Day 4 -West Virginia to Home!

The Hotel we checked into last night, a Super 8 in Grayson Kentucky, was the nicest and cleanest on our trip and only $55 bucks!  Sadly, we spent the least time amount of time there.

My alarm jarred me awake after only a few hours of sleep. It was painful to get up and I racked my brain for an excuse to stay in the hotel bed for just a little while longer. No, this was too important a day and I didn't want to delay my arrival any more than all the circumstances and drama already had.

Before long we were back on the Bluegrass Parkway headed into West Virginia, only a few miles down the highway. I was glad we got up early when I saw how incredibly beautiful the morning was. Mist was still rising from the forest surrounding the highway. The morning sun was a deep orange through he overcast and the light had a mystical quality to it, like the magic forest creatures of the night had not yet hidden in the trees to sleep for the day.

I'm so glad we reverted to our scenic route. It was well worth the extra time. it would have been nice to have the luxury of stopping more... or at all but we can't have it all.

At Charleston we headed North on I-77. The views were beautiful up into Ohio about fifty miles where things began to look more plain and the drivers started becoming less polite.

That's okay, I'm from LA, I can play any way you want baby!

We entered New York State around 2PM. Instead of taking the New York State Thruway as I always have in the past, we went through the Southern Tier of the state on I-86 just North of the Pennsylvania state line.

What a treat. I was amazed how I had spent so much of my life so close by and didn't know how beautiful that area was. As I got closer to home I started to notice things that had changed. Wind farms had sprouted up near Cohocton. Even the trees on my parents road had grown notably since I was last there.

Driving up route 21 through Naples with post card-like views of the lake and surrounding hills, I was driving at a medium pace, taking it all in. Embracing the moment. I noticed that a small line of cars was starting to accumulate behind my out-of-state rental car.

Oh my God, I thought, I've become one of the tourists I used to get stuck behind.

Finally I reached home, the place I lived from day two to year twenty-one.

Hugs all 'round, it was so good to see my parents. As a bonus some additional family members were present to celebrate a family birthday. We had a wonderful evening.

Let's see... I guess that's about it, unless I'm forgetting anything...

Oh right, the CD. The CDs had indeed arrived safe and sound. I took the box out to the back yard where the family was hanging out and opened the box semi-ceremoniously.

Ta-day! There it was! What I had worked so long and hard on, finished. Still I wasn't sure how to feel. I was overwhelmed by being home and seeing everyone, my body was still shaking from the day's drive and from all that had happened on our journey. I guess it still hadn't hit me.

I was a bit bummed that the front cover of the disk had turned out much darker than I had anticipated.My name and the details of the photo are kind-of hard to see, especially thorugh the reflective shrink wrap. 

I was reminded of the scene int he movie Spinal Tap when their new album "Smell the Glove" is unvieled.

"How much more black could this be and the answer is 'none, none more black."

Oh well. I chalk it up to a learning experience. I have a much better idea of how what I see on the screen translates to print and what to avoid. I may have to have some stickers made up to put on the front of the shrink wrap.

I am just so happy to have the disks in my hot little hands.

 Tomorrow is my first show at the Record Archive in Rochester, 2PM. I am looking forward to seeing some old and new friends there. It's going to be a great show!

Now to get a good rest in my old room!