Yeee-Haw! What a month it has been!

Well it has been quite some time since my last post but my absence has not been due to laziness! I have been been incredibly busy traveling, working, and most importantly bicycling! I'll start with my trip to Lake Powell, Utah, some of the perks that come with working for Aspen Ski Co. far exceed what you would expect! Throughout the season we rented out lockers to guests and all the money we took in from that our store manager saved along with any large tips that the shop received as a whole, this added up mush faster then I expected! With the money from this season they were able to rent a 3 bedroom house boat, purchase all the food, and purchase all the beverages you could imagine (and I promise you that ski bums out west are thirstier than a cactus). It was an amazing trip, I don't know if I have been to a place more intricately carved by nature, it was like walking through a painting when we finally started in our way. We camped out for 3 days and played in the deserts sun, hiked around in some quick sand haha, watched the sun rise and set over the canyon walls and got burned to a crisp! I have to say it was a vacation that I was looking forward too and I was glad to be out there with some really awesome co-workers, Daelyn, Jeri, Stephen, Willy, Mike, Jackson, Nate, and Matt thank you for an awesome season! I will see you all again next year. Once I got back into Aspen it was time to head out of Dodge and hit the dusty trail yet again!
I headed out to Denver the morning of April 18th I believe. Originally the plan was me and my buddy Stephen were going to snag a ride with Jeri who was driving back to her hometown  which was just outside of Denver, well haha, I had a feeling that since it was the last night in Aspen before we all split for the summer that Jeri and Stephen might not be in great shape the next morning so I figured at least I shouldn't partake to heavily in the festivities haha. It turned out to be a very wise decision, so 10am rolls around and I'm wide awake ready to go and I get a phone call from Jeri to tell me she needs me to drive and we need to leave a half hour later hahaha. So long story short we ended up in Denver at Stephens brothers hotel and we ran into a few girls who were there from Philly to go see the Slightly Stoopid concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, which just happened to be where Stephen and his brother were headed. We hung out with them for a while, now I am terrible at remembering names but I told myself I had to remember these girls names because I always forget, and I remembered them the whole trip but now I can only remember Sarah ( because we clicked and I still talk to her), Nicki ( because she said she was a vet and she was hilarious), and Kelly ( because she fell off a horse hahahaha) but I know there was one other girl and I just can't remember her name! I remember that she reminded me of someone I knew when I was younger but I couldn't ever figure out who!
After hanging around Denver and wandering the city with an old but missed friend, Emily, I jumped on a train and headed off to New York to start a whole new chapter!!!!!
I got back into New York on the 22nd had a chance to spend a little time with one of my best buddies, Nick, then headed over to see my folks and treat them to dinner at a little German restaurant in Canandaigua, NY the Rheinbleck. Then on the morning of the 23rd I was on the road yet again, this time I was south bound on my way to the 26th annual Merlefest in Wilkesboro, NC! I was officially on the road as Air Chair Tuck, being comfy and hanging out was the name of my game! I had some wonderful opportunities to learn a few things when it came to selling Air Chairs at festivals , how to close a deal as well as all you could imagine about the chairs themselves ( fun fact : the air chair, contrary to popular belief, does NOT actually float on air you will need to attach it to a secure branch or ceiling joist). I went to see Gov't Mule play, it will still go down as one of the best live performances I have seen to date! Warren Haynes tells stories with his guitar and no one, in my opinion, can do it the same way. I also got to check out The Charlie Daniels Band, Donna the Buffalo, Mountain Heart, and The Avett Brothers all of whom were phenomenal groups. At night the guys I was working with, Joe, Scott, and I would hang out with a few of other vendors and I had the privilege to listen in on their stories and tales from their travels, many of which were about the Dead Tour and how they got their starts on Shakedown St. There was one gentleman in particular who interested me the most, Barry, he told me some incredible stories of his days of Woodstock, communes, and scandal. You know Barry as the hammock guy at Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg, NY, he is always on the same corner by the store every year, if you make your way over to Barry's Hammocks tell him Air Chair Tuck says howdy and that the story of porkinhand lives on hahah. Well really that brings me pretty close to the current day, I've been able to scoot around and see a lot of people I've missed, and still have many to see! I will be on the road a lot this summer working for Air Chair so look out for me at a festival near you! I would like to end this with a huge thank you to Chuck and Annie from San Giorgio's in Crystal Beach as well as Joe and Quitta Sick you have helped me out so much this past month and I am glad to be apart of the crew! In between travels you can find me over at the Culture Shack in Canandaigua, NY and out cruising around on my bikes! Get out and enjoy life, take some risks and just hang out!