Before I set off for all things of a touring nature, I thought it prudent to put a short summer blog together and to perhaps whet your appetitie for what's to come over the next few months? I will of course be blogging the length and breadth of the tour with footage of our stange and wonderful travels as well as documenting each gig. If you manage to make it to a show (Oct 13th – Nov 21st) – and I sincerely hope you do! - I may ask you to be a cameraman/woman for the duration of at least one song … it's an idea I'm working on! (All published now and here for your perusal below this Blog).
Anyway … this summer … August 1st 2010 to be precise … I landed in Los Angeles once again and was met by my fabulous friend and co-writer Mike Slamer. I stayed with him and Susan – his equally fabulous wife - for the first few nights of my 7 week stay, ostensibly getting over the long-haul flight and readying myself for a week of relaxation with them and several other mutual friends, at Lake Mead near Las Vegas!
It's Ok … I know I'm ridiculously lucky … really I do! They and another family: Jeff and Nelly Neben and their 3 gorgeous children – Jake, Hannah and Danni … had invited me on one of their annual summer jaunts … they took pity on me knowing I'd be on my own for a couple of weeks before Bob turned up in California. Bless! They're all deligthful human beings and I love everyone of them!
Unfortunately for Sue, due to some silly work shennanigans … she had to forgoe the first couple of days of her vacation, which meant Mike and I had to drive from their home in Santa Clartia to the Lake shore in Nevada … just less than 300 miles! … without her … :-(
The trip itself was relatively easy … for me ... Mike however drove the whole way … towing a 30 foot boat! Didn't seem to bother him … until maybe 20 miles short of our destination when he realised he'd left the boat keys back in Santa Clarita! Doh! We drove up to the lake – which is stunning btw … and went in search of possible spare key options, which turned out to be quite simple and easy to recitfy. Hurrah.
The next part of the plan was going great too … Mike positioned the trailer, truck and boat in alignment and asked me to back everything into the water … while he got onto the boat, ready to ride her round to the slip. I managed to back into the water no problem but … Mike couldn't turn the engine over … the battery, much to his surprise, was absolutely flat. So he gesticulated for me to pull forward … which I did … eventually.
Turns out that … when I kindly offered to clean the boat, before we left … in my eagerness to do a good job ... I'd managed to push EVERY switch possible to the ON position and drained the whole system! OMG! I felt such an idiot. Mike, bless him, was a complete gentleman about it and simply drove out to buy a new (expensive!) battery and … an hour later … we were back in the same position but this time everything went as it should and we were out on the lake in no time at all heading to meet our friends who'd arrived the day before.
This was my first time in this stunning location and I was blown away by the stark beauty of the landscape and the incredible heat – it was 107F when we turned up! Jeff and Nelly along with their great friends and neighbours, Marcello and Lola … had found a beach to anchor for the evening and were intent on having a barbque when we rolled up to join them. I was quite speechless … the light, warmth, deligthful company and delicious food were all amazing … and I so wanted to share it all … with Bob – ah. Maybe next time?
The next few days rolled by with lightening speed. Sue flew into Las vegas a couple of nights later and joined us for the weekend which was just wonderful.
They've all been here before and had perfect weather for boating … flat calm, glass-like waters … but this time, there were some mighty blustery winds which made for some bumpy rides. This only added to the excitement for me but I neither had to steer a boat nor keep children happy and content. It was also blisteringly hot on a couple of days; I loved being able to just drop into the cool waters of the lake. We even swam near the great Hoover Dam!
One particularly blustery day we decided to give the lake a miss and drove nto the local town – Boulder City, to check out other boats and keep out of the wind for a few hours but once we'd seen all there was to see and figured the worst was over, we thought we'd all go out together on Mike and Sue's boat for a little ride. On our way back from said ride, Mike noticed a funny noise coming from his engine, so he steered towards the nearest marina and just as we nudged inside the tyre barrier, the engine conked out completely! There was a moment of silence followed by a few minutes of hilarious laughter … followed by many more minutes of trying to call for help via the radio set onboard … but no one would answer us!
Lake Mead I from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
Eventually a lovely couple on their way back from a day on the lake, sailed up to help us and towed the boat – with us all still onboard - to the petrol pump which by this time was closed! What followed was a 4 hour farce of great fun and frollicks which left myself, Sue, Nelly and her 2 delightful daughters, Hanah and Danni, playing silly games on board our stranded boat, while Mike and Jeff endeavoured to get back to a car, drive to the marina we were starnded at and bring us all back to the hotel! Turned out we'd simply run out of petrol and Mike and Jeff returned to get Mike's boat very early the following morning … filled up and came back to home port so-to-speak ready for our last day of fun on the lake. Never a dull moment!
Lake Mead II from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
And that was only the beginning of my trip! We drove back to Santa Clarita on Aug 9th and on August 10th Sue dropped me off at the apartment Bob and I had rented for the summer, in Santa Monica. I loved this little flat in it's perfect location.
There were many more adventures over the summer but briefly here's what it consisted of: meeting friends from far off times, going to Yogaworks on Main Street to get thoroughly immersed in Kundalni Yoga with Kia Miller (she's simply amazing!), meeting up with new babys who are now my surrogate nephews – well only one baby and his name is Avery Richmond Pleeter and he is absolutely gorgeous! Having various repastes with such luminaries as: Tracy Strann, Sam Epstein, Gary stewart, Helene Muddiman, Kelly Ann Ford, Richard Thompson and Nigel Rush … walking along the beach between Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach and … driving back up to Las vegas to be with Bob and to catch a couple of CBR shows this time in a double bill with Nora Jones no less. Experiencing the absolutely amazing Cirque De Soleil Beatles show “Love” wow … and erm ... writing several songs along the way … mostly on my own but on occasion in the company of Mike Slamer or Helen Muddiman this time round ... plus a couple of days out in the desert at Palm Springs with Bob for a little R&R after the CBR tour ... Phew! I feel quite dizzy just thinking about it.
Palm Springs and things to celebrate from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
At the very end of our trip we drove up to the Sonoma Valley wine region to be with our lovely friends Jon and Diane who had THE most gorgeous wedding at the prestious BR Cohn Vineyard. It was a truly inspiring event and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend. We stayed at a wonderfully eccentric B&B –Relais Du Soleil - complete with fabulous wild artwork by sort after artist Bryan Tedrick. We made fast friends with our delightful host Tim who was endlessly kind and generous and made us several delicious breakfasts … we'll definitely be back in fact I want to do a gig there … it's a magical place!
This is where my original Blog attempt ended but there's one other little event I'd like to share with you here and that's Dave Armstrong's 50th birthday celebrations. Lucky for us it all took place a week after the tour and so we were on the Island to make the most of the weekend. Dave - bless him, hadn't a clue! Christy D did an absolutely brilliant job of organising it all and amazingly kept it from Dave ... her advice to anyone thinking of having a surprise party for someone? DON'T DO IT! It was a weekend of wonderful friendship, frivolity and fun ... when can we do it again?!
Dave's BIG day! from Christine Collister on Vimeo.
My Caribbean adventures will be Blogged over the next few weeks/months ... I'll try to keep them to bite-sized, easily digestible and tasty morsels. I can but try.
Take care and thanks as ever for stopping by to peruse my musings.
Much love
Christine XX ;-)
Interesting website. Keep blogging!
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