So bittersweet waking up in the truck for the last time this morning. My momma-heart already aches for these sweet moments to continue, even though they are still as fresh as just minutes ago. . .
Our stop for the next two and a half days is Bonnie and Phil’s in Wenatchee. It’s where we began our tour, and, essentially where our tour ends (except for our last gig on day 46 on Bainbridge Island). I cannot possibly imagine a better way to bookend our trip than a stay with these incredible people!
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Bonnie sent me a message and said, “The freezer has chicken nuggets and popsicles for Rudy, we have yogurt and coffee (and bourbon) for you and Jared. When you get here, honk or play a tune and the door will magically open!” How true that was! After swinging through a do-it-yourself car wash to get the most incredible bug (and a couple birds) collection off the front of our truck, we headed up the hill to their place. When we pulled in, Rudy couldn’t get out fast enough to give huge hugs to Bonnie and Phil, and then headed straight for the freezer drawer!
Once settled in with some lunch and a couple beers in our bellies, the pool was calling our names! I think the resting temp for the water was 95°, but it was still cooler than outside. So we played hard for a few hours then came inside to enjoy our host’s company and the AC.
A delicious salmon dinner, with Phil and Bonnie and their son, Chad, and his family, atop the East Wenatchee hills, and finally getting a chance to watch some of the presidential debates, we could definitely feel WA all around us.
It is strange being less than 3 hours from home but not being able to get there. After all this time and the so many things we’ve done, it just doesn’t seem right yet to be ending this. Tomorrow and the next night we have shows in Leavenworth, then a private party on Bainbridge Island will be the last musical engagements of our trip, but, if last year’s return is any indication, it will take us a bit to get our heads and hearts off the highway. I’m not looking forward to the separation that we will have when we get home. Each of us off in our own worlds, our own goals, objectives, activities pursued. Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to some “me” time, as well as some serious “Jared and me” time . . . but there is truly nothing quite like the unity of the three of us on tour. Of course we all have our individual needs, but because we are together at all times, we are more tuned into each other, and HAVE to listen to what those needs are, and do our best to meet them. It is a challenge of the best kind. One person’s achievements are celebrated by all, one person’s broken heart makes all three hurt. It is an experience unparalleled by any other, and, because of that, we have to allow for a grieving period; a mourning of its end. Even as I type this, the pit in my stomach grows at the impending, and almost abrupt, reintroduction to “normal” life.
At Bonnie and Phil’s, Rudy has his own room to sleep in. As we read to Rudy a children’s book, written, illustrated, signed, and dedicated to Rudy, by our Governor, Jay Inslee, in his own bed away from us, the “normal” felt foreign, but its reality was here. Tour is almost over… let’s enjoy the next couple days and then start planning for next year!!
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