I've been gone from Massachusetts not two weeks yet, and so much has happened it's almost too much to recall.

The Zen of wheels turning underfoot starts in early for the long haul out to Colorado. Some sights never cease to amaze me. The way stations on the Indiana Turnpike overflowing with tractor trailers trucks during the overnight; squeezed in like mammoth sardines into every conceivable space, spilling out onto the entrance and exit ramps.

On the second morning I pass Chicago and pull over to nap in the van. When I awake I get breakfast then drive as far as the Iowa border where before crossing the Mississippi I gas up on the Illinois side then park by the river and take out my fiddle and practice for awhile. I figure it's as much paying acknowledgement to the fact that I'm crossing the border into the greater west as it is shaking the dust off of my fingers.

Meeting Lui in Ft. Collins the touring seems to kick into gear. Shows in Ft. Collins, Denver, and Elizabeth, followed quickly by two days of teaching songwriting and giving concerts to Elementary school children in the high mountain schools in northern Colorado.

We spend Wednesday and Thursday driving through Wyoming trying to slow down some and catch up with e-mails and phone calls before the weekend in Utah. Here's a journal excerpt from the Weston Motel in Rawlins, WY.

2/18/99 7am Up on the rim of the Great Divide Plateau, the sun is peeking over the edge of a bank of eastward moving clouds. The morning sky is pale blue, and the wind is non-stop. The wind has been like a river moving at a steady 20-30 mph, and my poor van has been moving upstream against it! Filled the gas tank last night at 75 cents a gallon. Cheapest I've ever seen. Rawlins seems ravaged. Looks like a ramshackle bedroom community for the Sinclair refinery than a destination of any sort....

Last night we hit Salt Lake and played for a small crowd in a nice auditorium on the USU campus. The weather has been gorgeous for February. The mountains hovering above the valley lift my eyes above the sprawl of Salt Lake. Today, Timpanogo's house concert near Provo, Sunday a concert in Logan. Then it's driving south through Moab into New Mexico to the Folk Alliance in Albuquerque.

It's difficult to sum up for this months notes. It feels like I'm ending in mid-thought. The motion of the tour keeps going. So I'll just end it here, and let y'all know when more interesting stuff happens. Keep in touch, send me a line. See you soon!

D.R.