Day 4:
Shhhhhh. We’re hunting wabbits.
Day 5:
Meanwhile, back in Tacoma…
Brad Carpenter, who owns Treos on 30th in Old Town Tacoma, had given us a gift before we left. He had said that when we were in Portland, on Sat the 23rd he’d arranged for us to get appetizers, lunch and beer samplers at the Deschutes Brewery. This was super generous and exciting, since every meal is precious on the road, and fancy meals are even more so!
Sat morning we lounged around in the RV, drinking coffee and discussing the monstrosity that is the Methanol Plant they will NOT get to put in our beautiful Tacoma, and waiting to drive into Portland and enjoy our gifted lunch, “starting at noon”. We rolled the RV and trailer into the tiny, non-RV friendly streets of the “weird” city around 12:15, and took about 30 more min to find a double parking space, and hoof it about 1/2 mile to the brewery. We got in and asked for a reservation under the name of “Brad”. No. Ok let’s try “Champagne Sunday” or “Kim Archer”. Nope. They don’t take reservations… Hmmmm. Ok. We’ll wait. About 2 min go by, and a server comes up and says, “I think we have something for you back here. Oh, and will you sign this?”, and promptly thrusts a copy of “Life Fantastic ” into our hands. She says she saw us in Tacoma and loves the album. I had no sooner gotten the phrase, “Did Brad put you up to this?”, when we rounded the corner to 4 beaming familiar faces from Tacoma. Brad and Theresa and Lonny and Nancy, super fans and friends, were holding cardboard signs that read, “All-in Tour 2016” and “We are All in!” Now I understand that we’ve only been gone less than a week, but it feels like months, and that was just the beautiful piece of Tacoma we needed to lift our spirits! And, what a lunch we had…
Spinnela’s Off The Wall.
Do these guys know how to promote! Sandwich board out front with our names, posters front and center as you enter and throughout the bar, a scrolling tv add behind the bar, and our music playing during events t help promote the show. And, surprise!, we had a packed house. Now, part of that was my huge family, of which everyone of them showed up and stayed the whole night, including grandma Jean, who just beamed when she bought her new Kim Archer cd, and also, of course, our Tacoma fans, who had multiplied to 9 with the addition of Penny and Jenn Pratt, her son Jon, and a friend, Alex too. The place was warm, the food was delicious, the drinks were flowing, and the love was brought. When the show was over and most people left, Aunt Stacy and Uncle Matt hung out with us til 2:00am to watch karaoke and have an all around great time. Stacy did a fabulous scarf dance while Jared sang Paul Simon’s, “Call me Al”, Kim blew the doors off with “Where The Streets Have No Name”, and I got all sentimental and sang “True Colors” to my Aunt, who introduced me to Cyndi Lauper and Stevie Wonder when I was 7. We almost got Uncle Matt to sing his 35 year in the making rendition of “Roxanne”. Next year, Matt!
Overall Saturday, the true stars were the family and friends who loved and supported us. Nothing about what we’re doing is easy, but you all make it worth every second.
