Because Spinella’s is in Gresham, and Gresham is near Vancouver, WA, where a lot of my family lives, I always try and connect with someone when we are in the area. This time, my Aunt Darcy invited all of us to her place for breakfast and mimosas. Judging by this picture, maybe we had more mimosas than breakfast. But when the calling is there, and the Velour is flowing, the “Burt Reynolds Pose” is the only answer. And man, did Jared deliver!
After breakfast, we looked at the fourteen-and-a-half-hour timeframe between us and Ventura and knew we needed to put some miles in if we wanted to get to the studio by Monday evening. When we’re doing these long driving stints between gigs, we often plan everything around gas and food. So, when we saw that there was an In-N-Out where we’d be around 5:30, we were STOKED! Dinner plans secured.
After dinner, we all had some work to get done. As I said previously, Walker is in school and had some assignment due, I had to start the blog, and Jared had to get it all set up to get out to the readers. About thirty minutes after dinner, we rolled into a Starbucks, hopped onto their WiFi, and got to work.
Because of the coffee, Jared was pretty wired and probably could have driven until 2:00 am. However, since we had to set Walker up in the trailer top tent for the first time, we wanted to be a little coherent to be able to do that. So, around midnight, we pulled into a rest stop in Corning, CA and hooked it up!
We bought it originally to go on our truck. But with the amount that we really NEED it to use, the idea of having it permanently on our truck was daunting. The added weight that would effect gas mileage, the added height that may make it difficult or impossible to park in covered structures (like at SeaTac where we WORK), the blocking of our sunroof, and the general annoyance of lugging it around, all for a few weeks or a couple months that we may use it, seemed foolish. So Jared had the brilliant idea to attach it to the trailer! The guys at the roof top tent place, Next Jump Outfitters, were stoked for the challenge and excited about the innovative idea! They ordered the parts and got it up and on so sturdily and efficiently! It is a PERFECT solution for Walker, as well as when we want to tour with our ever-growing pre-teen!
Walker climbed up in there, sealed himself in, and said it was dark, lovely and super comfy!
However, he was shaken about around 4:45 in the morning when a huge gust of wind convinced him that someone had climbed up our 6’ trailer without a ladder and was trying to get in. That special panic that sets in when you’re startled awake and can’t discern what’s real or not. He called us immediately and Jared jumped out to see what it could be. When all was proclaimed safe, another gust of wind confirmed our suspicions. Welcome to the Santa Ana’s. The CA winds are no joke and Walker got to experience that first hand. After that, we all crashed (once our adrenaline had calmed down) and enjoyed a few more hours of peaceful sleep.
