Springtime in Illinois

We've been in Illinois for the past couple of days. I've been so excited because this is where Luke's parents live, and my dog is here!! She's laying in my lap as I type this!

In my last post, I wrote that we moved into Luke's parents' basement, so I guess technically we are home right now. We had a couple of off days because our booking guy bailed last minute, so that is really super dumb, but at least we have nice places to stay.

Tomorrow night we are playing in Chicago! I'm really excited. It will be our second time to play in the city, and my fourth time to visit. I hadn't ever been there until October when we first moved up into this area. It's a nice city, and there is so much to see. I'm not all about that city life, though. It is way too busy and crowded for me. I like that we live in the outskirts in a sleepy little town. It's the best place to relax in between tours.

It has been SNOWING all day today. It was so strange because it was sunny and snowing at the same time. I've never seen that before. What an odd thing to happen, especially in the SPRINGTIME. I'm jealous because it is nice t-shirt weather back in Joplin. I've been cold all day long up here. Brrr.

Anyway, I have some work I need to get done before we have a nice little movie night with the in-laws. I think we are watching Saving Mr. Banks, which is one of the best movies, so I'm really excited!!

This is my little Eleanor - Ellie for short

Life On The Road

Hello there!

You can go ahead and skip this paragraph if you already know me. For those of you still reading, my name is Torey, and I'm in a band with my husband, Luke, called Of Course Not. We threw caution to the wind back in October and moved out of our apartment and into his parents' basement so we could follow our musical passions. We live out of suitcases in our minivan with a touring drummer most of the time. This blog is dedicated to detailing my experiences on the road. I am mostly doing this for myself, but if anyone is curious as to what life on the road is like, you're welcome to join in my adventures.

Right now I am in Davenport, Iowa. We are staying with some friends we met in the summer of 2013. They take such good care of us, and are so much fun to be around. (They also have a very adorable pup named Wrigley!) This is pretty much how we make touring so often work. We have friends and family spread out across the USA, and have steady places to stay in at least half of the states. Tonight we have separate bedrooms, bathrooms, and were fed chicken tacos. I'm pretty sure I live more luxuriously on the road than I ever did at home most of the time.

We had an off day today so we explored a bit of the city. Particularly the sky bridge downtown. It has some cool lights that make you feel like you're in Star Trek or something. The elevator was super janky, though. I was rather uncomfortable the whole ride up because it kind of didn't seem like it would make it. YIKES. We took the stairs back down. Ha.

I've been on the road pretty consistently since September. We quit our jobs on September 10th, and left for tourcation (we tagged along on our roommate's family vacation, and made a tour out of it) on September 11th. Since then, we've played shows in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, and Louisiana. That's 17 states in about 7 months. We'll be adding several new ones within the next few months, too!

This lifestyle is EXHAUSTING, but it is so worth it. I really enjoy waking up in different towns, and exploring new things. I like meeting new people and hearing their stories, and of course, meeting their pets. I miss my dog and my family, but Ellie is surrounded by people who love her while we are away, and is so much happier with a fenced in yard rather than joining us on the road. We tried it, and she hated it. I felt horrible so she gets to stay with her "grandparents" now.

I don't know how long we will be touring consistently, but for now, I will enjoy it. It's been a great experience, and very eye opening. I'll continue to update this as we go along. This will probably end up being a more day by day or town by town thing, but I haven't quite decided yet. I guess I will decide later.

It is storming now, and I'm pumped about that. I will sleep GREAT tonight because of it. So PEACE OUT.

Wrigley -- Seriously. How cute is she?!

Feelin' cute today with Miss Wrigley