Accordion is my co-pilot…





It begins! Well, I (Brie) begin! Making my way up to Washington with a car full of instruments. The drive through Northern California was soothing and the sunset was spectacular.



I was hoping to make it to Grants Pass to stay with my godmama but the rain and the clock had different ideas. So rather than risking a Siskyou mountains crossing in the dark and pouring rain, I’m camped out in Redding. Consequently, I found out Redding is somewhat of a hotbed for folk/country music. Not only do both Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson own homes here, the city is a great supporter of music and offers many great opportunity for artists to play. My host at the front desk of the hotel filled me in and gave me some great hints about touring that he’d gained from bands coming through his hotel. He even offered to help me unload the car, though I was able to do it easily thanks to my stellar packing job (which I’ll have to replicate many times on this trip). 



It was a good dry run for the next 10 days and I felt both cool and a little silly loading the cart full instruments into the room. Now time to crash (and, lucky for me, that means in my bed and not off some blind corner in the rain)! Good night!