When I asked Natasha what I should do in Kansas she responded, “drive fast, preferably at night”. And so it was. After a day at the Yakov theater with Angie, I packed up my car and hit the road once again. The goal was to be in Denver by Thursday morning. I had no idea what would happen in between, nor did it matter.
475 miles later I found myself in Hays, KS (read: the bane of America). At 12:30AM Rubin and I checked into what appeared to be a partially abandoned Ramada Inn. The entire place smelled like whiskey, in a bad way. Our room had windows, to the inside. The floors were so stained that I even I was hesitant to touch them with my bare feet. Needless to say, come 6:30AM the next morning we were ready to get the hell out of Hays. And so we did.
The drive was dark. The experience itself didn’t warrant any photographs. I did, however, have quite a bit of time to filter through my digital music collection, where I was happy to reunite with some familiar sounds. Here are some of the highlights from my from my “Plain State Playlist”. Go figure, it’s mostly bluegrass.
- Shovels & Rope – Birmingham
- Jerry Garcia – Jack-A-Roe
- John Butler Trio – Zebra
- Trampled by Turtles – Outskirts
- Greensky Bluegrass – Atlantic City
- Infamous Stringdusters – No More To Leave You Behind
- Steppin’ In It – Betsie Brown
- Carolina Chocolate Drops – Hit Em’ Up Style
- Be Good Tanyas – When Doves Cry
- Hillstomp – You Got To Move
- Mary Bue – Little Bird
- Railroad Earth – Been Down This Road
- Sean Hayes – Alabama Chicken
- Yonder Mountain String Band – Angel
- Tallest Man on Earth – Walk The Line
Day 20,213. On to Denver.
Cherrettie
Forever Paisley 
Express yourself …