Ashby Frank
Mandolinist, Singer, Songwriter

Picking up where I left off…

After Justin and I spent a night surfing the net and waiting on the phone for rental car and flight rates, Justin finally devised on a plan to get us out of WaKeeney.

We had to rent a one way vehicle from Hays (30 miles away) in the morning, drive to Denver, rent another van (because there were no vans or one-way rentals available in Hays), then try to make it to Buffalo (7 hours away) by our new 8 o’clock set time. I had no idea that one way car rentals were so expensive!

The repair shop owner in WaKeeney happened to know a guy that would be driving to Hays early in the morning, and could drop Justin off at Hertz. What a nice town!

So it is all planned. But wait… Once Justin got to the rental place, he was told that they were out of cars for the day even though we had a reservation. It so happened that this was the last day at work for the guy at the rental car place and he felt sorry for us. Thanks to him, we got a smaller SUV, much smaller than the one were were supposed to get. But at least we got a car!

Remember, we have a bass, guitar, mandolin, amp, CDs, and luggage for 17 days. Greg was meeting us in Casper, WY, so luckily we didn’t have all of his stuff too. It was like being in Europe again, with too much stuff and not enough space.

So we got all the stuff in, and drove to Denver where we traded for a minivan that we’ll have until we drive back through Illinois.

We made it to the festival in time for our rescheduled set, and then we got to relax a little bit and enjoy the awesome music of The Greencards and The Steeldrivers! Two bands that we don’t get to see nearly enough out on the road. Check em out when you get a chance.

Anyway, we’re here in the beautiful Northern Wyoming town of Buffalo, played a fun set earlier and have another one tomorrow. The weather is great, and the festial is great! After our time here, we get a couple days off before giggin in Casper, WY and Windsor, CO. Hopefully the rest of the trip won’t bring any more danger or disaster!

Here’s a pic from my stroll along the river here in Buffalo: