The More Cowbell Tour Rocked the U.S.

I’ve always wanted to get to use “The More Cowbell Tour” in a sentence. Thanks to the summer roadtrip and my extraordinary friends and readers, 2015 was the year! Sadly, I didn’t make it to the East Coast or the Deep South. However, I had so much fun, I know I’ll be doing this again. 🙂

The More Cowbell Tour spanned 29 days and 15 states. It was wild and memorable and fun. And tiring. The back half of the summer slipped away from me. But the Little Bean started kindergarten last week and I am BAA-A-A-CK.

Wasn’t she JUST born?

I missed you guys!! And I’ve been having to sit on amazing tidbits like Orlando Bloom’s underwear habits for days. It’s just not right.

The More Cowbell Tour 2015 Map

Basically, I did a big oval across our fine country. We missed Iowa and Nebraska, but touched most of the rest of the middle somewhere. Just imagine my little Honda following (approximately) that black line.

And, from Minneapolis on, this was a mother/daughter trip. She did great – that girl can travel. Much better than Mommy. Did I mention I hate driving?

However, I love my family and my kid saw about 80% of her immediate relatives on this trip. After last summer of all hip rehab-all the time, I was overdue to see my family.

Plus, we got to ride the party bus with a bunch of Hubby’s family during his family reunion. This thing had strobe lights and a privy. It was radical.

(And yes, that’s my hair flying out the window on the right.)

Here are a few of the highlights:

Getting the chance to visit with so many of my online pals LIVE was seriously amazing! I’m saving more pics for a future post, but here are a few.

Hanging with my pal, Piper Bayard, in Colorado.

Piper Bayard and Margie Lawson were the only two I was able to see in the early part of the trip. And Colorado was soooo beautiful.

My little one adored Margie’s granddaughter, Scout, and (once we got her over the “bitching about bugs” part) she loved hiking on Margie’s mountain.

Piano Girls: Margie Lawson’s granddaughter and my Little Bean

Jess Witkins holding my South Dakota prize, “Confidential Chats with Girls.”

I was only able to spend an hour with the effervescent Jess Witkins, but she fed me for the entire rest of the road trip. She’s so much fun!

Important question: How come I didn’t know cheese curds existed before? OMG.

My wonder twin, Gene Lempp, who was kind enough to make time for me when I swung through his state.

My gal LOVED Gene Lempp and his wife. Not only did she commune with his cat, she treated him to an entire dance Frozen dance recital, which gave me a chance to catch up with my Wonder Twin.

We have been ROW80 buddies and partners in crime across the interwebz for four years, but finally I got to give him a hug! I’m hoping he gets back to blogging soon.

There was much much more, but I’ll stop for now. I have an Undie Chronicle and a post on the Bag Whore in the hopper, to help make up for taking the summer off. I didn’t necessarily plan it that way, but it ended up being a family-first kind of summer.

I have missed y’all dreadfully. What was the most amazing thing you did this summer? What is on deck for the Fall? Which section of the country should I pick for the next More Cowbell Tour?

~ Jenny