Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo!

First pasties experience: Success!!! And yes, I meant to type "pasties". It's with a short "a" sound.... gotten a lot of comments on my tweet about that one earlier :) I thought it was funny too, when we first drove to Michigan and kept seeing signs for "pasties" and in my head it had the long "a"... which would be a VERY different thing.

Pasties are like the North American version of empanadas. It's a meat-filled, individual pie. And they are delicious!!! They were popular up north for miners... a pastie can keep warm for 8-10 hours. So they were a great thing to make for the miners to take for lunch, and it wouldn't go bad.

So yeah - I got ham and cheese, and the guys got the beef with gravy... So yummy.... It took me about 3 stages to eat mine over a 6 hour period... but most meals do.

Our show tonight was so fun!! The Campus Activities Board at Western Michigan University was an excellent group of attentive and helpful students. The campus here is bigger than I expected. And they obviously know how to run and put on a show. They have Jim Gaffigan coming to perform next month!!! I am so jealous! I loooooove him. Hilarious comedian. HOT POCKETS! ;)

And after the show, we went on our normal "hunt for a decent restaurant open" but the students eventually found out that TGI Fridays was still serving. There were 11 of us at dinner... at midnight... wouldn't have it any other way!!! And somehow we ended up talking about a tattoo Panther had seen of Robocop holding a lightsaber while riding a unicorn. The best part is that he has met more than one person with this tattoo... and it led to everyone taking out their phones and searching online for the photo. Oh. I found it. I wouldn't let you down. :)


Thank you CAB!!!! We love you guys, and our new t-shirts, and water bottle, and highlighter and magnet with my name on it :) And notepad!


And Katie was our main girl all night who helped coordinate everything for us. Thank you so much!!!



I said we'd have a great show in a place called Kalamazoo! And I was right! It was awesome. Thanks y'all!














Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Happy Mother's Day from a GINORMOUS Lumber Jack

Got Wood?

We've been in the car ALLLL day.

One thing is confusing me, though.

Pennsylvania ---> Michigan 11hrs 19min < Michigan ---> Tennessee 10hrs 39min

Doesn't it seem like PA to MI should be SHORTER than MI to TN?


View Larger Map

But what do I know? :)

Even though we're still in the U.S. we are north of Toronto right now. Whoa. Crazy right there.

We are currently staying in what I would guess to be the "Most Lumberjack Themed Hotel" in America. There's a HUGE Lumberjack statue out front, the restaurant in the hotel is named "Lumber Jack's", and EVERYTHING is made out of wood.

That's some serious room numbers right 'ere.


And you know how most hotels have a nice picturesque scene or flower on the wall to add some ambience?

Check out this ambience:

You might have to double click on that pic to blow it up.. you know.. to FULLY brighten your day ;)

And Mamma, you'd love it. There's a moose on EVERY lamp. Mamma loves her some MOOSE!


And for those who want to see some awesome pics from our show at Penn Tech.... Check out this blog that popped up online today! Thank you Danielle!!! You are THE PHOTOGRAPHER. And don't you forget it! :)

Barden Photography Blog

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and MOOSE EVERYWHERE!
~natalie