SF - DC - VA Beach - Camden NJ - Scranton - Boston and more.

Hi gang!
It's been a while but rob's been to S.F. for a symphonic performance w/Mr. Lesh at Davies Hall (downtown S.F.) & the Fillmore the nite before (or after, I'm not sure...)
Anyhoo, rob took many buses from S.F. to Auburn and hitched from there to RENO and then made it all the way to DENVER just in time for 'uncle billy's tea party' the g8 summit; y'know that event where CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC were barred entry to an audience w/ 'his majesty' I mean Clinton g8 CLOSED THE *PUBLIC LIBRARY IN DENVER* hey billy boy, can you say 'first amendment?'.
I CAN!!

Besides I wanted to use the net there...
They ALSO CLOSED the HIGhWAY! grrrrr.
^^above trip 37 hrs^^

Then a helluva long time to get to GOODLAND, KS + a helluva long time to get OUT.
Thanx to w Whitewater guide from West Virginia for getting rob to KNIGHTSTOWN, Indiana after that it was GRAVY to Washington, DC where rob is suing the LYNX browser in the SILVER SPRING library (near Silver Spring Metro).

Was able to convince Chuck Bimba to give him a ride to the VA BEACH Furthur show (the palce where they encouraged everybody to 'come early' then didn't open the building 'til 90 mins before showtime, leaving bladders bursting in the parking lot of the VA BEACH Ampitheatre).
Of course tinkling in the woods is illegal and the constabulary had people lurking in the woods on 'tinkle patrol'.
Outdoor tinkling is of course a sex offense in the Commonwealth so you had to risk a felony or piss yourself.
As Chuck sez:
No portacans?
That's so insensitive it's almost impressive!
Chuck paid $40 to camp for two nites in the State Park
(the average hotel in VA Beach rents for about 40 a nite, big saving, huh?).
Oh well, it wasn't rob's money...

We made it back to the NISSAN Pavillion (near DC in VA) which actually HAD fully plumbed bathrooms IN THE PARKING LOT!
Rob sez I don't get it?
Same promoter rite?
And how come the publicly owned venue in VA Beach is tighter on folx than the one w/an ACTUAL RIGHT to be? (Nissan is wholly private).

Anyhoo rob made a small fortune selling opaque plastic cups to other concertgoers to hide their libations in (Prince William police motto: out of site,out of mind).
P.S. PW police are VERY PROFESSIONAL compared to MOST other VA cops...ie - if they are in your face it's FOR A *GOOD* reason...

Afterwards rob stayed on Chucks used psychiatrists couch (a 'natural habitat' according to 'Val' & 'Chris I').
Then we went to CAMDEN, NJ where Chuck got hit for 10 bux to park the car (@ 'parking included' gig...)
Rob ran into Chris and rescued a lost bag...
See DNC for more details...
Chuck gave rob & another hitchiker a lift out by PLYMOUTH MEETING Mall where they went up the NE extension to Scranton separately (rob had to get that cheese steak @ carlo's ya know).

First exit north - Lansdowne / Kulpsville behind WAWA stilll kinda hungry rob goes to buy a pizza slice that gets bought by the guy in front o' me...dejected I go over to the turnpike gate and await transport north when the GUY WHO BEAT ME OUT OF THE LAST SLICE comes by & gives it up!
*WHODATHUNKIT?*

Off to Scranton where rob attempts to bust a bunco scam involving a nonexistent homeless shelter & counterfeit band merchandise.
See DNC for details...

As for Boston (Great Woods),
I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, that's my story and I'm sticking to it...(don't ask).

As we leave Boston, CHRIS I (nut meg twirler extraordinaire) picks up a hitchiker named 'Jeremy' whose friends have flaked w/his stuff.
Cops start hassling after a show, nobody does a head count and the van's in Ohio before anybody realizes anybody's missing...
Anyway, USING THE GUIDE AT THE QUEENS LIBRARY rob was able to get Jeremy to a good spot to hitch home to Ohio from Port Jervis, NY (Matamoros, PA).
Rob saw J @ Polaris none the worse for wear BTW...the link was www.mta.nyc.ny.us...
BTW - Springfield was uneventful except getting a ride to the turnpike was HELL and the cops wanted the people hitching to walk IN THE DARK and get splattered instead of hitch home UNDER THE LITE as the last bus was LONG GONE.

