The weekend
Jun. 24th, 2013 11:48 amWhat a weekend. We took off Friday after work and got to Xap's about 10:30. It was marvelous to be back on the road with my love. Travel like this has been such a big part of our life together.
The last couple of years I was doing all the solo traveling I always carried my own bed. In that case a double air mattress with the same sheets I had on my bed at home. Now is no different. A very nice queen size air mattress with, well, sheets from our bed at home. The only problem, it's really hard to cuddle on an air mattress. You need to spread the weight out.
We got up in the morning and went our separate ways. Lizzie went with Xap and others to Fiber Fest. I went down to Lukeskicon.
It was nice to hang out and talk to folks. I couldn't stay long though.
On the way back I stopped at the holy place. Hmmm, lamb kebobs!
I got back to a sleeping Lizzie (she's so cute when she's napping, of course she's darn cute all the time so that's a given) and folks setting up the various pavilions.
The show … the show was a struggle. Heat, humidity and stringed instruments do not get along. I think I went out of tune more in this one show than I have in the last 5 years of shows. That and moving your hand around a guitar neck in that sort of humidity is, well, a treat.
So it was a struggle, a struggle that we won handily. Cathy, who has seen us before, didn't notice any of my mistakes. I even sang on a song. I'm just wondering what it would have been like for the gamba if Susan had been able to make it. Probably pretty nasty.
There was a bit of a drum circle, but forgot my stand and my arm wasn't able to handle it for long. The movies did not go as planned, as the uninvited mosquitos didn't like the choice of movies so we went inside instead and chattered at each other for a couple hours.
The next morning we dragged ourselves off the air mattress, both of us unusually rested for a morning after a show and not sleeping in our bed and headed off to Portillos for lunch. Hmmmmmm, Italian Beef dipped. Cheese Fries. Lizzie had a dog with nearly everything (no onions, she doesn't deal well with onions).
We took the north route back and on the way met up with the most amazing storm front I think I have ever seen. At first it looked like there were some bits dipping down out of it, but a closer look showed that there wasn't any real rotation.
So, into the storm we drove. In the course of 2 minutes and two miles the temperature dropped 20 degrees. The wind picked up and we got battered by an awful lot of rain. For about 5 miles. Then it stopped. Within about half an hour or so the temperature went back up 20 degrees.
We took the scenic route home. The drive through Galena and Dubuque is lovely. Then you end up on 20 in northern Iowa and you can nap the rest of the way home (well, not really).
Kitties were delighted to ignore us for the first hour or so. Revenge and all that.
It was nice to be back in our own bed. For some reason there has been a lot of looking back for us the last week or two. Remembering when I would have to drive away on a Sunday. Now we drive out together and we drive home together.
Thank you Xap for having us come to your house and play. Thank you to everyone who came to see us play. It was wonderful to see friends we haven't seen in awhile, wonderful to make some new friends.
Life could not better be.
The last couple of years I was doing all the solo traveling I always carried my own bed. In that case a double air mattress with the same sheets I had on my bed at home. Now is no different. A very nice queen size air mattress with, well, sheets from our bed at home. The only problem, it's really hard to cuddle on an air mattress. You need to spread the weight out.
We got up in the morning and went our separate ways. Lizzie went with Xap and others to Fiber Fest. I went down to Lukeskicon.
It was nice to hang out and talk to folks. I couldn't stay long though.
On the way back I stopped at the holy place. Hmmm, lamb kebobs!
I got back to a sleeping Lizzie (she's so cute when she's napping, of course she's darn cute all the time so that's a given) and folks setting up the various pavilions.
The show … the show was a struggle. Heat, humidity and stringed instruments do not get along. I think I went out of tune more in this one show than I have in the last 5 years of shows. That and moving your hand around a guitar neck in that sort of humidity is, well, a treat.
So it was a struggle, a struggle that we won handily. Cathy, who has seen us before, didn't notice any of my mistakes. I even sang on a song. I'm just wondering what it would have been like for the gamba if Susan had been able to make it. Probably pretty nasty.
There was a bit of a drum circle, but forgot my stand and my arm wasn't able to handle it for long. The movies did not go as planned, as the uninvited mosquitos didn't like the choice of movies so we went inside instead and chattered at each other for a couple hours.
The next morning we dragged ourselves off the air mattress, both of us unusually rested for a morning after a show and not sleeping in our bed and headed off to Portillos for lunch. Hmmmmmm, Italian Beef dipped. Cheese Fries. Lizzie had a dog with nearly everything (no onions, she doesn't deal well with onions).
We took the north route back and on the way met up with the most amazing storm front I think I have ever seen. At first it looked like there were some bits dipping down out of it, but a closer look showed that there wasn't any real rotation.
So, into the storm we drove. In the course of 2 minutes and two miles the temperature dropped 20 degrees. The wind picked up and we got battered by an awful lot of rain. For about 5 miles. Then it stopped. Within about half an hour or so the temperature went back up 20 degrees.
We took the scenic route home. The drive through Galena and Dubuque is lovely. Then you end up on 20 in northern Iowa and you can nap the rest of the way home (well, not really).
Kitties were delighted to ignore us for the first hour or so. Revenge and all that.
It was nice to be back in our own bed. For some reason there has been a lot of looking back for us the last week or two. Remembering when I would have to drive away on a Sunday. Now we drive out together and we drive home together.
Thank you Xap for having us come to your house and play. Thank you to everyone who came to see us play. It was wonderful to see friends we haven't seen in awhile, wonderful to make some new friends.
Life could not better be.