After the school hit we wended down 66 through Ranch Cucamonga (boy, that’s fun to say) and worked our way through the soupy LA air, before pulling off the route to save the final crossing for tomorrow…exactly two weeks after we left Chicago, and just like last year!

I must admit, it has been even more fun this year, and we have met more great folks and seen some more of what this important part of our country’s history has to offer. It is a constantly revealing process like our music and one the promises more and more with each visit. It has us all saying the infernal words: “next year” (even considering our heavily fatigued state and strong desire to spend time by ourselves, in our own beds). Of course the cause—supporting music and kids and the importance of human interaction, the cornerstone of our culture—is vital and worth it, but the experience itself draws something out of us desiring something from deep within, and promising more in return.

So, see you at the pier, and if not there at the party at the Westin Hotel (7 p.m.). It’s been great and this time the people at the pier are waiting for us. I hope the welcome doesn’t include a ride in one of these neat black and white cars like we saw back in Illinois.

Details to follow.

A strong and insistent reminder: We’re out here doing this to support JazzMasters Workshop, a no charge music-mentoring programs for kids. Please consider a tax-deductible per-mile pledge, we’d appreciate it. You can do it right from this site! Come on, we packed into a van, played day and night for a couple of weeks…what more can we do to prove how important this is and how committed we are? Thanks!