We are currently flying to Toronto from Minneapolis, where we have a quick stop-over before heading out to Vancouver. As much as we always love going to BC, we are a little sad to be leaving the States this time, as we've had such a great time down in Minnesota and Wisconsin.It started with a show in Minneapolis at the Cedar Cultural Centre, a venue I have been hearing about for years but have never had the chance to play before. A great room - and a wonderful, warm audience. Thanks to Chris for the stellar sound, and to Bill and Dave at the Cedar for taking such good care of us and for the fabulous curry. Mmmm... curry. We finally got to hang out with our Red House Records family in Minneapolis/St Paul (thank you Ellen, for letting us take over your house) and thanks to them, discovered some awesome new restaurants (check out the Birchwood Cafe). I'm sure Nicky will be posting them up on the site soon.Saturday we had the priviledge of appearing on 'Prairie Home Companion' with the legendary Garrison Keillor. The show is usually broadcast from St. Paul, but happened to be on tour in Madison, Wi., this past weekend, so, after successfully kidnapping Alex Seitz from the Red House office and forcing him into the driver's seat, we set off for Madison. What a thrill. The show was an amazing experience, except maybe for the fact that I've had 'Up On The Roof' (aka 'Out There In Space - Garrison's rewritten version') stuck in my head for three days - a small price to pay, however, for knowing your music is being beamed up to the International Space Station; apparently there is an astronaut out there who is a very dedicated PHC fan and listens to the show every weekend. Very cool. Thanks to everyone on the show for making us feel so welcome, and to all of you who have written in to the guestbook to let us know you were listening. Thanks to Alex 'MacGuyver' Seitz: you've set a pretty high standard for road managing, with your resourcefulness and your inventiveness. Your sprint through downtown Madison to make sure Muramoto stayed open for us was awe-inspiring; if we hadn't already been convinced at that point, surely that would have sealed the deal. You and your gadgets are welcome to come on the road with us anytime.So now we return to more familiar territory, to play some of the most beautiful places in Canada: Victoria, Nelson, and the Sunshine Coast to name a few. It's been a long time since we were last out West and we are really looking forward to it. We've also put aside some time at the end of the tour to work on new material for the new album, so that will be excting.That's it for now. More as the tour progresses.~ Ruth