Our Ears Are Ringing...

 

A concert last night: Molly Hatchet was the opening act, Mark Farner's American Band was the headliner.  It was loud.  Way louder than it needed to be.  I put in a set of personally formed earplugs and it was still way too loud.  I had offered to bring earplugs for Joan, but she declined.

To be fair, I didn't care to see Molly Hatchet.  They had some commercial success in the late 70s and early 80s.  Everything they played last night sounded the same.  Did I mention they were loud?  The sound was dominated by the extremely loud bass.  A wall of amps, which were unnecessary at the Celebrity Theater venue.  This venue is generally in the round, with a stage that rotates... they had over 1/3 of the seats blocked off with curtains, so not "in the round."  There were still plenty of empty seats.

Molly Hatchet...

 The only song I recognized was their last one: Flirting With Disaster.  On the bright side, they started on time (a first) and only played for an hour.  It took about 40 minutes to clear their equipment and reset the stage for Mark Farner - there was a sizeable crew working on all that.

Farner and his band were also loud.  Not as loud as Molly Hatchet, but still... loud.  Their bass player had a double amp, but everything else was run through the house PA.  Farner was using an amp smaller than my Deluxe Reverb: looked like a Princeton Reverb; it was miced, so it wasn't necessary to have anything bigger.

The mix was better with Farner, but the instruments could have been brought down to better feature the vocals.  All four band members did vocals, and all were good players.  Farner still has his guitar chops, but age has had some effect on his vocals.  Still, for a guy of 78 who has been playing hard since 1969, it wasn't bad...

 Mark Farner was one of the founders of the band Grand Funk Railroad.  He wrote over 90% of the bands' music.  He trusted Don Brewer, the band's drummer, with the business and legal dealings and signed over his rights for that management.  In a long standing dispute, Brewer and bassist Mel Schacher forced Farner out in 1998 and forbid him from using any mention of Grand Funk in his solo career.  Anyone who was aware of the band knew that Farner was the main force behind Grand Funk.  Grand Funk without Mark Farner would be like the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  (my opinion)  Brewer wrote We're An American Band, one of Grand Funk's biggest hits - that and Farner's decision to do some solo projects was the reason for the dispute and struggle for the leadership of the band.

We have seen Farner and this group before (about 10 years ago); haven't seen what's left of Grand Funk.

The crowd, as you'd expect, was older, but enthusiastic.  Like many of the performers there, Celebrity Theater is showing its age.  The seating is cramped compared to other venues we've experienced here in Phoenix.  But, it is unique with that rotating stage and it does provide a venue for acts that can't fill a stadium.  Seating is about 2,650 for in the round, closer to 1,400 when set for "stage forward."

We have seen other good bands there, like Styx, Chicago, and Leonid & Friends.  When Styx and Chicago played together (the Windy City Tour) earlier this summer, they did fill the Mortgage MatchUp Center.  It was clear last night that the majority of the crowd was there to see Farner, but Molly Hatchet did have their fans - and they were signing T-shirts and visiting with fans after their set.

But... loud.  My head hurts and my ears are still ringing this morning.  On the other bright side, it was fast and easy to get out of Celebrity's parking with the smaller crowd and a reasonably quick drive back home on a Sunday night.

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Open Door Policy...

This morning, we let the kitties wander between our two homes.  Murphy likes to go visit the neighbors.  Tango and Alfie will come over to our place - here's a cute image with Stella and Tango nose to nose...

 Alfie likes to look around to see if there is anything in Murphy and Stella's food bowls.  Tasha rarely comes to our place and Stella prefers to stay in her own home.  But, with Steph and Dan being gone, we like to make sure their kittes get some human interaction.

 

Bon Voyage...

 

We were scheduled to drive Steph and Dan to the airport at 8:00 this morning.  Just before 6:00, there was a knock on our door... Steph came in and told us that their first flight on Air Canada had been cancelled... they are about to head out for a week in Portugal.

Fortunately, their travel agent Shannon (who I served on the HOA board with) got things re-booked for them.  Instead of going through Toronto, they are going through Newark (New Jersey).  This plane leaves a bit earlier than their Air Canada flight so she asked if we could be ready to take them at 6:45.

"We got this."

We got Murphy and Stella fed, we cleaned up, got pills ready, and were 5 minutes early.

Wind and rain overnight, so we took a different surface road to avoid any potential road flooding.  Got them to the SkyTrain (tram on the airport that will take them to the departure gates), gave them hugs and said our good-byes, and they were off.

