to a rest stop. I don't know why, but I parked on the semi side; guess I just like sleeping with the big guys. :-) In any case, sleep I did. Its crazy how I am developing an ability to fall fast alseep in the drivers seat. We awoke about 6:00 AM having slept a lot longer than intended.

Monday A Day Off in Macon Georgia

Here we are luxuriating at the Ramanda Plaza in Macon Georgia. With a long hot shower, a fruit/beer basket gift from Jim, TV and all our electronics charging at the same time we are feeling very high on the hog.

July 22nd in Virginia City cont.

Lizzi and I were just chatting with Matt Flyzik, All Time Lows Tour Manager. I started the conversation by saying: I think I still have your number in my cell phone. Then he looked up, and I added, ?from Lizzi?s Make A Wish at the Regency in SF last November. Ah he said, you did look familiar to me.

We went on to chat about being on the road and how he is a big Disney fan. ATL is currently working on a deal with Disney to play the parks. I guess Disney is known for treating their bands very well, putting them up in the hotels and giving them access to the parks for several days prior to the gigs.

ATL has just finished their signing duties so it must be about time for dinner?.at least for the lucky band members who have bar codes. But we?ll be skinny, right?

I?m sitting in the ATT Greenroom all by myself, all this air conditioning and comfort and I don?t even have to share it with anyone. Crazy! I haven?t said ?hi? to Jack yet, but I am hoping to. He is always so friendly and generous with the hugs for the old woman.

Matt?s work bag is sitting just feet from me and I am so tempted to snoop. I know that he was working on his expense report just now. I did glance and the fuel alone was huge, his tolls were around 800 and they have only been on the road for a few days now. I can only imagine what the final cost will be.

There is a growing number of fan prezzies on the coach. Clearly the band members get quickly od?d on all the chatsky they acquire from their adoring fans.
(not sure if this above was a repeat or not. At some point I will have to try to clean up this blog. I also need to get more pics up, but my battery is likely to crash down any second now. TAFN!!)

There I think it worked and you should see entries from yesterday morning in Miami and prior to that in Orlando.

Orlando

The interesting tid bit about Florida is that the artists get fined and or arrested for swearing on stage. This might not be such a big deal for say Jimmy Buffett, but asking punk rockers not to swear is like asking a religious fanatic not to pray.

There were signs up on all the stages reminding everyone what the acceptable terms were. For example fuck had to be fornicate. Bitch was Jeffrey Starr (an inside joke), Cunt:Vagina and so on. I got more chuckles out of listening to the banter between songs as the performers either complied, or spoke passive aggressively with their own terms. Bad Religion did a sing/repeat game with the audience using words like Schmega, gerbles etc. The audience loved it, not sure about homeland security though.

At the party last night, the DJ asked ?are the cops fucking gone yet?? Can we speak our fucking minds? It was funny.

There were two memorable events for me yesterday. Getting to be press in the pit for the Bad Religion and 30h3 performances and the party last night. In the pit, I was so close that Nat spit and it landed in my camera. Yuck! His guitarist kicked a beach ball which missed my face by inches and there were several times when I wonder if one of them was going to end up in my lap.

The rule is that you can only stay in the pit shooting for the first 3 songs, then they corral you back out. Its really great though to be right on the stage. Security keeps a close eye on the press to make sure we are out of harms way from the crowd surfers. So the views both of stage and of the crowd are pretty amazing.

Then at the party last night West Bound Train performed live and I actually danced a few songs with a very nice black man who does technical lightening. He had to leave early though to catch a plane back to LA where he works. I have his card though. It was nice to move some!

As you know, I love to dance but Jim isn?t really a big fan. At one point I realized that the dancing crowd was made up of ALL boys dancing. I thought I had died and gone to heaven---a room full of men that LIKE TO DANCE! WOW!

Sean from 30h3 is one crazy dancer. If he wasn?t a rock star he would be the laughing stock of the room, a combo of ADD on steroids and total geeky nerd. But you have to give him 1000 percent credit for energy and enthusiasm. He was literally dancing circles around everyone. Once a performer, always a performer. In fact there were a few competitions too---the various mucicians sporting their best moves for each other. Even Kevin Lyman spent a great deal of his time on the dance floor. I really hoped that he would ask me to dance, but he was clearly enjoying dancing with all his close friends.

There were a few kids at the party and even during the circle pit, they were out there joining in. Kinda made me mad that in comparison Alec and Liz were too shy or stiff or whatever to join in the fun, yet these little kids were having a blast out there. At one point, Kevin picked up one of the kids and threw him up on his scoulders out of harms way. It was a telling moment. Kevin is a punk rocker to the max yet has a strong gentle protective side as well. A lot of these men here do.

So the party was pretty fun. At about midnight the girls wanted to leave and I didn?t feel like I should stay without them so we all headed back to the trailer where it didn?t take long to fall asleep. The plan was to sleep until the 2 am bus call then head out with the group. When 2 came around I tried to wake the girls up but they didn?t budge, so I rolled back over myself. The next thing I know, I wake up to silence and emptiness. Everyone was gone and it was 5 am. Oh shit! We tore down the trailer in record time and hit the road just as a security guard was heading our direction likely to tell us we had to leave.

Today:

Unforunately today has probably been our worst yet. We used Lu Lu for directions to Miami rather than the written directions-misktake number one because she completely died on us and we had no idea where we were. That coupled with thunder/lightening and pounding rain, frayed nerves (for some reason I was falling asleep at the wheel again despite 6 hrs of sleep) and bad attitudes and we were not at our best, and perhaps maybe a new record for worst. I did my share of verbally abusing Alec and Liz and they reminded me that everything that ?s wrong with them is all my fault. Good times in the van. What should have taken 4 hrs took 7 and by the time we arrived at the venue in Miami no one was speaking and I was pretty sure that this was day last for us!

The usual frustrations (breathing treatments ignored) (girls constant fighting between each other) have followed us along just like the trailer. Today I was on my last nerve and completely fed up with the usual crap. CF is so FUCKED UP FLORIDA. Take that Home Land Security (which by the way I took a photo of the SUV awhile ago). Oh well?I blame CF for just about all of our pathologies. Maybe the CF mutation is lateral to a shitty temper gene since we seem all three to have that pathology as well.

July 23, 2009

Cont:

So after I blogged about the plaster boob casting being done back stage in the green room, I was asked to participate! So I did! The gal doing the casting was a fantastic ?day job? is an English Teacher at a continuation high school. Needless to say we had lots to chat about while she lathered me in gauze and plaster. Took about 35 minutes or so. Now my boobs will be painted by a band and auctioned off to the highest bidder to support breast cancer research.

The girlies were a tad bit annoyed with my enthusiasm, but seriously, when would one ever get a chance to contribute like this again? I?m so glad I did it! Jim wants me to bid on my own boobs (on his behalf) but I don?t know?. I think they are putting ?Mama Hampton? as my name; this seems to be the nick name that I have acquired.

