Trip Report

[ravensword]

My weekend began Thursday afternoon, as I left work.



I came home from work, intent on getting a good 5 hours of sleep before we set off. In fact I managed about 3. Better than nothing.

Erika showed up around 10ish, and we hauled our stuff to the car, got her car parked and set off. It was her first overnight drive and the longest road trip she'd ever embarked on.

We made really good time, stopping for breakfast somewhere around 5 am at a Denny's in Calimesa. We made Phoenix at around 11 am.

The hotel had our reservations for the wrong day, but they fixed it quickly and we got into our room right away, which largely meant naps for both of us right away.

My anxiety started to kick in about the time I woke up, around 2 pm. We both showered and got cleaned up, then headed out to find banks for cash and then dinner. We went to the Mexican joint I've been to before, just around the corner from the bar.

We got to the Sail Inn around 6:30. It was gorgeous outside, and the stage area was very nice. We found a table and sat, fielding smiles and waves from the band as they realized I was there. Caught most of sound check and started the evening with a Guinness.

As they finished sound check, one by one the band came by to say hi and give me hugs. Jason Southard still gives the best fucking hugs on the planet, though Ryan's hugs are a close second. Then they all took off to go have dinner and Erika and I sat and talked a bit and had a beer.

As people started to fill the place up, I moved from the table up to the stage, trying to keep the bubbling panic at bay. I chatted some with some of the folks I've met before, and Lucas' (bass player) father introduced himself. There were a lot of Great Gig virgins in attendance, folks who had seen advertisements and the like.

I did glorious battle with the damn light show for decent shots, and marginally succeeded. After the first set, Lucas found out his grandfather had just died, and when they came back out for the second set, they dedicated the set to him, starting off with Shine On Crazy Diamond.

I got to chat with him a little after, and it sounds like it wasn't an unexpected death, and he stayed and played the whole set, his parents stayed, so obviously they already had stuff in place for dealing with it.

Spent some time chatting with Ryan and Hashana, separately. I really adore those two. So clearly in love and adorable together. Ryan is a busy, busy man right now. He teaches drumming, is in 3 active bands, and is going to school.

Among the things I find amusing: Ryan asking me what is going on with Steve these days. You see Jason all the time, dude. Jason just spent MONTHS working with Steve. I saw Steve in January for an hour on stage and about a half hour after. LOL.

Eventually, we had to give in to our exhaustion and bid the guys farewell. Chris hugged me and asked if I'd be coming to the next shows: Flagstaff at the end of May, Tucson some time after that and the Marquee Theater this summer. I promised to make the Tucson show and try to make the Marquee show, but begged off on Flagstaff.

(Technically, Flagstaff is doable, at 11 hours driving, I-5 to I-40, etc. AND it IS on a Saturday night, on a holiday weekend. So...my arm could be twisted if others are interested in going. We could even, conceivably, hang around and do some site seeing the next day. Costs would be around $100-150 each way (possibly a little higher) and around $100/night for a room at the Rodeway Inn (Saturday night is higher than Sunday night...so if we stay just Saturday, it's around $130, Sunday is another $70). And then driving home.)

That aside....We stumbled back to our hotel and into our bed. Sleep came. I was awake far too early, but that gave me time to finish the afghan I was making. Then it was time to pack up the room and grab some breakfast at the Waffle House down the street.

My body chose to ambush me with my period about half way to Tucson. I was not expecting it this weekend, seeing as last month it was nearly two weeks late. But clearly, my body had other ideas. Minor crisis, handled easily.

We got to my Dad's house around 3 in the afternoon, and chatted, looked at pictures from their Alaska trip. I gave them the afghan. And around 4:45 or so darling_lisa texted to let us know she was nearly ready.

We had arranged to spend the night at Dad's, got a spare key and headed out to get Lisa, then to find food. Our first choice for food had a 3 hour wait, so we wandered a bit and found ourselves at a pub. I had a tasty Bloody Mary made with peppercorn infused vodka, followed by fish and fries. Then we wandered a bit more before we made for Coldstone. And alas once our ice cream was gone we had to take Lisa back and head to my dad's for sleeps.

Morning brought us to leaving again, heading home after a stop at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Made it to my home at about 10:30 on Sunday night. I took yesterday off to process pictures and sleep.



This morning I'm tired, and still not certain my voice isn't going to run away, but good. I may finally be healthy enough for exercise tonight after work. I didn't wake up coughing this morning for a change.

And now...this post has taken me forever to write up since I'm mostly writing it while I'm waiting for my computer to process other stuff....so I need to get myself busy.

How was your weekend?

Comments

[lucdarling.livejournal.com]

Long weekend. Initially decent, because I lazed around and finally watched The Dark Knight Rises, which led to a fic binge. But then depressive mood downswing, followed by the fact I live in Boston. At least no one I know was injured.