The Road to Morristown 12-29-07

My wife and I have seen Railroad Earth several times a year since 2001. Though we have seen them throughout the country, we had never seen them on a multiple night run. As a lover of live music, I have heard many accounts of a festive run of music. So in late December, we departed Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, for a two night run through New Jersey and the Poconos.

We left Bloomsburg at noon on December 29 with many goals and expectations. Shopping, exercising and social visits packed our two day agenda. On this Friday, shopping was quickly scrapped due to our later than expected departure. My wife and I are teachers, and hard as we may try, we just cannot resist sleeping in on our days off. The drive from Bloomsburg to our first stop at my father's house in Great Meadows, NJ is about ninety minutes. On this Saturday afternoon, the road was clear, the weather dry and we made the trip in just over an hour. We listened to my Christmas present, Bright Eyes "Motion Sickness". "Road to Joy" played as we passed through the Delaware Water Gap. This is one of my favorite tunes ever and provided great energy to the dawn of this holiday adventure.

Music and social visits involve tasty beverages and food. For this reason, our first stop was for a little exercise at Jenny Jump State Forest. As we strolled on a warm afternoon, I thought back to previous hikes at this location and, as always, I felt very fortunate to have grown up near this great, natural resource. I hoped to see a black bear, but on this day, the bears remained hidden, maybe, in early winter hibernation.

After our hike, we stopped at my father's house for a quick visit. I feel at peace driving through Northwestern New Jersey. It is forested and beautiful. But most of all it is familiar and full of people I know and love. We picked up another Christmas present, my new digital camera accidently left behind on the 25th, freshened up for the night and quickly departed for Morristown.

Over the last couple of years my cousin Bob and his wife Kelly have become some of our closest friends. We have shared Railroad Earth with them and in one year they have seen three shows! The backroads to Morristown were sunset and beautiful. We listened to New Riders of the Purple Sage, the evenings opening act, and Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price "Last of the Breed, our Christmas present from my brother. We enjoyed dinner at a pub within walking distance to the Morristown theater. Expectations were high as we walked upon the sold out theater for our first night of Railroad Earth 2007.