Sat., April 18, Grand Forks, ND, Muddy River's -- After the gig on Friday, I was wide awake and ended up online till 5 a.m. I discovered that AOL actually had a 14.4 dialup right here in remote Grand Forks, so I took care of some business. I slept well, getting up around 2 p.m. to go in search of coffee. I walked out to the main drag in front of the hotel and looked both ways to decide which way to head. I spied some old downtown-looking row buildings about a half-mile to the left, so I opted for that direction. As I approached the area, expecting to see a Starbuck's or Joe's Specialty Coffees, or some such oasis of caffeine, instead I saw block after block of empty, abandoned buildings. I felt like I was walking into a Twilight Zone episode, expecting Rod Serling to step out from a dark alley. I then crossed the bridge over the infamous Red River, the south-to-north-flowing rampage that had closed down Grand Forks a year ago. Crossing the river put me in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and suddenly I spied throngs of people ahead. As I approached, it was obvious there was some kind of huge community event occurring. There were about five large media trucks with big satellite dishes, TV cameras, reporters, colorful flags and balloons, and at least a thousand people of all ages in a festive mood gathered around a mall-type building. I asked a passerby what the event was. She looked me over, realizing I obviously had no clue. "It's the big parade about the year anniversary of the flood." Oh... I continued to roam, still looking for a good coffee place, while dodging the crowd. I then circled back around deciding to try the Blue Moose that sits directly on the banks of the now calm Red River, albeit shored up quite a bit and obviously recently constructed. The place was done in Western theme decor with lots of wood, and I got an over-priced but tasty chicken sandwich with a good cup of coffee. I asked my server where the nearest grocery store was, and she directed me to a Hugo's about a mile away. I hoofed it over there for water and Gatorade for the upcoming show. I took the long way back hiking through the large city park and noticing the telltale signs of flooding--watermarks on houses, displaced foundations and vacant areas of debris. Before the show, I got a bite to eat in the bar and then hoped the crowd was going to be better than last night. I wasn't disappointed. It was like a whole different atmosphere. People were actually seeming to have some fun, and were up dancing on the first set. A tall long-haired guy came up to me and Tony and announced, "I'm the rock DJ at the local radio station, and I'm giving you guys a good review." Turns out he not only did that, but dedicated his blues show the next night to Joanna. I asked one guy what caused the flood, and he said it was snow melt from record snowfall. They had 101 inches of snow that year. Man, I sure like Oregon... Three people I talked to told me they were making plans to leave Grand Forks, and one lady said she was thinking about taking a job in Portland at the famous Powell's Bookstore! Vic was having fun striking up conversations with every pretty woman he could get to...and I gotta say, Grand Forks has some mighty fine lookin' people living there. The audience was mostly 30-40-somethings and quite complimentary. Maybe the parade helped everyone out of the post-flood depression we were sensing Friday night. We opted to pack up and load the van after the show. I headed to bed and checked out at noon. We revisited the buffet we had discovered in the local mall for lunch. It was packed with elderly Sunday church-goers, and we heard some cheesy 30's and 40's classics wafting over what we thought was the house PA. It turned out to be an old codger operating a MIDI synthesizer outfit, situated prominently amongst the servin