This morning after we arrived, I fell back asleep while waiting for the daily parking dance to commence and Junior woke me up saying: ?time to move Mama Hampton!? It was funny. Then a little while ago Johnny P let me know that he had heard I was worrying some about my axels needed greasing (on Destiny you dirty-minded ones and you know who you are!) so he had checked them out for me yesterday and I didn?t ?even know it! Talk about service! I?m telling you, this Warped Family is one that I would like to be adopted by long term. I wonder how I could jump aboard next summer. It?s like Lair of the Bear only the scenery changes every day! ?

It is pretty hot right now, very muggy (had a thunder/lightening storm about 2 hrs ago) and stifling. The van guys next to us did not like my micro brew that I picked up in Virginia though; the one kid asked me what a micro brew was. Infant?.

Anyway, we?re pretty oppressed by the heat wimpy Californians that we are. Soon we will have to rally and go listen to West Bound Train. We met one of the horn players last night while we were waiting for bus call to leave and promised that we would listen today. This is a ?no film? venue though so Alec can?t record the performance.

We did get the CFF bracelets and t-shirts though; they found us! So tonight maybe around 3 AM we will swing by a Kinkos somewhere and have some signs printed up so the girls can started hawking their wares tomorrow, that is of course if they can talk some band members into wearing the bracelets. They have already mentioned the plan to several but need to seal the deal tonight at the BBQ before we head out.

Last night?s BBQ was pretty low key and I think with 7 hrs drive ahead of us, tonight?s will be as well. Tomorrow night?s in Orlando though is being advertised as already. I?m looking forward to it.

The band in the van next to us are preparing for their performance. They are yodeling or what ever you might call it?warming up those vocal cords. I?ve heard a lot of this amongst the buses. It makes me feel like a voyeur. There is not much privacy here unless you are on your bus though everyone is very aware that this is ?home? and there are lines that should not be crossed. No one is taking pictures of people brushing their teeth next to their van for example. This rock star life is a little rough around the edges.

Did I tell you that my first friend was fired? South disappeared about day 3 so I went scouting around. Come to find out that he drank too much and his band let him go. I?m sad about it. You know how when you are an outsider you can see things going on? I saw the drinking issue coming to a slow boil that first night but didn?t say anything to South about it except to mention to him that I was a Counselor. (He said he could use some counseling.) But that was it, I didn?t really get into it any deeper, so now I feel kind of sad that maybe I could have been helpful in some way. He is a very charming, funny, articulate, friendly drunk----four out of five ain?t bad. I hope he finds his path.

I?m too hot to move though I should go up to Press and give Bethany the book mark we purchased for her at Bethany Beach, Delaware. Couldn?t resist. I also have some locally grown veggies from Delaware that should be cooked but its tooooooo hotttttt!!!! Maybe later when the sun sets.

Bus call is 10 PM tonight though everyone says that the roads through Florida are smooth and easy. Yeah! New York, New Jersey?not so much. Actually it?s the work zones that are killer at night; that and the rain, makes for a challenging combo.

See you later,

MLH

I'm going to try to attach some word documents that I wrote over the last few days when I didn't have any electricity to blog with. I warn you yesterday morning's is going to be dark but as Jim reminded me, it always gets better and voila...life is good again today. Thanks Jim for the great advice. Nice to have someone with a clear head in the family of female maniacs. He deserves an award for sure!

I'm chatting with a just graduated senior who is trying to sneak into the show after having bought scalper tickets that were fake. Cute kid. I hope he makes it in. He is going to Talahasee College next rfall. Every day offers new funny little connections with new people; one of the best parts of traveling for sure!

Yesterday when I was in a shitty mood I swore at one of the toll takers and later felt badly about it so I tried to be extra nice to the rest. They always miss that I am pulling Destiny so twice I said that I owed them more money than they wre quoting and once the lady thanked me for being so nice and blessed me even. Guess I evened out my Karma as best I could. These small encounters can make or break the day.

Hey, the SUN is out! Ya-hoo! I have my bathing suit in my back pack and may have to pull a "hippy" move and try to slip the top on without getting arrested. Florida is rather conservative; they allow no swearing on stage...hahahahaha tough on the punk rockers. Let's see if I get arrested for public nudity. :-)

Big John continues to be a good friend. Yesterday he let the girls chill in the ATT air conditioned trailer and charge the camera. When the girls told him that I was having a bad day and holed up in the van, he sent out a Monster Java and a Hershey's candy bar. (Was he thinking PMS?) In any case, his gesture was greatly appreciated. As a Warped Tour Embasador, they don't get any better than him!

This morning some guy walked up to Alec and asked her if she had any weed he could buy, that was funny. Oh and last night around 2 AM we were looking for a quiet place to pull over to sleep for a while when Lizzi hung a right into what looked to be a Fairgrounds parking lot. It wasn't. It was a dead end with 5 foot trenches on either side of the road. Panic. I got behind the wheel and was trying to do a 3 point like turn with the trailer while the girls, afriad that they were going to be attacked by gators tried to guide me. A car turned off the highway and headed towards us. I was pretty freaked out and yelled to the girls "Get back in the car!" I was ready to be mugged or worse but thankfully it was a Sherriff! Great guy; he took over and backed that trailer around in about 30 seconds with perfect skill. Totally put me to shame. So he chatted with us for a while and gave us some ideas about sleeping spots (Wall Mart apparently has it in their policy to let overnighters crash) and waved us on our merry way. Tradjedy averted. Afterwards my adrenalin was rushing so well that I didn't need to stop and sleep anymore so we pushed on until about 4:30 AM. Craziness...

So tomorrow is another day off; don't know what we will do. There are lots of additional colleges to check out in and around Tampa or we could take a leisurely drive to Atlanta, Georgia. Not sure yet.

At the party the other night West Bound Train played live and the dancing was great; I danced a little bit, but Alec and LIz refused to join in. So basically they stuck out like sore thumbs, being the youngest (except for a few toddlers on the dance floor) and the most sour looking. I wish they would "get" that people respond more to people who are having fun and not worrying about appearances. I'm not sure that I was "there" at 16 either, but I sure would like to save them wasted time and opportunites...if they would only hear my words of wisdom. Oh well...in due time I guess...just that Warped Tour is finite and one day they will look back and say, "gee I wish we had entered that drum contest. It would have been really fun!"...

One of my frustrations is with the fact that the girls are not yet comfortable enough to really step out and have fun. They are embarrised to be with me (mom) but I think it really hinders their experience. As I said to them yesterday, they are stuck with me so if they want to stay on the tour they better just overcome their discomfort and rally.

Yesterday was sort of a bummer, girls and I got into a major verbal fight on the way to the venue due to a sequence of unfortunate events layered with sleep dep etc. But Bad Religion and Less Than Jake saved the day for me; I was seriously in a nasty mood until I went over to the main stage to listen to them and they turned my dark mood into something much better.

Then last night was really fun; the drummers had a drum-off for money (1st place), choice of performance time for a week (2nd prize) or cutting in the catering line for a week (3rd prize).

I really wanted to enter and beat on the girls as my drums but they wouldn't go for it and none of my newly acquired friends were near me to ask so I'm sorry to say that we missed a great opportunity to publisize CF and raise awareness for Lizzi's bracelet/raffle/auction fundraising.

My All Access gives me privledge for this private chunk of "back stage" so only green haired Warped family near me. They match the folliage nicely.

