New Mexico!

Oooh, we´re pushing the pedal to the metal here! I think I have to painfully admit that there´s no chance on earth that I will be able to update this blog properly for the missing days. I that gives you a clue of what kind of program we´ve had I would think. I haven´t always had access to internet either. But to briefly run through the program from Las Vegas ´till today: Las Vegas was good, Bryce Canyon was good, Grand Canyon was good, Sedona was good, Phoenix was good, Colorado Springs was good, and all the drives and flights in between were good. Please see photo album for further information. :-)

We stayed at Ed and Phyllis Bergo in Phoenix, and they took care of us in an excellent way! Phoenix is a big city in the middle of the desert on a big plain. It´s part of a large metropolitan area that includes the cities Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa and probably a few more as well. There are about 4,5 million people living on this plain if I can trust what I´ve been reading. And there will be a lot of people from the cold north, say the Mid West, to enjoy the warmer weather during the winter season. It´s dry and warm here between 65-85 during the day. However, in the summer all the people of this area would flee to the north to escape 100-120 degrees! Ouch. I´ve been telling people that I want to experience Phoenix in July or August once, just ONCE, so I have experienced it. People laugh at me.. Ah well, let them do it. So if you have hidden talents building or repairing air condition systems, you may get rich in Phoenix!

The concert was at the Kerr cultural center, the same place where I started my USA-touring back in February 2007. So that was very nice. Generally, the attendance is quite a bit lower on this tour, and I think we have to blame George BusheeRRRrrrr*cough* ..... the financial crisis for that. People guard their money and are reluctant to go out. But I still think that the Lutefisk Dinners at Sons of Norway is very well visited, even though no one seems to like it! Well well, classical piano-lutefisk, lutefisk-classical piano... I think we have a winner. But we are really enjoying ourselves at the concerts, whoever is there! And the attendance really isn´t THAT bad after all. There´s still alot more than the case would be if I performed in Selbu or Trondheim. I´ve had between 7-160, roughly, and most concerts have between 50-100. Kerr in Scottsdale is a very nice venue where the audience is around the stage looking down on the performer. I think it´s very nice that the lodge chooses to cooperate with an established, public concert scene! That way, the Sons of Norway will get publicity also. And I will have more contacts within the public, American concert arena. And it would indeed be very nice if I could get myself inside the public arena here in the US. Things are happening!

Today we drove more than 9 hours from Phoenix to Tucamcari, New Mexico, almost at the boarder to Texas. A great day with great scenic variations and great roads. Tomorrow we will have another 5-6 hours in the car + a concert in Oklahoma City. This is the longest span we have between two concert venues. Luckily I don´t get tired from driving, quite the opposite. I think it´s relaxing and meditative. So I´m not at all worried about tomorrow´s concert. It would have been alot less meditative and relaxing if I DIDN`T drive myself.. to put it that way. We´re also starting improving when it comes to eating with a fork only... we discovered that on Denny´s tonight. You know.. you do want to mix in with the crowd here. Follow the social rules and all that. :-) Anyway, I think this is good night from Motel6 in Tucumcari!

(PS: to my english-reading readers.: I apologize for my English.. I don´t proof read this to save time...)