The Jeep Latitude is just the right size for all the gear and merch…and our wee mascot.

MY cousin Betsy’s arrived when we wake up…a frustrating 12 hours ‘flight’ from Michigan involving bad weather, delayed and rerouted flights and even a train ride. She was meant to get into NYC at 7.30pm last night.

Lovely to see her and catch up…we’ll meet up at one of the Michigan gigs later in the month.

After a bagel and some coffee Ginny collects the car and we get all the gear downstairs, load up and make our way to Hackensack, New Jersey to pick up the rental car. We always avoid renting in New York ‘cos the taxes are sky high.

Margaret sorts a cool Jeep Latitude, we transfer all the stuff from Ginny’s car and hit the road. First stop, as usual, is McDonalds a few blocks away to add the rental car details to my E-Zpass account and check all’s good to get us going through the tolls. Last time it wasn’t activated on time and we ended up with some fines!

Just as well I check. After adding the rental car details it appears our transponder has ben reported lost or stolen a few weeks ago. Now that’s impossible as its been in its little tinfoil bag locked in storage for the last 18 months or so.

I call E-Zpass customer service and am passed form pillar to post, being told each time that it can be re-activated but it’ll take 24-48 hours. That’s no good for us! I finally get someone to understand that i do not report the transponder lost or stolen and if they couldn’t give me proof U’d be reporting it to the police as fraud. Five minute later we’re re-activated! Still, we’re an hour behind schedule already.

Onwards on our 400-mile drive to Altoona to break our journey to Pittsburgh…leaves only 100 miles or so to Pittsburgh where I play tomorrow (Thursday) night.

While Margaret drives, I check emails and keep the Instagram story (no video blogs or film this time, just a rolling Instagram story…) – an email form tonight’s hotel tells us the room’s cancelled as the advance credit card swipe failed. Fuck! Looks like the rental car fees have burst the credit card balance. 

Margaret call the hotel and the girl is very nice and understanding…tells us there’s still rooms left and it’ll be cheaper to re-book online which we manage.

We roll up around 8pm, check in, drop off the bags then go to find a supermarket and some stuff for dinner.

Finally we’re back in  the  hotel room, open a beer, eat and relax…

It takes an hour on the phone fighting with E-Zpass customer service…but it comes good in the end

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