Chapter 12.6 – The Bushweeds Autumn Tour 2023: part VI – Old, derelict and dreadful..

 Monday September 26^th

 

Last nights rain had turned into rainshowers who, in spite of letting the occasional ray of sunshine through, was still doing their best to drench the small town of Pleasantview, making this monday morning seem even more monday-like...

 

Nonetheless, the barkeeper was already up cleaning the bar and getting it ready to serve the guests at his motel, and the usual regulars that would show up a little later in the day..

 

Merete was the first band member to wake up, feeling surprisingly fresh and well rested, even though the beds were admittedly of a cheap kind and the mattress was just a little to hard.. and though she knew that another long – and judging from the sound of dripping water from the gutters outside – rainy day in the car was ahead of them, she was still feeling very optimistic about today and the future for herself and the band..

 

..before she walked out of her sparsely furnished, but relatively well decorated room to occupy the only shower on the lot, leaving the remaining band members waiting outside by one of the small tables, the only one of them that was under a roof... It was pretty clear that the owner had been cutting corners here and there to save money, such as on furniture and bathroom facilities..

Nothing in excess! And judging from the shrieks and moans coming from inside the bathroom, he was probably looking to save a few pennies on the electricity bill too..

As Sam was the last one to use the shower, he definately felt it.. it remined him of how his dad and his sister had pranked him for his 10^th birthday, by turning the kitchen and laundry room faucets on full steam, using up all the hot water just when he was about to shower.. this was pretty much the same feeling...

 

..after everyone was clean and fresh, everyone but Sam sat down to eat each their plate of yoghurt for breakfast from the motel room refridgerators. While they sat down eating, Kajsa made an admittance that if she wasn't in a band, she would've chosen to be a painter instead, maybe even studying art at the local university college in their hometown, and maybe one day she would, but for now her focus was solely on the band and them making it big, hopefully..

 

Sam, who has had enough of cold stuff for a while, said he wasn't feeling hungry, and instead went downstairs to talk to the barkeeper about.. the weather... "Is it always grey, cold and rainy in this town?"

Apparantly that question hit a sore spot in the barkeeper. They were just unlucky to come here on the one day of the year where it rained. It wasn't usually like this, not at all.. they didn't call it Pleasantview for nothing!

 

Right.. Well, Sam didn't excactly believe in what the barkeeper said, and as soon as the other bandmembers were downstairs they all agreed that maybe it was time to get moving again.. maybe the weather was a little better once they had crossed the mountains and made it to the coast..

 

..because there wasn't really all that much to do around here, and the weather just kept getting gloomier and gloomier. Even Merete who woke up feeling like sunshine this morning was starting to get a little down.. It seemed to them now that the place didn't at all live up to its name, and maybe it was one they had chosen to cover up that this place was nothing but a depressing small village by the foot of some mountains.. or worse..

 

..apart from the monotonous hum of the engine, the constant back and forth motion of the windshield wipers and the tires rolling across the wet road, there was a pressuring silence in the car as everyone sat there in their own thoughts while the car moved on towards the mountains and the coastline on the other side.. they didn't share their thoughts with each other, but somehow all of them felt that there was something more to this town than just being a cozy place by a river, something that wasn't supposed to be talked about..

It was only around noon, but it already looked like night was falling, and the trees along the sides of the road started to feel a little ominous.. it was as if they slowly creeped in on them from either side whispering to them somewhere through the wind and the rain that they needed to get away, because something bad was about to happen in town this night..

-----

..then followed several more hours of driving through valleys and past mountains, and stopping at yet another strange town in the middle of nowhere to stop and have a bite at some dusty old roadside inn straddled with paparazzis.. It's amazing sometimes isn't it, how they manage to creep and crawl their way into the most distant and unavailable crevices of this world, with their cameras and notepads always at the ready to make life more miserable than necessary for a traveling group of people only seeking to entertain people and perhaps make a little cash from it... I'm telling you, celebrity life may just be a tad overrated.. and these guys aren't even there yet..

..there were a couple more valleys and some road tunnels they had to pass, before they finally were back at the coast... The town of Pleasantview and whatever was about to happen, or perhaps happening there right in this very moment, was for them now long gone.. who knows what it was or what it wasn't, but maybe it would one day be one of those things that someone would decide to write a book about.. or something...

The weather hadn't improved much on the way, as they had hoped, but atleast the landscape had opened up a little bit.. the trees weren't as intimidating out here, and the valleys seemed a little less claustrophobic, and the lights beaming from the downtown area gave them a renewed sense of hope..

