At 9,000 feet, the oxygen is a little rarified, especially for us Florida Sea-Level dwellers. I woke up with a headache. Breakfast and coffee did little to remedy the situation, so we (Larry, Lane and I) walked across the road, to a strip mall to buy some aspirin (thins the blood, and therefore helps oxygen intake). When we discovered that there was a Bank of America ATM (I refuse to pay extra to draw cash from a third party machine – one of my little British foibles), and a Safeway supermarket WITH A STARBUCKS INSIDE, Larry and Lane started calling it the “Charlie Morgan Strip Mall”. Obviously, a strip mall with all the basic requirements for my immediate comfort SHOULD be named after me! I was able to simultaneously acquire some cash, buy aspirin AND quench my caffeine addiction. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Tonight’s gig is called Music on Main Street. We are the top billing (I should think so too). I was reliably informed that, although the first band were using our back line (drums as well), there was an acoustic trio on just before us, and if I wanted to check out the kit, I could do so before they went on. I was given a ‘window of opportunity’ between 4.30 and 5.00. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the stage to check the kit, the acoustic trio had gone on 30 minutes early, and were already in full flight!. So, all that remained was to come back closer to our actual playing time. I returned with the rest of the band at 6pm. Sound check took up the entire hour before we went on. In fact, I came off stage, towelled off, and walked right back on stage! The stage itself was tiny, facing down Main Street, Frisco, with stunning views of the mountains behind the audience. As we played, the sun went down to our left, lighting up the peaks with an orange glow. The crowd were great, in fact the first 40 feet were taken up by people dancing! We played for almost two hours, as dusk settled on Frisco. As the sun went down, so did the temperature – and quickly, too! By the time we had finished, a cool breeze was blowing up the street, and I was regretting wearing shorts! My daughter and grand-daughter had come up to visit (they live in Loveland, just north of Denver), with some friends, and we decided to look for somewhere to eat. This was harder than we first thought. We tried a Chinese restaurant that looked good. Bearing in mind this was 9.33 pm on a SATURDAY night, I was turned away at the door by a very serious looking Chinese gentleman, with the words: “No, we crose nine ferty… go ‘way now!”

So we eventually ended up at a greasy spoon called the Claim Jumper, which was actually surprisingly good, all things considered! First the waitress was bright and cheery, and extremely patient, considering we had in tow two rather tired children (4 and 6 years old), who had enjoyed a surfeit of fun and an excess of sugary treats, and were well on the down-slope of the inevitable “crash & burn”! While we were messing around, trying to order, the rest of the band party arrived, having unsuccessfully scoured town for an alternative, and finally letting their pangs of hunger make the decision for them! So we made a jolly group of 12 for the staff to contend with. Finally, with full bellies (and slight twinges of heartburn), we bade our farewell to the Claim Jumper, and drove back to the hotel. I managed to get to bed by Midnight, which will allow me 5 hours of sleep before setting off back down the mountain, to Denver Airport, and all its vices.