The Galt Line: The Galt Line Beer and Sausages Tour Day 8

Al’s Bar’s Our Bar

The sun rose over Costco that morning, and we woke to the sounds of slamming car doors. The parking lot was alive with busy families. We must have been a sight, all of us filing out of the bus and squinting at the daylight. Blythe and I hit the big clean bathrooms for a quick clean up, and had a Costco hotdog for breakfast ($1.50 with a soda!). We feasted with Ishi and Casey while discussing the coming days. It was like a high-powered board meeting, but funnier, and with better food.

We stopped off at Trader Joe’s for some road snacks and cheap booze, and we parted ways again, planning to meet up at Al’s bar. Blythe and I hit the road together, again zooming through Kentucky, admiring the rolling green of horse country. Corn, Soy beans, and tobacco dotted hillsides, as we sped toward Lexington.

When New Circle road, Lexington’s own mini-belt-way, rolled across the horizon, we pulled off and went to visit our friends. Tara and Rick welcomed us in, and cooked us a fine dinner of pasta and mushrooms. Rick has taken a job on an organic mushroom farm, and so has a great supply of them. We caught up for a while, but had to go all too soon.

Outside Al's Bar

The great white bus was already parked in front of Al’s Bar when we arrived. We loaded in fast. With a meal in our bellies, we were ready to play. On the menu tonight was Us, Whitehall Bear, and Bloodroots Barter. It was to be a fine night of rootsy brilliance. After a beer, it was time. We crushed it. The Galt Line played a good show.

Whitehall Bear came up next, and played a loose and wild set of country flavored modern rock. They played with real energy, even through technical difficulties. Next up came Bloodroots Barter, who polished off another perfect show with energy and mountain hewn grace. This was a cool night, with good music all around. Our spirits were high.

We all packed out, ready for a party. Rick and Tara were kind enough to provide the space. Everything was set for a great after party, but one thing (for me anyway). I contracted, about a week before the tour started, some disease that had me fevered and coughing. Some symptoms had still (and even now a little) stuck around. This night, I was hacking like a Dickensian orphan. When we arrived at the house, I shut myself away in a room, and turned in for the night to chase off this cough before we continued on with less comfort available.

Everyone around offered sympathies. Angie, a denizen of the household and friend of ours, offered eucalyptus oil to soothe the cough. Casey offered a tincture of Yellowroot and Ginseng. I took whatever was given to me along with a strong dose of modern cough medicine, and lay back for a night in bed.

I could hear frivolities outside the bedroom door, but resisted the temptation to join the party and lay quietly with a book from Mark and Kristi’s room. It was The War Lizard chronicles. This was awesome. Kristi’s sweet bulldog, cheeseburger, came and laid with me until I fell asleep. Hours later, Blythe crawled into bed. I would like to note that I made fun of Blythe in the last set of tour blogs for always falling asleep. She was up partying, hosting, and generally doing everything until 5 am.