Good Asian Drivers Tour

Greetings from Vancouver, Canada!!!

Currently, we’re sitting in a large and beautiful but empty luxury condo - we still can’t figure out how it is that we end up in these random places, but let’s just say that every day is pretty much a surprise on this tour!! Before I go to sleep tonight, I wanted to share with ya’ll some pics and update you on what life has been like on the road this past week. Keep reading to see more pics!!

Our friends from Billings, Montana:

So the last you heard from us, we were in the Cheese State. From Wisconsin, we drove to Minneapolis where we got funky haircuts from a punk salon. Kit said that they cut out all the “asianness” in my hair. Whatever that means. Then we performed at the Pi Bar and Restaurant, a lesbian owned venue that REALLY rocked! Shannon Blowtorch, our host, fed us SO much food and gave us so many drink tickets Kit was red from the Asian Glow within the first 45 minutes of stepping foot into the establishment. 

Our opening acts kicked major ass - from spoken word to rocking out to hip hop dancing - Christy Namee Erickson, Kim Thompson, Katie Vang, Oskar Ly, and the B Girls really ripped it on the stage. It was nice to be hanging out with like-minded asian folks with something good to say. (We haven’t seen many Asian sisters since Chicago so this was a treat!!!)

After that show, we drove to Fargo - uck! - for 3 hours, got there at 3:30 in the morning, slept until 10:30 and was on the road again for NINE hours driving straight across North Dakota. That state is as flat as a pancake. Driving down the road, I could see for miles and miles - no hills, no bodies of water, nothing. The one remotely memorable thing about North Dakota was that Emily, our GPS, who has been being a jerk lately, led us to Ronda’s Family Cafe after I told her that I needed lunch. Not only was Ronda’s Family Cafe about 4 miles away from the main road, it was completely dilapidated and abandoned. So I decided to go next door to the JR Lounge and Bar, which was open, to find something to eat. The lady that was there was NOT friendly. She looked as if 1) she had never seen Asians before in her life, 2) she was pissed off that we were disturbing her from finishing her rerun of the King of Queens.

When asked about lunch, she replied coldly, “I just turned the fryer off.” Pause. Then, hesitantly, she said, “I could make you a burger, if you wanted it.”

Like the dumb relentless Asian girl who can’t take a hint, I said yes. Kit even ordered a beer - an Old Milwaukee - which he said was like any old beer. Kinda like the bar, I guess.

The burger, however, was pretty awesome. I think it was made from the neighborhood cow. Good stuff.

We drove all the way through all of North Dakota and a huge chunk of Montana to Billings and did a show at the local gay bar. Montana is bigger than this city girl can ever imagine. We officially think that Billings is home to some of the nicest folks ever. Ok, so maybe it was just the folks at The Loft. Robin, our gracious and lovely host, fed us yummy vegetables and dip and hummus, as well as ham and cheese and turkey and crackers (perfectly suiting my non-vegan tastes). She gave Kit local beer - Moose Drool, which sounds nasty I know but Kit swears it’s one of the best he’s had - hence the Asian Glow in all the pictures. 

Robin and her partner Tracy made us dinner and breakfast - they were so SWEET and kind to us. I hope they come visit us in the East Coast in the future. I hadn’t eaten such a big breakfast in a long time and it was good fuel for our long drive to Missoula, Montana - which has by far been one of the most beautiful drives we have ever done on this tour. Can you imagine gigantic snow-capped mountains in the distance soaring across the horizon? That is how beautiful the Big Sky State is. Yeah.