We awoke to the shocking and tragic news that Chris Cornell,
one of our musical heroes and lead singer of Soundgarden, has died. Soundgarden were due to headline our
favourite line-up this weekend at Rock on the Range on Friday, ie TOMORROW
NIGHT!! He was only 52; they suspect he committed suicide in his Detroit hotel
room. We have managed to see him live
twice but, selfishly, it is even more gutting when we were so excited about seeing
him again tomorrow. It was due to be our first time seeing Soundgarden live. He had such an
amazing, powerful voice, that shone through even more brightly when you heard
it live. Even if you don't recognise any of these bands, you may know his voice when I tell you that he sang the Bond theme for Casino Royale, 'You know my name' in 2006. Look it up, it's one of the best ones. The news has really taken the wind out of our sails this morning. It’s
heart-breaking to think about how his wife, three children, band mates and
close friends must be feeling.
Only one thing for it – I took myself out for a bike ride to
blow the cobwebs off. Just a little one
to see the bits of the park we had missed, climb ‘big hill’ for another view of
the lake and make sure that we definitely got the best camping spot in the park.
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| View of Lake Erie from 'big hill' (not even the biggest hill I've seen this week) |
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| I was joined on the hill by this swallowtail butterfly |
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| Spot the RV.... view from the opposite side of the lake for a change |
We left just before check-out and the gusty winds were still
present. This, combined with Detroit’s
shockingly bad roads had left the RV needing some TLC. Nothing like a couple of hours of rough roads
to vibrate screws loose so we have a microwave hanging out of its socket and
plastic domes on the roof clinging on by the skin of their teeth. Straight down the road a couple of miles to
the nearest Walmart for a top-up shop and DIY session. This meant me taking a trip up onto the roof
where I discovered that the plastic of the front dome had split around the
front two bolts, which explained why it was flapping in the wind, but is not an
easy fix.
We did, however, manage
to re-secure the microwave and tighten up the other domes to try and prevent
further damage.
By the time we’d done the necessary repairs and shop we
didn’t start our three hour journey until gone 3pm.
We rolled up to Alton RV Park West of Columbus about
620pm. Sue the owner, was very
particular about how and where we parked up.
But I guess that’s because she has a very busy weekend and that is how
she can manage to charge us $50 a night – double budget for us this weekend!
But we’re in and this is the closest RV park to the venue, apart from the
sold-out on-site camp ground.
The next
challenge tomorrow will be getting to the MAPFRE stadium which is 16 miles away
from us according to Google. An Uber is
estimated at $25 each way or Sue suggested trying to get a lift with someone
else at the RV park who’s going or using the public transport bus option. We’re not rushing to get in, so we’ll see
what we can try tomorrow, I guess.
Time for a chilled-out evening at home before our weekend of
metal and music. The Rock on the Range
team have acknowledged that the whole weekend will be in memory of Chris
Cornell but there is no update yet as to who or what may replace Soundgarden in
the headlining spot tomorrow night.
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