<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062</id><updated>2007-04-25T09:37:08.252-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Mike Strickland Family Tour Blog</title><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/index.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default'></link><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mikestrickland.com/tourblog/atom.xml'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www2.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>10</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115816652720910131</id><published>2006-09-13T08:37:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-09-13T17:39:55.170-07:00</updated><title type='text'>2006 HOUSE CONCERT TOUR HOST AWARDS</title><content type='html'>Bob and Vivian (Bozeman MT) - Best Livestock Award and Most Talented Family Award and BEST SIDE MAN award for Sage's contribution as a comedian during our concert. (here's Viv and Bob's grandson Sage and another pic of her granddaughter Lilly)&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sage-795387.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sage-793267.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 1-770549.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 1-760139.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Joe and Bonnie(Rapid City SD) - Best Chocolate Fountain and Assorted Dessert Award and Best House in the Woods Award&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 2-786071.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 2-781004.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;THE MOST AMAZING AUNTS AWARD GOES TO MY MOM'S SISTERS  (Here's a picture of my mom, her three sisters and her dad.  My Aunts are the best at supporting us and spoiling us when we come to SD)&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/grandpa and aunts-731788.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/grandpa and aunts-722805.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Denise and Ed (Loveland CO) - The Dog Misnomer Award for their dog Einstein and Best Pre-Concert Dinner Award&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 3-743193.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 3-725243.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bonnie and Todd (Durango CO) - Most Beautiful Home Award and The Psychotic Bird Award (for Bonnie's Cockateil Guava) &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 4-706327.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 4-783692.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sydney and John (Laguna Beach CA) - The Best Location Award  and The Most Doting Hosts Award and Most Interesting Past Award (Sydney was Elizabeth Taylor's stand-in on the the movie set of Cleopatra and met John who was a sound engineer on the picture)&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 5-759568.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 5-738405.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Phil and Donna (Orange CA) - Best Cook Award (Donna) and The Biggest Concert Audience Award&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 6-717775.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 6-716088.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Deborah (Upland CA) - Best Cheesecake Award ( No picture but trust me, the cheesecake was amazing!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mark and Judy (Twain Harte CA) - Most Surprising Concert Award for organizing a wonderful last minute concert at the beautiful McCaffrey House B &amp; B (Here's a pic of Judy)&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 8-714305.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 8-712372.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;McCaffrey House B &amp; B - Best Piano On Tour Award (Steinway)&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 9-710535.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 9-707954.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bill (Folsom CA) - Hardest Working Senior Citizen Host Award&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 10-797639.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 10-790887.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Robin and Pam (Ashland) - Most Flexible Host Award for being able to provide beds at late notice and  Funniest Dog Award&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 11and half-716517.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 11and half-714315.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jay and Alyse (Redmond OR) - Most Valuable Host Award for putting together a last minute extremely wonderful and well-attended concert.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 11-784892.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 11-777392.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ken and Pat (Redmond OR) - Best House for a House Concert Award and Most Talented Host Award (Ken is an AMAZING singer)&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Redmond hosts-722672.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Redmond hosts-790402.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;JoAnn and Chuck (Wamic OR) - Most Exciting Cake Award and Hardest To Find House Award&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 12-711061.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/HC 12-708779.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/09/2006-house-concert-tour-ho_115816652720910131.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115816652720910131'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115816652720910131'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115454026194886305</id><published>2006-08-02T10:17:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-08-11T07:20:46.833-07:00</updated><title type='text'>House Concerts #9 and #10 and ACTIVE ADULTS!!!