Picked up Chad in a precision rendevous at the Philly airport- luckily, he had located a local watering hole and had made efficient use of it- they signed over custody to me.  We’re set up at a state park that is a bit like “urban camping” where instead of birds singing you hear camp neighbors ‘MF’in’ each other on all sides. After our first night there we headed to the first of the two Brooklyn shows at the minor league ballpark home of the Cyclones (Coney Island). The first show (last night) was wonderful- a bit warm but musically strong. Tonight we’re heading to a pre-party in Brooklyn hosted by Phil and Matt- two brothers I met at the Philly show. The plan is to park near their place and take the train into the show.

Chad emerging unscathed from a night of camping in New York.

Coney Island from the pier. A nice place as far as urban beaches go.

Full concentration required for the mother of all playlists.

Recent observations from the road:

On three different occasions I’ve awoken at New England rest areas to find the same man living out of his pick-up with a small camper shell. At first I assumed he was a deadhead following the summer tour- but when I saw him scrounging cigarette butts from the parking lot in one of them, I realized he was simply homeless. I don’t know how he manages gas money.

At a gas station somewhere in the south I was enjoined to contribute gas money to a couple with 3 kids in tow who were literally going car-to-car begging for gas money. I won’t soon forget the look of their oldest boy (5, 6?).

“A psychic will lead dogs to your corpse” (small town newspaper columnist- attributed to a fortune cookie).