 

Even though it was Gerdas car, Kajsa had ended up taking charge of who was driving when and where, and had allowed Sam to drive the car this last bit into town.. something she started to question when he struggled to keep the car in his lane on the motorway and came to regret when he was mere seconds from ramming into a taxi on his way into a roundabout..

The screeching sound of tires breaking on wet asphalt and a long car honk was heard over Kajsa shouting from the backseat...

"Sam! SAM!! You were supposed to YIELD for that car!! What the hell is wrong with you!? Can't you read signs!?"

    Sam didn't know what to say after having just missed slamming into a taxi...

"Sam!" Kajsa continued after the car had stopped abruptly choking the car engine "Just.. start the car again and get us out of here.. safely, please.... We can't be standing here in the middle of the road.. and as for the rest of the tour, I think the rest of us will take over the driving from here on..."

"..and maybe you should consider taking some driving lessons when we get back home.." Merete said after the shock had began to settle. "I know it's been a long day of driving in the rain, and we're all tired, but how could you not see that taxi?"

Sam kept silent for the remainder of the trip while he did his best to navigate the city streets to locate the Simb'n'b apartment they had rented for their stay..

 

He felt shameful, but still a little at ease that atleast there was, for some reason or other not much traffic on the city streets this evening..

"Must be due to the rain.." he thought to himself while still gripping the steering wheel hard with his knuckles and tapping the brakes lightly before every road crossing and turning his head to glance around every corner.. just in case...

 

"Well, this must be it..." he said after making a slow left turn, finally breaking the unpleasant silence that had been in the car since the near incident. "It's uh... probably nicer on the inside than it looks.."

 

Kajsa kept her mouth shut this time, but was a little disgruntled at the sight of the dilapidated building in front of them.. She had trusted Gerda with the organizing of accomodations for them, but now she had her regrets.. did she really have to do everything herself..?

 

"You know, this place really looks like a dump... " Merete told Kajsa as they were about to head up the staircase to the top floor where their apartment was.. "I know we have to rent for cheap, but was this really the best you could find?"

    "Well, uh.." Gerda began before setting her foot on the rusty staircase "..it uh.. it's probably not that bad, and it has a very uh.. central location.. kind of.."

"Yeah, central location for rats, hoboes and homeless people, probably..."

 

Sam was already pretty disgusted by the state of the building, but a little relieved he wasn't the only one who could mess up... The place smelled bad, the floor felt strangely soft in spots as of it was about to give way and collapse, and everything looked like it was just.. clad in filth and dirt and watcher knows what...

 

..and the apartment inside wans't much better. How do walls even get to look like that? They had the appearance of having belonged to a heavy chain smoker on steroids running a slaughter house at the same time. The entire building gave the impression of having been built by, and furnished with, pieces and furniture found on the nearest landfill! Never in his life had he seen or imagined such a filthy, downright disgusting place...

..and that couch! He would probably need to buy a new pair of pants just from thinking about sitting on it.. gross!

 

He had agreed to join for a chat with his friends back home as soon as they had arrived in the city, and once signed up, he just had to let them know what a whole they had just moved into.. The best thing about this place was that after they had spent a couple of nights here and played their show they would leave and never to return.. atleast he wouldn't..

Gerda wasn't feeling to proud now that she had witnessed first hand the state of the building, but it was to late in the day now to find something better as they were all pretty much dead tired.. She tried to cheer herself up a little bit with the fact that atleast the rooms had bunk beds in them.. rusty old bunk beds that were probably left overs from the nearest prison.. or asylum or something.. well, as long as the house didn't prove to be haunted too, she could atleast convince herself that she had found somewhat of a bargain..

Merete was following just behind her to pick the top bunk, thinking it might have the benefit of being free from cockroaches and other insects.. and she didn't see any spider webs, so it had to be.. not good, but alright.. somewhat..

 

Kajsa went in to inspect the room.. She thought it might have been some kids room or something once given the hideous art on the wall, but it looked like it hadn't been in use in decades..

She didn't want to go to sleep in that room, so she went into the open kitchen and living room to brave sitting down on the chair to watch the news on tv before checking out the master bedroom to see if it was any better.. She knew how everyone in the band like bunk beds, so she told Sam that he could have the remaining one in Gerda and Meretes room..