</title><content type='html'>Thursday morning we started packing up our stuff so we could leave the Days Inn when my mom received an irate call from the hotel manager, who saw Sadie when my dad took her out in the morning (“You have a PET??? You did not DECLARE your pet??? You are not staying in a DESIGNATED PET ROOM!!!” ) After Mom smoothed that out, we ate at a sushi place next to the motel because everyone was sick of eggs and toast. Then there was a grueling six hour drive up to Ashland, Oregon, where my dad and I immediately made a beeline for two rock shops Dad knew of. One was closed, but the other we got a bunch of stuff at.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That night our friends Robin and Pam let us stay at their house. Their impossibly cute dog Mac (stay tuned for a picture of Mac on my upcoming DOG BLOG) immediately loved Sadie (the affections were not returned in the least.)  Here's a picture of Robin and Pam:&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Pam and robin-747176.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Pam and robin-744139.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; In the morning Dad and I went to the rock shop that had been closed the day before, and got about six more rocks. We had to drive to Redmond, Oregon, about a four hour drive, and about two hours into it I got really hungry in one of those awful little towns that consist completely of fast food places and gas stations. I said, “ I need a taco truck or something!!!” and in about five seconds a gas station with a taco truck in the parking lot appeared. It was really creepy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In Redmond, we went to the house we were doing the concert at.  Ken and  Pat’s piano was fantastic (FINALLY!!!).  Sadie had a GREAT performance of her song "Circus Waltz"  and we got the audience to sing my dad's highly contagious song, "Spread Joy".  See Pictures.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/redmond sadie-737220.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/redmond sadie-735282.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; By this time I had been in the car with my parents for 27 or so days and had basically NO SOCIAL INTERACTION  with anyone under the age of 45. I started to lose it at the concert, which went great, and spent most of the time after the concert outside on the deck staring at a large moth. I REALLY started to lose it when we were ALMOST ready to go and then my darn parents discovered that Ken had great singing talent and did a couple songs with him.  I was ready to start warding adults away from me with a cross and some garlic or something.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Redmond-749696.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Redmond-747480.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/redmond2-745521.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/redmond2-743633.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Redmond spread joy-741995.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Redmond spread joy-739881.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/redmond ken-733501.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/redmond ken-731075.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Active Adult-788133.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Active Adult-785776.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The final straw was when I saw a sign down the street on our way out.  It read, “An Active Adult Community" ?? - Why don’t they just stick a big ole sign up there that says, “TEENAGERS BEWARE: ENTER AT OWN SOCIAL RISK.”  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's a picture of me with some of those active adults - my parents and our hosts, Ken and Pat.  Seriously though folks, we could not have asked for a more wonderful group of people to play for.  It was a most magical night and the audience was amazing.  A big thanks to our friend Jay for putting this together. &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Redmond hosts-793608.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Redmond hosts-789909.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On Saturday our final concert was in Wamic, Oregon. We got completely lost on our way there (what do you expect when you try to find a place called “Wamic”?) Our hosts JoAnn and Chuck (see pic) had about twenty people for a little house concert and it was very fun, except that I started losing it being around too many adults again and had to go hide in my room for a while.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/wamic hosts-746968.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/wamic hosts-745065.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; I gained about ten pounds on the fantastic desserts they had there (REAL whipped cream, mmmmm my favorite. I had a whole dang plate of just whipped cream.)   JoAnn was so excited to have dad doing a concert in her home that she forgot that she had stored her amazing cake in the oven  to keep it away from the ants.  She started the oven to cook us supper and this is what happened to her cake!!  It tastest VERY GOOD tho.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/wamic cake-769542.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/wamic cake-766547.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I slept in an airbed for the third night in a row and the next day was VERY happy we were finally going home.  Right outside of Tacoma we hit that good ol’ Seattle traffic and got delayed for about an hour. I was very mad when we finally got to the cause and the ONLY  thing you could see was a camper that had been pulled over by a cop. Based on the traffic mess, I had determined some motorist must have spun sideways and blocked at least three lanes of cars.   I was really happy to get home and I slept in till noon. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;STAY TUNED FOR THE DOG BLOG, THE 2006 HOUSE CONCERT HOST AWARDS, and final statisics!</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/08/house-concerts-9-and-10-and-active.