On the Sea Wall overlooking Tampa Bay

Now THIS is the Florida I like! Still trying to rain, but other than that, a beautiful sight. Warped has location location location today!

Girlies are out scooping up interviews while I am relaxing on my towel gazing out at the sea birds and boaters.

On the way in this morning we stopped to look at New College and Eckerd; Lizzi wasn't as excited about NC as she hoped to be but she did like Eck better and will likely apply there. We also glanced at South Florida state and Bradington, home of We The Kings and Travis Clark. Girls are hoping that WTK members will be here today for Warped.

Next we need to go see if we can find Alec's CFF bracelets and tee shirts which were to be shipped here from New Jersey by the New Jersey CFF office. I hope that the t-shirts don't travel around the country chasing us! I think we are also going to go and volunteer for catering today. This venue does not allow filming so Alec has a "down" day. Catering always needs more help, and it seems like the right thing to do.

The weather is overcast and drippy and I am drippy and shiny...I got a shower today! Have to say, Live Nation has the best showers!

See you later,

MLH

Right now I am sitting in the green room of the Verizon Ampitheater in Charlotte North Carolina. To my left an artist is making plaster casts of performers torsos to auction off for a fundraisers. The musician having the cast is Jessica and this is her 3rd time; she is a pro.

So here we are in this lovely airconditioned setting watching art in progress for a good cause.

There is a surprise around every corner on Warped Tour. Its amazing!

Yesterday was a fantastic day. Big John of ATT was a Papa Bear who took the girls into his arms and heart all day long. We had great conversations about the Warped Tour experience (he has been on Warped for about 10 years) and the family atmosphere. According to John Warped is the longest running music festival and one of only a handful that remain. There are no others though that travel for this extensive of a tour or with this many bands/entertainers/venders/non-profits etc.

July 22nd in Virginia City cont.

Lizzi and I were just chatting with Matt Flyzik, All Time Lows Tour Manager. I started the conversation by saying: I think I still have your number in my cell phone. Then he looked up, and I added, ?from Lizzi?s Make A Wish at the Regency in SF last November. Ah he said, you did look familiar to me.

We went on to chat about being on the road and how he is a big Disney fan. ATL is currently working on a deal with Disney to play the parks. I guess Disney is known for treating their bands very well, putting them up in the hotels and giving them access to the parks for several days prior to the gigs.

ATL has just finished their signing duties so it must be about time for dinner?.at least for the lucky band members who have bar codes. But we?ll be skinny, right?

I?m sitting in the ATT Greenroom all by myself, all this air conditioning and comfort and I don?t even have to share it with anyone. Crazy! I haven?t said ?hi? to Jack yet, but I am hoping to. He is always so friendly and generous with the hugs for the old woman.

Matt?s work bag is sitting just feet from me and I am so tempted to snoop. I know that he was working on his expense report just now. I did glance and the fuel alone was huge, his tolls were around 800 and they have only been on the road for a few days now. I can only imagine what the final cost will be.

There is a growing number of fan prezzies on the coach. Clearly the band members get quickly od?d on all the chatsky they acquire from their adoring fans.

Yesterday in Viginia City

Our day off was relaxing. Spent the afternoon around the campground pool. The campground was actually full but the gal behind the desk let us come in to the overflow area anyway...said over the radio that I was the "nice gal from California". We were treated very well.

Set up Destiny, swam and ate and a Chinese Buffet. Then in the late evening, after Alec practiced her hard shoe on a stage next to us, and after she chatted in french to a group of young girls from Quebec, we went down to the boardwalk area to walk around. Saw a few good musicians and lots of interesting people to watch. The sea breeze coming off the Atlantic counter acted the heat blazing off the board walk.

By 10 30 we were ready to head back to the trailer and call it a night.

July 22 in Virginia Beach Virginia

Here we are in the ATT green room chatting with the ATT staff while waiting for the signing with the Maine followed by a secret dance party with 303 and a signing with All Time Low. Very busy day in the ATT bus/stage/mobile unit. Great people, very fun, nice and willing to chat with us. As everyone has been, more than gracious with Alec and her peeps.

Alec is following Big John today; he is the ATT Tour Manager. Lots of fun to be with. Refers to Alec and Liz as his "girls".

Great day so far and lots more to come.

July 21st in Pocomoke Maryland.

We are heading south on highway 13 towards Virginia Beach. After another significant rain storm during the night the sun is considering coming out but keeps stalling.

We stayed in a state park on the Pocomoke river where the foliage was extremely dense. Very moist and humid. After taking a shower and noting the huge fan running constantly, I wonder what we will find when we put the tent trailer back up again tonight---makes me wonder if there is some sort of anti-mold product one can purchase to spray down the canvas. We are pretty wet, even my bed has a wet corner due to the fact that I had my window open for air during the night, mistake I guess.

Our bellies are full of home fries we made for breakfast and all of our electronics are equally charged. I?m so glad I brought an electric strip.

Soon we will be going through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

More later,

MLH

Monday Night July 20, 2009

It?s about 9:30 PM and we just settled into our camp for tonight in Maryland. We are on a river in a state park but the name of the campground escapes me. I am proud of my back up job though; got it right on the first attempt even in darkness. Alec used her phone as a guiding light.

One problem with this spot though, bugs! We?ve already encountered several spiders and Alec just accidently stepped on a very large but now dead beetle. There is also some sort of long winged moth type critter fluttering about my ears but I can?t convince it to go out the door without inviting in a new host of friends to take his place. We will live with the one.

So even though we feel a little misplaced since we left Oceanport New Jersey and Warped Tour it was nice to have a relaxing break. Rather than aiming for Washington DC as originally planned we decided instead to tour through Delaware on the Atlantic Ocean side. We landed in Bethany Beach about 2:00 and spent a nice hour enjoying the warm water and wild surf. Good people watching too but it seemed odd that no one had any tattoos or piercings. The life guards gave us some tips on scenic drives towards Virginia Beach and a gal in the bookstore offered her best ideas for inexpensive places to eat some seafood. We ignored all of it.

But we did have a nice dinner in Ocean City, Maryland called Phillips Seafood House. It was a huge family buffet style restaurant located in some old brick house. The snow crab was the main act; Lizzi went back at least 4 times for more. We also had some excellent steamed muscles maybe 80-100 of them between the three of us. I had a hushpuppy; they always sound better than they taste and I even treated myself to a beer. First one of the entire trip! It was a house special, Phillips Pale Ale. Tasty; wish I had another one now.

According to the biker eating an ice cream cone in the camp store we are still about 2 hours from Virginia Beach. He also told me about a scenic route to take that offers several under water tunnels and over water bridges along the way, but truthfully I was paying far more attention to his seductive southern drawl than his words.

So despite the fact that we regret not heading up to Boston for the Tuesday night show due to the long drive back between Boston and Virginia City, we had a nice day just the three of us with no bass line. We did discover via Pat the drummer of The Maine that all the Warped people are at the Green Day concert in Boston tonight. GRRRRRR. Even our new friend Brandon the My Space Videographer is there; he texted us about it. So we are feeling a bit left out of the fun.

