Actually, I had given up on my Astro. In the rainy weather (which Vancouver has no shortage of) the engine refused to turn over. I pushed the van across the back lane (to a very conveniently located mechanic) and got him to look at it.
He managed to get it driving again, but he didn't even know why! It certainly has something to do with the rain and the wet. I say that because it was only after the van dried out in his shop that it started to work again.
It wasn't long before the same problem happened and my Astro wouldn't start any more. This was in February of this year. We weren't touring and I wasn't using the van much, so I took the insurance off and let the thing sit and rot.
And rot it did...
In an act of 'brilliance' I put a tarp over the top of my engine to keep water from leaking in. I kept the tarp on by tucking it into the driver's and passenger side doors. Here's what happened inside the van as a result of that decision.
When I saw all this mould in there I flipped my lid. I figured the van was toast, and that we weren't gonna be driving it anywhere any time. I get discouraged easily, it would seem.As the weeks passed, and I checked out other van options I managed to calm down and looked into cleaning my van. Suffice it to say, a bottle of bleach, a lot of scrubbing, and removal of most of the interior saved the Astro for another tour season!
Neil installed some hardwood flooring that he found in the attic of my apartment (the caretaker was even happy for us to use it as it was just leftover scrap) and we installed a tapestry of some bucks on the ceiling. I'm happy to have those bucks on the ceiling - and not on the highways! Although we did see many on the way to the kootenays.
As for the engine, there's a place called Axle Alley in vancouver, and Alex, the guy who runs it, helped to explain what was going on. It's a matter of air pressure (or lack thereof) in the fuel line. What this boils down to, is when the van doesn't start in the morning, I/we have to go through a 10-20 minute process of turning the ignition on and off rapidly until enough pressure builds up in the fuel line for the spark to take and turn over.
Neil showed me how to do this before Alex of Axle Alley explained what was happening. He's owned Astros for years and was used to the problem, which is good, cause like I said - I get discouraged very easily and never would have put the time and effort into starting the thing on my own.
British Columbia is awesome to drive. There's a bunch of kitschy character towns littered throughout the province, and as we're a touring circus sideshow, it's our job and obligation to find these towns and bring them a night they won't soon forget!
This last weekend we headed out to the Ymir, Nelson, and Fernie. All of which were totally welcoming and friendly. Living day to day in the city it's easy to get accustomed to the impersonal chill that comes with keeping your guard up. I don't know if that's just a Vancouver thing, or if it's every where, but it's incredibly nice to be hosted by lovely, interesting weirdos! We were treated like gypsy kings - complete with a bounty of food, drinks, hotels, and company.
There's a woman out there named Rosie Delight, who I can't thank enough for making us feel at home. She really went out of her way to show us warmth and hospitality, making our first night out in Ymir worth every ounce of energy it took to get there.
The night after that we went to Nelson. Very much an artist town. It seems like everyone in the place was some kind of hippy, traveller or musician. A very magical Swedish girl took time to show us around, serve us coffee, and join us on stage.It seems that the story for a lot of people who end up in the Kootenays is that they never leave - and I can understand why.
They say 'don't drink the water in Nelson, you'll get pregnant'.
I guess that's why no one leaves...
...
...
We'll be back!
And then there was Fernie. I don't think any one in that town was Canadian. A lot of Aussies and New Zealanders, and several other accents - none of whom expected to see the show that we bring with us!
It was a very rowdy crowd, a 'punk rock crowd' as Matt likes to put it (even though there weren't any punks there... you get the idea though, yes? It was a lippy group of sauced-up hooligans!)
Maybe that's over-generalizing... there were hecklers. What I should point out, is that we don't deal with a lot of hecklers most of the time. Being from Winnipeg and growing up in the punk scene, heckling was one of our favourite pass-times! So out in polite ol' BC it's more noticeable when no-one's mocking you at every show!
That being said, I think Neil E. Dee was very much in his element, haha. There was one girl who was very obnoxious standing right near the stage yelling a bunch of shit. At one point she yelled "Hey, I'm a clown! I'm a juggalo!"
Neil says, "Wow, okay. You are a fuckin' clown!"
Matt was moving fast and furious. It's funny how much the feel of the crowd affects how the show goes. When the performers are dealing with stunts that can actually cause them serious injury, a crowd that's too excited can cause real damage.
Neil came up to me at one point and we watched Matt for a minute, both of us noticing that he was cursing a lot more than usual. Neil soon left as his turn on stage was up, but as he handed the stage off to Matt again he whispered something in his ear.
Matt, hilarious and excited, instantly started using words like 'Dang', and phrases like "oh shoot, everybody, are you ready for this?"I put it together very fast what Neil told him, but I think I'm the only one who noticed or cared how funny it was that he changed to a PG-13 rated vocabulary amidst a room full of mountain living madmen out to see a freak show.
It was good. Everyone who came out was happy that they did.
Including myself and our gang of lunatics.
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