On The 8th Day, God Created Montana

Last night was our last acoustic show of the tour. We played at the Edmonton Events Centre in Edmonton, which is located in the largest mall in the world. I didn’t have much of a chance to explore the mall, but I doubt I would’ve seen a third of it if I’d been there all day. On top of the huge venue where we played to the best Canadian crowd of the tour, this mall had an entire floor of food courts, a bowling alley, a billiard room, an arcade, a water park AND an amusement park—on top of about a million stores. You could probably fit three or four Malls of America inside this joint. It was pretty overwhelming.
After the show we hauled ass back to Calgary where we stayed with some New Zealanders who were living in Calgary studying ballet. I loved the accents they had. I learned a couple of native En Zed phrases which I will share with you: “Kia Kaha”—which means “good luck” or “stay strong” and “Aroha Mai”—which means “I love you.”
After a blueberry pancake brunch, we hit the 2 south back to the states. Those ‘cakes put me to sleep until we hit the border. Once again, we were fucked with at customs, but not as badly as coming into Canada. The dialogue went something like this:
Carrick: “Hello. How’re you doing today?”
Officer Redneck: “Where’re you boys coming from today?”
C: “Calgary. And Edmonton and Vancouver. We’re in a band, we were playing some shows “
OR: “You bringing anything back with you?”
C: “Just this water that the club gave us.”
OR: “Just the water? You boys don’t have anything else? No food or fuel?”
C: “Fuel? I mean, just what’s in the van, but we’re almost on ‘E’—check it out”
OR: “…..So you DID bring in fuel? Alright, I’m gonna need you to step out of the vehicle and leave the doors open. Stretch if you need to, but stand in front of the van and keep your hands out of your pockets.”
Haha, so it went on like that for a bit. Not quite the rigmarole that we went through getting into Canada, but definitely the kind of BS one has to put up with when confronted with a bored authority figure. What was most notable about this particular customs experience was that ours was the only vehicle that happened to be passing through this particular port of entry. Once we stopped the car and the officer shut his yap, the silence surrounding us was amazing. I’ve spent to much time in cities, at shows, on freeways, in places with muzac playing, around other people that I so rarely get a chance to be somewhere that’s truly silent. Sometimes, silence really is golden.
Luckily, we were in and out of customs within a few minutes of that conversation and on our way to one of the best restaurants I’m sure we’ll go to on this tour. Just past the border of Canada, where the 2 becomes US89 is a little town called Babb, MO, which is near Glacier National Park. In Babb, just before you drive into St. Mary, MO, there’s a fun little diner called Two Sisters. As soon as we walked in the front door, Big John, the husband of one of the owners greeted us by shouting “Hey Everybody! The band’s here! Oh yeah, look at these California boys!” It was great. I had some amazing lentil soup while the dudes munched on veggie burgers and we all had delicious chocolate hazelnut shakes to top it off. I was really surprised by how friendly everyone was and how nice the vibe of the place was. It was like they knew we were coming back home to America after being away and were acting as our own personal welcoming committee. We got some advice on what the best trails at Glacier were to hike, what the best Babb nightlife was and even where to find the kind of special something a long-haired hippie like myself likes to unwind with every now and again. Everyone who goes to Glacier National Park should definitely check out the Two Sisters Café in Babb and tell Big John we sent ya.
Right now, I’m kickin’ it in a sweet cabin under a gorgeous Montana full moon. Soon I’ll be heading to Charlie’s Bar with the boys where there promises to be a refreshing Montana micro-brew, beautiful girls and a bar fight or two.
Man, it feels good to be back in the states.