Freezing snow, ice covered roads, and dried bananas.

After the Durango melt down, it was good to be back on the road. The next show was happening in Albuquerque at the Atomic Cantina. There was a little snow along the way, but the driving was smooth. Our first stop was a little music store where I found the most kick ass guitar pick ever.

Next order of business: FOOD. Frontier Restaurant was just across the street. Ben’s friend Micah had eaten’ at this place when he was on tour with the Dusty 45’s. We decided we better hit it.

We eat a lot of crap when we are on the road, but this place was a winner. They specialize in New Mexican cuisine. Go figure. Bryan was still operating on about an hour of sleep. I think the food helped a little. Here he is enjoying his first taste of New Mexican.

We got to the venue just in time for Ben and Bryan to enjoy a game of pool. These two try to get a game in every time we stop. I’m hoping they can develop their skills and eventually contribute to our finances by hustling unsuspecting strangers. I’m not sure if they are there yet, but I have hope. I threw down some quarters as an investment in our future.

It was another kick ass show at the Atomic Cantina. People showed up, which is never a given on a Sunday night. And more importantly, everyone in the band killed it. My favorite thing about touring is the way things shape up as you play show after show after show. The set becomes effortless after a while and that’s when things get good. At this show, I felt we really hit our stride. The rest of this tour is gonna be sweet.

When we were packing up at the Atomic Cantina, someone said the roads might be rough ahead. Time for a decision. We either crash with some friends who were offering up some beds, or try to make some time and get part way to Tulsa. With a 10-hour drive ahead, we decide it’d be best to chip away at the drive. The plan was to try to get to Amarillo by 3 AM and get some rest. We had no idea what was ahead of us.

All seemed OK the first half hour. This all changed right outside city limits. I was raised in Oklahoma and I’ve driven in some crazy winter conditions. Ben was behind the wheel and he’s got skills. When we hit the ice and snow it didn’t really strike me as much of a cause for concern. Ben was confident as ever and was keeping the van steady under sketchy conditions. There was a point where we talked about getting off the freeway, but we had barely left the city and it seemed like such a drag to stop early. We put it to a vote and decided to power through.

It wasn’t long after this that the traffic slowed to a crawl. The conditions were quickly changing from snow and ice to ice and more ice. As we inched forward we realized there were as many cars in the ditch as there were on the freeway. This was some serious messed up shit. Even the truckers were in trouble. Things were getting ugly.

One of things I admire about Ben is his positive outlook. As I was sitting in the back of the van freaking out, Ben just kept it steady and reassured all of us that he could handle it. And I gotta say he was doing a great job. We were gonna plow right through this situation if it was humanly possible. There was a point where things even seemed to be getting better. Just when we thought we were going to catch a break, we came to an ice-covered hill. At this point we were moving about 5 miles an hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Could it get any worse? Yes. Traffic stopped.

We had 1/3 of a tank of gas, so keeping the van running was not an option. We also realized that for the first time on this tour, we had no food in the van. On top of that all of us needed to pee. This was not good.

This was such a ridiculous situation that we decided to take care of the one thing that was under our control. We may have been cold and hungry, but there was absolutely no reason for us to be uncomfortable from holding in our bodily fluids. One by one five cowboys stepped out of the Rodeo van in freezing ice and snow and whipped out in front of a string of cars with their lights on. I’m not sure what the others cars thought about this sight, but fuck it. We had to pee. We all made it back to the van without slipping on the ice in our leather soled cowboy boots. It was time to hunker down.

It got really cold after awhile. Sugar was the first to notice, since his jacket somehow got doused with water the night before. It was looking like we would be there all night. Ben remembered that he had dried bananas in his suit case. We dug his bag out of the back and shared the bananas to keep our stomachs from growling. Ben doesn't normally share his food, but these were extraordinary circumstances. Tiny Dancer commented that he felt like a member of the crew of Apollo 13. We were cold, isolated, and running through our survival strategies. The hours rolled by as we talked about which person would get eaten first if things got really bad. I was prepared to use my rank as band leader to take myself off the short list if needed. Thankfully, it never came to that. Sometime around 4:00 AM traffic started moving. Yes. It looked like we were going to survive this mess.

Unfortunately this was just the beginning. The traffic was moving, but the weather conditions were getting worse. Snow was falling again and the roads were solid ice. At one point the snow started falling so hard that you couldn’t even see taillights of the vehicles ahead. Semi-trucks were pulling over and stopping. Ben pressed forward and demonstrated driving skills of the likes I have never seen. We were low on gas, so we pulled over at the only truck stop in sight. I wasn’t even certain we could make it across the over pass as snowdrifts were starting to form. Ben made it happen, but when we got to the station we found a wasteland of stranded cars and big rigs. As Mr. Strehle whipped in and out of the lines of vehicles, I started to feel like I was in some sort of a post apocalyptic ice age movie. It took about twenty minutes to get to the gas pump only to find there was no gas. It looked like every vehicle here was staying for the night. Conditions were getting worse and we knew we couldn’t stay. Ben started up the van and we came out the same way we had come in, this time having to dodge vehicles who were getting off the freeway and heading toward us on an ice covered one way road. Ben worked it out and we were back on the freeway with a handful of other drivers who either had the balls or stupidity to stick it out.

Things didn’t get better for a long time. Ben kept a positive spirit and kept the rest of us believing. We were actually worried about getting out of this one alive. Eventually some time early in the AM the falling snow started turning to slush and the roads improved. Our gas got us to the first station outside of the war zone and we fueled up. As we mulled around the convenience store inside we talked to other survivors. Everyone there was looking for food and telling stories. I’ve never been so happy to be alive.

We had to be in Tulsa for a Sunday night show, and it this point we had barely made it through New Mexico. The only option was to press forward. Everyone was thankful that our only challenge now would be sleep deprivation. We are total pros when it comes to operating without sleep. Everything was going to be OK.