A fine Tiburon breakfast is had by the two Pauls and Shawn at New Morning Café, while Rob breakfasts with sister Kathy in an undisclosed location. Tiburon has good food. It seems to be populated with well off retirees who played by the rules, and they’re eating well in their golden years. If ever you should motor north on the 101 in Marin and have a craving for Mexican food, take Blythedale road eastward to Tiburon and get the goat cheese tamales at Lucinda’s, at Tiburon’s outer edge. Five Hawks Stars to Lucinda’s, and Four to New Morning Café.
East zig east zag east across San Joaquin Valley, and up the 50, steady altitude climb, towards Reno, dry California hills and oaks, more trees, orchards, land divided long ago, ranches and small acreages, exit towards Camino, two laner through a land long used and divided, lumber mill took the trees, takes the third growth still, new orchards on long cleared land, off the road and we’re at Jack Russell Brewery, on a sprawling hillside with long rows of blackberry and other berry varietals sloping roadward, and a family of geese gathered in the pasture.The foothills are dry and bright.
Pull around in back, and the Hawks are in beer heaven, where there is in fact beer. Within minutes we’re sampling pints of 10th Anniversary Bitter, Pale Ale, and lagers, surrounded by giant steel vats. Life is good in the afternoon. Greetings to the super cool Jack Russell brewers/sound techs, skilled at both, and Bruce and Cindy Hayden, Far West Folk Alliance royalty and our second patron saints of the Tourette. Alt country and folk bands, this is a cool gig. You will be treated as artistes. Know that the pints are full and the alcohol by volume is generous. Sound check in beer fog. Bruce leads us 3 miles down agriculture woods roads winding up and down to dusk downtown Camino and the band bunkhouse. We’re townies for the day and night. A modest but very enthused crowd sits in semidarkness among the giant steel beer vats, and we do a long electric set, Shawn playing snare and a kick drum fashioned out of a cardboard barrel. (We’ve managed to beg and borrow drums for all our other shows, a great easing of the packing of the Yukon challenge.) Everyone buys CD’s and t-shirts and we do pretty well in the dough department. Tour Audience Demographic is holding steady: over fifty, rural hippie, trippy, not snippy.
Late night return to our downtown Camino bunkhouse. Solid sleep.