If you want go to My Space and on the home page you should find 2 videos on Warped Tour both of which were created by Brandon. One shows an interview with Jeffrey Starr doing a breathing treatment. Alec and Liz already plan to interview Jeffrey though he is extremely moody and intimidating. Lizzi says Jeffrey is like a Yield Sign; you always stay clear and let him proceed. In fact, the other day we were driving in and he was walking his pocket dog. It was unclear whether or not he intended to cross or walk alongside the road. The girls freaked out when I considered moving forward in case Jeffrey crossed our path so I had to stop and politely wait for him NOT to cross the street. Jeffrey is the Queen Bee of Warped Tour.

Since we have electricity tonight we are taking advantage of every watt. I brought a power strip with me and I believe there are 5 things currently plugged in charging. I wonder what my dad would think about this new fangled camping with cell phones, computers, the therapy vest and nebulizers. Too bad one can?t plug in a toe and get re-charged. Sure would have come in handy for the long driving legs.

Last night the computer battery baled on me in the middle of my blog so I don?t really know where I left off, but leaving the venue early to attend a The Academy Is concert that didn?t exist was upsetting. Alec felt bad, no Academy Is, Lizzi felt bad, she missed All Time Low?s first performance at Warped Tour and I felt bad because I am sure that last night?s BBQ was probably really energetic since today was everyone?s day off. Then again maybe not since Sunday was considered the Day Of Rest according to Kevin Lyman who planned to watch Nascar and get a massage. Nice lifestyle if you ask me.

When I was in Kevin?s bus working on my lap top I couldn?t help but notice his healthy collection of red wines. I suspect that he has good taste in more things than music. I think I also mentioned that he is an avid fisherman too; he had several fishing poles propped up near the wine bar. Wouldn?t it be cool if he and Lizzi went off fishing one day? It could happen, you never know!

Well, I think its time for bed. Another full night sleep so better take advantage of it while I can.

Tomorrow we will continue on to Virginia Beach, see some sights and scope out the venue for Wednesday night. Though I feel sad about missing the Boston show Alec pointed out that there are still 18 more between now and Salt Lake City where we disembark from the Warped train.

Nighty Night,

MLH

O

Our one slight dissapointment was that we couldn't find a cheesesteak restaurant that offered a place to park. Especially in the historic down town the streets are narrow and don't accomodate much more than a smart car. Still, I hardly noticed the elements. After Chicago and Brooklyn I am now pretty relaxed about Destiny's boisterous comments about my driving. Maybe she is also growing to like the dips, bumps and ruts too, like riding a roller coaster.

Sunday in Lum's Pond in Deleware

While we were enjoying Warped today, Alec was jittery knowing that The Academy Is was performing only 30 miles away at Six Flags so around 330 she decided we should leave Oceanport and spend the money to see her Make A Wish "brother" William Beckett.

The drive was really easy, no traffic at all. We arrived in plenty of time and were excited about our decision but when we went to purchase our tickets to the show the attendant had a funny look on her face. "Concert?" she puzzled. As it turned out Alec's WB circadiam rhythms were off by exactly 24 hrs. The concert is tomorrow night! Good times... Decision time; return to Oceanport for the remainder of the show/evening or head south towards Virginia Beach. We had already determined with 4 affirmative votes from the Warped staff that we should skip Boston and take an extra day to enjoy the beaches and maybe even DC. The drive from NJ to Boston wasn't bad, about 5 hours, but the return drive from Mass to Virginia would have been about 10.

We headed south on 95 which takes you through Phili so I decided it was break time. We saw Independence Hall, Kimel Center (where Alec danced in the Irish Dance Worlds last April) U Penn, Drexel University and a few other asides. Phili is a beautiful city.

By the ice cream and flan we were falling having trouble keeping our eyes open (20 hrs and counting since we were up at 2 AM to drive) so we headed home via the subway. Randy again was nice enough to put all our cost onto his one metro card so we didn;t even have to hassle with the ticket machines. I confess though, I didn't get through the turn stile quick enough and so alas, wasted a fare. Leave it to me I guess.

Sarah is headed off right now in her beautiful fancy dress and hat armed with a bouquette of flowers to award the horse that wins in the 10th race on behalf of Warped Tour.

I guess this is a new venue for Warped and they are very happy to be here. Everyone like security etc are very polite and helpful which makes all the difference in the world.

Because Alec needs the computer and we don't want to be too obnoxious and take up too much space here on the bus, I will say bye for now.

More to come soon though it may not be until tomorrow since I don't want to be a rude guest on Kevin's bus.

Later,

MLH

Per Kevin, the band that I really enjoyed yesterday was called Walk Off The Earth. Check them out!

Back to Brooklyn: After the brief walking tour of NYU and Cooper Union Nick took us to a delicious Indian Restaurant called Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant on First Ave.

The entire eating area was decked out in christmas lights of every imaginable shape and color. With low hanging Indian Fabrics it was really womb like and comfortable. The food was also fantastic. I think Alec, LIz and I lost touch with our table manners and we gorged on Nan and a variety of currys. YUM!

After we left the venue yesterday we drove to Brooklyn to visit with my brother Randy and his son Nick. As always, Randy was extremely accomodating. He even arose early to save me two parking spaces so I could park Destiny out of harms way. Though it took us a while to get there through city traffic it was far more pleasant that the drive through Chicago by far.

After showering, what a thrill, we headed out to Manhattan to check out NYU (on my list) and get a bit to eat.

NYU has no campus to speak of; in fact Nick is displeased with the fact that the school is spralling in all directions gentrifying the neighborhood and altering the Grenetch (SP?) Village vibe. Where there was once a neighborhood dog run there is now an uppity landscaped area. I laughed when Nick added that he thought they had re-centered the fountain area in order for Google Maps to be able to map it more procisely. Pretty interesting theory.

Yesterday was a great day; sunny breezy and very lively. The venue in NY was large and flat, very few bottle necks and lots of happy fans. I listened to several bands that I hadn't yet seen and I was especially impressed with. Truth is though I have to figure out who they were. Maybe when Kevin comes back in I'll ask him.

There are many interesting punk hybrid bands. The one yesterday was a combo rap/punk band. Very funky, fun lyrics and exceptionally tight musically. The lead singer was very high energy and pretty humourous between songs. I really enjoyed the performance a lot.

Today All Time Low joins Warped. ATL was Lizzi's Make A Wish band in SF so she is beyond thrilled that she will get to see them again today. I'm not sure who left the Main Stage to make room for them though.

Oceanport New Jersey,

Today is Sunday and according to Kevin Lyman, Sunday is always a rest day. They watch Nascar and offer massages to the "family".

I guess I'm becoming extended family because here I sit in Kevin's well appointed bus....airconditioned bus. This venue is a race track and Production et.al. is outside under a tent; no interior space today. So no electric plugs except in the buses.

I am so appreciative to be surrounded and cared for by such a wonderful group of people. I can't see how touring could ever be better than this.

h
Top left: Northwestern University, Evansville Ill at Dusk Top right: Dancing Arrows Bottom Left: Alec cooking dinner in Woodland, Pennsylvania

A few shots from the first 5 days on the road.

