…in case you were wondering.

I landed in Nashville at about noon yesterday, spent the day relaxing with the boys and this is the story Blue told me last night before he went to bed.

“Once upon a time there was a boy, and his daddy was gone for a long time, and he was coming home. And the little boy was so excited that he spilled his cereal. Then after his nap time they got to go get their daddy at the airport and they were so excited that they drove so fast. The end.”

I’m home till Thursday morning. I plan on hanging out, giving Kristin time to sleep in, playing hard with the boys and laundry… lots of laundry.

Remember L.A.? The angry mob? The “rude pushy Christians“? This morning over in the comments of that post I was asked “what Jesus would do” in that situation. I wasn’t asked it in a “Hey Brody, what do you think”, sort of way. I was asked more in a, “Why are you being a “hater”, and not accepting people”, kind of way.

The more I think about it the more I am wondering, “What would Jesus have done in that situation.” I think he would have laid the smack down a lot harder than I did here on this blog only read by a few hundred people. Maybe he would have been embarrassed by the way people we acting and called the whole thing off. But one thing I know for sure is that he would not have tolerated the way those people were acting, and just accepted them falling all over themselves for the acceptance of a man. I think he would have said something far more clever than I could ever come up with to make half of that room feel like complete idiots for acting the way they were…. but I could be wrong.

So for those of you that were there, and those of you that read my interpretation of what it was like there, I ask you. What do you think Jesus would do in that situation? How would he respond to a completely chaotic environment setting a bad example in His name?

Today we are at Kansas State University. I am sitting three floors down from the auditorium, listening to the new Radiohead album, which, by the way is amazing. Not much to write about today yet. I was on the bus returning emails for a few hours and other than that haven’t done much.

We had a few hospital runs this morning. Tommy, the tour merch guy came back reporting that within the next twenty-four hours he will pass a kidney stone. I’m sure he’s excited to focus on that for the next day. Also, Toni, David’s wife, hit her hand on a part of the bus and possibly broke her hand, but after further inspection it’s just some messed up tendons, but hurts no less, I’m sure.

I brought two pairs of shoes on this tour and one of the pairs is starting to smell pretty bad. If it weren’t that I were sharing a bus with eleven other rotten smelling guys I might get kicked off the bus.

Two more days and I see my family. Time to go see some Kansas.

Phil and I ventured away from the tour for a day and flew from Boise to Denver to meet with some folks at Brio Magazine and Focus On The Family. Hopefully Phil will be able to get the hot cover of Brio some time in the future and join his place in history like Zack and Johnny Depp and other teen heart-throbs of their day. We can only hope.

After the brief meeting at the Focus On The Family buildings we hopped up the freeway to the Compassion International building for a quick tour and talk with some of the employees there. I had been there once before recently with Shaun so it was cool to run in to several of the folks that I had already met. It was cool to walk around, learn a little more, and hopefully see something that Phil might be involved with in the future. It is pretty amazing walking into that building and being greeted with so many smiling faces and people who seem to truly love their jobs.

Now we are sitting at an Atlanta Bread Co. outside of Denver waiting to head back to the airport to return the rental car and catch a ride with Brian, who is coming out from Nashville for the show. The weather here is amazing. It’s crisp and clear, with hints of snow on the ground. I think the climate changes are messing with me a little, as now, my hands are drying out, and I have to use lotion which I hate to do. It makes it unbelievably hard to open my Kiwi Berry All Natural Nantucket Nectar bottle.

Tonight is the Fillmore here in Denver, and if it’s anything like last weeks Fillmore it is sure to be a pretty amazing night.

Make sure you send a prayer out for Phil’s family and houses and all the other families in Southern California right now. Those fires are pretty intense and aren’t showing sign of slowing down.

One more thing… my amazing, hot wife and a group of others have started a new website called “Inspired To Action” that launched today. Kristin is involved in a few different sections of the site, but I would encourage everyone to head over there and get involved. Some great things are to come from it, I’m sure.

I have an amazing, hot wife. And I miss her. It’s been twenty-two days so far and I still have a few days before I get to see her. We are having a great time on this tour and there are so many friendships that I are being created and cultivated, but there is still a part of me that is separate from the tour. A part of me is home, with my wife and my boys.

Every day I am amazed at how she is keeping things together at home. Dealing with crazy children that smash crackers on each others heads, spilling things on the carpet, demanding things every minute, and still finds time to email me every night and call me when she can. There is no way that I could handle being out here as long as I have without her interest in keeping me connected. She tells me stories about her day, funny things the boys are doing and makes me feel like I am a part of what is going on there.

I don’t deserve such an amazing woman. Even now, part of me is sleeping next to her… the other part is awake… in Boise… typing…

Tonight we are in Boise. Phil and I had to get up early (before 11) and were picked up and taken to a women’s shelter. Phil was asked to do something with the radio station, and this particular station works closely with men and women’s shelters in the downtown Boise area. Phil played a few songs and talked to several of the women there. We weren’t told why they were there. No one explained their story, but it seemed like several of them really connected with Phil’s songs. It was brief and awkward at first, but when it was over it turned out to be a really cool moment in the day.

Tonight after the show we are staying in Boise while the busses head to Salt Lake City. Phil and I are flying to Denver in the morning to take care of a few meetings and interviews, then we will meet back up with the tour in Denver.

That’s it for now.

Remember this song? More importantly, remember the video? And the theatre and the balcony that Eddie Vedder jumps off of at the end? Tonight we are here. The balcony is closed off to the public so that is where I will be watching the show from.

Pictures will follow.

We pulled into Downtown Portland yesterday morning about 11:00. As soon as I heard the brakes pop, I was up and out the door, took a few deep breaths, and decided to go for a walk. This is hands down my favorite city in America. There is something about the air, the buildings, the people, the coffee. Everything works together to create such an amazing atmosphere.

Last night we were at the Crystal Ballroom. An amazing room on the third floor of a cool old building downtown. Our green rooms were on the second floor just down the hall from a brewing room, so the smell of hops, and beer filled the halls. On the first floor, a restaurant with pool tables and over 100 different beers, that are made upstairs.

Phil needs to be in San Diego tomorrow morning to play at a Youth Specialties Event, so after his set we hopped in my friends truck and took him to a hotel near the airport. We got back just as Crowder was finishing up and helped out with the meet and greet. By this time it was raining pretty hard so walking around the city wasn’t a good option, so we ended up just hanging out on the bus until late.

Today we are spending the day off in this amazing city. I have no idea what we are going to do but as long as I am out in the city it doesn’t matter. I think we may try to hit up Powell’s Books and then walk around until something strikes us. I will try to get some good pictures today and let you know how it goes.

Last night was easily the best show of the tour.

The atmosphere in the middle of San Francisco in The Fillmore was amazing. It was the perfect venue for this tour, and the perfect type of crowd. Everyone that played tonight stepped it up a notch for the show too, starting with The Myriad. Those guys put on the best show that I have seen them do so far. I think it was because they are from Northern California and The Fillmore is an amazing place to go watch shows. I was able to run into several friends of mine, and hang out a bit and grab some dinner with them too.

Today we are in Redding where Phil is doing a show by himself, so although it’s a day off, we are sitting at a Starbucks figuring out how to get everything done that we need to do today. I do think these antibiotics are finally kicking in though. You’d think that the shot in the butt would have made that work a little faster, but today is day twelve of waking up congested with no voice, and a cough.

I’m excited to head to Portland tonight after the show. It’s at the top of my list of great cities, and I get to be there for two days. I will try to get some more pictures, and get them up on my photo page. Until then… I need to find a Wal-Mart.