Parrots in the Pines - Friday
Wastnawa did a nice summary of the weekend but you know I could never be that succinct so get comfy because it’s novel time…
Man, I was itching to get up to Christopher Creek on Friday for the Parrots in the Pines weekend so I decided to work a ½ day. I made a quick run out to the store before lunch to get supplies. Supplies mostly being beer, soda, water and chips. Wouldn’t you know it…I got busted by the new guy while putting the empty Miller Lite box into the garbage dumpster at work. Nice.
I hit the road about 12:45. Yahoo maps said it would take me 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach my destination. I did it in a little under 2 hours total. I was driving through those mountains like Jimmie at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – fast and passing everyone on the road. My car is so smooth that I wasn’t aware that I was hitting 80 until I checked the speedometer. At one time, I thought to myself, “I hope those are SAFER barriers separating me from oncoming traffic.”
I got to Greyhackle without an accident or speeding ticket and met up with Tina, Wastnawa and Sam and Elizabeth. They were doing some cabin decorating and were nice enough to put a lovely grass skirt fringe on mine, too. It’s good to be the Princess.
We hung out in the common area chatting and listening to tunes. Sam played some songs that he’d written with Mark Mulligan’s encouragement. I give Sam a lot of credit. He has been practicing the guitar and uke and it shows. His songs were great, too. Tiki Bar In My Back Yard was my favorite of the bunch.
We headed to the Landmark around 5 for the fish fry and Mark’s show. Almost everyone else was there. I kept looking for Louie/Donna,/Bob/Sue, though. I couldn’t imagine they’d miss the event. They showed up half way through the show. Seems they’d been cocktailing in their cabin and the time just slipped away. My kind of people. The thought was that maybe Tom and PJ would make a surprise visit but they did not. Bummer, it would have been great to see them both (even Evil Tom).
Sam had a new musical toy. It’s called the Vibraslap and it is something to see and hear. You hit the ball on your knee or your hand and it makes a long, vibrating twanging sound. The first few times we hit it while Mark was playing, he thought he was getting feedback from his speakers. Then he thought it was coming from his backup tapes. Once he figured out what it was, he put on the “I’m pretending to be amused even though that thing is driving me crazy” face. Hehe. Woody became the primary slapper and before the night was over, his new nickname was The Vibrating Woody. We crack ourselves up.
Alexis and Elizabeth somehow made a new friend. His self-introduction was, “Hi, I’m Bob and I’m a cross dresser so you can call me Bobbette. I was Miss Gay Arizona but I’m not gay. I’ve tried women and men…” I tried to block out the rest of it. Interesting fellow, to say the least.
We all made some other, much less scary, friends. Phil and Linda who moved to Chandler from Galveston were there to see Mark and are joining the club. Really nice folks. Correction 06/14/05, they are really nice folks but they're not from Galveston. That would be Julia and Tommy. Thanks, Carol, for pointing it out.
Mark finished up at 10 and the plan was for everyone to head back to Greyhackle. Mark being Mark, he got to yapping with everyone and wasn’t making the move to leave. His buddy, Jim, and I decided to get a move on and broke down his set for him. I busted a nail and it hurt like a mofo – clearly, I’m not meant to be a roadie.
We finally headed back to the cabins and ended up in Louie/Donna/Bob/Sue’s place. Donna was sitting next to Mark on the couch and getting…well, let’s just say cozy with him. (Not too cozy, let's keep this out of the gutter, shall we?) Mark was a little worried that Louie was going to be upset with him and kept saying, “Hey, I’m not trying to pick up on your wife.” Louie was not concerned.
The thing is, it wasn’t Donna’s fault. Playing the role of Tom Hankins for the weekend was Bob Rohn. Bob was mixing Donna’s drinks. I suggested he could ease up on the last one but, noooo, he made it especially strong. Donna didn’t stand a chance.