Finally made it to SPAC w/ Nicole who I bought an ice cream for at STEWART's & paid the tolls for (rob was too broke for ga$).
Small windfall so I went to the OTB & put $2 on 'Alien Strike' the day Pathfinder landed (I think) and it LOST BY A NECK.
However, the other day at Philly the same horse WON A STAKES @ 12--1.

Shuffled off to BUFFALO and had a weird experince at the service plaza.
NICOLE (who said she was parking her car @ Saratoga) came in. I told her I'd pay her toll for a lift ($12 btw) but she said she had no room (4 dr car). Anyhoo 10 OTHER people I know come in (and really HAVE NO ROOM).
Then I get shanked to an exit by a NYSP (weird thing dept: at service plazas on the I-87 portion this doesn't happen... rob sez evenhanded 'enforcment' would be better...)
I stand in seriously dangerous spot at the toll gate beacuse that was where the NYSP TELLS ME TO (remember I got removed from a VERY SAFE PLACE (the service plaza) where I SPENT MONEY thus making me ANYTHING BUT A TRESPASSER...)

Rescue comes along in the form of a van full of freaks going to a place where, by coincidence, somebody who owes me 10 bux is (after seeing the entry $15 for the 'Sterling Stage' ripoff we split, however...)
So CANADA LET ME in to go to TORONTO and after the gig before taking the GO bus to 'Bowmanville' (up the 401 abit) past Oshawa $7.00 CDN (cheap!) rob dined in a donut shop near YORK MILLS just north of the 401.
A footlong sub w/the worx for $3 cdn.
Got a footlong hotdog ALL BEEF & a dr.pepper from a street vendor for $3CDN (2.10 US).
Where can I get a fully dressed dog & pop for 2 bux HERE I'd like ta know? (not to mention this good burger joint called Harvey's Burger & Cadbury Caramello bar $2 CDN! FRESH in Bowmanville!

Went to HERSHEY Park and ate a few chocolate bars @ the show...and cashed a money order for $50 for a li'l girl who REALLY WANTED to see the show.
Rob only had 30 but she said 's ok I'll take it, that's what I need for the ticket...(I told her she'd be out 20 but it didn't matter to her.
She said she enjoyed the show tho so I (GUESS I WAS BEING A GOOD SAMARITAN?).

Then off to COLUMBUS *YAWN* saw Jeremy in one piece...YAY and then went to PINE KNOB in Clarkston, Michigan where people were THROWING MONEY at rob for ankle bells *REALLY*.
And of course finally rob crashed at the AMAZINGLY UNINCARCERATED AND AIMIN' TO STAY THAT WAY Kevin B's pad...In PGH near STAR LAKE.
Hitchin out after the gig rob got the cooks tour of Ohio via Weirton , W VA.
Hit the Wendy's superbar in Cambridge, Ohio then got a ride to COLUMBUS (where the car threw a rod) SIGH.

Rob had to hurry - hike to CINCI (where a fedex delivery awaited him at his pals Motel 6 room).
On ramp rob had BIG SIGN w/ 'NEED TO GET TO CINCINATI - INVOLVES MY WORK' when somebody yelled 'get a job', oh the irony...
Anyhoo, dropped off in Indy on Post Rd - get to Mt Comfort, when, while I'm on the LEGAL PORTION of the on -ramp, 2 ISP come by w/the specific intention of *GIVING ME SHIT*.
Then tell me if I'm not gone by the time they're back they'll arrest *ME* FOR USING THE ROAD *I* paid for in a PERFECTLY LEGAL FASHION!

Anyway I had a pizza roll in WVA and saw FISH in DC and am now wrapping this up in DANBURY, CT a friendly library but the only one I have EVER seen an ARMED non - police guard in (New Orleans uses a sheriffs deputy).