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115454026194886305'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115454026194886305'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115526833292928531</id><published>2006-08-10T20:45:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-08-10T21:04:44.620-07:00</updated><title type='text'>THE DOG BLOG</title><content type='html'>The Dog Blog&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Turkey 1-741256.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Turkey 1-739271.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Okay fine, this isn’t a dog, but I had to put him in there anyway. This is one of the turkeys from Bob and Viv’s. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Bentley 2-744405.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Bentley 2-742910.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here’s Bentley from Aunt JoVayne’s. Notice the mischievous look on face. This dog is known for snapping up any food that falls on the floor at an estimated rate of .00001 seconds after it hits. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Einstein-737075.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Einstein-735332.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is Einstein from Denise’s. Let’s just put it this way: when my dad played “If I Only Had A Brain”, he dedicated it to Einstein, whose name is just a teensy bit misleading. He loved our music, and showed his appreciation for it by barking loudly throughout most of our warmup. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Zeus 4-731283.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Zeus 4-728223.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cats Zeus and Venus from Aunt Dulci’s house. Zeus decided he wanted to come with us and we had to pry him out of the backseat. They inflated to the size of large beach balls when they first saw Sadie, but eventually grew to stand her. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/cowboys bro 6-705847.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/cowboys bro 6-703468.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Cowboy 5-725166.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Cowboy 5-716149.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Razor and Cowboy from the Gummersolls’. I think Razor was insulting Sadie in silent doggie language, because they would just look at each other and then Sadie would snarl angrily. Both of them were madly in love with her, though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Birds 7-718844.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Birds 7-707863.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More non-dogs. I loved playing with the birdies, psycho Guava and more tame Peaches at the Barbay's. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/teek and zoe-701282.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/teek and zoe-791355.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The enormous dogs Zoe and Teak win the loudest bark award. Their woofing alarms can be set off by the slightest offense, and sometimes for no reason whatsoever.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/stolt 2-776879.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/stolt 2-774633.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/stolt 1-780919.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/stolt 1-778793.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;These are Penny (little) and Tahoe (big) fron the Stoltenbergs’ house. Penny made some of the most amusing noises I’ve ever heard if you picked her up. (GRRRRRARRRRRHFUlIIIIIRARGRARGRARGRAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!BLEEEAAARRRGHHHHrrrrRRRRRRrrrrrRRRRRFFFFGGGGGGRRRRRR is as close as I can type it) Tahoe would creep closer and closer to you, and soon you would be enveloped in a steam of hot dog breath while his eyes pleaded, “GIIIVVVVEEEE MEEEEEEEE ATEEEENNNNTTTIIIIOOOONNNNNNNN…………PLEEEEZE…”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/dog in store-786803.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/dog in store-782901.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is Spooky from a store we stopped at. He took a great interest in Sadie, who just snapped at him. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/mac-780265.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/mac-777002.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here’s Mac from Ashland. He followed Sadie around pretty much the ENTIRE time we were at his house. We kept doing voiceovers for his looks at Sadie. ( Gawersh, it’s a GURL!!!! A PRETTY gurl!!!! Gee whilllikers!!! A GURL!!!!!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/dog in truck-775458.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/dog in truck-773689.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;We just saw this dog out the window and thought he was really cute, so he made it in here.</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/08/dog-blog.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115526833292928531'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115526833292928531'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115406493441836604</id><published>2006-07-27T22:33:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-07-31T06:45:20.706-07:00</updated><title type='text'>House Concerts #5, #6, #7 and #8 and the Snow-cone police</title><content type='html'>We pulled into Sin City at about eight and went to our hotel. When we went into the room, the temperature was about 95 degrees. After the manager moved us to one where you could actually breathe, we headed out to see what my dad called the “unnaturally bloated spectacle” of Las Vegas. I felt like I was being hit with a sledgehammer of light and noise. There was a dinner place we ate at, and then wandered around looking at the glitz and the slot machines and the people. I had a strong yearning for a quiet stream in the middle of nowhere. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thursday morning Laguna Beach was the next stop, and we reached our fans Sydney and John Mack’s house in the afternoon. Sydney was so happy to see us, she almost cried. I have never met someone who loved my music so much.   