Grant’s Farm in St. Louis, Mo

Every once in awhile it works out that while we are on tour, we get to stop by to see friends and family. These moments of normalcy bring a balance to the late nights where weird people are left meandering outside the club after a show hoping to catch a glimpse of what I lovingly refer to as the dirty, stinky boys (or girls in some cases).

On this particular day of normalcy, I was able to visit my beautiful, fun and awesome mother. She took me to Grant’s farm-just a short drive away from their home in a suburb of St. Louis.

 

If you aren’t familiar with Grant’s farm, then let me tell you a little bit about it. It’s weird-but in a good way. Named after our President Grant who farmed the land way back when, it eventually was bought up by the Busch family (yeah, that Busch family who makes the beer). Grant’s farm is FREE to get into, it’s right in the middle of sprawling St. Louis suburbia, and espouses a crazy amount of weird animals, live shows, food, train rides and…yes, free beer.

 

We walked around the main portion of the farm, before hopping on the train. This guy received a lot of attention from these here mid-westerners. I couldn’t help but think about the time my Grandma asked Biceps, “One hump, or two?”, about the camel he had ridden at a state fair.

 

This guy was giving me the shy treatment. But later, he came out of his shell.

 

I don’t even know what to say to this. I should have been wearing Bicep’s lederhosen and traversing the side of a steep mountain while herding him back to the stable, followed by several ducks.

 

This proud little bird busily protected his female companions, squawking anytime we got too close.

 

I cannot resist a baby version of any animal. This cute little buffalo plodding along next to his momma just nearly broke my heart. I know he could still kill me if he so desired, but I instead pictured him curled up at my feet in front of the fireplace, with the two kitties asleep on his back.

 

After all of this walking around and riding on of trains, I needed some refreshment. We headed over to a beer garden which felt like I was back in Dusseldorf or Munich or Heidelberg…to taste the Busch beer and rest our own little hooves. In the back of my mind, I knew somewhere a stinky bus awaited me, but I was in heaven-sitting next to my mom, with a cold glass of free beer and the sites and sounds of my homeland, Germany. You can’t beat that.

A Bug’s Death

Throughout our years of touring, we have witnessed many a death. We must claim responsibility for single-handedly removing these flourishing lives from this earth. This day we turn our hearts from seeing these deaths as merely a nuisance that must be scrubbed off at the next truck stop, to wondering-“Just who was that bug?”.
We have decided to honor the squished victims and ask, who were they, where were they trying to go and why did they choose to fly into our windshield?

This bug for example-he was very watery. Was this a water bug? And just what is a water bug? This well-hydrated victim probably shouldn’t have left the pond, but with what I suppose was a great thirst for life, decided to explore the world and got squished.

 

Major Mustard. This may not have been his name, but I believe this bug defected from Germany where he was was part of some militant army he did not approve of. He enjoyed wienerschnitzel loaded with lots of mustard and flying. He was a good bug.

 

And you-were you a wasp? Then I have no regrets, because I was recently stung by a wasp and it really hurt. If you weren’t a wasp, then I’m sorry. I guess, even if you were a wasp, you probably weren’t the wasp that stung me. Of course you could have stung someone else so I have avenged their wrongful stinging. I’m not sure how I feel about you.

 

A Haiku for you, winged bug.

Oh, little winged bug
How glisteny are your wings?
Sleep, sleep, death on glass

 

These two bugs came to us simultaneously, so I’m assuming they were a couple. Perhaps they were flying hand in hand, or maybe it was hand in hand in hand, since they are insects and have six legs. But I don’t really know how bug relationships work. Do they hold hands? And if so, just one hand, or all hands on one side?
There was so much about them that we didn’t know, but one thing I’m fairly certain of, they seemed to be in love. It’s quite romantic, actually.

Touring Changes!

In case you haven’t heard…you haven’t heard from me. In awhile. Like 8 months.
I was an idiot and I’ll tell you why. I went El Cheapo and built my site in Iweb in the spring of 2010. Ah…those were the good months.

Around January 2011, all heck broke loose. My website-my carefully planned website-became unusable, unretrievable and unpostable. I am not sure if all of those are legitimate adjectives, but I plead the stressed-out case before you.

I continued on with life, saving up my money to hire a professional to build the template. And while I waited, life did not stop. Tours were to be tended to, family was to be visited-the life as I knew it, kept moving forward.

There are road side attractions that must be discussed. Like this giant blue whale on Route 66.

There were near-misses here in Tulsa as tornadoes touched down in Joplin, nearly destroying the city.

There were camels to be seen, new foods to eat, cities to explore…

…and of course my weird husband doing weird things in his hotel room. Like standing in front of a cow picture, bedecked in a zebra print bathrobe, holding a bottle of wine, posing and taking a picture of himself with his phone. Yep. Weird.

I’ll share with you my new adventures, like: places to eat, weird things that have been witnessed, beauty captured by my camera and stories that need to be told.
The world is a large place and I plan to tour it all. Welcome back.

A Family Torn Apart by Pizza

‘Sally vs. Frank’

I have been serving as a jury member this last week, causing my life to somehow become legal in every way.
For example, Biceps tries to sneak a bite from my plate and I adamantly yell, ‘I object!’. Cowboy is currently awaiting trial for a misdemeanor-he bit my hand while I was petting him.

I just needed some time to cool off before the judgement.

All of that said, I found it only fitting to talk about some legal issues as they pertain to my touring lifestyle.

And as they pertain to pizza. Lovely, warm, cheesy pizza.

In New Haven, CT. there are two rivaling pizzeria’s:

Frank Pepe’s…(yes, that’s the most handsome man in the world-Biceps)…

…and Sally’s Apizza Restaurant.

With family ties involved, the story of the two pizzeria’s becomes very interesting.

Both restaurant’s are ancient and have lines of people waiting around the block before they open.

And both have a fantastic end product. Oh, this is making me so hungry just looking at it.

If you’ve never had a coal fired pizza….you have never lived.

Now, here’s the problem:

Frank’s nephew, Sal (Sally’s), split off from the family business and opened up his own pizzeria.

Sal then set up shop on Wooster Street.

Frank Pepe’s was already on Wooster Street several years before.

Tempers flare not only the Pepe family, but New Havenites, as well.

I say-stop the fighting-and try both pizzeria’s.

Do it because it’s the right thing to do.

Do it because you need to be impartial, leaving your prejudices at the door.

And do it because your tummy will thank you. Many times over will it thank you.

The world doesn’t have to be full of Sally’s vs. Frank’s. Let’s change this world to ‘Sally’s and Frank’s’.

Or at least Sally’s and Frank’s in the same day. Yum.