When you drive around the country as much as we do, it is inevitable that you are going to eventually retrace some steps. The seemingly endless possibilities for routes diminish when you become a wide load and, even more so, when you are in high demand from your fans. And so we carry this burden… okay, so maybe it’s not so bad. Actually, despite my attempt at sympathy, most of the places we return to end up being pretty stellar! This last week was a testament to that as we made encore appearances at two amazing places… if we are lucky, it won’t be the last time either.
Our first return was to the famous Catsup Bottle water tower in Collinsville, Illinois. Who knew that just a short ways away from St. Louis’ famous ‘Arch’ was an equally fun but less known roadside attraction. In my very biased opinion, the Catsup Bottle trumps the arch if for no other reason than it is promoted by two of the most enthusiastic people around: Mike and Judy. Yes it is thanks to them that our weekday event that spanned the hours of the workday was still a success. After a great morning show appearance on St. Louis’ Channel 2 News, we set up for a day with the people. We had a steady stream of visitors stop by for photo ops, souvenirs and of course our popular prize wheel!
But of course the best part of the event, in yet another biased opinion, was the fact that I got to climb the 170-foot water tower! It took a bit of smooth talk and reassurance to convince the owner that I was the man for the job. But once the terms were agreed upon, I took off (mostly so they couldn’t change their minds). Luckily a local videographer was there with some great video equipment to capture the experience. You can check out the video here!
The second part of our throwback week was our return trip to Dunwoody for their epic 4th of July parade. What makes this parade so much fun is the intimacy the narrow road creates. The parade route isn’t very wide and people throng to the streets restricting it even more (while also causing Larry the Driver’s blood vessels to restrict). But what we lose in safety we gain in conversation. Everyone was in a festive mood and you could definitely tell we were welcomed back. People young and old remembered our first appearance while first timers gawked and threw out the expected ‘Is that real!?’ The combination was a delight and reinforced that feeling of home we had upon arrival.
Speaking of home… if you see these two walking the streets of Boise be sure to give them a big hearty welcome! They are officially moving to the 208 in a few weeks and met us at the finish line to tell us how excited they were to be apart of the Idahome community. Welcome folks!
Cheers!
Ivan the Spud