Joan and I stopped for breakfast at Black Bear Diner on the way home.  Being retired, we enjoy lounging in most mornings.  Up, morning chores done, cleaned up, provided airport limo service, breakfast... and we're back home before 8:15.  We may need a nap this afternoon. 

Zoom - Zoom...

If you said, "The tag line from Mazda commercials starting around 2000," you get 10 bonus points. If you added, "Mazda dropped that slogan in 2015 to go with 'Driving Matters' as a shift toward a more upscale, refined brand identity," you get an additional 5 bonus points. If you asked, "Does this have something to do with Zoom meetings?" - no; just a look back at how fast time has gone. Three years ago, we were leaving south Texas for the last time... it was the start of our trek west to become desert dwellers...

The images above are from the Facebook Memory from 3 years ago. Has it been a good move? Well, our lives are certainly different. We love being close to Steph and Dan. We have all the amenities (and frustrations) that come with living in the 5th largest city in the country. And the time has gone fast (zoom - zoom).

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Tropical Storm Rachel... It has been in the Pacific, off Mexico's west coast of Baja - heading inland. This morning, we put away anything in the yard that could become "a missile". Rachel's track will be west of us, putting this area "on the dirty side." You can take the boy out of the Tropical Tip, but he's still going to keep an eye on that tropical weather.

We watched the sky darken early this afternoon - I would call that the outer bands of the tropical storm. The desert dwellers might call those first frontal gusts another "haboob"... the first of the wind gusts made our pergola shudder. Blowing dirt. And then the start of the rain. Little Stella is sitting by the patio door, keeping an eye on the weather...

Just as the rain is starting. Unlike the Tropical Tip, we don't have "storm surge" here - we have flash floods, because the hard desert ground can't absorb the rain.

Lists...

 

Steph and Dan are getting away soon, going to Portugal for their 25th Anniversary trip.  They have once again hired Captain Jim & the Blonde Cat Care Services to take care of Tasha, Alfie, and Tango.  This will be the longest duration of our services.

To prepare for this, Steph made out a list/flow chart of all the things we need to know: vet contacts, which cat gets which meds at what time, and a litter cleaning schedule for the 3 litter boxes.  Also, airport drop-off and pick-up limo services.

 

It's nice that they trust us with their fur babies.  And good for them that they have trustworthy help so close at hand.

Since we have changed Murphy and Stella to 3 meals per day, only the morning meals sync up for all the cats.  Looks like a full-time position for Joan and me for a while.  This is going to cut into our "leisurely retirement" lives. 

Sacrilege...

 

Definition: Sacrilege is the act of violating, disrespecting, misusing, or stealing something that is considered sacred, holy, or worthy of deep reverence.

Yeah, I did that today.  Pretty much.  I like my new PRS guitar.  Do I like it as much as my Emerald Virtuo?  Well, no.  But, it is the "new one," so it is getting plenty of playing time.  And, it cost about 1/6 of the Virtuo.

We had music at Mark's today, with the Brothers MIM.  This is more of a music get-together with friends than a rehearsal.  There is plenty of overlap with material that the Hip Replacements play, but we all take turns picking a song and occasionally toss in a new one.

We want to sound good, but I generally take just one guitar for this gathering.  And, today...

 That's the Emerald Flight Case.  And inside it...

 Yeah, the PRS.  They are close in size.  The PRS is a teensy bit wider at the left upper bout, but it fit snugly in the Emerald case.  The PRS came with a gig bag.  Now generally, I like gig bags.  Two of my Emeralds have gig bags.  They are more structured and have better protection than the PRS gig bag.  Not that the PRS gig bag is bad - it just isn't up to the standards that I've come to expect from my other gig bags; no neck support and no space around the tuning keys.  So, the PRS got to travel to Mark's in the Emerald case.  That will likely be a one off - the PRS and the Virtuo both came along on our last gig, and that will likely be the case on the next one.

Ron and I swapped on a couple songs today: I played the cajon and he played my guitar.  Afterwards, he thanked me and said, "That is a really nice guitar."

Yep.

 

Herd of Ponies...

 

Heard of ponies?  Of course, I've heard of ponies - they're like small horses.

No, that's "herd," as in a big bunch of 'em.

Our RoadTrek is compact - that's the whole idea behind a Class B campervan: you pay extra for the amenities built into the body of a more typical work, delivery, or passenger van.  You don't often find someone carrying livestock in a Class B campervan.  We certainly don't.

Until last night.  Murphy and Stella combined Friday Night Smackdown, equine steeplechase, and a demolition derby into one overnight event.  I had to sit up around 2:30 am to see what all the commotion was about... I was concerned that one of the kitties was being hurt.

