The Rest of the Coast

Or, in which I play shows by night and enjoy the places by day. It takes a team to put on successful shows, and the presenters are often the unsung heros of this adventure. Presenters, friends, patrons. I couldn't do a tour like this anymore without the helping hands along the way. In fact, the Tour would not be worth doing without all these people in my life. The time spent around the edges is the reward. I notice this on this 10th Annual Tour. I take fewer pictures of the stages. Fewer pictures of the guitars. There's lots and lots of that on the blogs for the previous tours. Every Tour seems to develop it's own theme. This Tour is certainly more reflective than the others. For me. I've got a lot to look back on, and I can tell change is in the wind. This is my life, but how do I sustain it? How do I retain these people, these places?

Dr. Dave and I bomb up and down the coast. No fishing today. No crab. Just out for the hell of it. Because we can, and it's a beautiful day. At night I drive into nearby Duncan, BC to play The Showroom...

After the concert the RCMP follow me from town, finally stopping me in a dark little spot far from anything. They think I "might have been going too fast." They want to know where I'm going. They want to know the purpose of my trip. They want to know how long I'm going to be here. They want to know if there is anything in my car that they "might be interested in." This is Canada, similar to America, places where we all pretend that we actually have constitutional rights, and where these rights are routinely torn to bits by those who can get away with it. Here, in the night, there are three people on the side of the road. Two of them are armed, dangerous, and engaged in criminal acts. By morning it is just another bad taste in my mouth, quickly washed away by coffee and the shining sun.

Outside my window things are looking good. I've got a house concert here tonight. The food is crazy good. The people fun. This time the show ends, we drink red wine, but morning comes too soon. Another magic place. Saying "good-bye" is the toughest thing I have to do on a Tour. Don't under estimate how difficult that is, and can be. I load out and point the big Lincoln down the road again. Alone. I guess I must like that, too. I'm not sure, but that's what I have to do. Over and over.

I've got a good friend and patron who owns a resort on the Island. I was to play a new cafe he is opening, but as it is behind schedule there will be no shows after all. Instead, I am to stay as a guest of the resort for a couple of days...

I eat, sleep, read, run, work on some songs. Mainly I just rest. There are no expectations, no stress, no costs, no media. The days go by far too quickly, but I leave feeling like a new person! I'll catch a ferry to the Lower Mainland and get on with the tour schedule.

Vancouver. The nice parts are pretty nice. Especially in spring. I'm staying down in the south end, so I run along the river. Somebody knows what these blue flowers are, but I don't.

Here's the view from my show on Grenville Island in downtown Vancouver. It's a nice spot, even if you don't have millions of dollars in the bank.

Back on the river, logging booms. Tugs are at work hauling these, getting them in order. Moving them in, moving them out. It's a working river. The Fraser. I've followed it's watershed down from the interior, and soon I'll follow it back. Today, I run the water again. Winter is just a memory. Spring has open arms today, pretending to be summer.

Lush and green along the river. Even these newer condos look well established. I'd need lottery money, but, hey, I've got a ticket!

One of my Vancouver rituals is to run the sea wall in Stanley Park. It is one of the great, urban runs. Or walks, or bike rides. Roughly 10 km around, with a view that never quits. It is my birthday, so I run this because I can, and because it feels good!

Vancouver from the sea wall. I've had shows at the Railway Club, the Jericho Bay Folk Club, Granville Island, The Main on Main, a corporate, and a couple of house concerts. Now, it's time to bid this coast good-bye again.

Jacket winner in Chilliwack, BC. The car is pointed east. The water behind me. The mountains again in the distance...