An Unexpected Turn of Events

After two weeks of languishing in the hot Southern summer sun, I got a phone call the other day asking me if I would like to return to the Circus life.  I must admit, as much as I love my life on the road, I had to do some serious thinking before I jumped because I had set some plans in motion for my future.  I sought out advice from friends and asked them what I should do.  They told me that I should follow my heart.  In the short time that I have known them, they have become the sisters that I never had when I was younger(I was raised with two brothers) & I love these ladies & value their advice. 

So, listening to my heart, I called him back & we met to talk.  We will reopen on July 11 for 21 days & return to South Carolina for August, when the summer sun is at it's worst.  In September, we will start out once again for our Fall tour.

I felt like a piece of me died the day I was told that the life I grew to love was forever closed & now I feel like I have been reborn.  It wasn't without a lot of thought & consideration that I agreed to return.  I was told that I am one of the legs on a 3 legged stool & that if one of the legs was removed, the stool would fall.  That really made me feel good as I generally don't seek out the spotlight or praise.  I just try to do my job to the best of my ability.

In the meantime, I will be preparing the camper once again.  I need one more tire & it will have a full set of brand new tires.  The pickup needs servicing, along with 3 tires.  I love my truck though :)  It just completed a 1400 mile round trip to Asbury Park, NJ &, knock on wood, didn't give me any trouble :D

Speaking of Asbury Park, the show that I saw at the Paramount Theater was phenomenal!  I had written in a previous blog that I was going to see the Captain's Tour because we would be so close.  Well, after we closed, I decided that I needed that diversion to help me cope.  I am glad now that I did go.  Here is a photo that I'll cherish:

I had such a great time meeting Captain Sig, Andy, & Johnathan & seeing their show that afterwards I tweeted: Tickets for @thecaptainstour:$70, gas to drive 700 miles:$120, gettn hugged by @capt_andy, @captjohnathan, @northwesternsig: priceless. I found out when I got home that they retweeted my tweet & it was the perfect way to end my trip. :D

So look for me to continue blogging as we traipse across these wonderful United States, bringing joy & entertainment to all :)

Until later, God Bless, See you down the road!

A DAILY GRIND

Yesterday, I noticed that I heard a grinding when I went to stop.  I was told when I bought the truck, that everything had been thoroughly inspected & passed.  So here I sat thinking "It can't be my brakes, can it?"  After all, I was assured that everything was in top condition not even 3 months ago. 

Today, I kept hearing that same noise only it was a lot worse.  To give myself peace of mind, I decided to stop at Advanced Auto on my way back from going to get the bunkhouse & pick up a set of brakes just in case this WAS the problem.

Just a short while ago, our show mechanic took off the front passenger side tire & this is what he discovered:

One of the pads was completely shot & the other one had worn down so far that the rivets were starting to dig into the rotor.  I'm happy my intuition paid off & I stopped to pick up new brake shoes.

Now I shouldn't hear the GRIND as I come to a stop. 

Also on a brighter note, my outside sewer lines did get repaired.  The materials needed to fix it were picked up at our last 2 day stand 5 days ago & it was repaired the following day. I'm so happy!!

Today marks the end of 5 one day stands & I am thrilled! Sometimes, just being able to snuggle back down in the bed can be exhilarating. 

Last time that I blogged, I wrote about spending $25 every day that I ran the generator.  So far, this week I have been extremely lucky.  I have had city electric for the last 5 days so that amounts to $125 that didn't come out of pocket.  Now I have probably jinxed myself so I will do a Swedish Circle before leaving here to erase any bad juju. :D

Something else happened to me that was totally amazing! Actually, it was two events so here they are.

1.  About 2 weeks ago, I asked if I could have an evening off to go have an Evening with the Captains. You're probably thinking "Captains, what Captains?"  None other than Captains Sig Hansen, Johnathan & Andy Hillstrand in their Captains Tour.  It's a night of storytelling, drinking, & more! Needless to say, my Boss said I could go.  So on June 9, I will be about 80 miles away from Asbury Park, NJ.  I am dying of anticipation...It's only 2 weeks away! 

2.  Last Friday(May 20) Dennis from the Discovery Channel called & left a message that they were looking for a Hair Hang artist & wondered if we still had one.  After getting back in touch with him, he told me that they were going a different direction but asked if he could keep our number on file for the future.  He asked me where we were located at & I told him right now we're in Pennsylvania & would be here for the next two months but our city would change every day or every other day.  Who knows what the future will hold for our little Mudshow :)

As always, thanks to all who read my ramblings & until later, God Bless, See you down the road!!