Not much to cheer about she thought, but Sam was still Sam, and sometimes that was all it took for him to feel like he was living in a party, despite the grim appearance of the circumstances..

"Heey, top bunk! Maybe this place isn't so bad afterall.." Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Sam. ;)

 

After having made sure that everyone else were now allocated to the kids beds, the only real adult of the band (atleast that's how she saw it right now) went for the master bedroom, hoping to find something that looked a tiny bit better than everything else, but... instantly regretted her choice.. She didn't want to think about the slobs that had to have lived here before, and she could only hope that the bedsheets weren't as dirty as they looked and that she would surive the night without getting lice or being bitten by something nasty...

 

"Uggh.. do I really want to do this? Maybe it would be better to just sleep on the floor..."

 

Ah well, I hope you can still get a good nights sleep somehow.. don't let them bite to hard.. ;)

 

Previous | Next

Chapter 12.5 – The Bushweeds Autumn Tour 2023: part V – Turn the page..

Sunday September 25^th – Travel Day 3

 

It was a drowsy sunday morning by the lake.. The band was still sleeping and the students in town were taking it easy as the exams were still a great distance away and life was easy.. of course there wasstill the occasional busy bee on his or her way to the library or the universitys study rooms, but most of them weren't to concerned with that yet... Some just woke up, while others were still asleep, and some were on their way home after enjoying what seened like the best night of their life so far...

...and some were hanging around in their dorm showing off their skills to each other with the trick ball. ;)

 

 

Then finally well into the afternoon the band members started to come to life again after last nights concert and drinks at the bar..

The band had to soon get moving again as they now were about to embark on the longest leg of their journey to head further south and back towards the coastline again to play in the city of Wad Nahadau. They had never been this far south before, and as there was such a long journey ahead of them they had planned to spend a night in the small town of Pleasantville, before turning west towards the city.

 

They were lucky to have two bathrooms in the house, which helped to speed up the process of getting ready to a little, but there were still some time to kill while the others were bathing. Sam was already tired of driving and wasn't looking forward to getting back into the car again... Though he didn't like heights very much, he still made the suggestion to Merete that they should just ditch their car and get some plain tickets instead..

 

Merete thought the idea was ridiculous, if not flat out laughable. They had already agreed on going by car, so couldn't make that suggestion now that they were pretty much more than halfway through their tour.. and since it was Gerdas car, she was pretty sure she wouldn't agree to just leaving it behind like that..

 

There was only one thing to do as soon as everyone was scrubbed clean and ready.. to head for the nearest café again to grab a quick lunch and get ready for several more hours inside that tiny box on wheels...

"So this is what the town looks like in daylight..."

Gerda would have liked to stick around for a day more here and there to actually get to know the towns that they were mostly just zooming by, but there was no time for that. All she could do was try to grab as many impressions as she could of everything that she could see from her car window..

 

She found it interesting that a town of this size should have it's own university, as most universitys were located in or adjacent to major cities. It was clear that a large part of the population were indeed students, and this town really had the appearance of being built around the university, and not the other way around...

 

University Life may have fit this band just fine, not because of the learning, but because of all the opportunities to party.. which all of them really liked to do..

 

It wasn't everyday that Merete went into a café on a sunday to watch a zebra and a hot dog leave the premises... "Did you guys see that?" she chuckled to the other band members "I think when we get back home we should make our final concert also into a costume party."

Sam thought about dressing up as a ghost, the most creative of all costumes..., while Gerda still wanted to get into a real bar fight with someone.. Kajsa wanted her band to stop fooling around and focus on getting something to eat, because they had to get on their way soon..

 

The place was starting to get a little crowded, so they walked upstairs to have their lunch in peace, but that was to no avail.. even the paparazzi was now at it again with their flashing cameras and notebooks..

"Where were all these people yesterday when the band played their concert?" Gerda wondered out loud to herself. "Probably at some house party..." she concluded, thinking that the student group was a hard one to win over to become fans.. either because they were picky when it came to music, not wanting to listen to something that wasn't trendy among their equals... or because they were saving money by drinking at home instead of going out..

.and on the topic of drinking, suddenly Gerda remembered having logged on to the computer yesterday after they had gone to their rental house after the concert...

 

    "Kajsa.. did I .. did I chat with someone on the computer last night...?" Gerda already knew the answer to that question, but was hoping that Kajsa would show some support to make her feel better about potentially having made a fool of herself...