It sounded like a herd of ponies stampeding across a wooden bridge. 

No one was being hurt; Murphy was at the foot of Joan's bed and Stella was running from the back of the van to the dash, performing parkour moves.  Each time Stella would bounce by Murphy, he would swat at her.  Occasionally she would jump onto the bed beside him and they rise up on their back legs in a "Clash of the Titans."  If it weren't for the fact that Joan and I were trying to sleep, it would have been entertaining to watch.  Maybe even sell to Pay-Per-View... people like to look at cats on the internet; I may on to something here.

If I can stay awake long enough to write up a proposal for the bigwigs in the entertainment industry.

This morning, all is quiet.  The kitties have had breakfast.  Joan has had her coffee and I have had my hot chocolate.  Little Stella is looking out the driver's window at the birds...

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This outing was only planned for two nights out; so, ready to head for home this morning.  We put away our patio chairs, patio mat, table, and the catio.  I dumped holding tanks...

 Some people cringe when a discussion of dumping holding tanks comes up - one of my favorite things about the RoadTrek is the macerator pump.  The hose is built-in; pull it out and put it in the campsite sewer connection.  Pull the valve (first the black tank, then the gray), press the button and it empties the tank in seconds.  Literally.  Put the cap back on the sewer connection, put away the hose - done.  Easy.

Leaving the park, which is called Point of Rocks, you see even more of the big boulders along the road...

 A few minutes later, we were behind a big motorcoach.  Joan and I were talking about how easy things are with the RoadTrek.  The discussion moved to the bigger coaches we had in the past - two of which were from the same manufacturer: American Coach.  I told Joan, "If I win the lottery, I will get another big coach like that one..."

 She said, "We'd have to get another house so you'd have someplace to park it."

I said, "If I win the lottery, I will buy you a second house."

She said, "I am not moving back to humidity."

I said, "We could buy a house in Prescott.  Keep what we have in Phoenix.  You could go back and forth as you'd like.  And, the cats and I will have lots of room to run around in a bigger coach."

She said, "You are going to have to buy a lottery ticket."

There's always a catch.  ;-)

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We are home.  Kitties moved back in.  Stella is not sure if she can trust us to not whisk her away again.  Murph knows the procedure.  We unloaded the van, Joan cleaned inside, put stuff away in the house, fed the cats, put the RoadTrek back into storage, went out for lunch... and we were still back home before 2:45.

I think I may be able to talk Joan into more of these 2 to 3 day get-aways.  It is 100º here in Phoenix.  Going to Prescott and then up even higher in elevation for the drive to Jerome, and time on the "patio" outside the coach was a refreshing break.  Two hours away and delightfully cool.

 

Jerome...

 

An old mining town north of Prescott.  I was less interested in the town, but wanted to drive Hwy 89A between Prescott and Jerome... I've seen things written about it, calling it "twisty and dangerous."

Leaving Prescott behind, you can see the mountains ahead...

 It doesn't take long before you are in it, steep and twisty...

 It's only 30 miles or so, but the speed limit drops to 15 mph in some of the hairpin curves.  No vehicles with a combined length of more than 50' are allowed.  Easy to see why.

It's a steady climb up, and then you come to Jerome...

 The narrow roads and buildings hanging off the side of the steep terrain remind me of Lead, SD, in the Black Hills.  It looks like there is plenty to occupy your time here, but we missed a turn to get to "RV Parking" and just kept going...

 If the road up to Jerome didn't get to you, the steep down grades on the other side were harrowing...

 I had down-shifted to 2nd, then 1st gear, and still had to use my brakes to keep from over-speeding.  No more photos, because I needed both hands to steer and manually downshift.

When we got to I-17, we swung through another RV park - this one is definitely more of a resort.  It is down at 3,000' elevation, so not as cool as at the 5,300' elevation where we are staying.  But, when it cools off some, this one will be a nice, easy getaway from Phoenix, and put us closer to some interesting places to explore (like going back to Jerome).

Back to our RV site near Prescott, and settling in for the rest of the afternoon, after lunch out.  Including some Black Tie Mousse Cake for Joan's upcoming birthday.  Not much left of it at this point...

 Back to our campsite, and just enjoying some chill time, out on the patio mat and inside.  Murphy came out for a while, in the catio.  Stella spent time in there yesterday, but she was content to nap inside... she needed the rest after prowling in the van all night.  ;-)  When Murphy was ready to go inside, he sat by the big screen on our side slider door...