Nicholas David Deep in the Heart of Texas '14: Dallas, like the T.V. Show

This Van sleeping maneuver is called the turtle.

After a brief stay at home, we left the Twin Cities during yet another polar vortex.  I guess it's good to be getting out of town during these ridiculously cold times, but loading gear in these conditions is maddening.  Getting out of Minnesota was a little dicey.  It wasn't snowing, but the wind was blowing snow across the highway and making it nearly impossible to see.  I got to drive this stretch, and it was white knuckle all the way to southern Iowa.

Dallas Tejas

We had planned to stop along the way to Dallas, but a promotional appearance on a local news show was confirmed at the last minute, so we had to drive straight to Dallas in one hump.  We made fairly good time, with one dinner break along the way in Joplin, MO.  Using the magic of the internet, we found an awesome organic, local sourced, wood fired pizza place called Mohaska Farmhouse.  If you're in the area, it is worth the stop.  The waitress recognized Nicholas and was very nice and welcoming.  It was a good rest stop among all the fluorescent light chain restaurants along the way.

Good Day Dallas

We made it into Dallas at 2am, and got checked into our hotel.  Our alarms went off at the ass crack of dawn, and we drug our weary bodies and minds out of bed and headed a few blocks to the local fox affiliate for our appearance on Good Day Dallas.  We got to work with a really awesome engineer named Dennis.  He was a true audio geek, and once he found out we were the same, he busted out some vintage microphones and a home made DI for our enjoyment.  It made this early morning rigmarole much more enjoyable.  

After the taping, we went back to the hotel, had some breakfast, and then went back to try and sleep.  As always, I was battling my insomnia, and wasn't able to fall back asleep, so I walked around Dallas for a bit.  It was cold for Texas, so there weren't many people out on the streets.  

Later that night we headed to the House of Blues.  This was a cool looking venue with two rooms.  As this was our first time in Dallas, we played the smaller of the two rooms.  The staff was super courteous and fun to work with.  I blame the lack of sleep, but we never really hit our stride during this show.  I never got immersed in the music, and was fighting the whole show.  But apparently no one in the audience noticed.  We had a small crowd, but they were rowdy in true Texas style.  Everyone loved the show and let us know it.  After the show we hung out by the merch table and met the people.  They were very kind and supportive.  One intoxicated young woman got a little handsy, first with Dylan and then with Nicholas.  She preferred grabbing junk to a hand shake.  I felt both relieved and a little left out when she skipped me over for a greeting.  Nicholas had to scold her.  

Video Game Party.

After the show, we loaded out and headed back to the hotel.  Our hotel was awesome and had an indoor basketball court and game room with an X-Box.  Dylan and I had a late night game session.  Dylan beat me, because he had been practicing with a kid staying in the hotel the night before.   

Today we head to Austin for a day off and then a performance in Luckenbach, TX.