I did my backwards hand's crossed trick on their piano.  &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/backwards piano-794617.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/backwards piano-790488.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For the next 24 hours, we were spoiled with pool soaks and Chinese food and trips to the beach. Dad and I went bodysurfing in 7 foot waves. Here's a picture of me and Sydney and one of Sydney and John.  &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sydney and Elizabeth-739645.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sydney and Elizabeth-737057.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sydney and john-734949.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sydney and john-732858.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Friday there was a concert hosted by Phil and Donna at the Church of Religious Science in Fullerton, near L.A. There were a lot of people there and everyone loved it. Sadie gave a brilliant performance and we got everyone to sing “Spread Joy”. Saturday our family was once again ridiculously spoiled with ice cream and TV and large cushy beanbag chairs.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Lesch family-749847.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Lesch family-747981.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Here are Phil and Donna and their wonderful family along with their 2 huge Burmese Mountain dogs Teek and Zoe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The next day we did a house concert number 6 at Deborah’s house in Upland. The people there enjoyed it and we swam in her wonderful little pool.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; That night we stayed at our friends Devon and Jorj’s house.  Here's a picture of them:&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Devon and Jorg-784639.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Devon and Jorg-782837.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; I met their son Jamison, who’s a fantastic composer.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Jamison-777855.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Jamison-775191.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Fires-780869.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Fires-779346.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;On the way there, we got lost and ended up going 40 miles out of our way.  We saw a forest fire right on the side of the road.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The next day we had to get up really early and drive alllll theeee waaaayyy to my dad’s friend Mark Stoltenberg’s house about an hour and a half outside of Yosemite, which we drove through. It was incredible especially for my mom and I who had never been there. I loved seeing the rock faces of El Capitan and Half Dome. After about nine hours of being in the car we finally got to Mark’s house in Twain Harte, California. &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Yosemite-722079.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Yosemite-719652.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Yosemite with dad-727162.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Yosemite with dad-724362.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They took us to a beautiful little lake where we went swimming on Tuesday. I went to the snack shop and got a snow-cone, and took it to a deck where they had a little sign that said “no sno-cones allowed, but I couldn’t see any possible reason for them not being allowed except that maybe if a sno-cone dripped on the deck it would explode, but I didn’t think that was likely, so I sat down anyway. After about five minutes, this old guy came over, and without saying anything, pointed to my sno-cone like it was a weapon of mass destruction and looked at me and my sno-cone like I was something nasty on his shoe. I would have liked to engage in a philosophical discussion on where and why you can and can’t eat sno-cones, but I wanted to eat the dang sno-cone, so I moved into the sno-cone approved area and ate it. (it was very good.) &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There was a concert that night at the local bed and breakfast on (thank god, FINALLY) a really really good Steinway piano. It went fine, and they had particularly good little cheese-and-cracker snacks there.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/twain harte-731133.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/twain harte-729358.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; On Wednesday we drove to Rancho Cordova, California, where we had a gig our friend Bill set up at the Straw Hat Pizza Parlor from 6:30 to 9.   Here's a picture of Dad and Bill and one of me and dad doing a duet.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Dad and bill-788534.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Dad and bill-786447.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Straw hat-746190.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Straw hat-743481.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My dad threw what I would call a mini temper tantrum when one person in the audience kept telling him he was playing too loud. He stood up and polled the audience on who thought he was too loud and noone else raised their hand, but he made a big show of turning the piano so it would be softer and saying, “ALL RIGHT NOW, I’m going to do a QUIET LITTLE BOOGIE piece called BEAT ME DADDY EIGHT TO THE BAR. And I’m going to be REALLY REALLY SOFT.” Everyone else protested though, and he went back to playing normally (this is why my dad has stopped doing restaurant gigs.) And now, it’s Thursday, and we’re in the car on our way to Ashland, Oregon, where my dad and I are planning a giant rock-shop shopping spree at a couple of places there. My mom finally discovered the source of the awful smell in our car: a two-week old banana. Everyone’s a wee bit fussy.</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/07/house-concerts-5-6-7-and-8-and-snow.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115406493441836604'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115406493441836604'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115212240770386507</id><published>2006-07-05T10:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-07-23T10:44:02.860-07:00</updated><title type='text'>PIANO FUN IN BOZEMAN</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/tinsley house-748511.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/tinsley house-743463.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HAPPY 4th of July!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Elizabeth will be starting our blog soon.  In the meantime, we had some piano fun in Bozeman.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Copy and paste the address below in your browser to see an impromptu performance by Mike and Elizabeth!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://web.mac.com/krististrickland/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks to Jessica Gates of Leg Up Productions (Equine &amp; Event Videography in Kennewick WA) for letting me download this footage of their performance from her camera.   She was there as a tourist and I had left my video camera in the car.  When I saw that she was video-taping their performance I asked if I could get the footage.  We met at her hotel and I downloaded it the same day into my computer.  I LOVE the technology these days!! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kristi</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/07/piano-fun-in-bozeman_05.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115212240770386507'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115212240770386507'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115360005019955570</id><published>2006-07-22T13:24:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-07-22T14:14:12.073-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Family Vacation!</title><content type='html'>On the way out of Durango we went and saw Mesa Verde National Park, which was completely incredible. There was a hike to see an ancient cliff dwelling we took. I really can’t say much except that everyone should go see it, because you’ll be blown away.  Here's a picture of one of the cliff dwellings:&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Cliffdwellings-734861.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Cliffdwellings-721444.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The stop for that night was Kayenta, Arizona, a small, dusty, windy town where the gourmet eating place was the nearby Sonic Burgers, to my dismay. As we pulled into the hotel, an old Mexican man came up to us and did this story about how he was from Alberta, Canada, and he needed “a thousan’ bucks” for gas to get back. When we said we couldn’t give him any, he asked, “ Well, you have three, brutha? Cmon, three bucks brutha?” After we assured him that we could not, he finally went away. That night we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which I can tell you right now will be on the “disapproved” section of my blog restaurant listing. My dad ordered this taco and spent most of the meal searching around with his fork like a miner mining for gold for the beef supposedly in it. (He only found three microscopic pieces.) Noone slept well that night, and we ended up leaving at about eight thirty. There was a drive through this place north of Kayenta called Monument Valley that was supposed to be incredible, so we drove there. There were all these weird rock formations where the ground would be completely flat then sprout up into a giant sculpture.   Here's a picture of some of them:&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Monument-732622.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Monument-730198.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We were on an Indian reservation, and on the way out there was this stand that advertised handmade Navajo jewelry. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to stop, but my mom insisted, and we ended up stopping for about two hours and buying tons of necklaces and bracelets and pottery and sand art for the best prices I’ve ever seen in my life. The people were very friendly and were making the things right in front of us. After we finally left there was another stand about a mile later, and we stopped at THAT one and bought three more things, and then after that there were about five more we stopped at and had the best time on the whole trip. My favorite was one little place where the woman selling her jewelry loved piano music, and gave me a necklace in exchange for one of my CDs. My dad also bartered two of his CDs for two bracelets. Here’s the booty.  &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Jewelry-798672.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Jewelry-794910.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After all the stands, we drove into Grand Canyon National Park. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an amazing natural place. I kept feeling like if I reached out , I would rip open a big poster of the view.  Here's Sadie in front of the Grand Canyon:&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sadie at the Grand Canyon-721183.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sadie at the Grand Canyon-719437.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The next morning there was some more stuff to see, and then we started driving to Las Vegas. On the way there was ANOTHER rock shop my dad and I got a big calcite rock at (my mom stayed in the car, I think seeing stuff my dad and I might buy makes her feel ill) On route 66 there was a great little burger place we ate at where the guy running it played all sorts of tricks on us, like squirting fake mustard at my mom, who shrieked loudly. His name was John, here he is:&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/snow cone-742715.