The other kindness imparted on us was compliments of the official Warped Tour Bus and Trailer who allowed us to follow him last night which means that he reduced his speed to 65 which is like going backwards. It was great to focus on keeping up rather than the miriad of exchanges, loops, detours etc. The George Washington Bridge at sunrise was beautiful though Liz had been hoping for the Lincoln Tunnel. My favorite part though was when HE took a wrong turn when WE (or rather Lu Lu) knew better. Despite the fact that it cost us an extra 6 bucks in toll money (to get off and back on) it was gratifying to know that even the experts screw up; made me feel a whole lot better.

That's about it for now.

See ya,

MLH

On todays menu introductions with the remaining stage managers that Alec hasn't met yet, and since we are leaving in the mid afternoon to go visit my brother who lives in Brooklyn we won't bother setting up the trailer.

This venue, home of the New York Islanders, has loads of air conditioned space and miles and miles of parking lot so I will have cool off options between crowds. This will be our fourth show and I have to say its a bit like Ground Hog Day. Maybe there were a few older members in the audience (over 15) in Camden but otherwise one day's crowd looks pretty much like the others. I thought that there might be variety in the fan bass, but not really. It seems that there are always a variety of pink haired girls and half naked boys with mowhawks in every burg. For alternative music they aren't very unique it turns out. In fact, I have to add that I am also getting a tad tired of some of the theatrics on stage, the bobbing head move in unison is getting boring as is the jumping up and down off the amps....bla bla bla. The juxtaposition between appearing cutting edge and free to be and the fact that the looks and moves are all coreographed sort of displeases me. Oh well, the world is a stage and Warped Tour isn't different, just louder. Yet, I do feel like for a perhaps visually overt crowd everyone is extremely helpful, friendly and mindful of others, the planet etc. Teenage screamos with tatoos, piercings and dyed black hair really shouldn't scare the shit out of you (My Chemical Romance).

I talked with one New York rocker yesterday, born and bread whose father was a Merchant Marine and he was telling me how when he becomes a father he's going to kill any boy that even thinks about taking advantage of his daughters. He described himself as a high school drop out who became a General Contractor who made and lost tons of money in the stock market all before age 20. Now he's a starving musician but concerned about his diminishing retirement account and de-valued Starbucks stocks who swears that he will carry a riffle when the time comes to approve of his daughter's potential boyfriends. Hmmmmm.....

Cont

Thank you Jim, Ted, Alec and Liz for helping me figure out how to post what I thought was but wasn't. 4:1 is about the proper ratio to train me.

Anyway, at 2 AM we awoke to the song "Celebrate" on the speakers and far to our right all the bands were dancing, partying and throwing their last belongs into their vehicles. Our cue to tear down the trailer which we did with clear skies above. My sin however was leaving the evil Wall Mart ice chest behind with the ripe tri-tip enclosed. Surprise! Only one person has remarked so far that something smells like beef. My lips are shut. At least we smell like Tri-Tip rather than hamburger, right?

Alec came up with a name for her organization. Its now called Pop-Up Productions. Be thinking about a logo for her.

Sat cont.

My sense is that the Main Stage houses the legend bands (those that have been playing Warped since the beginning) and the head-liners if there is such a thing in a festival atmosphere. I saw Flogging Molly and Less Than Jake. Both were excellent. Less Than Jake had a large horn section and lots of energy, so much in fact that they ended their last song with sheet lightening. That was my cue to head back to the trailer I hadn't taken a shower yesterday but I got one anyway. I was soaked by the time I reached Destiny where the girls were inside cozied up peering out the window. It was clear that they were a tad concerned but also evident that sleep dep had dulled their senses. Too tired to care about living or dying? This was our second major thunder/lightening storm of the trip and our first in the trailer. It was great! Glad to add that the trailer is water proof too!

Since we had a short drive ahead of us, we decided to take the opportunity to catch up with a little sleep. A lot of the van bands were packing up and leaving which concerned us a little; hard to know if we are in the know or not, but we stayed put anyway. I think we slept for a good 4 hours which might be a new record.

Saturday in Uniondale New York

Yesterday's show was really fun. I spent part of the day hanging out in the catering area chatting with people which was pleasantly relaxing and low key. Then when I gathered the energy to move, I went out and spent most of my afternoon listening to the bands on the Main Stage. There were several I really liked.

I just offered my "Fun Box" to the FUSE staff and they may go back to the trailer with me to see if there is anything they want to use for their segment today. So I am signing off! We will be here fairly late tonight since the next venue is only a few hours away. I am looking forward to SLEEPING in a prone position prior to the next drive. Also, no cell phone service here, but we do need to get the the CFF Camden office today or tomorrow to pick up the bracelets. Also, I am really looking forward to seeing my brother Randy and company in Brooklyn here in the next day or so. And MAYBE we'll take a quick tour of U of Penn or Rutgers....maybe..... Its hard to drive past so many historical, educational, or plan interesting looking places without stopping to check it all out. I keep telling myself that we can't do everything. After last nights difficult drive I have to admit that this is a lot harder than it looked on paper. Between the driving, the boiling of nebulizers, oh and today I had to spend an hour putting all our clothes out to dry because the ice chest I bought from Wall Mart (who are OFF my list) leaked and all of our clothes were drenched in meat water. We will be smelling like raw meat for a while I'm afraid. Anyway, it isn't the music related aspects that are trying, it is the chores and the travel. But its still VERY worth it and I'm really glad that Alec made this happen.

See you later,

MLH

I have to close because my luxurious table and electic plug is about to be pirated by FUSE TV and a segment called Warped Tour Trivia. They are as I type blowing up neon colored easy chairs and setting up cameras etc. Apparently Alec and Liz were on camera this morning as part of a crowd/interview shot. I will not be surprised if they become a segment themselves.

Twice now I have been chatting with random security guys and they are already familiar with Alec and Liz. Each morning there is a security meeting and the girls are a daily discussion item. Since they are under age, I am sure they are a line item. Between the twin thing and the CF they are already used to being "special" I guess, but I think they would tell you that this is the best "special" yet!

Before setting up Destiny, we headed for the head. In our eyes, this is the best venue yet, excellent air conditioned shower facilities (Alec and Liz have already partaked) and not a horrible long walk from the parking area to and through the venue. When we confirmed our positive vibes with Kate she said that this was one of her favorite venues.

On the way back we ran into Kevin Lyman who noting Alec and LIz's sunburn from yesterday imediately brought us into his bus to offer more sunscreen, water etc. We stayed chatting with he and Sarah for a while. He is a very kind, smart human being. No wonder Warped Tour is considered to be one of the best run tours on the road. The more I observe and learn, it is clear that this is a traveling "family".

The power nap did give me enough to rally and head for Niagra Falls after the girls were ready to leave which was about 6 PM. It seemed unthinkable to be that close (35 miles) and not go. So we did.

The Falls weren't at all what I expected. They are dead center amid Urban sky scrapers and tourist traps. Sort of like Fisherman's Warf except with a raging water fall. The sun was setting and that was cool; I'm glad I went, but the extra 80 miles tacked onto our otherwise long drive was challenging. Good news is that in our sleep deprived state we did NOT get stuck in Canada with no passports!

