Derek Neuland
Posts tagged DC
Lemuria tour- Day 2: DC to Gainesville
Oct 30th
I woke up to Sheena standing over me. She might have poked me to get me to wake up, but I’m not sure. It was so good to see her and I jumped up and gave her a big hug. She’s so great and I’m really looking forward to spending a lot of time with her on this tour. We used to hang out all the time when she lived in Buffalo (we even had friendship bracelets made of ribbon that she sewed around our wrists).
First thing we did was rearrange the van to make more room. When we left Buffalo we just shoved everything in so we could get on the road. We weren’t able to make as much room as we’d like (the person in the backseat had to sit next to a giant kick drum case), but it would work for the ride down to Gainesville, Florida. After we finished, we headed to Sticky Fingers which is a vegan bakery/cafe that i’ve heard a lot about. Nolan, Shira, and Chris (Sheena’s bf) also joined us. I had a delicious vegan breakfast burrito and coffee with coconut milk. I really liked the boomerang pattern on the tables.
After that we said our goodbyes. We were going to see Chris the next day at The Fest (Magrudergrind, one of the 4 bands he’s in was also playing The Fest) and Shira was going to be at The Fest on Saturday so it was more of a “see ya soon goodbye”.
We drove straight to Gainesville. The only notable stop was a Wawa. I hadn’t been to Wawa in years so it was quite a treat. I got 2 different iced teas (which I already have drank and reviewed), and a soft pretzel that was so delicious. I finished putting the backs on the Lemuria buttons I did on this drive, and made fun of Alex for listening to AM sports radio.
At a gas station in South Carolina, while I was cleaning bug guts off of the windshield I was singing “bug guts! bug guts!” and Sheena thought I was singing “bloody guts, bloody guts”. She also took this picture of me with the direction to “look tough”. I don’t think it worked.
We got into Gainesville around 3am and passed out fairly soon after checking into our hotel room.
Miles traveled: 778 Miles
Buttons assembled: 500
Times “Holiday Road” was sung: 5+
Oreos eaten: 7
Lemuria tour- Day 1: Buffalo to DC
Oct 30th
For the next 6 weeks I am going to be on a US/Canada tour with Lemuria. They are easily one of my favorite bands, and also 3 of my favorite people so i’m really excited. The day before I did not sleep at all. Partly due to excitement, and partly due to last minute button orders and packing that needed to get done. We got on the road around 6pm on 10/16. Alex and I had to drive to DC to pick up Sheena.
I’ve been friends with Alex for many many years. You know a friendship is strong when you can go months and months without hanging out much (due to work, tour, busy schedules, basic life stuff) and fall right back into it without skipping a beat. Our first stop was Balloons in Ellicotville, a restaurant his brother owns. Neither of us had eaten much at all in the past day due to being so busy getting ready. I had a portabella sandwich that was really delicious. After that we mostly drove straight to DC, with a few gas and bathroom stops. A $2.00 6″ sub from Sheetz was definitely bought on one of those stops.
I found out two surprising things musically on the drive. The first is that I’m not the only one who loves the song “The Distance” by Cake. When this was brought up, we had a great singalong when Alex pulled it up on his iPod. The other thing that surprised me is I kind of like the album “Suburbs” by The Arcade Fire. We only listened to it once, but it was as awful as I thought it would be.
The most amazing thing that happened though was in the middle of Pennsylvania. In the distance there was this red glow that appeared, and then it started flashing a little. I thought I was just seeing things due to being awake for 32 hours but then Alex said he saw it too. I quick google of “lights in sky Pennsylvania” brought up several news articles about northern lights being seen in Pennsylvania in the last couple of days due to the right conditions in the atmosphere. It was incredible and so beautiful. I kind of wished we would have stopped, but I think we would have ended up watching it for way too long.
We got into DC around 2 or 3am. Sheena left her house unlocked for us so we let ourselves in and fell asleep on her couches. I normally listen to music or a podcast as I sleep, but since I was so tired I passed right out.
Miles traveled: 385 Miles
Drinks consumed: don’t remember (3-4?)
Cake sing-a-longs: 1
