Holiday Road

This is going to be long winded... feel free to skip it, it's more of me rambling for me, but if you want to read or skim, feel free

I have to backtrack a bit to Thanksgiving weekend... what a weekend. Thanksgiving itself was good as usual, but I need to get down to business and talk about the weekend itself. The fact that REM added Albuquerque on a weekend was just too good to be true. I didn't have to miss a lot of work to see them & they were in the home town of Kelly & Donna Asher , two of the best people you could possible meet. So, when Rachel posed the question and I sized it up I was a go.. as was Josh. It wouldn't have been the same without Naomi who has been my REM concert companion for several shows, and while it took just a bit of talking her into it it was pretty damn easy. We decided on Road Trip and then we would crash at the Asher residence.

Sat. night in the rain we saddled up and headed off, not in a big hurry, which is funny since we had been champing at the bit for weeks to get moving. We drove for several hours with little incident. The weather was not the best so we didn't make Flagstaff as we planned we ended up at the Historic Route 66 Motel. It wasn't the best I've seen, but it wasn't the worst it was decent.

Naomi and I roomed together, we had shared a room in Atlanta last year and it went fine. She has the unique ability to sleep through most anything which is important since I snore like a jackhammer. This was evidenced by my waking up to hear Nai talking on the cell and I could hear Rachel laughing in the next room.... Apparently my snoring went right through the wall and Rach was asking Nai if she needed to come sleep in their room. Fortunately we all got to sleep after that... embarrassing.

The first night was primarily Josh driving with Me driving a bit at the end. Josh and Nai drove from the Motel to Albuquerque since we were hitting a lot of sleet and snow and they had more experience in that. Once we got to Albuquerque we visited a bit with Kelly, Donna and Heather another Murmurs denizen. We also had the pleasure of meeting Kathleen, Kelly & Donna's youngest daughter who you can tell is as sharp as her folks. On to the concert...

For those of you who are REM fans, there is nothing like seeing your favorite band live, and this was even better since Nai and I had 4th row tickets! Rachel & Josh were a couple rows back in the 2nd set I bought. The crowd at a concert really can make a difference, and fortunately this was a good crowd around us except for two ladies right in front. Nai is an ideal concert mate since she is always fired up and jumping up and down.. just helps to keep you going. The show was fantastic, the band was loose and sounded good as ever. Michael seemed to be in real good spirits, talking to the crowd more than in other shows I had seen. It was excellent to hear High Speed Train, since I hadn't heard that live.... what an amazing sound it had there. I can't adequately explain the concert anymore it's just a feeling.. marvelous.

After the show we partied at the Asher residence. I had a bit more than I should have... One of these days I need to figure out it's not the # of drinks you have it's the size. I mean 2 mixed drinks are usually not a big deal, but then again in the restaurant it's not mixed in a water glass.. duh. But I watered myself down enough to where I was ok.

2 and a half hours of sleep... awake.. Look outside.. it's snowing! It seemed to take us quite a long time to get out of Albuquerque, Josh was driving thankfully since the road sucked in the area. He drove to Winslow, AZ and I took over there. I drove from Winslow to Barstow, CA. The more I drove the more amped I was, I had forgotten how great a road trip was and being behind the wheel. Nai took over at Barstow and got us into Fullerton sometime after Midnight Tuesday morning.
Reflection
There is nothing better than going on a good long Road Trip with friends. Rachel I had just met in October at the Greek show. She is a burst of energy, full of confidence and has a great heart. She is someone that I felt like I had known for years, you can talk to her about anything and feel fine. I feed off of her confidence, that's' how strong it is. Josh I had met last year at Hollywood Bowl and while we kept in touch periodically I didn't see him much. Fortunately I have hung out with him more of late. The more you are around Josh the more you like him (as Rachel discovered) A very optimistic sort, who is fairly unperturbed by most anything and has a great sense of humor. Then there's Naomi (Nai) who I met a year and a half ago through Murmurs. As with the others, a great heart, a wonderful sense of humor and all around great woman. You couldn't ask for a better person to do spend time with and just enjoy the day. Oh and by the way, my road trip had more beautiful women than yours did and I don't care who you are lol.

As people are the greatest joy in my life, Music is the other now (something for later). Rachel brought her iPod and a fantastic selection of music. Musical moments:

-Nai constantly hoping for Let Me Entertain You by Robbie Williams.. and Rachel stopping searching to play another great song she loved (she has great taste in music)
-Josh reprising Oh What A World by Rufus Wainwright and getting me hooked on it.
-Bridge Over Troubled Water... Simon and Garfunkel were often present on trips to camping when I was a kid so it's not only a beautiful song, but a great memory
-Baby Got Back by Sir Mix A Lot... damned if it isn't fun to drive to.

I don't know what else to say, but when you get a chance to see a great band, party with excellent people and have a nice night of open road singing with your friends, it's pretty damned special.

Cheers