The drive from Niagra Falls to Camden was my biggest physical challenge yet. I was tired when we started and only lasted about 150 miles before I had to stop and sleep. Liz and Alec were equally exhausted so rather than wake Liz up to drive I felt like it would be better to let all of us sleep and risk a late arrival in the morning. So basically this is what happened. The girls slept the whole way and I drove a while, slept a while, drove a while, slept a while. We finally passed back through Scranton about 8:30 this morning (way late but oh well) and came through Philly and to Camden about 10:00. We found our bus buddies easilly and went to find Kate to check in and make sure she didn't think we were road kill long the high way somewhere.

Arriving back to the venue, the girls were imediately scheduling interviews. It was Rocket Summers last day so they graciously allowed for an interview which lasted about 30 minutes. I wasn't there though so can't tell you more than that the girlies were very excited. They also shot a drum building session (band members make/paint drums and they are auctioned off for a fundraiser) and other happenings.

I on the other hand, truly "hit the wall" and spent the day trying not to fall asleep. The high light for me was taking a shower!

I also tend to scope out the VIP section side stage where twice now I have found myself completely alone in a nice shady breezy spot where I can relax, watch the Smart Punk and Hurley stage and catch my breath. Yesterday I kept nodding off so I looked further and found a nice spot on the grass behind the deck side stage. I promptly fell asleep using my back pack for a pillow. I don't know how long I slept but it wasn't long enough though and the screemo band on stage didn't even phase me I was so tired.

Looking back to yesterday in Buffalo

We arrived in Buffalo on time (6:30 AM) with "the gang" and paraded into the venue parking. Usually the Main Stage bands with the fancy buses go first and then everything follows along in size alike order...well everyone except us because no one is size-alike. We are out of the box. So we just sort of cut the line behind the Main Stage buses, or at least yesterday we did. We were invited to park back stage which was pretty cool. The walk to Production (Kate, Beth and Kevin's offices) was much shorter and in theory so was the hike to the room for the girls to do their treatments. In theory because they never got that far.

After talking to their mentors, it was decided that our video camera would not due and the girls really needed a digital one so we asked Lu Lu to find us a Best Buy, which she did about 20 miles away. Long story short, it took us about 4 hrs to purchase what the girls needed.

Camden New Jersey at the something bank Pavillion.

Just across a body of water from Philly I sit watching a graying sky and intermitent rain drops fall. I am in the catering/lunch area surrounded by "rock stars" eating. Rock stars eat?

It was a LONG and sleep deprived drive here, about 400 miles. Twice I had to pull over and sleep because I knew that if a deer or semi pulled out in front of me I wouldn't have the energy or will to press the break.

But I'm good now. I am learning to appreciate the comfort of the drivers seat and the quiet or the rest stops. Last night we were parked maybe 20 yards away from the highway and I didn't hear a thing.

Photos maybe

Let me see if I can import some photos for you.

It will be a challenge to connect the buses to the band members to the names of their bands. The bus next to us seems to be from Florida; one friendly techie is named South but that's all I can tell you so far.

Everyone seems fairly busy and task oriented during the day but maybe tonight there will be more opportunity to chat.

Alec and Liz are feeling their way around and I hope that tomorrow they will actually begin filming but it isn't my gig, right? Hard to step back and as you know, not my best skill either. I'm tryinng....

I think that's about it! I'm debating about cooking up some veggies for dinner, we'll see. Can't decide how ambitious I want to be on the first night out. I think I'd better pace myself! Might be some late nights and long dark driving ahead.

From the Montage Mountain venue above Scranton Pennsylvania I say "later".

MLH

cont.

Bus call tonight is 1 AM which means that it is advised that everyone get on the road by that time. I'm not sure exactly when we will leave given that Alec and Liz want to see The Maine perform at 7 PM. I believe the concert ends at 8 PM. There is some talk of another party but not sure what that means exactly. Guess we will find out.

It does appear that the Warped Tour community is pretty tight. Someone else said that there is a softball game planned for this week too.

We also met one of the Frampton twins (Mia?) today in the shower room and she was especially friendly and fun to talk to, though I didn't have the courage to ask her if she is related to Peter. Stand by...

cont.

After about 4 hours I was fading so came back to Destiny my sanctuary and settled in for a little afternoon siesta. With the zippers opened and the breeze blowing through (we are up on a mountain top) it is really in my opinion the best deal going! Sure we don't have air conditioning but I suspect that we are going to be very content with our portable abode.

cont.

There are I believe 6 stages of varying sizes running mostly at the same time. Between them a gauntlet of booths, bands hawking their wares, Peta, Green Peace, and a variety of other non-profits and for profits. It truly is a festival environment.

Before the gates opened it was really fun to walk around and watch everyone setting up but also somewhat overwhelming as you had to duck out of the way of semi trucks, band members on bikes, scooters and many weary people pushing and pulling various carts full of everything you can name, but beer and ice seemed prominent.

Cont.

Though we are in just about the best parking location, it is still a good quarter mile to the Green Room area behind stage. Now I know why all the band members fit so well into their skinny jeans! Seriously, I will have to make sure that the girls stay well hydrated and fed, otherwise the walking alone is going to burn off significant calories. I on the other hand might just return to CA looking improved as long as I stay away from the beer.

Several people we talked to today referred to a "raging party" last night which might explain the girl who was competely asleep on one of the couches in the green room. You'd be surprised how peaceful and quiet it is in there given the fact that it is behind a punk main stage the size of Shoreline.

cont;

We also met some other very friendly back stage crew members and I was appreciative how accomodating and welcoming everyone was to us, especially Alec.

It took a little while to get our All Access Passes, but we have them now and I must say it is pretty incredible to be able to walk anywhere we like.

I spent most of the morning behind the main stage listening to the "smart punk" bands.

The back stage Green Room area is actually huge as you would expect for over 700 entertainers and techies. They have several tents set up with couches, chairs and tables. Outdoor sitting areas and even a weight lifting area. There is also a large dining area where everyone lines up for their catered meals. Lunch smelled fantastic though the girls and I did not partake in the catering package which was a little pricey for our meager budget, though we were told that we could have some A La Carte meals if we wanted to. I did help myself to a cup of coffee and no one seemed too concerned about it.

Day One continued

It took us about 20 minutes (a new record) to tear down the trailer and roll back up the hill. Alec was required to call Kate at 8 AM sharp so we had time to stop for ice and coffee on the way. We weren't sure if we would be able to get in since our luck had changed the night before but the Warped Warlocks were with us and we easily talked our way through the tour bus gate where we decided to park alongside a some what dilapidated RV rather than look exceedingly precarious next to the fancy black tour buses.

Later we discovered that these spots were temporary anyway; all the buses are lined up one by one as directed by the parking staff. We wound up in a great spot next to a band bus from Florida and only a very short walk to the talent entrance to the venue. I took a picture of the trailer alongside the bus, excellent juxtaposition I'd say.

All day band people have been noticing the trailer, some with positively curious remarks and others with disparringing ones. One group said something like, "What a piece of shit." I wanted to yell out the window, "but its paid for in full and I don't have to hawk any CDs today so neener neener neener!" but I was good.

