Day 5- Palo Duro Canyon, TX - Goodland, KS

Day 5- Palo Duro Canyon, TX - Goodland, KS 

What a great day.  

Maggie and I were proactive in packing up camp before sundown in an effort to keep everything dry from the storm last night which made our morning load out work much easier. The storm was another brutal one that we rode out in the car yet again. High winds, lots of rain, and lightning blew across the campground for a few hours. We returned to the camper after the brunt of the storm had passed, and the sound of the rain on the camper top lulled is to sleep.  

Maggie’s alarm was set for 6am but didn’t go off and we awoke naturally at 7:15. Maggie scrambled to get up and get the inside packed as I finished the outside work so she could be available for an 8am zoom meeting for work. We managed to get popped down and hooked up and on the road by 8:30, which isn’t bad considering the trouble the front latch continues to give us. Also, this time around, one of the stabilizer jacks wasn’t playing nice.  

We gassed up and started our journey north to Goodland, KS. We cut through the panhandle of Oklahoma, then the southeast corner of Colorado before entering Kansas. Leaving central time zone into mountain and then back into central before ultimately ending up in mountain was kind of a mind screw. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much flat farm land as I did today, driving basically the entire western Kansas border. Now, don’t get me wrong, the drive was absolutely beautiful. The sky was so big without any interference from structures for most of the drive. The colors of the sky and clouds and the many different hues of farm lands were picturesque. 

August was in a particularly playful mood on this drive and kept Maggie and I laughing for quite a bit. He has created a few characters, complete with their own voices and background stories. He then proceeded to sing John Prine songs in said voices. This made the 6.5 hour drive much easier than I expected. He was very alert and unplugged which made for great conversation too.  

We arrived at our destination and met up with our New Orleans buddy, Chris Guillot, who is now the head wrestling coach at a local college here. He set up the gig to be on the property owned by some of his friends, the Burk family, and they were extremely kind and hospitable. Having arrived around 3 and the show not starting until 8, we had plenty of time to catch up, get introduced, and I even snuck in an hour nap.  

Refreshed and ready to go, I started setting things up on an open field on the east side of the house while guests gathered on the west side for pre show pot luck and conversation. Chris prepared a 10 gallon cast iron pot full of jambalaya that made is feel right at home.  

When it was time for the show to start, one of Chris’ coworkers, Jordan Edwards, performed a couple songs to warm up the crowd. She fingerpicked and sang beautifully. After Chris’ introduction, I took my place at the microphone and went to work. The crowd was lovely and very receptive. From what I understand, the house concert gathering isn’t a thing in these parts and they really enjoyed it. About half way through, August joined me and played djembe and sang. The show was streamed live on FB and can be viewed at www.facebook.com/mikedoussanmusic.  

After the show, everyone lined up at the merch table to say hello, share some stories, and pick up some music. It was so great to meet and chat with everyone as they were all very interested in the music and our mission. We met some really wonderful people here tonight, and if they’ll have us back, we’ll gladly route through again.  

After everyone trickled out and Maggie and August went to bed ( we popped up on some land behind the house complete with electric hookups), I was able to get in a much needed hang with Chris. 

We have a 6am wake up call for homemade biscuits and gravy and it’s now 2am, so this is where I’ll end the update. I’ll post some pics of FB as well.  

In the words of the ever inspiring Spencer Bohren, be good to yourselves and each other.  

Mike  

P.s. no storms!!!! The weather was beautiful!!

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