A note re CT: in CT a sheriff is NOT a police officer, they are amoral appointees who serve civil summons if ANYBODY who says they are a SHERIFF hassle you in Connecticut for travel TELL THE COPS!
(They have had some problems w/this sort of thing recently)
'Sheriffs' hassling out of state people who didn't know better.
P.S. DANBURY is on metro - north (6 runs a day) $8-10$ from NYC: 3-5 from in CT
And the station is just a few blox from the I-84 (up Main St...)
More after POUGHKEEPSIE FISH w/an f' dammit gig.

CAMDEN GRIPE: Sony / Blockbuster 6$ beer & 10$ parking.

TOLEDO TALE

I went to the wrong exit for the Pittsburgh traffic after the DETROIT gig (Maumee on Ohio t-pike good for Chicago bound traffic) BUT for PGH you want the intersection of I-280/80/90 in Stoney Creek near the Starvin Marvin truck stop (soon to be a Superamerica (they ALL are) w/the 4$ shower & dr.pepper).
Anyhoo the GUY WITH NO PANTS ON SCREAMING AT CARS came up to where I was at the booth and I had to do an "ahem ma'am" to the the tollbooth lady...
He jumped the fence & disappeared.
The OHIO HIGHWAY PATROL had LOADS O' FUN that nite I'm sure.

NOTES

Anyhoo, where rob's been and whether or not they were mass transit accesible:
VA BEACH Amph (tinkle first): YES
Nissan Pavillion (outside DC ): SORT OF (long story)
Sony / Blockbuster Camden NJ: YES (or 10$ parking) + a ferry from Penns
Landing in Philly is now running...
Montage Mountain - Scranton, PA: AS IF
Great Woods (outside Boston): NO
Forest Hills tennis center QUEENS NYC: YES LIRR & NYC SUBWAY (private streets!)
Riverside Park Springfield / Agawam, Mass: SORT OF (good luck getting home AFTER the show...)
Saratoga, NY P.A.C.: ditto, if you hitchike use the MIDDLE EXIT - it's the shortest walk to the gig...(or the racetrack for that matter).
Darien Lakes (outside Buffalo): NO + its' 20 miles from ANYTHING (including a GAS station...)
MOLSON AMPITHEATRE @ ONTARIO PLACE IN TORONTO: YES to bus fare = 2$ CDN
HERSHEY PARK, PA: dream on but points for attended kennel area in stadium 'barking lots'.
P.S. Chuck is a good deadhead, he kennels his dog in a/c before going to the 100 degree + rock concert in VA Beach...
POLARIS Ampitheatre, NE COLUMBUS: I saw a bus stop I dunno the frequency tho...
Pine Knob (north of Detroit): NO + the country road it's on is DANGEROUS TO WALK ON. Someday somebody is gonna get KILLED going to a show there.
OAKLAND COUNTY, Michigan ARE YOU LISTENING? how about you PINE KNOB?
put some lites UP dammit!
STAR LAKE (PGH - have friends like Kevin or the Spacecub or ya hitch...)
I never made it to RIVERBEND in Cincinati soI dunno.
The BAYOU Geogetown / WASH DC: YES IN but NOT AFTER SHOW METRO OPENS 5:30 am.
TRAMPS NYC: yes + shows tend to end before METRO NORTH closes at nite.
TUXEDO JCT - Danbury, CT right BY THE NMETRO NORTH STATION (8-10 from NYC) + its near a VERY cool library +8 blocks from I-84 (which rob is about to jump on momentarily in order to go to POUGHKEEPSIE to see FISH) (w/ an 'F') at the CHANCE (which I have NO idea where it is BTW).
The obscure Scottish poet put rob on the GUEST list in return for two ankle bells for the wife...
Anyhoo,
more later...

DANBURY PUBLIC LIBRARY

...actually dedicates TWO 'net terminals to IRC / chat / e-mail & cgi uses.
They have like 12 total...
Hey IDEA EXCHANGE
Wotta concept...

Write to Legendary Rob.