There's No Place Like Home

I'm back in Charlotte, North Carolina! I arrived at around 9am this morning with John Valenti (JohnnyBlazed.com.)

We traveled from Houston, TX to Cocoa Beach, Florida, dropped off John's bus, loaded everything up into his old diesel Mercedes which was sitting there for a few months and had 480,000 miles on it (yep!) and drove it up to Charlotte all through the night. Note that the bus's max speed is about 65 with the wind at its back and the Mercedes can't be driven over 70 or it will shake violently.

So we went up to North Charlotte and slept on Alex McMeeken's couches (also where my ol' Bimmer was sitting for three months) and woke up around 2pm. I tried starting up the Bimmer, but no luck. We tried jumping it and it would start, but as soon as the jumper cables were taken off it would immediately shut off. So then we headed to Wal-Mart where Alex had to get something and I was able to have my battery checked there... where it just happened to be purchased from originally. It ended up being dead but I got a partial refund since it was still under warranty (yes!).

After installing the new battery the Silver Bullet started up immediately. So then I was on the road and it was about 5:30 or so. It was then time to work on getting gigs for tomorrow - Saint Patrick's Day! I filled my schedule, but ran into another problem, the lights were dimming on the bimmer... and fast, to the point where it almost stalled. After a few phone calls I realized it is most likely the alternator. But this was about 3 hours ago and I didn't want anybody to come pick me up downtown, as I would have to come back to get my car anyway and that's a lot of trouble for someone to go through. So, after continuing walking the Charlotte uptown streets to finish filling my schedule I decided to try to sleep in the car. That didn't work, so then I went to catch a cab on the street. The rate was $50 to go to Matthews where my friend David Johnson lives where I would be staying for the night. I got him down to $40 but that still wasn't cheap enough to have to drive back into town again anyway. So, I started the Silver Bullet up again with no lights, slipped her down the back streets and into the Days Inn parking lot where I got a room for $45 bucks... and a wireless internet connection.
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Dispelling some myths:

Myth: Some people thought I was going to South Padre Island to party with the Spring Breakers.
Fact: I didn't go there at all to party with the Spring Breakers, but rather to keep my van in a good location where it would be likely to be sold. In fact I got several hours of practice in with John every day while I was there... not to mention running every morning on the beach. I was up late only one night and that was to play my pipes for tips - which I did very well by the way.

Myth: I've been getting the question of how I'm gonna keep my FEEDtheVAN site up if I sold the van... and people are wondering if it is just a scam to get money for the tour.
Fact: FEEDtheVAN.com will be sporting the all new Dodge Xplorer Camper Van I will be purchasing on Monday in Charlotte, which I've been planning to purchase for almost a month now. The FEEDtheVAN.com website is strictly a business venture and will take some time in getting going, but once it does, I believe it will spread like wildfire across the U.S. and be a great investment for all who decide to purchase an ad.

I know I should be in bed, but I had to get the word out.

The morning begins a new day.

Signing off...

~ Nate