Show Journal 2000-08-19
Day 2 – Today started off in typical 800 Octane fashion … we took turns bathing in the sink of an interstate rest area and spent the morning making crude jokes about one another and their mothers. During the morning discussion Justin taught us many new terms including the rare and elusive Eiffel Tower maneuver. Ask him for a description some time. Kinda crummy drive because it was so overcast all day. Eventually we realized it was the forest fires that were burning away most of the state. At one point Justin started “driving” the van and we joked that his blind spot is the whole road. We stopped to eat at a good sandwich shop in Missoula where we actually ate on our first tour. Today’s show was a benefit for a skate park. Weak sound, half awake crowd but we were stoked to be playing. Afterwards we hung out with Switch Two 47 and learned they are popular in their hometown of Buffalo. Thanks to Gary for setting up the show. After the show we pressed in towards North Dakota. At one gas station we were parked in front of a wall right in front of the store. Jim sat down right in front of the car to have a drink and smoke. Dave quickly realized the van’s headlights were right about at Jim’s eye level, so he tapped me on the shoulder, yelled to get Jim’s attention and then proceeded to blind him at point blank range with the high beams. We both laughed hysterically for about 10 minutes. After that high point the rest of the drive that night sucked ass. We were on a small 2 lane road literally in the middle of Montana surrounded by lighting storms. Since it was about 1:00 in the morning and in the middle of nowhere we started driving totally fast. So we’re happily cruising along at about 90mph making great time and we pass a deer which was standing about 2 feet from the side of the road. Close call. We slowed way the heck down and started to realize there were deer all over the place. Big ones, little ones, horned ones, even a defecating one and every last one of them wanted to be as close to the road as possible or in the road. I never thought we were going to die so often as tonight. A fully grown deer hitting the van would be seriously bad news. I stopped counting them at 100 and the deer fest went on for 3 hours. We saw dozens smashed and dead in the road. What a scary drive. There was also raccoons and rabbits in the road and even a black cat. Tonight was another night spent in a truck stop.
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