The party broke up around 2:30 and we all toddled off to bed knowing that Saturday was going to be a looooong day.
Man, I was itching to get up to Christopher Creek on Friday for the Parrots in the Pines weekend so I decided to work a ½ day. I made a quick run out to the store before lunch to get supplies. Supplies mostly being beer, soda, water and chips. Wouldn’t you know it…I got busted by the new guy while putting the empty Miller Lite box into the garbage dumpster at work. Nice.
I hit the road about 12:45. Yahoo maps said it would take me 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach my destination. I did it in a little under 2 hours total. I was driving through those mountains like Jimmie at Lowe’s Motor Speedway – fast and passing everyone on the road. My car is so smooth that I wasn’t aware that I was hitting 80 until I checked the speedometer. At one time, I thought to myself, “I hope those are SAFER barriers separating me from oncoming traffic.”
I got to Greyhackle without an accident or speeding ticket and met up with Tina, Wastnawa and Sam and Elizabeth. They were doing some cabin decorating and were nice enough to put a lovely grass skirt fringe on mine, too. It’s good to be the Princess.
We hung out in the common area chatting and listening to tunes. Sam played some songs that he’d written with Mark Mulligan’s encouragement. I give Sam a lot of credit. He has been practicing the guitar and uke and it shows. His songs were great, too. Tiki Bar In My Back Yard was my favorite of the bunch.
We headed to the Landmark around 5 for the fish fry and Mark’s show. Almost everyone else was there. I kept looking for Louie/Donna,/Bob/Sue, though. I couldn’t imagine they’d miss the event. They showed up half way through the show. Seems they’d been cocktailing in their cabin and the time just slipped away. My kind of people. The thought was that maybe Tom and PJ would make a surprise visit but they did not. Bummer, it would have been great to see them both (even Evil Tom).
Sam had a new musical toy. It’s called the Vibraslap and it is something to see and hear. You hit the ball on your knee or your hand and it makes a long, vibrating twanging sound. The first few times we hit it while Mark was playing, he thought he was getting feedback from his speakers. Then he thought it was coming from his backup tapes. Once he figured out what it was, he put on the “I’m pretending to be amused even though that thing is driving me crazy” face. Hehe. Woody became the primary slapper and before the night was over, his new nickname was The Vibrating Woody. We crack ourselves up.
Alexis and Elizabeth somehow made a new friend. His self-introduction was, “Hi, I’m Bob and I’m a cross dresser so you can call me Bobbette. I was Miss Gay Arizona but I’m not gay. I’ve tried women and men…” I tried to block out the rest of it. Interesting fellow, to say the least.
We all made some other, much less scary, friends. Phil and Linda who moved to Chandler from Galveston were there to see Mark and are joining the club. Really nice folks. Correction 06/14/05, they are really nice folks but they're not from Galveston. That would be Julia and Tommy. Thanks, Carol, for pointing it out.
Mark finished up at 10 and the plan was for everyone to head back to Greyhackle. Mark being Mark, he got to yapping with everyone and wasn’t making the move to leave. His buddy, Jim, and I decided to get a move on and broke down his set for him. I busted a nail and it hurt like a mofo – clearly, I’m not meant to be a roadie.
We finally headed back to the cabins and ended up in Louie/Donna/Bob/Sue’s place. Donna was sitting next to Mark on the couch and getting…well, let’s just say cozy with him. (Not too cozy, let's keep this out of the gutter, shall we?) Mark was a little worried that Louie was going to be upset with him and kept saying, “Hey, I’m not trying to pick up on your wife.” Louie was not concerned.
The thing is, it wasn’t Donna’s fault. Playing the role of Tom Hankins for the weekend was Bob Rohn. Bob was mixing Donna’s drinks. I suggested he could ease up on the last one but, noooo, he made it especially strong. Donna didn’t stand a chance.
The party broke up around 2:30 and we all toddled off to bed knowing that Saturday was going to be a looooong day.
