The Story So Far

I guess I should establish a few things first.

The Cast:

Balmorhea is:
Mike
Rob
Travis
Taylor
Nicole
meee

+ Megan

Bexar Bexar = Brian

Alright, where do I begin in explaining what's gone on in the past 2 days.


WEDNESDAY morning we met up at Robs, loaded up the Van and then had breakfast (you probably know where). The only proper way to say goodbye to Austin is by the fine patio dining of El Chilto. haha. After picking up Brian, we were off: Destination, Balmorhea, Texas. After 6 hours in our van, we arrived. Tiny little town. We stopped at the Balmorhea State Park to swim in San Solomon Springs. It's not as cold as Barton Springs, but its probably twice the size and twice as deep (40ft. to be exact).

One by one, we--well they--dove off the diving board. I was a wall flower. My swimming skills are pretty horrible. It's weird to know that dogs and small children can fare better in the water than I... After swimming, we drove a little longer till we reached Marfa, Texas, another tiny little town with an arts community. We ate at a place where the cheapest entree was a $10 burger...it was one of two restaurants that was still open at 8pm. Our free stay in the hotel was really nice. Modern looking rooms, cool little lounge, cable TV with DVD players. fancy. I capped the first night sitting outside talking with nicole, taylor and travis in the coolest texas summer nights i've ever felt.

THURSDAY

So I woke up nicely, still giddy from the night before. Took a shower and then made a mistake that has left me with a fear of razors. I reached my hand into my duffle bag trying to find clothes. Instead, the tip of my middle finger was aggressively introduced to my Gillette razor blade.

yeah. UGH.

I'm pretty thankful that its on my right hand. I've got bandaids around it. Hope it heals soon...Anyway. then, our shower water decided not to turn off haha. so for about 20 minutes our bathroom became a water-wasting sauna. weeird. Brian, Mike and Rob went down the road to the local public radio station for a 45 min. interview. The show was heavily promoted, a few recorded tracks were played, and i listened to my friends on the radio while eating Dairy Queen with Nicole.

Despues, we had a very thorough soundcheck and some practice time before our private tour of the Chinati. I finally got to see Donald Judd's installation of aluminum boxes, probably 4 by 3 feet each. There are over 100 of them spread out across two large rooms, each one a little different. We saw a Flavin light installation that he never lived to see. We took some cool pictures that I'll post hopefully. Anyway, I'm tired of talking about everything in extreme detail. The show was really fun. We played a bunch of new songs and ended with Settler, a.k.a the clapping one. A guy also named Rob did an awesome light show for both sets. Its crazy to have professional lighting that changes throughout the set. The sound was great. The crowd was receptive. FUN night.

We went back to the hotel and sat around for hours playing songs on guitar and singin with the people who put on the show. I swear we sang "Look at Miss Ohio" ten times. That's the song everyone wants to hear when they're sober and the song they really wanna hear after they've collectively finished a stupid amount of free beer. lol. I was coerced into singing it solo. Apparently it was pretty good, haha. That was flattering. It kinda shut people up, even the most vocal of individuals. And with that, I was ready for bed...at 3:40am... :)

-Aisha