Boot Barn Jeans & a Mosquito

The Chloe Raye "Blame It On Where I Grew Up" Tour

June 6, 2025 - Nisswa, MN

The Gull Lake Motel owner had texted me earlier, telling me the door was open and the key was inside.  And that’s where I found it.  The comfy and cute, rustic motel room in this Minnesota lakes area was my home for the second night of my “Blame It On Where I Grew Up” summer tour.   

A quick outfit change, then I was off to Quarterdeck Resort, where I found the perfect outdoor stage:  plenty of room, lights, electrical outlets close by, and I could park and unload right behind it. 

“I like your jeans!”

A few songs in, a group of people walked onto the green grass yard and claimed the front row lawn chairs.  I thought I recognized them.  And I definitely recognized the jeans.

“I like your jeans!” I told the woman wearing the black boot cut jeans with white embroidery.

“I got them because of you!” she answered, then told the story of how she and her friends saw me at our band show at the VFW in Detroit Lakes where I was wearing those same Boot Barn jeans.  She ordered them and decided to wear them today since they were coming out to listen to my music. (If those jeans had been in my suitcase, I would have run back to the motel to put them on during my break so we could take a twinning picture!)

The Resort visitors were a great kick-off-to-summer crowd, enjoying the beverages, laughing and dancing, while a couple of little girls shared their cartwheel skills in front of the stage.   

The unwelcome visitor

We unplugged, loaded the car and I dropped, exhausted, into the driver’s seat.  The six-and-a-half hour drive from last night’s show to tonight’s was catching up with me. 

And there he was, on the windshield in front of me:  the biggest mosquito I have ever seen!  He wasn’t doing anything besides banging against the inside of the windshield, trying to get out into the lakeside air where I had been singing moments before.  But I hate mosquitoes – and spiders – and I couldn’t shoo him out no matter how much I waved my hand to push him toward the window. 

He met his untimely death when my former farm girl mom swatted and crushed him with her bare hand, saying, “It’s only a mosquito.”

A few minutes and a couple of miles later, I was in my motel room, munching on the snacks I brought along for my after-show wind down.  We talked about the jeans, laughed about the mosquito, and reflected on what a great job I have!

I get to experience so much life (and occasional deaths of bugs) as I sing and play music.  There’s nothing like hearing live music in the open air.  The people I meet, and the stories they share, are priceless.  I’m so thankful that venue owners see the immense value live music adds to their events, and that they invite me to their stages, their lawns, and the open corners of their restaurants and bars.

Check out the black embroidered Boot Barn jeans at this link.  If you buy some, send me a picture!  And wear them to one of my shows sometime! https://www.bootbarn.com/idyllwind-womens-saddle-drive-high-rise-bootcut-jeans/2000382097.html?dwvar_2000382097_color=001#q=women%2Bblack%2Bembroidered%2Bjeans&start=2

Looks like I spotted the jeans :) Or the mosquito!