Alec and LIz have spent the day talking to all the Warped admin people, Kate, our main contact and I believe Kevin Lyman's right hand women. Also Betheny, the very gracious and warm gal in charge of all things press related. Betheny is the one who will help Alec set up her interviews each day.

Warped Tour Day 1

Wow the G3 works!
We arrived in Scranton about 7 pm last night. The last 2 miles to the venue took over an hour however....Nickelback was playing at the Mountain Venue, our destination. Poor Destiny, again we're in a long line of rowdy traffic headed to the show. The police officers guiding the traffic were taken aback when I said that I was early for Warped Tour and didn't want to park with the riff raff. Eventually though we were offered a U-Turn up a secret back road and found ourselves in a nice quiet, green corner of the parking lot where we were to wait until 1 AM to be able to truly "move in" to the tour bus area. Nickelback had over 35 buses and trucks and as it turned out it was long after 2 AM when they finally departed along with their 20K fans. Unfortuanately, since we had no official paperwork yet, security eventually kicked us back out and directed us down the hill to the "overflow" parking in Yankee Stadium. So about 2:30 we set up the trailer, narrowly avoiding total disaster when in our sleep deprived state we disconnected the trailer from the van prior to setting the wheel barriers. Luckilly we were not on much of a hill and Destiny only shocked us into compliance by only rolling about a foot before we were jolted out of oblivion in time to grab her. Good thing she is fairly petite and light.

We sort of slept, tour busses wizzed by all night long as we nervously tried to close our eyes.

About 5:30 AM I awoke freezing and confused by the rhythmic sound on the breeze. It took me a few minutes to realize that I was listening to paradiddles. Sure enough, several other bands had joined us during the night (so I guess I did sleep) and a drummer was standing under a lamp post practicing on his drum pad. I have never experienced the rare song of the Early Morning Paradidle Bird before but I have to say I was smiling. Cracked me up!

Cozy in bed in Woodland PA

We arrived to our evening camp site with spare time and energy. Alec cooked a great shrimp/veggie creation for dinner. That and a hot shower and we are in paradise now. Tomorrow we sleep in since there is only about 150 miles left to Scranton. Then do a little last minute Warped Tour shopping and the real adventure begins. Alec is a little nervous about her project. It will be great! Night night!

MLH

New Record

Wow! 10 bucks at the last Toll Booth. How do people afford to leave their farm houses?

Also, excuse the spelling errors. At least they are proof that I don't have a ghost writer. To know me is to tolerate my crappy spelling.

Out of shot gun and on to cruise control with me! See ya, MLH

Since Notre Dame we have eaten (finall !!!!) at the Coffee Basket and covered another several hundred miles passing through Tolido and Cleaveland.

I'm not totally dumb so I have already booked our site for tonight in Woodlands Pennsylvania where we are promised showers (we stink), a pool and a pull-through (though you would be impressed with my newly acquired back-up skills).

So this is where I leave off, Warren, Ohio, Kim Borches birth state among other less important things.

Alec needs relief so I bid you happy trails for now.

Love ya,

MLH

Erie county today

Up at t he crack of dawn and back on the road brings us nearly up to speed. As luck would have it the College of Notre Dame was mere miles from where we had laid our weary heads, so off 80 and through another toll booth (they get you coming and going every time) we turned left into the gate just as the sun started to rise over Jesus. "I found Jesus" Alec declared. That and a HUGE professional sized football stadium.

ND is much like USC; spotlessly clean, brick with statues of saints and sports stars mixed together. Its very impressive, as the royalty of Catholic colleges should be. We had fun walking through campus. A few joggers, construction workers with lunch pales and us rounded out the population of the place. Too bad we hadn't set up our tent trailer there! Would have slept much better.

Erie county today

Up at the crack of dawn and back on the road brings us nearly up to speed. As luck would have it the College of Notre Dame was mere miles from where we had laid our weary heads, so off 80 and through another toll booth (they get you coming and going every time)

The three of us walked around in a dream state until our stomaches could take no more emptiness at which point it was nearing 11 PM. Destiny was awaiting re-freshed after he nap an even Lu Lu revived from her coma so we headed out of Chicago tired, hungry (still no food all day) but happy.

The happiness faded though as we merged back into the insanity of the toll booths, traffic and potholes. I think we spent upwards of $40 bucks on tolls yesterday. Crazy!

The Indiana border proved to be a sea of paper factories (at least from the smell I couldn't really see anything beyond my beams) with narry a camp site to be had. Finally about 50 miles later, I waved the white flag and we pulled in to a Yogi Bear "camp resort".....that wanted to charge 60 bucks for a site. No F-ing way....especially after the 40 bucks ingested by the the toll takers.

Long story short, we slept not peacefully in the car.

Though we didn't make it to campus until new darkness, Northwestern is indeed one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever seen. Maybe it was the dancing fireflies or the little bunnies playing on the lawn, or the blue of Lake Michgan as background to the sailboats lining the beach, but I was sold. Plus, the hood beyound campus bustles with students, shops, restaurants etc, even at 10 PM on Sunday night.

We were starving though and had a reccomedation for a Pizza place somewhere so using the lap top (3-G is great in the city) we toured through a variety of neighborhoods, some rather sketchy where I sweared under my breath at William Beckett) but many quaint and beautiful til hungry and stiff we arrived at the pizza place.

A sign on the door posted "on vacation" proved to disappoint. Oh, this by the way was also after we discovered that Angels and Kings, a famous WB bar was also closed on Sundays. So this was stike two in the food department. Hmmm...

Hungry and anoyed we pushed on towards Northwestern relying in part on Alec's vague recollections since she was just there back in April for Irish Worlds.

We were starving though and had a reccomedation for a Pizza place somewhere so using the lap top (3-G is great in the city) we

It was about this time that LuLu fell in to a coma.

One of the mistakes the girls and I made was to be too conservative at AAA when we asked for books. Maybe we were overwhelmed, but somehow we managed to leave WC with only a small handful of states covered. Relying on LuLu (now comotose) without good old fashioned hard copy maps was a tad bit of a fail.

It was about this time that LuLu fell in to a coma.

One of the mistakes the girls and I made was to be too conservative at AAA when we asked for books. Maybe we were overwhelmed, but somehow we managed to leave Cali

After several hours of stalking and a few Starbucks later (also clean bathrooms well worth the price of an iced coffee) we left the wealthy future in-laws somewhere behind and headed into down town proper.

Now Destiny had been a real trooper in the suburbs but she and I were both overwhelmed by the potholes, commute traffic, Chicago loop and anxious drivers in the city. Despite her suffering, she followed along trepedaciously.

From Barrington High we toured Barrington proper, a spralling lush green oasis of 20 acre estates complete with private lakes. We didn't find the Siska home or Adam or William but we did manage to attract a few funny looks as we rubbernecked along private lanes through country clubs and horse trails. Destiny followed along fairly willingly though she was somewhat demeaned by all the fancy RVs in the circular driveways. People were friendly though, meaning that no one called the cops on us.

