Molesto, CA

Today has been a busy day off. Let's see if I can remember everything that's happened.

Sunday night the show was in Modesto (aka Molesto) CA. I've heard some stories from so many people about this city, and it didn't disappoint. I've also never seen security guards work so hard at a club before. It's then fitting that this would be the show to produce my first fan, even though I'm just the lowly merch girl. Just a heads up to the rest of you fans that may be reading now that Kimberly's been pimping my blog:

*It's really great to meet all of you guys, but if you hang around the table too much, it's hard for me to do my job. The main reason I'm there is to help out Kimberly and Junior. I man the table and sell their merch so they can do their thing. If you're constantly blocking the table or consuming all of my attention, it's hard for me to interact with people who have never heard of One-Eyed Doll before.

*We have a pretty tight schedule. I honestly don't have time to hang out with you after the show. Once a show is over, we pack up our stuff and head out to the next one. The only reason we stick around is for VIPs. If you want to hang out with me, buy a VIP package!!!   :D

*I know it's a concert, and a bar, but I'm technically working. Don't be a creeper and please don't try to buy me drinks. Would you want me showing up at your place of employment buying you drinks and hitting on you? Wait, don't answer that...

*Concerts are very LOUD!!!!! It's really hard to have a conversation. Sorry if I ask you to repeat yourself several times. I also wear earplugs whenever possible so I don't lose my hearing on this tour.

Back to the show...  The venue was pretty small, but Junior managed to weasel our way into the area Otep was selling their merch in.  That meant I got to hang out with my super awesome friends Tristan and Snausage.  It also meant that I interacted with Otep a few times.  I'm pretty sure I managed to come off as a normal human being and not a complete idiot.  *high fives self*

Opening bands tonight were Nothing but Losers and Level 12.  Level 12's lead singer did this whole Ring Side announcer thing that was pretty awesome. 

After the show, some new fans helped us load the limo and hung out for a bit since we didn't have VIPs for the night.  They were all awesome, but I can't remember everyone's name or I'd give you a shout out!  You know who you are though!

We spent last night in another WalMart parking lot.  This time Junior tried the floor and I slept in a seat.  It wasn't too bad except for the very first time I woke up and had cramps in both of my legs.  Apparently I was sleeping really weird.  It's also way warmer up there then down in the little valley of the seats.  Jason even snuck into WalMart in the middle of the night to buy another blanket because he was cold.  In the morning we found a Planet Fitness and all got super epic showers.  Planet Fitness is great because they're all over the country and pretty cheap.  We just went to shower, but they also have a lot of equipment to work out on if we ever have time, so we don't get squishy riding around in a limo all day.  If anyone reading this works for Planet Fitness, you should pull some strings and get them sponsored memberships!  *hint hint nudge nudge*

Kim and Junior enjoying a rock star massage

After freshening up, we went and got some awesome Pho and Vietnamese food at Modesto Noodles and Sandwiches.  Wow, I use the word awesome a lot.  This place was just a little local spot, but it had good food, reasonable prices, nice staff and a super cute baby.  Not to mention a beautiful tree outside.

Me giving my new friend a hug

Kimberly and her booty giving my new friend a hug

Just a heads up, we charge $2 for hugs.  Unless you catch us at a show, then we tend to give them away for free.

I used the drive to learn the OED e-mail list system and input the 100+ new e-mail addresses we've gotten at the shows.  Another tip, if you haven't signed up yet, please write SUPER clearly.  Any small pen stroke connecting letters can sometimes make things hard to decipher.  Is that a U or an O?  An A or a squiggly E?  If you think you'll be drinking during the night, sign the list before you get too sloppy!  (And please drink responsibly, have a DD or call a cab)  If you've signed up on the list at the past few shows and haven't gotten a confirmation e-mail in a few weeks, try going to their site and signing up because yours may have been one that was entered in wrong.  Also, filling in the zip code portion is helpful because then you can get specific updates to where you live.  If they're playing an impromptu show in Maine, but you live in Hawaii, you probably don't care.  It also sucks to find out the day after the show that they were playing just down the road from where you were sitting all night bored out of your mind wishing Kimberly was around to throw sweaty clothing at you.

It wasn't all work work work though, I did get this picture of a line of palm trees :)

Then about 4 hours later, we were where there was snow!  :(

I thought I moved far, far away from this...

 Then, we were in Reno!!!!

We had too much fun playing on the arcade games upstairs, but we each have a prize to show for our effort.  Mike also won a purple, flame patterned gecko stuffed animal that has yet to be named.  If anyone has any suggestions, feel free shout them out.  Speaking of Mike, if you haven't already, go check out his blog for another perspective on this tour.  You can find it HERE!  I don't have any pictures from inside the casino, so I'll have to steal them from everyone else once they post them.  After playing in that area, we went down to the real casino part and each chipped in $5 to play something.  We decided on Roulette and they had me put all $20 on red.  It landed on 13 black :(  Then Jason decided to play one of the slot machines.  We learned that Kimberly's nose is really lucky, but found that out too late :(  Over all we had a blast, and were smart enough to quit before we lost too much.

Lastly, we had a late dinner at the Grille inside Golden Dust West.  If you're ever in Reno, there's a super awesome waitress that works there named Daisy!  They also have huge eclairs.  

Aaaaaaaaand, now we're making our way to Salt Lake City, UT.  I'm working on making a facebook where those of you I meet on tour can get a hold of me, but it's almost 4am and I'm starting to catch my second wind, so I'd better try to get some sleep before I'm up all night.  

Nighty night all!