So the time had finally arrived for our first northeastern run. Very exciting for us because we have mainly been hitting up the southeast and it’s time to expand our market to other regions. We scheduled a three show run starting in Teaneck NJ, then heading to New York City, and finishing up in Bethlehem Pennsylvania.

For those of you that know our traveling situation you are well aware that our van is not equipped for a trip of this magnitude. First of all there is no air conditioning so the heat index on the inside is about 230 degrees fahrenheit from 12pm to 8pm. Also it smells beefy and salty and has poisonous spores growing in the carpet. Sometimes an ant colony likes to chill in the back under the last bench seat and they crawl up your shorts when you least expect it.

To remedy this situation Scott Miller let us use his bus for the trip, thank you Scott. The bus is about 30 feet long and about 10 feet high, has a dvd player, working AC, and velvet like captains chairs that can almost lean parallel to the floor. The chill was righteous and we were ready. We boarded the bus and began our rock and roll journey. The plan was to drive part of the way then crash at a hotel provided by the Murph’s dad, thank you Murph’s dad. The Murph is our camera guy who travels with us to document our many adventures. We were also accompanied by Knoxville’s best actor Matt Dearman, who works alongside Murph in their company Bad Land Pictures. We got a good nights sleep and woke up the next morning to head the rest of the way to New Jersey.

When we got on the bus we all took our seats and Jenks tried to start the engine. It wouldn’t start. Luckily there was a car battery charger in the floor that was at full power so we were able to get it started. We got on the road and drove for a little ways down the road to find a gas station. After filling up we tried to start the engine and again, it wouldn’t start. The gas station was only 20 minutes or so down the road so we figured that wasn’t enough time to recharge the battery. We kicked the battery off again and continued on our way. About four or five hours down the road we need to fill up again so we find a gas station. The battery dies again so our only option now is to use the service station that shares the same building called Tink’s Auto Repair.

Tink wasn’t there because they were relocating down the road about a mile so our only option was to go to the other shop to have him fix our bus. The night started to go down hill. Tink said it was the alternator so he called somebody and said some cuss words over the phone to kick off the two and a half our mechanical fiasco. It turned out that we left the light on in the equipment compartment all night and it drained our battery completely dry so there was never anything wrong with the alternator. After hitting that mud hole we needed redemption so we took it on to New York.

My driving shift had started so it was up to me to get the mammoth sled into the edgiest city on the face of the planet. I felt like I was experiencing a star wars battle scene in a foreign land that had no road signs. For about 20 minutes I think my body went into shock then i snapped out of it and we were on the right track. We arrived at our destination in Long Island where we were staying with our good friends Diana Warner and her brother Rob Warner in their luxurious high rise condos, thank you Diana and Rob. Yeeeaaaa the trip was startin to get buttery. Everything was falling into place and we finally arrived to New York.

The next day we ate some good food and walked around for a bit before we had to be at the venue. I ate a rib burger and finished Diana’s cheesy hashy browns. We also checked out Times Square where I experienced slight sensory overload but it was pretty awesome. Later that night we took the stage at the Canal Room and rocked so hard for the packed out club. Lives were changed, people knew our songs and somehow I spent 50 dollars on 5 beers. I had to drink the beer because they weren’t serving ecto coolers there.

After the show Doody did some freestyle walking, Justin temporarily turned into a mute, and I bought an eighteen inch chicken salad hoagie. The following day we headed to Bethlehem Pennsylvania to play Musikfest. It was awesome, we rocked in front of 5000, sold a ton of cd’s, and played really tight. The trip was glorious and we now own an incredible bus, thanks to Scott Miller, the Hoskins family, and Jim Williams. Strong.