Diamonds Tour Diary #1 • Edmonton AB - Toronto ON
Allo!
It’s Thursday afternoon and we are just leaving on our 3rd and final Canada tour of the year! Something makes this one special. Maybe it’s because we are embarking on another adventure of a lifetime with our best friends, maybe it’s because we’re heading into another vast Canadian winter, or maybe it’s because for the first time in 2 years, we’re joined by Steven’s brother, Joseph Ward. He returned home from serving a 2 year mission just a few weeks ago and now he’s hitting the road with us! Which ever the case, I am stoked.
The treck to Edmonton was long and cold. We ran into a crazy snow storm on the Coquihalla, but other than that, the trip was rather smooth. We arrived to a blanketed wintery wonderland. Edmonton was glistening with snow. It was wonderful! Joseph and I went out and shoveled some walk. It was TOUGH. You know when you are shoveling snow and there is this layer of ice underneath that is just so tough to crack. Well, this was that x10! That night we played at Wunderbar, an old German bar. The owner was super nice and super helpful. We were surprised and stoked that a good bunch of our friends showed up, and we played to a packed house. Scott and Jill from Yes Nice came; it was so great to see them again. We got to spend the following day at their place working on some recordings, chatting, cooking and listening to some BRAND NEW YES NICE. So stoked for their new stuff. That night we had an acoustic house show performance, and when we got their we found out that Grant had lost his voice! It was crazy! So Lindsay, Joseph, Steven and I all sang a song or two and it turned out really sweet. We all had a blast! It was especially great to see everyone again. Our Edmonton peeps are rad.
The next day we went to Church and then we came back to Lauren’s (where we were staying) to bake! Steven whipped up his speciality - Lemon Meringue Pie and I made some classic Chocolate Chip Cookies while the guys played Rummy Cub. It was such a nice day.
In Moose Jaw, Shaina hooked us up with some super sweet meals. Steven, Joe and I ended up playing a huge game of Rummy Cub before the show. Joe won. We met this magician who was showing us some crazy card tricks. I had my eyes on his hands, and it was interesting to see more of how magicians do tricks. Tricky, tricky! We got to see our good friend Chase again. He’s a sweet dude. After the show a kind man named Gordon helped us pack the van. He just came out of nowhere, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. The most big-hearted man. I wanted to give a huge shout out to Shaina for being so wonderful to us: we miss you!
On the way to Thunder Bay, we stopped in Winnipeg and we stayed with one of our favourite families: The Chartrands. This time around we played music, chatted, cooked and sleppttttt! Next time: Settlers of Catan.
We left Winnipeg with full hearts and safetly arrived in TBay. We played Crocks and it was a super fun and positive show. Definitely my best experience in Thunder Bay. We stayed with our friend Jayal, and in the morning we picked up some of those famous Persians for breakfast. Delish! We stopped for dinner in the Soo, with a family that Steven knew from his mission. They are awesome. Love the Vary’s so much.
On the drive to Toronto, we got stuck on some loose gravel on the side of the road. It was crazy, waking up to the van being tipped sideways. Can’t even believe it! A couple people pulled over and tried to help, eventually we called a tow-truck and he pulled us out. It was such a blessing for us.
Toronto was a blast. We saw some old friends and met some new ones! We stayed at our Publicists house and ate bowl noodles before bed. It’s so comforting to fall asleep with a warm bowl of noodles in your belly.
Love,
Matthew
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