Coch's Corner (please vomit in the parking lot)

9am. I awoke confused and bedraggled in the basement of the Coulson Tavern. The battle between my immune system and the cold I have had is nearly over. My immune system wins again. Manuka Honey reinforcements must of done the trick.

We packed our gear into Atlas, made a strategic call on propain and departed for Sault Ste Marie. Sickness and massive lack of sleep had caught up with me so I climbed into the loft and slept for the entire drive. The loft is a space above our gear hold. We plan to sleep in Atlas some of the nights we do not have hotel rooms. Right now all of our luggage gets stuffed up there. I had about a foot and a half wide bed to sleep on. When the brakes were applied forcefully I would hang on for dear life. Eventually I wrapped a few bags around my wrist as an anchor though this probably would only have resulted in myself and a number of heavy bags pouring out of the loft and onto the bench seat where Rob was sleeping peacefully.

We are playing at a place called Coch's Corner tonight. It was our first stop on our last jaunt into Canada's west and I must confess something. The entire band, perhaps feeling slightly overzealous, ended up getting completely drunk after the set. Paul Coch is the owner and we sat around in the bar and he kept feeding us alcohol. I can still picture Emeri leaning against the wall of Thor while I drove us to Marathon the next morning. He was passed out against the gear hold because his bunk was too bouncy, a damn of tissue surrounding him to keep the vomit from running all over the bus. Yes, that is ugly, but sometimes the road is ugly...

Tonight we have all sworn to be more responsible. There are two extreme trouble areas on this trip when it comes to us refueling. One is from Sault Ste Marie to Thunder Bay, the other is from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg. There are very few propain stations in between there. We will surely be using our emergency bbq tanks. The next few days will be stressful but we have great shows to look forward to. We'll get through it with minor damage I'm sure. Northern Ontario is very deceptively large.

It is a bit surreal to see some of the same places and faces on this tour. Perhaps it will eventually become like a home away from home. Right now I am in the exact same spot as Paul was in Onward, Downward Episode I when he is joking about his 'offices'.

This afternoon, shortly after our arrival, we went shopping for a few items and a bite to eat. Malls are a bit gross. No matter where you are in North America, it is the same stores. I find it slightly frightening. After lunch we went took full avantage of the hotel swimming pool then took a break for naps.

Now it is time to eat. A well fed band is a good band. Yum.

I have just received word that the staff intend to feed us alcohol until we pass out. Uh oh...

g.

Coch's Corner (please vomit in the parking lot)