    "Yes, you did." Kajsa said briefly without trying to hard to hide her gloating smile before finishing the last piece of her bagel, before getting up from the couch to tell Sam and Metete to hurry up eating.. The road was waiting for them again..

 

It was time to leave this now all of a sudden crowded and paparazzi-ridden place behind and move on..

 

..but where was their vocalist? They couldn't leave without her..

Well of course, she had found another dumpster to bury her head in..

"Gerda!" Kajsa had to shout at her.. "Now is not the time to go looking for more collectibles.. we're leaving... now!"

"I'm coming!" she shouted back to them as she landed her feet on the ground just in time to hear the sound of a car door slamming shut..

..then the closing of two more doors followed by the impatient revving of a car engine...

"...guys? Guys!? You're not gonna leave me here, are you!?"

 

Now, of course they couldn't leave their vocalist and lead guitarist behind.. Kajsa just wanted to prove a point, and to get them back on the road.. She would be much more at ease, once the wheels had started rolling again..

If they were to make it to the city in time... She had calculated that they should be able to make it there in two days, give or take..

So it was time to say goodbye to the Grotto one last time (for now?) as they drove past it again to head south towards the town of Pleasantville, about halfway on the route back towards the west coast, where they would spend the night before (hopefully) making a right turn to head towards the city of Wad Nahadau..

                                            - Metallica - Turn The Page (Bob Seger cover)

On a long and lonesome highway
South of Onebega*
You can listen to the engines moanin'
Out this one-note song
You'd think about the woman
Or the girl you knew the night before

But your thoughts will soon be wanderin'
The way they always do
When you're ridin' 16 hours
There's nothin' much to do
And you don't feel much like ridin'
You just wish the trip was through

Here I am, on the road again
There I am, up on the stage
There I go playin' the star again
There I go, turn the page

So you walk into this restaurant
All strung out from the road
And you feel the eyes upon you
As you're shakin' off the cold
You pretend it doesn't bother you
But you just want to explode

Yeah, most times you can't hear 'em talk
Other times you can
All the same old clichés
Is it woman, is it man?
And you always seem outnumbered
You don't dare make a stand
Make your stand

Here I am, on the road again...

Oh-oh, out there in the spotlight
You're a million miles away
Every ounce of energy
You try and give away
As the sweat pours out your body
Like the music that you play, yeah

..and then they, after a few more hours on the road and Kajsa wanting to take over the wheel again they arrived in Pleasantview, where they would be staying at New Old Lake Barret Motel & Bar for the night..

They were still several miles from the coast, and even had to traverse the same mountain chain again to get there. Yet they felt they were getting closer as the weather had already changed from the dry, fair weather most often found on the east side of the mountains to the kind of weather they were most used to from home..

 

They were all exhausted, tired and ready for a big meal and didn't feel like standing out in the rain for to long though.

 

Sam was the first one to rush in through the door to speak to the owner and barkeeper to ask if they had any available rooms and to order a meal.. This was off season for tourism, so getting a room was no issue, and they were lucky to not have arrived half an hour later before he closed the kitchen..

-----

 

While the barkeeper prepared the food, Gerda had found herself a drumkit to practice on. Gerda is versatile and enjoys playing many different interests, but it's really on the electric guitar she shines the most, to put it that way. ;)

 

Kajsa did her best to keep her thoughts away from the rumbling noises in her stomach (and Gerdas terrible drumming....) when the barkeeper finally came out of the kitchen with a plate of spaghetti to share for all of them.. It wasn't anything special, just the regular bar food, but it would do... They could get a more proper diet when they came back home and could finally make their own food again...

 

After having spent several hours with the same people in a tiny car along the road, on stage and almost every waking moment for the past days, Kajsa wanted to sit by the bar to get some time alone before bedtime...

 

Their rooms where on the top floor, and the barkeeper had promised them that all the rooms had a very pleasant view of either the town on one side, or the river and his very own small fishing pond on the other.

 

Kajsa and the band didn't really care about any of that right now.. they just wanted to sleep.. and besides, it was dark. If there was any view to enjoy, they could do it tomorrow.. before it was back inside the car again...

Later in the evenin'
As you lie awake in bed
With the echoes of the amplifiers
Ringin' in your head
You smoke the day's last cigarette
Rememberin' what she said
What she said

Yeah, here I am.. on the road again...

Turn the page..

Good night.. ;)

Previous | Next

* Not the correct lyrics, of course, and there's one syllable to many, but this almost works..