Catch Up Part III: Glens Falls, NY

So yeah, about the flattering picture of Mr. Glens Falls himself, Hacksaw Jim Duggan.......that pretty much sums up the town.

We powered through the drive with no major problems and rolled in around 8 or 9ish. I experienced my first "complete shit lot" that was to be home for the next few days. I was reassured however that the Glens Falls lot was not the worst they've experienced. We wear by no means "Cheeellllin' at the Holiday Eeeeeennnnn" however. There were two separate lots that were very long but not very wide at all. Steve and I have smaller trailers and were able to back in longways next to each other so we got off easy. We all had to park our trucks down the street a ways since there was only room for the trailers on the lot.

Arriving on the lot, I experienced my first feeling of "I really really don't want to be back here". The whole vibe and energy had changed and everything had taken on a much darker tone. I'm not sure if it was the weather, the lot, Gelns Falls, or what but It seemed to be affecting everyone. Moods were darker and there was this lingering tension in the air that left me uncomfortable. I'm not really sure how to put it into words but it wasn't fun.

The wonderous sight, smell, and sound of the Glens Falls paper mill greeted us every morning. As an added bonus, we were all parked right next to a shady section of town. Case in point: two obvious Fulbright Scholars attempted to steal the Negrey's stroller from underneath their trailer....when it was still light out. Seriously, a stroller. I mean, I'm sure these were the kind of guys who probably had the 16 year old girlfriend with the 2 year old daughter but still....

Two other Viking Diapers approached Nathan, Steve, and I while we were hooking up our water asking "d'yew know if they need any workers here? So you guys just hang out here or what?". Gah. very comforting, right?

The highlight of the Glens Falls experience was this small jazz bar right up the street from the arena. How one of the two bars in the downtown area ended up being a decent jazz bar, I have no idea. Anyway, there was a quartet playing when we went in and on their break I asked if it was an open session. It wasn't technically, but the fact that I actually wanted to sit in seemed to excite them. I don't think that happens too often there, haha. I was able to convince Steve to walk up and sit in as well. We burned through 'Footprints' and 'Well You Needn't" and as far as I could tell, earned the approval of both bar and band. That lifted the mood slightly but I was still way anxious to get the hell out of Glens Falls.

There were two final events/observations that solidified my opinion of Hacksawland:

1. After the last show when I was walking out to my trailer, two arena workers were moving something or other and the conversation I overheard as I walked by went something like this:

WT1: So they have tigers in there?
WT2: Yep, like two of 'em I think (there are six for the record). They were white ones too.
WT1: Oh yeah?
WT2: Yeah, :snortle snortle: I heard the 'Black Panthers' were pissed off about the 'White Tigers' getting all the work and were going to riot :snortle snortle:
WT1: Hyuk hyuk hyuk

I did hear that Glens Falls is somewhat of a residual KKK stronghold so I guess that makes sense.

2. Steve and I went out to find diesel for my truck. The station we pulled into had the gas pumps in the front and diesel pumps in the back. I went in to pay and...well I couldn't find an appropriate picture but hopefully this description will suffice:

There was that one Beavis and Butthead episode where they snuck into a Nudist Colony, right? The episode closes with someone interviewing them as old men about their lives . Butthead is this super fat, bald, moderately toothless version of himself and Beavis is the scrawny half toothless counterpart.

The two dudes working in this gas station had to have been the inspiration for those characters.

As I paid, I let 'Butthead' know one of the diesel pumps was broken.

Butthead: Uhhhhhh....Diesel pump?

Me: Yeah, that one right over there ::point::

Butthead: (Jeopardy theme plays as a get a blank stare in return....like the cowboys in the Horse Theives Ren and Stimpy Episode) then eventually: Ohhhhhh.....I get it now. Gas pumps are in the front and diesel pumps are in the back!

Beavis: You jist now figgerin' that out? You dumb or somethin'...

Butthead: Shut up! This ain't my regular store. I've only been here eight hours.

I managed to slip out as the argument progressed.

The next stop was a mini mart to get some water. More of the same, not worth getting into.

It was like we were in the "South" North or something.

I was very happy once we were hitched up and heading to Portland via Vermont.