Oregon winter.

Hello friends,

Happy Tuesday to you wherever you call home, I write you finally from the Bay area city of Hayward, California. I arrived here Sunday morning from Oregon after driving all night down I-5 in the rain and ice. I’m here with my oldest son Anthony, his wife Melina and my three grandchildren Isaiah, Jordan and Jayden.  Ahh the joy of being with my family after months of being on the road is indescribable as you can imagine! I was thrilled to be able to watch my team the Patriots (I hope I don’t lose any followers) win the Super Bowl here instead of some dirty, smelly truck stop lounge where I probably would have gotten assaulted by all the Brady haters for cheering on Tom Terrific!

I was finally able to lay my head and get relief from the arm rest in my backseat of the gigs mobile. I had not slept in a bed since I stayed in a Motel 6 my last night in Colorado almost a month ago today amidst the snow storms and deep freezes of the past thirty days in the west. This week also marks the beginning of my ninth month of being on this amazing road tour. As I have mentioned lately in prior post, I never imagined being on the road this long and almost covering all four seasons across the nation. It was the winter that I dreaded from the outset and now that I have virtually come to a halt due to the elements and the shrinking job opportunities of late, I realize why I so wanted to be done before the year was out. I missed calculated many aspects of this journey but none more than the timeline. If you recall from my preparation blogs back in April it predicted a 6-7 month journey and home by New Years at the latest; I was so wrong!

I don’t regret any of those decisions and plans I made; how was I to know the actual outcome with a project as random and unpredictable as this? Living day to day and job to job has been my life since May 5^th and now that I’m so close to visiting all fifty states I have no choice but to finish strong no matter what. The real struggle at present is not my physical or emotional state but my financial state. I haven’t earned a dollar in well over a week, a record, and since this is first and foremost a working tour, I will be stuck in neutral if I don’t find work really soon. The CL in the Bay area is active but the continuing rain doesn’t help me with the type of work in seeking so my chances are cut in half the bad weather situation. Luckily for me I have a house to dwell in if I totally bottom out, but I continue to stay positive and hope for the best with the gig search.

Well I hope you are safe and warm and I thank you for checking in on me. Your support is well appreciated and treasured by yours truly. #Yo-Ga-Fla

Juanjohn