By: Andrea Shea King
The Radio Patriot
Doing a national tour for 17 days is not without its challenges. The weather turned foul once we got into New York last Sunday (remnants of Hurricane Katia), and hasn’t abated since. Last night as we traveled through Pennsylvania, we hit some pretty heavy rain. It was stop and go traffic, bumper to bumper, and more than once our driver had to hit the brakes hard, sending everything flying that was not nailed or sitting down. Gold Star mom Debbie Lee, standing middeck on the bus, was saved from being torpedoed some 15 feet forward into the windshield by a quick acting Eric Odom who grabbed her jacket and stopped her momentum.
Kay Rivoli reorganizes our food cabinet following last night’s sudden stop that sent contents bursting out and spilling all over the floor.
Exhausted after two rallies in the rain, a long drive, frayed tempers, and numb posteriors, we finally arrived at our hotel and collapsed gratefully into a dry and comfortable bed for a short six-hour sleep. But some of us weren’t so lucky. Our sound guys — Jeremy and Jason Kadinger — met with near disaster during the tropical storms that have overflowed rivers and caused Pennsylvania to be declared an emergency disaster area. Jeremy tells the story in an email we got this morning:
Good morning folks,
My brother and I were driving down the turn pike to the hotel and got caught in a massive downpour. The hills started giving way and the road flooded with water. We hit a mud slide, swerved and ran into a foot of water. This sucked water into the engine, fowling it. We got towed to a service station that opens at 7:00 AM.
Not wanting to wait we went to work fixing the problem our selves. As my brother started tearing into the engine I called a taxi to take me to Walmart for supplies. After many attempts the taxi driver had to give up as the whole town of Harrisburg is cut in half by flood waters. We have tried and tried with the supplies we had on hand with out success. A county worker told me the county is a disaster area. It is 6:30 am and we will have to wait until the service station opens and hope that we can be put in the front of the line.
The bus has our emergency sound system for a contingency such as this and the product truck has out mid sized sound system.
We are working an the challenge. maybe someone (Gary?) could pick up one of us to run the sound system and one of use can stay with the van repair?
Pray for us if you are the praying kids as we are exhausted by this.
Thanks,
Jeremy Kadinger
We are praying for them, and some of our guys — Ron Rivoli, David “Polatik” Saucedo, and comedian Jimmy Labriola have offered to take over the driving when they catch up to us to let the Kadingers get some sleep on the bus.
During a truck stop this morning to fuel up and get supplies, some of the guys on the bus engaged in an impromptu game of touch football. In the photo are: Taylor Budowich, James Lyle. Also playing but out of the frame were Levi Johnson, Jimmy Labriola, David Saucedo and Chris Pagard.
During the stop, David Saucedo called his Mom Cathy who lives only a mile away in the Shenandoah Valley, and she drove out to say hi. We had just enough time to grab a photo of them.
“Polatik” and his Mom Cathy. “That’s the Tea party”
This coming Saturday when we’re in Jacksonville, more TPX members will hop on and the bus will become a little “cozier” as they join us for the CNN/Tea Party Express Presidential Debate set for Monday night, Sept. 12th. Elizabeth Letchworth, our friend and Capitol Hill Insider will be among them.
So… life on the road is not without its travails and challenges, but it is adventurous and mostly a lot of fun. The laughter, lively conversations, and fellowship make for a memorable experience, one that none of us would want to miss.
