Nantucket Sleighride

Nantucket Sleighride                 6845  (63)

Thursday, February 8, 2007-1:30 P.M.

Hi.  It's been a week since I've written, I know, but I've been busy and depressed....those are two interesting balls to keep in the air, but I've learned how to be a pretty good juggler.

I left my Dad's house last Thursday about 2:20 in the afternoon, and a light rain had begun to fall.  Nobody knew at that point that it was the telltale sign of a tornado about to hit my parents' home town.

I drove through the night and made it to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania around 20 minutes to 6 in the morning.  It piss rained the whole way, and I was definitely worn out when I got there.  The hotel didn't open until 7 AM, so I got breakfast and waited.  At 7, the hotel didn't open so I got a paper and waited, and fell asleep.  Around 10:30, I was able to get someone from the restaurant to check me in....the club in Harrisburg is a big steakhouse/banquet facility/motorlodge sort of place.  It's nice having everything under one roof, but only when you can get in under the roof instead of sleeping in your car.

My sister and brother both called me to inform me of the tornado that I just missed at Mom and Dad's place, and that they were both o.k.  I slept about 3 hours and started getting ready for the early show.  I was working with headliner CeeJay Jones (www.CeeJayIsFunny.com) and mc Joe Zimmerman.  We had a lot of fun, four great shows, and my friends Jared and Cindy came up to visit Friday night.  We did the hang around thing and I did something I usually don't do....I slept over Saturday night and did the drive on Sunday.  It was only five hours, but I didn't relish being in the car anymore or any sooner than I had to.

It seemed like a blink of an eye before I had to get packing and get heading out again, but that was just yesterday.  I hit the road shortly after 7 AM and started off towards the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is where I am now.  It's bitter cold and the roads are plowed in a piss-poor manner, but that may just be because snow is blowing over the roads and then everyone has a truck and they tramp the snow down, turning the road into an ice-rink.

Last night was St. Ignace, Michigan at the Kewadin (keh-WAY-den) casino, the first of three Kewadin casinos with headliner Carol Pennington.  We performed for about 60 folks last night, many regulars and a good number of casino employees.  When I played this place last year, the casino was a little hut, and this year, it's a palace....I guess the house must be doing pretty good.

I'm poaching internet right now, parked in the parking lot of a Best Western and using their wireless signal.  They had wireless at the casino yesterday, but it was a pay plan and I'm still hurting from my first speeding ticket of the year, so I'm saving my nickels and dimes where I can.  Saturday is a drive home day after my tour through this wintery wonderland, and I'm gonna try my damndest not to get blown off the Mackinac bridge.

More to report later, stay warm wherever you are.

Ralph Tetta

Rochester, NY