Passing St. Louis
Sharon Springs Sign—at High Speed
Dumb and Dumber
The Big Dipper
This month’s journal takes place in Colorado. It consists of rainbows and puppy dogs, construction, and even a Rap Battle!
Well, we’re in Colorado now. Our drive across the country was uneventful. There was a chance of really bad storms in the Midwest but somehow we managed to miss them. We hit the tail end of Kansas Tuesday night. Knowing we only had about 5 hours left in our drive, we got a hold of Mugsy (Ded Bob) and Mark. (He’s gonna work for me in Colorado) They were a couple hours ahead of us and stopped in a little town for the night. So, we figured we’d share a hotel room for the night before making the home stretch to Colorado Springs. Mugsy and I stumbled across a couple of funny signs. We couldn’t resist the chance to take a couple pictures in front of them. The next morning we left for Colorado Springs. It was an easy drive and we arrived about noon with plenty of time to get moved in.
The first couple weeks have been good. I have to say its weird working at a fair that I’m not a Tortuga. But, I love playing salesman. Actors make great salesmen after all. We actually more than doubled the sales of the first weekend last year.
Our first week in town, we were greeted with not one, but two beautiful rainbows. If that’s not a good omen I don’t know what is. The view from our Apartment is amazing. We’re sitting in the shadow of Pike’s Peak. But then again so is most of Colorado Springs. It is a mountain after all. On our way home after the end of the first weekend, we encountered a double rainbow. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. The pictures and video don’t do it justice. You could almost reach out and touch it. It was so extraordinary that some 20+ cars pulled over to the side of the road to take pictures and video. Me, I just like to be “safe” and shoot while driving. (Watch for the lightning bolt between the rainbows in the video.)
…and Puppy Dogs
View from our place in Colorado Springs
Pikes Peak in the clouds
Digging and leveling the floor
Jef Hall, Carpenter. Jesus, Carpenter. Coincidence? I don't think so!'
Raise the roof!
New Hat Room
New Hat Room with a view!
Ty Pennington, eat your heart out!
Ken from Excalibur leather expanded our booth from last year. It’s now twice the size it was. We also quintupled our product line. That being said, the tiny little back stock room we have just didn’t cut it anymore. We just don’t have the room for the entire inventory. So, I told Ken I could expand the back room. I’d just cut out the center of the back wall and extend all the way to the booth next door. Apparently Ken liked this idea. He said, “Do it!” without missing a beat or asking one question.
After the first weekend in which we totally kicked ass, I went to work on the stock room expansion. It only took me 2 days to get it done. All I had to do now was put up some shelves and move the stock in. The booth looks great. With our added space we are soooooo much more organized. I just want sales to keep climbing.
After the second weekend, in which I ran into a guy dressed like Star Trek’s Data, I was beat. The trip cross country, set up and two busy weekends had really taken its toll on me. I got some well deserved sleep Sunday and Monday night.
On Tuesday, Sharon and I went to see a movie and then to the mall. It was a nice normal day. No festival, no travel, no packing or unpacking. Ahhhhhhhhh. That night I went to see Mugsy at a little bar that turned out to be only a mile from our apartment. Yay! No long drive. He was there to be in a Rap Battle. You ever see “8 Mile” starring Eminem? If so, it was just like that. Not just the battle itself, but also the white boy kicking ass! Mugsy blew me away. (As well as the rest of the house) He just destroyed these Black and Latino rappers. It was hilarious watching this skinny, long haired white boy from California spin these amazing words to a beat played by the resident DJ. Mugsy, my hat is off to you! I can’t wait ‘til next week when he defends his title.
Captain Jef and Commander Data
Sharon has a mooooving experience.
Well, that’s it… another journal and another month gone by in the life of a Tortuga. I hope it was enjoyable without all the crap in between I don’t write about. This gets us one more month closer to the Promised Land. Minnesota!!!! (Funny, Microsoft Word made me capitalize “Promised Land”) See ya soon!
