THE DONNER PARTY MUSEUM

I have been in a cabin without internet for a week, so I am writing you from a nearby ski lodge! My cabin is directly on the Donner Pass, the very woods where the doomed Donner Party met their awful fate.

I've always known, as we all have, that this group of settlers was trapped during the winter of 1846 and had to resort to cannibalism. Eager to learn more, I visited the Donner Party Museum yesterday. After watching a film about their story (which was amazing!!!!) I walked through the woods and found the rock (pictured) where one of their cabins had stood. Its back wall WAS the rock. 16 people lived in an 18 X 25 foot space...the floor was muddy, it was freezing, and seven of them died. Those living ate their dead and buried the bodies in a pit in the middle of the cabin (RIGHT where these pictures are taken).

I stood for a long time in the silent woods and thought on this, very heartbreaking. The group had cabins like these scattered through the area, this is just one of the spots.

The winter they were stuck, the snowfall reached 25 feet high!! The huge monument (pictured) is to show how high the snow was when the Donner Party was stuck here. I made us all stand in front to show you just how tall it is. Of the entire traveling Donner group (some 80 people)...only half made it out alive. Unreal, yes?

I'll tell you, after spending time on the very spot where such a human tragedy occured, I sure appreciated my food and warmth later last night.

LULLABY-FAN STORIES OF HOPE

I received a comment on my 'Lullaby' music video today, and it got me looking at past comments as well. it is stories like these that make my job as a musician worth everything it takes. I feel that to be able to contribute something that brightens someone's world is the highest honor. I'd take it any day over a Grammy! (and I do)

"My girlfriend sent me this link, after i told her "this addiction" by the alkaline trio reminded me of her. she said this one is hers for me. were in a long distance relationship and i listen to it every night before i go to bed. it helps me feel close to her even though were a 100 something miles apart. i love this song."

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"This song reminds me of my field hockey coach, her husband was hit by a drunk driver while on his motorcycle. they had been married for 14 moths and He was an amazing human being. we went to his funeral as a team yesterday and it was heart breaking. my coach is an amazing woman and no one deserves to die so young. we hold you in our hearts forever Dan."

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"Though this sounds weird, this song goes to my dog who died today. and i know its stupid you might think to tirbute a song to a dog, but he was the best dog in the world. This song was on when he was buried and he loved to listen to me sing so this is for him."

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"This is one of those songs i wish I could walk down the aisle. I cried the first time i heard this song, not to mention i listened to it over and over and over. I absolutely love it and this song gives me hope."

Love to you all