One of the crucial parts of the tour is the exacting, focused “doing of absolutely nothing,” of which, on this fine day, I did way too much of. Woke up good and late to the soothing sounds of the “housekeeping” walking/barging in, enough to make eye contact as I awoke a bit startled. Nothing like putting the “do not disturb” hanger up on the door, only to be disturbed. Shit.

Had a crucial call with the guys from Snowboard Mag and was free for the day, and, as an added bonus, the day was pretty much already shot to shit.

125. “A land of convenience.”

I did make it over to Bardstown road to Emporium Guitars for some shopping. I’m in the market for a new guitar, as I’ve said a couple times now on this tour. A “Martin” at that. The big leagues.

I did some strumming, some wondering, some question-asking and some more strumming. Comes a time when just gotta make a decision, even if it does break the bank and ruin your financial future. I settled on a Martin D-35, after much contemplation and playing.

The old Fender DG-10 I bought back in 1996 in Anchorage (I remember skateboarding back to the summer house with it hanging at my side, very excited.) has a million miles on it. Frets are buzzing all over the fretboard. I guess I could fix that, but, it was time for the next step. It did a great job for me. It fell over about 47 times, stayed in tune for the most part and had traveled the states with me a number of times.

So here it is, in all its Motel 6 glory:

126. “Martin D-35, serial# 1080298
127. “Headstock.”

The new guitar purchase was definitely the highlight of the day, condsidering, I’ll be touching that thing daily from here on out. A new chapter.

- - - -

On a cultural note, I managed to get myself downtown to that Louisville Slugger museum. Took the tour through their factory, daydreamed over famous old bats in the rmuseum and even ordered a couple custom bats, one for myself and one for Ryno. It took me a good afternoon, and was well worth the eight bucks it set me back.

I’ll let some pictures do the talking,

128. “Greeted by a big bat.”
129. “Real big.”
130. “Babe’s signature.”
131. “Lots of famous bats.”
132. “Ty Cobb’s signature model sticker.”
133. “Even Honus had his own sticker, man.”
134. “Lou Gehrig held this bat.”
135. “Amazing stitchwork in this old flag.”
136. “Generations of signatures.”
137. “Signatures.”
138. “Big Bat credentials.”
139. “The Louisville Skyline.”

Rounded the night out with some supper and some guitar playing, and that was about it.