Sunday April 11th.
Up at 7am. Depart Providence, RI at 9.30am arrive in Portland, OR at 2.30pm. Leave Portland in a rental car, make it 250 odd miles to Medford by the time the sun went down at 8pm (11pm east coast time). I'm wiped out and all I did was sit on my butt all day and allow machines to propel me 3500 miles.

Monday 12th.
The day is glorious for a shock of California springtime. The drive is stunning down I 5 over the Siskiyou pass in southern Oregon and into the highlands of Scott Valley in California. Mount Shasta rears up like the massive mountain it is and dominates the view. The sun is out, the air is clear, and brilliant and colors are vivid. The blooming trees, the lush grasses and mustard flowers, the snow covering the mountains, and the expansive farms below. This is where I get my rush, my thrill, my fix of expansiveness. I absorb what the earth is doing around me and my body reacts likewise.

This area is known as Jefferson State. The eight counties of Jackson and Josephine in southwest Oregon, and the California counties of Siskiyou, Del Norte, Modoc, Humbolt, Klamath, and Trinidad. Because of it's isolation geographically and economically, legislators in the late 1930's and early 40's sought to create a 51st state. World War II came along, however, and killed any momentum it might of had. In my opinion Jefferson State really does have a different vibe than the rest of California.

I make the drive to Santa Cruz by late afternoon where I meet up with Lui for this week of the tour. She flew out last week and did a string of shows solo in southern California. Over the course of the next six days we play five shows together. First at a biker bar in the coastal mountains outside of Santa Cruz called Henflings Tavern. It looks pretty tough from the outside, but when the music starts it amazingly turns into a great listening room. Then to Bill Wagmans house concert in Davis, then back down to San Jose for a lovely gig with the Fiddling Cricket Folk Club. Then back to the mountains for a solo show in Grass Valley near where Utah Phillips lives in Nevada City, then to top it off with our last duo show at the Kellsey school house built in 1858 in the small mountain town of Garden Valley. It's a whirlwind of motion that slows down right about the time I drop Lui off at the Sacramento airport for her flight home late Sunday night.

Wednesday April 21st
Today, I'm sitting in a café in Ashland, Oregon writing these "notes". This morning I drove up again through the paradise of Scott Valley in Jefferson State, past the cloud covered hulk of Mt. Shasta. Even in the nine days that have passed since I drove south through here there's been a change. The leaves have pushed out a bit more on the trees and grey clouds obscure the sky. I've grown accustomed to the rhythm of the tour day to day: making the connections, keeping abreast of e-mails and telephone messages. I juggle the complexities suspended far from my office at home. Surfing the tour, if you will.

Ah, the never ending road trip......this country is so amazing. Well friends, that's all for now. Like always, I welcome your thoughts and comments about this portion of my webpage. Send me an e-mail, keep in touch. I'll catch up with you again in May.

With kind regards and blessings,
Dana Robinson