The entry to this blog has journeys as its theme. Just as the journey of a thousand miles start with a single step, so does the journal of a thousand words begin with a single letter. At 9:00 am yesterday morning, BJ Johnston and yours truly embarked on the long awaited WhaleBone Tour, which has been mentioned in previous blogs on this site. Our tour commenced in Jackson, Mississippi and will end in Los Angeles, California, which is where I will reside indefinitely. The uniqueness of this trip lies not only in the trip itself, but in the development and planning as well. BJ and I started rolling the ball on this project in mid-June (which is fairly short notice for those of you who have never put a tour together before), and since then gigs have been booked for his one-man show, The Man From Aldersgate, in Kansas City, Albuquerque, and San Diego. There are many places that we will stop at along the way to rest, see friends, etc. As the days go by on this tour, I will post events for each individual day, along with some other tidbits.

Today, the first leg of our trip was traveled, which was from Jackson to St. Louis, MO. We stopped at Memphis, Tennessee, and caught up with Sarah Christine Bolton, a freelance photographer/dancer/etc who lives in the Memphis area, and a good friend. Lunch was eaten at a cafe’ in the Beale Street section of town. The name: Blues City Pastry. Maybe you’ve heard of it; maybe you haven’t. Good coffee and tuna salad sandwich; if you like coffee and tuna. The comedic highlight of this stop was our parking situation. The only thing missing was ragtime music and a mime in the background. Look at the picture in this article and tell me what you see wrong with it. If you guess, I’ll give you a trillion dollars (no, really, my godfather is an oil sheik).

After this stop, we packed our bags and headed straight into the heart of Arkansas, through the heart of Arkansas, and into Missouri. The time went by quite smoothly until we were within twenty minutes of our destination. Then there was a roadblock on the interstate. Mass hysteria quickly filled the government funded road. Eighteen wheelers were jackknifing; dogs were howling; Sunnis and Shi’ites were being nice to each other, the list goes on and on. Then to top it all off, we had to detour. It was on our detour that we saw a somber sight. A trailer park where the entire sheriff force of Jefferson County, Missouri, had arrived. Not really sure what happened; something about a shooting. Whatever it was, it caused several major road to get stuffed up with heavy duty traffic. But after a long while, we arrived at our destination in Hillsboro, Missouri and had dinner with our host for the evening, the Waggoners. For dessert, they supplied something called Friendship Bread. It made me think of what lay ahead of me in the days, weeks, months, even years to come. Moving out to L.A. will cause me to make new friends. It’s been awhile since I have had to move to another place where I needed to develop new relationships, so I embrace and welcome the change that is being set before me.

That is not to say I still don’t love my old friends, for it is their support and their prayers that will be needed in order for me to make my new transition. So thanks to all who fall under this category, and for encouraging me on this crazy endeavor.