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/snow cone-740698.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He got me with that one too. Shortly after there was a place called the Grand Canyon caverns, and my dad and I took a tour. It’s this giant cavern 220 feet below the ground with all sorts of crystals and formations growing. The guy doing the tour turned off the lights and you couldn’t see your hand a half inch in front of your face. And now we’re almost in Las Vegas. We just drove through this little booth near the Hoover Dam where they look at you to make sure you don’t look like a terrorist.(we passed easily).</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/07/family-vacation.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115360005019955570'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115360005019955570'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115337607077494651</id><published>2006-07-19T23:11:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-07-20T00:33:17.643-07:00</updated><title type='text'>House Concert #4 Durango CO</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Zeus-732516.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Zeus-729812.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On Thursday morning we left my aunt Dulci’s house. Their emormous cat Zeus seemed to think he was coming, too (see picture)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We drove allllll the way to Ouray, Colorado, which took all day. One of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever been on. The first thing we saw upon entering was a big sign for “Ouray Hot Springs”, so we went straight there. The water was awesome and by the time everyone was done soaking, our fingers looked like raisins. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After we left, driving through the town to our motel, my dad and I spotted a rock shop, which made us ecstatic and Mom not so hot on forking over another $50 for shiny objects. The next morning my dad and I paid a visit there and got several rocks, two quartz crystals, a smoky quartz crystal, an amethyst crystal, some peacock copper, and a piece of malachite. (My dad and I are rock nerds)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; On the road out of Ouray, we amused ourselves by looking off the steep cliffs the road snaked by and asking the question, “If we went off the road HERE would we all die?” Much too often the answer was positive. There were three high mountain passes at about ten thousand feet to drive over. &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Ouray-756771.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Ouray-754995.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Early afternoon was when we arrived in Durango for our radio interview to promote the upcoming concert. There was a twenty minute segment my dad and I did at the radio studio.  Even the dog barked her song. Here's a picture of us at the radio station.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Radio interview-701598.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Radio interview-793822.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When we were done we visited some friends, Jenny and Greg and their son Tyller, outside of Durango near New Mexico. Their dogs loved Sadie (the feeling was not returned by the other party).  Here's one of their dogs - Cowboy&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Cowboy-779733.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Cowboy-778198.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; I went swimming practically in their backyard, which was in New Mexico. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FInally, we had to leave and go to Todd and Bonnie’s (the people who were hosting our concert in Durango). They lived on an amazing 70 acre property with no neighbors to be seen.  Here is a picture of their ranch right as we drove up: &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Barbey ranch-757701.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Barbey ranch-755954.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;  I loved meeting their pets (Australian Shepherd Amber, rather rotund cat Brandy, finger-hating birds Guava and Peaches, and assorted fish).  Here's a shot of me practicing with peaches and guava on my shoulders - they both LOVE music!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/peaches and guava-720222.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/peaches and guava-717820.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The next day was filled with practicing in the Durango Arts Center on the piano we were going to play the next day, shopping, and chilling. The concert the day after (at 4:00) went wonderfully. Everyone enjoyed it and we sold lots of CD’s. I loved it when one elderly woman came up to me and said, “Well..… that….. was just… SO NEAT!!!  I sold quite a few of my CD’s.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; After the concert, Todd and Bonnie took us out to dinner at a place called Seasons, which I am sure is the best restaurant in Durango. We had things like calamari, baby back pork ribs, Colorado lamb, veal scallopini,  and tiramisu. I’m making a list of “blog-approved” restaurants to be released when the trip is over and this will be at the top of the list. The next morning, after Dad told me rather feebly the night before that we REALLY should leave at about 7 to make an early start, we left at noon (big surprise.)   Here's a picture of our wonderful hosts Todd and Bonnie:&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Todd and Bonnie-715815.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Todd and Bonnie-713617.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Statistics&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Miles driven: 3190.9&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;National parks visited: 2&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Number of dogs interested in Sadie: 4&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Number of dogs Sadie was interested in: 0</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/07/house-concert-4-durango-co.