Fording the Flood

7.17.11

Had to wake early to make the 9 hour drive from St. Louis to Lincoln NE. It always takes us longer in the Chevy, since we can only go 65 mph and we're carrying a ton of gear in the trailer. Said our fond farewells to the Hawks' and hit the road.

The trip was mostly uneventful, Evan drove for most of the way, and then I took over. I think I was only 2-3 hours away from Lincoln when we came across a most unusual sight…

As we approached the Missouri / Nebraska border, the landscape changed very abruptly: It looked like waterworld… we were surrounded by water. Trees and rooftops, silos, powerlines… these were the only islands in an unsettlingly vast ocean in what should have been farmland. I remembered hearing about flooding and storms in the midwest about a month ago, but we were stumped as to what could have caused something at this scale.

The further we drove the more dramatic the flooding appeared. A real military hummer was perched atop a highway overpass, and we began to see detour signs along our intended route. We stopped at a gas station on a hill overlooking the floodplain. It was profound enough to warrant some photographs - all you could see was water and rooftops. CB asked a local guy taking pics what the deal was. Apparently, a Dam was released way up north that caused more dramatic water levels than intended, and on top of it all, a great deal of snow melt & storm water combined with a quickness no one anticipated.

info via NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/us/21flood.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=missouri%20river%20flood&st=cse

We consulted our iphones, took local advice, and followed detour signs to try and cross the Missouri at a point a little further north.

Despite the grade of the land taking us up in elevation, every westward road we encountered was closed to thru traffic due to flooding. At this point we are way off course, heading north into Iowa on smaller country roads in an attempt to cross the river. The heat was intense, and any time we stopped the van & the 65mph airflow ceased, sweat was just running off our heads, into our eyes. I had to get my towel out just to wipe my face while I was driving. I applied sunscreen to my left arm and took my shoes off.

The landscape was the only comforting thing, as the detour took us from flat farmlands to lush rolling forest & wildlife preserve roads on Iowa's western border with Nebraska.
We wound around, every stop yielding the same: roads closed, river flooded!

We stopped to try and re-route even further north. A mud-worthy truck came down the little road and we flagged him down to ask his advice. I stayed in the driver's seat as Cb, Brandon and Evan approached his vehicle. I heard them ask about crossing the river, and a wide grin tore across his face as he laughed out loud. There was a woman in the passenger seat smiling too. He advised us to go north, then head back east about 10 miles to 275, north to pacific junction, and finally west connecting with I80, which goes to Omaha. We hastened to get the van up to speed to feel the air on our faces again.

All in all we remained about 150 miles from Lincoln for what seemed like 4 hours. We went north, finally crossed the river upstream, passed through Omaha, and finally made it to Lincoln. Tonight was a house show procured by our contact Vic. By the time we got there we were so exhausted and delirious we were joking about calling the cops on the show so we wouldn't have to load in our 5000 pounds of gear!

We finally got it together, hauled it in starving, suffering from heat exhaustion, and morally beaten to a pulp, and were poised to play.

I'm so far in the game this time around I"ve been enjoying being a little more vocal at shows. It's funny, at my age I'm always playing for a younger audience, and well, lets face it, Ghastly City Sleep is now officially a band of road dogs. This is our third full U.S. tour, and altogether probably our 8th or 9th tour en total, so we be seasoned like a cast iron skillet in yo' grandma's kitchen. I recapped a couple of anecdotes from the tour, letting folks know it is a minor miracle that we made it this far… our tire blow out, the naked dude, the great flood, and I thought to myself, this IS a minor miracle that we're here! I asked the audience for a beer and offered $1, but cans were handed out for free and off we went.
The show was really fun, some peeps knew our songs, we ended super strong and sweaty as hell.

We loaded up and drove to our favorite burrito spot in Lincoln and had the best burritos ever. It was more about placement than actual burrito quality, but they were good nonetheless. We were so starving and dehydrated and exhausted! Burritos are like, the ultimate tour food. Beans, rice, avocado, veggies, and if you dare to dairy, queso y sour cream. The majestic earth's bounty all wrapped up in an oiled & sauteed snuggie, bursting at the seams, just lying there on the couch watching TV getting fat and fabulous practically begging for someone to just come along and sink their teeth in and…

I'm gonna stop right there.

Get in the van, pass out, with luck we'll all be alive and in CO when consciousness comes tapping at my window again.