From North Dakota I had another day to get to Billings, where Kelly Inn was my hotel sponsor. It had been quite hot until I got to North Dakota. Now the temps began to go down and I began to layer my clothes. I had packed for 3 seasons but had to rearrange everything to get my warmer clothes, knowing that I’d be going back to heat. But it was much easier to do this kind of travel in a car. The Cobalt has a huge trunk, which gave me a lot of flexibility in organizing my things. Since I’d mainly worn sandals until then, my shoes just hung out in the trunk. I got them as the temps dropped.

I’ve always loved Montana because I love mountains. That’s where I feel most peaceful. I got to do some hiking when I arrived that Sunday, which was a treat. Throughout the tour it was hard to find time and ways to get in the kind of workouts I do when I’m home, which was a very frustrating situation for me. I normally do an hour of weight training twice a week and get to Central Park at least 3 times for cardio. I got tired of jogging through parking lots in an effort to keep up. So getting out on a real hiking trail in a beautiful park was invigorating.

On Monday, September 26th, I spoke for an interesting group at Montana State University. The public was allowed in so the audience was very diverse and very enthusiastic. One woman brought her daughter to hear me. Since Billings doesn’t have a lot of conferences or opportunities to hear pros speak, she wanted to take advantage of the education and opportunity to ask questions, a sentiment shared by many of the attendees. That night I did a book signing at Borders. Danielle Egnew, who I interviewed in I Don’t Need a Record Deal!, went to school there and encouraged me to include Billings in my tour. I’m glad I listened!

Tuesday was a heavy driving day – almost 600 miles to Coeur d’Alene Idaho. Montana is a great state for speeding with a limit of 75 MPH. Idaho has high speeds too. Love it! I admit to being a speed demon and tend to live by the rule about going just under ten miles over the limit, unless of course everyone else is going faster. Then I position my car in between several other speeders. ☺ So I got to the intensely gorgeous city of Coeur d’Alene in great time. There’s a gorgeous lake in town with mountains all around. I drove in just before dark and was in awe of the view. Yes, that was me driving with my mouth open as I entered the region! ☺ I’d always wanted to see this city and was thrilled that it was on my route. I made that big drive so that I could stay there for 3 nights. I was craving some stability.

I had a lovely day on Wednesday before my book signing at Hastings Books and Video that night. The weather was perfect and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch, writing at an outdoor café and then taking a hike. It was delightful to meet people at Hastings. Actually the folks in that whole northwestern region were refreshing to a city girl like me. They were less complex and more open than in more urban areas. SOOOO friendly. Folks stopped to chat when they came into the store. Not only musicians. Just people who saw me there with my books. Some signed up for my Self-Empowerment Quarterly newsletter. They all wished me luck. I left the store smiling.

That was my last relaxing day for a while. On Thursday I got up early to drive to Moscow, ID. It was raining and the normally 90 minute drive took well over 2 hours due to construction and weather. I arrived just in time to address my first group at the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho, where I spent the whole day. Susan Hess, who had arranged for me to speak, greeted me. My first group was students who were more interested in the business end of the entertainment industry so the talk took a different twist. In the afternoon I spoke to a huge group of musicians who were eager to hear about the many possibilities for earning an income from music. After a lovely dinner with Susan, I spoke in the auditorium. This was open to the public and all the students from that school and Washington State University, which is just down the road. It was another diverse group.

My drive back to Coeur d’Alene was stressful. The road was dark, one lane each way, and had a lot of curves. I was tired and anxious to get back as I had to pack to leave for a school in Washington the next morning. I didn’t get on the road till after 9:30. As I drove, I thought about how many musicians must do this regularly after a gig. Sometimes schedules don’t work out perfectly and there’s no choice but to drive at odd hours and in ways that wear you out. But we have to do it if this is the chosen career. I chose to do this tour and had to go on, despite weariness. Every time a truck came toward me on the road back to Coeur d’Alene, it splashed a veil of water over my car, making it hard to see anything. I’d hold my breath and pray each time. I kept telling myself I just had to keep going and get the drive done, and hopefully this would be the worst. But it wasn’t. The next night was.