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Susan and I are up at 7:30 am and we get
some coffee and Susan goes for a walk. I eat some breakfast
and head back to the room to shower, pack, stretch, and
practice. We get packed and head down to the van at 11 am.
Our drive is only 3 hours today. I know I am happy about
that.
We drive to the border crossing at the Rainbow Bridge. We
can see Niagara Falls from the bridge which gets everyone
excited. We are planning to stop somewhere on the Canadian
side to take pictures of it and enjoy it but our plans are
soon altered. At the booth the agent takes our passports
and asks a few questions about our plans and travels. After
a quick look inside the van by the agent he tells us to
pull over in a parking area and go inside the building for
further processing. Uh, oh. This does sound good. This is
about 12:15.
Inside we all get into a long line which is moving slowly
and the agents that are servicing this line keep being distracted
and going on break. After about forty minutes they finally
get to our group. The agent asks all the preliminary questions
about our trip and after a fashion they single me and Donto
out for further questions. As near as I can figure out,
something appeared on their screens that indicated that
Donto and I had been involved with the law some how in the
past. I know that in my twenties I was a confused angry
person and I got involved in many things that were harmful.
Drug use was one of these. I had thought these things had
been expunged a long time ago but apparently not. The agent
asked me about my past records and I explained my history
to her to the best of my ability. I told her my last dealing
with the law in this regard was back in 1977, forty-three
years ago. Apparently this satisfied them as they no longer
asked me any more questions after the agent talked to her
supervisor.
Donto, however, had something in his past they did not like.
They were not going to let him in the country. The supervising
agent was a hard nose. What made things even worse was the
agency was anything but friendly. Any time you asked a question
or made a request the response was a curt surly one. By
now we had been there for 2 ½ hours and everyone
was getting tired and hungry. We had watched many of the
agents come and go from wherever they were coming and going
from, but the supervising agent just kept punching buttons
on his computer and staring at the screen. I almost lost
it when I saw another agent bring the supervising agent
a coffee and a roll. Aw. Do you care about these six people
waiting for your decision? Finally, he tells Donto he can
go into Canada on a temporary permit which will cost him
$200. What could he do? He paid it and they finally let
us go after detaining us for three hours. At this time it
is nearly three o'clock and we are supposed to be
in London, Ontario at four o'clock which is 2 ½
hours away. We call the promoters and let them know of our
delay and they will be waiting for our arrival.
We get to the Delta hotel in London and it is really nice!
Too bad we will only be here for a couple of hours. We drop
off our bags and head over to the Music Hall Lounge. We
have a little trouble finding it even though it is staring
us in the face as it is in the back of a parking lot tucked
away in the corner. Paul Breau, one of the officials of
the Great Lakes Blues Society, guides us in and we are immediately
greeted by a lot of volunteers to help us move our gear
into the hall. It's a nice place with a quality sound
system. O'Neal, the sound man, gets us up and running
quickly, Susan orders and gets our dinners, and we head
back to the hotel to eat and change in less than an hour
for our 8 pm show.
We get there in the nick of time and a lot of folks have
gathered for the show. The band sounds great and the crowd
is really responding to the LMB. Playing for blues societies
is nice as they already know what to expect and if you don't
let them down they will reward you with their approval of
cheers and applause. Laurie sets the place on fire and wins
them over. On the break we get to meet these really fun
loving Canadians who make us feel right at home. Many autographs
are signed, people met, and hands shaken. We then prepare
to play our last set. The last set is a ripper. We finish
at 11 pm with 'Livin' in a Man's World'
which always gets a rise from the crowd, especially after
Laurie does one of her signature walks through the crowd
during her solo. As Jack Black says in 'School of
Rock' she gave them some of her 'face melters'.
They demand an encore and we comply with our version of
'Crossroads'.
What a great night and a great bunch of people, which might
never have happened if the border agents had decided otherwise.
Also, on another joyous note, Denis Burns, Treasurer/Vice
Chairman of the Great Lakes Blues Society, reimbursed Donto
the $200 that he had to pay to the border agency for the
temporary permit. When we pack up for the night not one
of us has to lift anything. These guys just jump in there
and get it done. I am always amazed at how generous people
can be. I only hope that I can carry the same spirit of
giving. Thanks, Greats Lakes Blues Society, especially Denis,
Paul, and Stephen. Keep up the good work and hope to see
you next time we are traveling through your great country.
Back to the hotel by 12:30 for a short 4 hours sleep. We
need to get on the road by 6 am to make it to Greensburg,
Pennsylvania. Too bad. These rooms are nice.
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