Lizzi, who was doning her The Academy Is t-shirt worried that one of the younger boys playing baseball on the filed was a baby Beckett. She and I decided that if anyone accused her of being a stalker she'd say she was Alec. The beauty of being a twin!

Fact: The video with Barrington HS was not filmed there. Off topic: We just passed the tour bus for Rascal Flats.

Was it Pleasantville or Stepford Wives? Anyway, Grinnell is sweet, and very pretty but Alec and Liz both said no way in hell!

The weather was overcast all day, muggy and drippy but ok.

We arrived outside of Chicago around 11 with our first stop....Barrington High School where we walked around a very large modern campus looking for proof that William Beckett of The Academy Is had spent time there.

Aside from Wallmart Iowa is a sea of corn, much like Nebraska. Its very green dotted with some picturesque old barns and silos for days. Definately coffee table book material here.

We also took a detour to Grinnell College at about 10 AM. This was Sunday remember and the sidewalks were silent. We may have seen 10 living bodies in the hour or so that we were in and around campus.

Its a beautiful campus though, very clean with a wide variety of architecture. A church on every corner yet no sign that anyone was in them. Kinda weird. We wondered at one point if we were on the set of that Jim Carey movie.

Continuing a few sentences at a time.

We left our site quietly in under 30 minutes (not bad for only second tear down) and headed east. A few hours later we stopped at my first Wallmart with trepedation, but it had a huge parking lot and with the sunrise in the back, I have to admit it looked compelling.

It was. The place was HUGE, clean, friendly and most shocking, fresh flowers in the women's bathroom! After the multiple nasty bathrooms (especially the pit at the campsite the night before) this fresh smelling bathroom sold the weary travelers. Even more surprising we bought fresh plums and nectarines, some of the best I have ever tasted. What? Wallmart fruit? Hmmmm.

There we were sitting in our camping chairs listening to tunes on the I-pod while gazing at the fireflies surrounding us. It was truly a highlite. Even dinner (canned soup) tasted so great. I love road trips.

We did have one obnoxious group of neighbors who enjoyed themselves with loud off color jokes but when I complained to the girls they reminded me that this group behaved much like the parrotheads. Hmmm.....

So lets go back again...

We left Iowa at about 5 am yesterday morning after enjoying a relaxing time at Arrowhead Park just east of Omaha and the Missouri river. Best: FIREFLIES! It was soooo cool. I had seen them only once before at 6 years old but this was Alec and Lizzi's first time. We were soooooo excited.

Erie Country

I am struggling to stay connected to the internet while I write this for the 3rd time I am sorry to say that my first attempt was long and juicy (30 minutes worth) but I don't think I have it in me to re-write it all.

Erie Country

I just posted a 20 minute entry only to discover that somewhere along this freeway I lost service and the whole post without knowing to save it. So....I am going to save and re-post every few sentences from now on. That said...

In Erie county

Hi!

Alec is behind the wheel doing great! She's even mastered the toll booths which come along unwelcomed about every 20 minutes or so. The cost seems to range randomly between 75 cents to 6 bucks! So far, in the last 24 hrs we have spent about 40 bucks on tolls. Didn't put that into the budget, so last night, to make up for it, we slept in the car. Didn't I swear that I wasn't going to do that? Can I get a witness?

However, we had a BLAST in Chicago starting with our tour through Barrington which is a very wealthy suburb east of town. Barrington HS was huge, modern and not at all like the HS used in the The Academy Is video to Alec's anoyance. After walking half way around campus, Lizzi realized she was wearing an Academy Is shirt and felt concerned that we would be flagged as stalkers. I told her that if anyone asked, just say her name was Alec. :-)

We drove around Barrington through the most amazing 10-20 acre estates looking for the Siska family house on a lake with white wood paneling and a porche (Adam's) in the drive. Darn, didn't find it, but did get some pretty funny looks. Remember Destiny (the tent trailer) was shadowing us bouncing up and down complaining about the uppity Rvs in all the drive-ways.

A few Starbucks later (we had left Iowa at 5 AM to make Chicago early) we headed into downtown proper where of course Lu Lu fell into a coma. Sans hard copy maps, we reverted to said lap top (this is totally worth the ATT 3-G cost) helped us find Pizza Pilazo, William's fav. Through an hours worth of assorted neighborhoods we traveled drolling in anticipation of breakfast/lunch/dinner. Of course we get to the pizza parlor and behold a sign in the window "On Vacation". We nearly cried but didn't instead rallying to head towards Northwestern University clear on the other side of Chicago. Destiny followed along but not willingly. This is cold weather country and there are serious ruts in the

In Erie county

Hi!

Alec is behind the wheel doing great! She's even mastered the toll booths which come along unwelcomed about every 20 minutes or so. The cost seems to range randomly between 75 cents to 6 bucks! So far, in the last 24 hrs we have spent about 40 bucks on tolls. Didn't

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska

I'm currently a cornhusker. Did you know that they mow the medians in Nebraska? That and if you want to drive a semi, it has to be red.

Liz is at the wheel, she relieved Alec at the Pony Express Station in Grotenberg about an hour ago.

Had a fantastic time getting completely drenched in a thunder/lightening storm in Denver last night. The waiter kept saying, "take your time". I had no idea there was a raging storm beyond my steak dinner. We three held hands and made a break for it, leaping puddles. Leaving Denver, a large traffic jam was the result of a "lake" below a flooded underpass. I feared for the Miata in front of us, but all was well.

So far we are spending about $100/day on gas. Only ran to fumes once, stopped in Copper Mountain Colorado just in the nick of time. Colorado gets the "beautiful state" award so far. Spectacular vistas throughout. Glenwood Springs is a re-do. Beautiful little berg alongside the Colorado river, rafting and water fun! Could have stuck around there for sure.

Counted road kill yesterday....Lizzi won. Saw (alive) big horn sheep, prarie dogs, lots of uppity fancy cows and a bob cat. Feral kittens last night at the RV camp.

Lots of technology in this car; i-pods, computer, GPS, phones and the I-touch. Blew fuses twice when the girls were doing their breathing treatments. Luckilly I bought lots of extra fuses and switched up to "30" which seems to be handling the load.

This is a great life! The trailer is proving worth its cost. It was o-dark last night when we put it up and except for one smashed finger (jack) we had it up in about 10 minutes. Pretty good for only 2nd time. Tonight, we go for the record!

Signing off for now,

MLH at the Hamilton County line in Nebraska.

Awaiting the delivery of the CFF bracelets and T-Shirts for the philanthropy side of Alec's Warped Tour experience. If I can come up with a streaming application in the next 8 days prior to our first show in Scranton on the 15th, Down Low Radio will also emerge. Stay Tuned!

MLH

Alec dreaming Eastwardly.

Alec is pretending to be shy. Note the bracelet on Liz. Jacky is a fly girl.

Less Than 48 hours to go.

The van is clean! Alec and Liz have tic'd off the important details. Tomorrow Alec takes her drivers test and Thursday morning we are 80 east bound. First stop.....4 Corners Cafe in Nevada for breakfast. Hope to make it to Salt Lake for our first night in our new Tent Trailer. Need a name for her, any ideas?

MLH