I went to Pinky G's in Jackson last night for their open mic. Jackson's streets were full of tourists, even though the day was winding down at 8:30pm. I was toting a guitar and showing my tattoos because the day was hot enough to go sleeveless. The journey had been on the cool side through Montana and Oregon, but Jackson's temperature was in the 90's. I stepped to the bar to ask about the open mic, and was immediately engaged in conversation with a guy at the bar, a drummer. We discussed open mics and travels until the bartender came over and said there was no open mic tonight. The two worked to see if there was another one going on, but no luck. They were bummed, I was bummed, but left a tip for the bartender because she put some effort into searches and calls to find a place for me to play. I went back out on the streets of Jackson, meandering and looking in store windows. A couple was passing me by when the guy stopped, and asked about my guitar since he had never heard of Larravee, the name on the case. As it turned out, they were looking for the open mic to listen in, since he (Vince) had left his guitar at home and really wanted to hear some live music. I broke the bad news to them about the non-existent open mic, but got the guitar out so he could see it, and played them a song. I let him play it, he told me about his Martin, and we had a wonderful conversation and musical time on the sidewalk. We exchanged cards, and they might come up to Western Mass in the fall to go to the open mic at Luthier's. It was a good end to the day.
Today was hot to start with and then got hotter. The air was clear and dry as I left Jackson, but the further I went the more hazy it got. At first I thought it was humidity, but the air was extremely dry, and the wind was picking up, blowing 25-30 mph. It was dirt in the air, lifting from exposed ground. I saw streams of dirt flowing from a dirt track, pale wisps joining together to obscure even near hills and rocks. I drove out of it eventually. The wind stayed strong, and I didn't get as far today as I hoped, and hunkered down for the day in Casper. The price is right at the Walmart parking lot. The temperature was 98 when I stopped, but it's supposed to cool down to 60 tonight. I'm drinking lots of liquid and waiting for it to be a better temperature for sleeping.
I took a picture of the edge of the dust storm after I made it to clear skies:
