Vegas, Baby!!!!!!!!

No, I was not one of the many thousands that flocked to Las Vegas to get married on July 7th, 2007, better known in the superstitious world as "7-7-7".

I was also not one of the many tens of thousands that flocked to Las Vegas on 7-7-7 to win their fortunes.

I was however one of 6 guys that decided it was as good of an excuse as any to set aside our jobs, families and pets to spend a weekend in a city of lights, noise and the occasional prank amongst friends.

And, since I had the plane ticket since before the layoffs, I was committed to going. Besides, I didn’t want to be the guy that backed out, and I didn’t want to miss out on any of the adventures I knew would occur.

This was mostly the same group of guys that went in September (I think the excuse then was someone’s birthday, but frankly I don’t remember any cakes or presents, so how important could it have been?)

Now on to the story. I’ll be the first to step up and say that I’m sick and tired of this "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" crap. We all like to tell stories and spread gossip as much as the next one.

So, I’m going to tell you every gritty little detail that I remember from the trip!

We landed on Thursday, which happened to be the hottest recorded day of that particular day of any year since they started keeping track of hot days. At 106 degrees we were thankful for the waiting limo to take us to the hotel.

At that point, the rest of the weekend is kind of a blur. I remember a slice of pizza in the back of a casino and an entire case of "complimentary" playing cards (either we had overstayed our welcome at that particular casino, or we bought it).

This appears to be the only picture that came out clear.

BUT, I had a blast and would vacation again in a second with these guys! Rumor has it that we all signed up for the Running of the Bulls for next year. At the very least, there was a lot of bull on this trip.

Life is good. Send Chips.
Lon

Home is where you ...

….park it!

This may not be any big revelation to my friends and family, but apparently I actually like living in a trailer. Is it the confined spaces that require you to put everything in its place or it won’t fit? Or perhaps the neighbors in their trailers that I relate to? Or, maybe it’s the idea that if I don’t like the neighbors, or more accurately I piss off the neighbors, I can hook the house to the truck and MOVE!

Whatever it is, I found my dream home, and upon returning from Chicago I drove down to pick it up. It’s a 34 foot 5th wheel toy hauler.




For those of you lucky enough to not have spent the past year listening to me dream, dwell and shop for such, let me explain what I’m talking about.




This trailer/RV/dream house has a ramp as the back wall, with a 10 foot garage for me to pull the motorcycles up into! Yep, its my dream house with an attached, enclosed garage!





There is a wall (with a door) between the garage and living quarters (just like any upscale house would have). Although I have to admit that I keep the door open in the evenings so I can admire the bikes when they are back there. When the bikes are unloaded, I have carpeting that lays down, so it’s a whole other room!










You just have no clue how good life is.



So, throughout these adventures, you’ll be sure to hear about and see pictures of where I park the house. Probably more than you’d like.

Life is Good. Send a Maid.

Chicago Blues Fest 07 Road Trip

Sorry its been so long since I’ve updated this, but it turns out that retirement is REALLY hectic. Last we left our hero (that’s me in case you haven’t been paying attention) I sold my house on a whim and the new owner actually expected me to move out. Go figure.

So, on June 6th at 3pm I called the new Maintenance Lady (formerly known as the new Homeowner) and informed her that the keys were on the counter and I was vacating (I left a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom, and 2 Bud Lites in the fridge (no connection)). At 3:01pm I was on the motorcycle and on my way to Chicago for the Blues Festival.

My main goal given the late start was to get out of Texas, which, in case you’ve never tried to cross it, is ONE VEY LARGE STATE! Anyway, if you’ve been keeping up with this story you’ll know that I spent the first night in Hope, Arkansas about 4 hours from Wylie. Given possible weather in Illinois, I decided to take the backroads thru north east Arkansas the next day. I had a great ride, including lunch in Poplar Bluff, MO (again, you read that story, right?) and stopped about 2 hours out of Chicago for the night.

Now we’re getting to the meat of the story. In Chicago I was meeting up with Joy who was coming in from Colorado. And Joy has connections. Frankly, I had no clue what kind of connections until I was standing on a balcony on the 30th floor of a condo looking south down Lake Shore Drive!

We had a view of Lake Michigan and all the boats, as well as Grant Park which was where the Festival was held! We could even see Millennium Park, Michigan Avenue and Pitrello Band Shell, which was the main stage of the festival. Needless to say, we were able to walk to the festival each day. The ability to stumble home without worrying about driving was equally important.

The festival is 4 days of blues on 5 different stages, and best of all, its all FREE! Its in June and I plan to continue to go each year as I have the past few. So, next year I expect to see you there!

The really cool thing was that friends from the burbs actually packed their families up and came down to the fest while we were there. I know more friends would have made it down had they been in town, not had plans, or had their shots.

But it was fun to spend time with Al, Micheline and Gabby and their friends whose names escape me, Russ and Debbie, of course Bill, and Joy and her nephew Eric and his girlfriend.

I’ll be honest, the entertainers we saw were all great, but to list everyone by name isn’t going to happen. I saw a LOT of great blues artists, often on stage with other headliners. So, rather than go thru the program and list names, lets just say you need to go next year. But, you can go here to see some of the reviews and write ups of the fest (http://chicagobluesfestival.org/).

So, Monday morning I packed my stuff on the bike and headed south. I rode down to Memphis and stayed there for the night, including a visit to Beale Street (more blues) which has become a tradition for me for any trip south from the Midwest. Beale Street is probably like any other entertainment district in any other city, just that its geared toward blues, so its my favorite.

The next day I headed back to Texas, with the realization that I sold my house and everything I owned was either in storage, parked in someone’s back yard, dumped at a friend’s house, or packed on the back of the bike.

Hmmmmmm, seems I need a place to live.