What I am "doing"

Packing up, moving out, three weeks of travelling, and finally reaching Canadian soil... what do you do? A weekend of magic shows of course!

The weekend included a performance at the Fort Cafe, which was great, as we opened for the Hypnotist - Christoph Hein, and then at the lovely Goward House where a wedding reception was taking place, with THE GREAT GIFFONI!

The Great Giffoni was brought in to entertain the wedding guests, and to the newlyweds delight - I was available to come accompany the magic show. I was informed that the couple wished to have 'the accordion player' with The Great Giffoni, and so it looks like I returned to Victoria BC just in time!

It was so fantastic to be performing for the magic show again, but I must say, it is definitely surreal to return to venues you haven't seen or been to for awhile. Everything is familiar and unrecognizable at the same time.

In the meantime, I have been TRYING to take it eeeeeeeasyyyyy - which is a difficult thing for me to do. I'm a creature of "doing", and must either be creating, establishing, working, or completing something... but I can't complain. Life is good. So, what I am "doing" is getting a lot of rest, decompressing, digesting, readjusting to the west coast, and daydreaming up what is next :)

xoNatasha

Accordions go on road trips

How do you sum up a 3 week long road trip in to words? Amazing? Provoking? Life-changing - ooh yes, that is always good :) Or dare I say "EPIC"!?

I'm forever grateful for this adventure that I shared with my boyfriend, Darren, and to all the friends we made a long the way. It wasn't always about the accordion... although it was the accordion that brought me down to Orlando - giving me the opportunity to drive back from there. There was of course a lot of time spent caring for my instruments in the back seat - you don't want to cook your accordion in the heat of a road trip while passing through places like Georgia, Texas, and the Mojave Desert!

I needed the break from playing anyways, and just sit back and take in the southern, mid-west, and western states of America.

My favourite stops along the way were Nashville, Memphis, Graceland, and the state of Tennessee in general. Visiting Graceland was touching. Seeing Elvis Presley's home, belongings, awards and grave leaves you speechless and feeling sad but even more appreciative of his achievements and body of work.

New Mexico - because where else are you going to stay in a hotel where you are given 4 complimentary drink tickets? You can then go downstairs and eat dinner and view two different wedding receptions going on, and BOTH are playing "Baby's got back" for the Grandma's on the dance floors? No joke, I witnessed this song being played within 10 seconds at both parties.

The Grand Canyon was incredible, and is a beast of a landscape. We may have had a battle as I posed by her with my accordion, and played some melodies for her.

I had a lovely time in Flagstaff, AZ and the desert into California was scary - the heat I mean, but I came from hot/humid air in Florida and to feel the dry heat of the Mojave blowing at you was something else. San Francisco was frantic and fun, and Portland was not really that 'weird', but a good place to spend July 4th.

Going from the South to the West gives you a lot of perspective and you also learn a thing or two about the country, society, hotel rooms, where accents transform and the friendliness of mankind comes and goes

I highly recommend the trip, but like I said - it was because of the accordion that I was able to do this adventure!

Path:
Orlando, FL> Georgia> Nashville, TN> Memphis, TN> Arkansas> El Reno, OK> Texas> Albuquerque, NM> Grand Canyon, AZ> Flagstaff, AZ> Bakersfield, CA> San Francisco, CA> Napa, CA> Grant's Pass, OR> Portland, OR> Port Angeles, WA> Victoria, BC

More pictures from this adventure can be seen at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aspekt_girl

and Darren Stone's fantastic photostream has photos from the road trip as well:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrenstone

The end of the trip has come, and I am back in Canada. Question: Why is it that Canadian customs treat you like a criminal until proven otherwise? Sigh, after 10 months of being out of Canada a little "welcome back" from the border would have been the polite Canadian thing to do, no?

Anyways, here I stand, ready for the next chapter :)

xoN