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115337607077494651'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115337607077494651'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115275202880787756</id><published>2006-07-12T17:51:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-07-12T19:26:48.120-07:00</updated><title type='text'>House Concerts #2 and #3</title><content type='html'>On Thursday we drove to Rapid City. Nothing too exciting to report&lt;br /&gt;here. Montana: "Oh, look at that beautuful unspoiled mountain! Ooo,&lt;br /&gt;ANOTHER one! And ANOTHER!" Wyoming: "Oh look, we're in green hills&lt;br /&gt;now, thank goodness. If i see another darn beautiful unspoiled&lt;br /&gt;mountain I'm going to be sick. Wow, look at them! They're green, and&lt;br /&gt;hilly, and they... go... on....... forever........and ever.... " When&lt;br /&gt;we got into Rapid City, Sadie started shaking like she does when she&lt;br /&gt;hears thunder or fireworks, only there were none. One possible reason&lt;br /&gt;is that she knew we were going to my aunt's house, where she prefers&lt;br /&gt;to keep dogs in the kitchen or garage, otherwise known to Sadie as&lt;br /&gt;"Doggie Jail." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The next day, we had a concert at our fan Bonnie Hilt's&lt;br /&gt;house. &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/The Hilts-703509.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/The Hilts-799760.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Bonnie Hilts-763569.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Bonnie Hilts-761166.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; It went very well, considering they had a chocolate fountain&lt;br /&gt;and about ten kinds of gourmet desserts. Just kidding, the concert was&lt;br /&gt;great. But that chocolate fountain..... I'm just glad we don't own one&lt;br /&gt;or I would probably resemble a giant beach ball. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The next day was a&lt;br /&gt;big party for my Grandpa Leo, who was turning seventy, although he&lt;br /&gt;says he only feels like it's fifty, and he acts more like he's seven.&lt;br /&gt;We went to a lake and rented a big pontoon and brought my aunt's jet&lt;br /&gt;skis, and had a good time. &lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Grandpa on motorcycle-741833.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Grandpa on motorcycle-738402.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Grandpa in cowboy boots-769445.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Grandpa in cowboy boots-764622.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's a couple pictures of Grandpa Leo.  One on his motorcycle and one wearing his cowboy boots with his red swim trunks.  You get the idea.  All three of my aunts were there and a&lt;br /&gt;bunch of my cousins. I learned how to drive a jet ski (rather&lt;br /&gt;violently, according to my cousin).&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/eliz and demitri-747782.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/eliz and demitri-744620.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; I was having such a great time&lt;br /&gt;that I stayed out for about and hour and a half once and made my mom&lt;br /&gt;think I was lost. The next day all the adults went to a casino, while&lt;br /&gt;my cousins and I went to a fun place where there was mini golf and go&lt;br /&gt;carts and bumper boats and arcade games and all that fun stuff. I&lt;br /&gt;think I was the cause of about three go cart pile-ups due to my&lt;br /&gt;aggressive driving. That night I did a little mini concert for two of&lt;br /&gt;my aunts and some cousins at my aunt JoVayne's house. Monday, we drove&lt;br /&gt;to Denver. On the way, we stopped at a rock shop we've visited before.&lt;br /&gt;My dad and I got a bunch of rocks, with some resistance from my mom,&lt;br /&gt;who is not a rock person, who kept asking annoying questions like,&lt;br /&gt;"Don't you HAVE one of those already? (Not the point. The point is to&lt;br /&gt;collect as many rocks as you can) After passing the many signs between&lt;br /&gt;Rapid City and Mount Rushmore that say things like,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Reptile Gardens! Get close, but not TOO close!&lt;br /&gt;Black Light Mini Golf!&lt;br /&gt;Rushmore Cave: The Beautiful One!!&lt;br /&gt;Crystal Cave: The Amazing One!&lt;br /&gt;Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns!&lt;br /&gt;Outdoor Wildlife Park!&lt;br /&gt;Presidential Alpine Slide! (what the heck?) (has pictures of&lt;br /&gt;presidents sliding down giant slide with exaggerated expressions of&lt;br /&gt;wild glee on their faces)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;we finally got pulled in by,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;See It! Feel It! SURVIVE IT!!!!!!!!! The Cosmos!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, while my mom took a nap in the car, my dad and I went to go see&lt;br /&gt;"The Cosmos", whatever the heck it was. It turned out to be a tour of&lt;br /&gt;this place in the Black Hills where gravity has gone wacky.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/cosmos-765474.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/cosmos-762700.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; It isn't&lt;br /&gt;some fake thing with magnets, it is completely real. There is a house&lt;br /&gt;where you can stand off the wall. When you throw a tennis ball&lt;br /&gt;straight up, it looks like an invisible force pulls it to one side. It&lt;br /&gt;was really cool, and I highly recommend it to anyone in that area.&lt;br /&gt;When we finally got to Denver, it was almost eleven. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last night, we did a house concert at my mom's old high school friend, Denise, and&lt;br /&gt;her husband Ed's house.  Here's a picture of them and their two boys.