A dark, windy, rainy day in the Rose City. We drove in this morning and went straight to The Aladdin which is on the outskirts of town, so I didn’t get a chance to wander around one of my favourite towns. I did grab a ride to Powells Books because it just wouldn’t feel right to come to Portland and not visit Powells. This town has always been good to us and this venue is always a pleasure to play…tonight was no different. A really fun show with a tremendous audience, who pushed us onward and upward despite some tuning issues on a couple of songs ….tune, schmoon….

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An easy overnight drive to Boise. We woke up to clear blue skies and snowcapped mountains. This town, sitting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, is about as beautifully situated as one can get. Apparently, the word is out because Boise has been booming for the past five to ten years, yet it seems to have maintained its small town feel. You can always tell that a town is booming by the amount of coffee/espresso shops in its downtown core, it means that there are enough people around with enough money in their pocket to sit around in the middle of the day sipping $3 coffee products. I counted four in a couple of blocks around the theater, including the ubiquitous Starbucks (always a sign that the market research has detected disposal income).

This is a rare visit to Boise. We played here with the Lilith Fair and we may have played one other time after that, but none of us can remember. It just may become a regular tour stop judging on the reaction to this gig. The show sold out very quickly, the Egyptian Room is an excellent venue and the audience was great. A perfect way to end this, very successful, leg of the tour. We fly home tomorrow for a couple of weeks break and then start up again in Nashville…onward-ho…