Livin' The Dream!

This travel/touring stuff is way too much fun! Yesterday I got picked up by Primetime Shuttle at 10:30 AM for a 2 PM flight out of LAX. There is already one passenger in the van and we have two more to pick up. We drive to the an address in Van Nuys and the Russian driver can't find the address.We stop in thew middle of intersections, make wild u-turns and drive in circles for about ten minutes then he calls her. Turns out she's Russian too although the communication is not exactly working out. He keeps calling, and driving around and finally just as we we about to leave, a young woman comes walking down the street with a suitcase so I yelled for the driver to stop and she got in. They proceeded to yell at each other in Russian for about twenty minutes as we were off to pick up our last rider in Westwood. We get off the 405 freeway at Sunset and head over towards UCLA, possibly the most congested area in LA! Again the GPS isn't helping much and now it's getting close to 12 PM. We drive around the campus, stopping in the middle of the street, making wild u turns, cutting drivers off and now the other passenger in the van starts screaming at the driver to pay attention. His flight is much closer than mine and now he's worried because we can't find the last pick-up. As they are all spatting and yelling, I have to do a phone interview with a radio station in Rockford so I ducked down behind a seat so I could have some isolation. The interview went on for about twenty minutes and while I was talking on the phone, the driver finally found the last pick up sitting on a bus bench. Everyone is upset and yelling as I wrap up my interview. We finally get to the airport and I get through security around 12:30 and I am hungry. LAX is not known for fine dining so I tried out a Deli. $15.00 later I was doing my best to chew the toughest bread I had ever experienced but SW does not serve food so I managed. I finally board my flight which is direct but has two stops before Columbus. I don't like changing planes because once my guitar is in the overhead, I don't want to risk checking it. First stop Phoenix. A half an hour later we head for Chicago Midway. More peanuts and drinks. I am so glad I ate. We land safely in Chicago and 45 minutes later we head to my final destination, Columbus, Ohio except I am not staying there. It is now midnight on the east coast and I was in the van for two hours, the plane for seven and now I need to rent a car and drive an hour and a half to Fairborn where my sister lives. Driving at 1 AM is not the safest time to drive. Just after getting on the freeway a guy, presumedly drunk just started drifting into my lane which was the fast lane. I slammed on my breaks and hit the horn but he continued. I veered to the left and he missed me and then he proceeded to change over to the slow lane. I am wide awake now. I finally reach my sister's house at 2 AM and have to unload the car. She has a new dog that is barking ferociously at me as I bring in my stuff. Now it's time to unwind with a giant glass of wine and hit the sack. This going on the road stuff is great and there are hundreds of dollars to be made!!