Home of the “Worlds BEST Huckleberry Milkshakes”.
After four years of passing this place either coming into or leaving MT, and for some reason NEVER being able to stop there, we FINALLY made it! Home of the “Best shake EVER”… The ever elusive huckleberry milkshake that this whole state boasts about with their signs and advertisements.
Look at my face. 😂 Fool me once, shame on YOU, Montana. Fool me twice, shame on ME!! Well, I will admit, these were pretty delicious. AND, if we hadn’t had the first “meh-kshakes”, we probably wouldn’t have realized how good these actually were.
So, after finishing them, my assessment is that I can live without another, but a curiosity was quenched, as well as a hunger for breakfast. And, now we could head back to WA wiser, satisfied, and more full of dairy than I desired to be. 😂
Collapse Art Gallery in downtown Wenatchee was the space for our gig on Day 40. Listening room we wanted, listening room we GOT!!! The gallery was an absolutely gorgeous long, open hall. Light oak hardwood floors, a piano in the corner and modern art hung for the August showcase, set up the room perfectly for the performance. Bright and beautiful and glowing from the sun that poured down from the big, blue Wenatchee sky, our stage was naturally well lit. Then warm studio lights were aimed just right for where we would stand and play. Chairs were set up intimately and close to the stage, and 45-50 people made their way in and paid their ticket price to see the show. The gallery owners, Chad and Rhonda, welcomed everyone as if they were hosting from their home. (Unfortunately, we got no pictures with them, or Chad’s parents who drove in from Tacoma to see us, who are none other than the infamous Bonnie and Phil who have abundantly blessed our lives for the past five years…💖)
I didn’t think we’d be able to have Rudy with us. I misunderstood a 21+ rule that wasn’t really there, so I was super excited to be able to have our guy on stage with us for a bit more. And, of course the audience was as well. We opened with “Dressed Up” and launched into a two and a half hour evening of stories, laughter, showmanship, vulnerability, and excellent music! It felt so amazing to have a captive audience who hung on every word. They were in it with us. This was our journey and we were all together and loving it!
At the end of these tours, Jared and I are always really playing well, since that is pretty much our one and only job while on the road. We don’t have any of the day-to-day things to distract us or take our focus. We are just one well-oiled machine, all parts working together at their highest performance capacity, to produce the finest product we can. Our settings are dialed in. Our kinks worked out. Our stories polished, yet fresh. Our voices in perfect harmony (mostly😂), and our fingers nimble and moving almost on their own, driven by muscle memory and agility. It’s comfortable. It’s safe. It’s exactly what we’re meant to be doing, and it’s as a family.
We have four more gigs before we get to be home. Someone said to us, “How do you do it? I bet you’re so tired. I bet you can’t wait to be through. I bet you can’t wait to be HOME!”
Well, yes and no. I liken the feeling to a boat ride. When you get off the water, you still feel the rocking motion, and somehow the land feels foreign. You try to regain your footing, utilizing different muscles for the new, stable terrain. That’s the best I can describe it. The first few weeks back, we still feel the road under us. We hear the wind and the hypnotic rotation of the tires. We miss the cramped, yet intimate way we sleep and coexist. We dream about the freedom and the unified focus we all share. It takes a bit to put our lives back together and reinsert ourself into “normal” again. But, I never feel like we aren’t “home”. When you’re as close as we are, “home” is wherever WE are. Do we miss our “house”? You bet. Our pets and friends and our city?? Absolutely! But we never feel far from home as long as we’re together…