&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/The Andrews-749393.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/The Andrews-746337.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Afterwards we set off a TON of fireworks just&lt;br /&gt;for fun. Well, fun for everyone except Sadie, who cowered behind the&lt;br /&gt;couch. Their sons also taught me how to play croquet (I stink). We had&lt;br /&gt;a good time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's one last picture of three generations: Mom, Grandpa Leo and me&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/me, Grandpa and mom-773428.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/me, Grandpa and mom-769523.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/07/house-concerts-2-and-3_115275202880787756.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115275202880787756'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115275202880787756'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-115216449537790546</id><published>2006-07-05T22:33:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-07-05T22:41:35.380-07:00</updated><title type='text'>House Concert #1, Bozeman, MT</title><content type='html'>Well, here I am again! I told you guys I would be back! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We’re on the fourth day of our western states tour. Lemme fill you in on what has happened so far.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monday morning, we left from our house at approximately 11:45 AM &lt;br /&gt;(this is quite funny because the night before, my dad said,  “Well guys, I think we should leave at about 7, or at the latest 7:30, that way we can be in Spokane at noon and get to Montana by 7.”)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I made a derisive snorting noise and said, “yeah, RIGHT.”, while thinking, “The only reason my dad and I get up at 7 is to go pee in the middle of the night.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Only 4 hours 45 minutes late. Not bad. We spent the 10 hour drive to Bozeman, Montana mostly by driving each other batty. It is my opinion, that, if my dad can eat a potato chip loud enough to be heard by someone in the back seat listening to Shostakovich symphonies on an iPod at FULL VOLUME, making me want to grab the chip bag, crush it into a little ball the size of a pea, and throw it violently out the window, then his mouth should be outlawed. Mom thought the most hilarious thing ever to do was to wait for those “how many miles to such-and-such town” signs came by, and if they had Butte, Montana, yell loudly, “NINETY EIGHT MILES TO &lt;br /&gt;BUTT, MONTANA!!!!!!!!!!!! HAR DEE HARR HAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!&lt;br /&gt;Does anyone ELSE’s mom do that??? Noooo, don’t think so.  My car entertainment ran out very fast and soon the most exciting thing to do was to pop the top on and off of a Burt’s Beeswax Lip Balm tube and glower out at the signs that told me I had a good few hours left in the car.&lt;br /&gt;   Oh, I have a quick suggestion. If you ever go by Missoula, and you stop for a food break, and you see a restaurant called Finnigan’s, and you want to eat there, DON’T. Their food STINKS.&lt;br /&gt;   And now back to our show. We reached our friends Bob and Vivian Schaap’s house at about 11:00 and crashed.&lt;br /&gt;   The next day was Fourth of July (yay!) which is the awesomest holiday ever. I would like to meet the genius who thought up the concept that exploding things is patriotic. I got a big bag of fireworks and set them all off with Sage, Bob and Vivian’s adorable grandson, who is six. I love those warnings on the firework packages that say things like,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;WARNING&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DANGEROUS&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ADULT SUPERVISION REQUIRED&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;LIGHT FUSE AND GET AWAY(that’s my personal fave)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Those firecracker things that are illegal in Seattle and have the really short fuses are so fun. I was more adept at using the lighter to light fuses than my dad, who burned his thumb, though luckily not where he plays piano.&lt;br /&gt;   Today, we did a house concert at Bob and Viv’s on the keyboard. The funniest thing happened while I was playing one of my pieces. I had just done this big glissando going up the keyboard (a glissando is where you put a finger down and drag) and I had a leetle too much weight going to my right. The piece-of-crap keyboard bench didn’t like this and leaned over and I nearly fell off. My mom got it on video. Everyone, including me, cracked up. I kept the piece going though! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sage and I-792044.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/uploaded_images/Sage and I-788845.JPG" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  Sage and I in the River at Bob and Vivians house</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/07/house-concert-1-bozeman-mt_115216449537790546.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115216449537790546'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/115216449537790546'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13643062.post-114996155410731540</id><published>2006-06-10T10:44:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-10T10:45:54.123-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Summer Tour 2006</title><content type='html'>Starting July 1st 2006 we will be touring the Western US.  Look for Elizabeth first blog around then.  Our first stop will be Bozeman MT!!</content><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.mikestrickland.com/tourblog/2006/06/summer-tour-2006.html'></link><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/114996155410731540'></link><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/13643062/posts/default/114996155410731540'></link><author><name>The Strickland Family</name></author></entry></feed>