Parrots in the Pines - Saturday
I got up feeling pretty refreshed on Saturday morning. Tipsy Tommy and Julia made us all a big breakfast then Elizabeth made another one. My contribution to the food was some organic watermelon which some people claimed I called orgasmic watermelon with jokes at my expense, of course. Pervs.
The morning was mostly just hanging out and some members from Tucson, Brad and Peggy, spent some time chatting with us. Tipsy Tommy was moving a little slowly, I must admit.
We all headed down to the Landmark for the afternoon show. They'd set up some shade awnings on the side of where the band was and left the front open for dancing. There turned out to be a pretty good crowd. The O'Malley Babes and Roger and Todd came up for the afternoon and we all jumped on the cheeseburger lunch. It was pretty good, though of course not raw enough for me.
I got to catch up a little bit with another member, Dave, from Flagstaff. He and Debbie had ridden their bikes down and Dave had just gotten his repainted with all sorts of cool Buffett-like stuff. It was awesome!
Pimp Daddy had the idea of doing a 50/50 raffle to raise money for Arwen Renner. Arwen is the 22 year old daughter of the drummer (Randy) in one of our favorite bands, Stars on the Water. She'd been involved in a freak accident where a piece of concrete had fallen off a truck in front of her, came through her windshield and hit her in the face. She lost an eye and will need reconstructive surgery on her face. Since she'd just moved back to CA, she doesn't have insurance.
Mark suggested adding items to the raffle to increase participation. He threw in a bunch of CDs, shirts and such and Pimp Daddy and Karen went into Payson and bought a neat cooler with snack items and a bottle each of Tequila and Rum. Rochelle talked the Greyhackle owner into donating two nights stay there and the Landmark threw in some dinners.
The most enticing item added to the raffle was the Vibra-Slap which Rocket Man generously donated to the cause. I told Wood-Eye he needed to get on stage and show it off to get the bidding up but he wasn't as anxious to do so as he had been the night before. It's funny how more inhibiting daylight is than the deep, dark night.
Ray and Mark were pretty mellow to start out. Moose and I hung out with some new members, Doug and Patty, for most of the afternoon. Fun people. There were some more Aimee jokes and Ray got through his new song. It is really a nice song.
At some point, Tipsy Tommy drifted away. Too much Friday night for him. Ray was fighting too much Saturday morning since he and Mark had stayed up drinking until after 4. They were both hurting pups.
The boys finally got to rocking and Wood-Eye, Donna and I took our turns on stage adding percussion. Donna had a bunch of bruises from playing the tambourine the night before on her hand and thigh. I told her it was the price she had to pay for her art. I got Louie on the dance floor after Donna tried and failed. She hadn't given him a bribe like I did - he got his back scratched in return for the dance.
The Babes and Roger and Todd had to head for home before the raffle. They entrusted me with their tickets (though they marked them first) and lots of people were buying. Whether it was the booze or the Vibra-Slap, lots of folks wanted that prize. We ended up with over $700 (how cool is that?) and the winner was a Mark fan who lives part time in San Carlos and Payson. David immediately offered him cash for the Vibra-Slap so he gained possession of it. Donna was a little bitter. She thought I should get it since I am such a natural talent.
I gotta say, David is not a natural talent. Oy vey. I told him he was a random player and he said he was a "Rebel" player. Regardless, he's going to need some lessons. He's bringing it to San Carlos in October so, hopefully, he gets some practice in before then.
Oh, the Roger story. I must tell that. I was just hanging out when the inside bartender asked for me. My first thought was that somehow Mark and Ray were setting me up for some embarrassment and my second thought was that someone was misbehaving and I was going to have to smooth it over. Turns out, Roger'd left an open tab and his credit card inside and didn't realize it until he was well on the road. He called the bar and had them find me to close out his tab.
I just had to laugh as he's done something similar before. There was a night at O'Brien's where he was rushing Todd out the door. 9 O'Clock Tom and I were still there hanging out when the waitress asked where Roger had gone. Turned out, he hadn't closed out his tab and, in this instance, hadn't even left his card. Tom paid it for him so all was well.
I added a 20% tip and closed the tab. It never even occurred to me to order anything on it until everyone was like, "Did you get us a round before you closed it?" and "You at least got one drink on it, didn't you?" Roger's bought me enough beers over the years so I guess it was his good karma that kept me from running up the bill.
Mark and Ray finished up about 7 and most of my gang went back to Greyhackle. The thought was that we'd all end up there. I ended up hanging with Mark's posse and having the prime rib dinner special at The Landmark. Awesome! What a beautiful piece of cow! They cooked it just right and served it with a baked potato and a really good grilled vegetable side. There was so much meat I couldn't even begin to finish it. (insert your own joke there)
After dinner, we went inside and did some dancing to the DJ music. Jim told me I still didn't know how to two-step and I had to admit he was right. We then headed back to Mark's cabin at Christopher Creek Lodge. I had a Rum and Diet with Mark and was feeling pretty beat when Rocket Man and Elizabeth showed up. Eric decided to go to bed and I followed him out.
When I got back to our cabins, everyone was tucked away so I headed off to bed. It was another let the clothes fall wherever night and I made sure I drank a bunch of water.
It was really a fun weekend and I'm sure I've left out all sorts of stuff (some of it intentionally). The Landmark is going to new owners on July 11 and I'm hoping they continue the weekend tradition. And maybe not run out of food. Or servers.
Finally, to answer Gary's burning question, they did not run out of Miller Lite.
The morning was mostly just hanging out and some members from Tucson, Brad and Peggy, spent some time chatting with us. Tipsy Tommy was moving a little slowly, I must admit.
We all headed down to the Landmark for the afternoon show. They'd set up some shade awnings on the side of where the band was and left the front open for dancing. There turned out to be a pretty good crowd. The O'Malley Babes and Roger and Todd came up for the afternoon and we all jumped on the cheeseburger lunch. It was pretty good, though of course not raw enough for me.
I got to catch up a little bit with another member, Dave, from Flagstaff. He and Debbie had ridden their bikes down and Dave had just gotten his repainted with all sorts of cool Buffett-like stuff. It was awesome!
Pimp Daddy had the idea of doing a 50/50 raffle to raise money for Arwen Renner. Arwen is the 22 year old daughter of the drummer (Randy) in one of our favorite bands, Stars on the Water. She'd been involved in a freak accident where a piece of concrete had fallen off a truck in front of her, came through her windshield and hit her in the face. She lost an eye and will need reconstructive surgery on her face. Since she'd just moved back to CA, she doesn't have insurance.
Mark suggested adding items to the raffle to increase participation. He threw in a bunch of CDs, shirts and such and Pimp Daddy and Karen went into Payson and bought a neat cooler with snack items and a bottle each of Tequila and Rum. Rochelle talked the Greyhackle owner into donating two nights stay there and the Landmark threw in some dinners.
The most enticing item added to the raffle was the Vibra-Slap which Rocket Man generously donated to the cause. I told Wood-Eye he needed to get on stage and show it off to get the bidding up but he wasn't as anxious to do so as he had been the night before. It's funny how more inhibiting daylight is than the deep, dark night.
Ray and Mark were pretty mellow to start out. Moose and I hung out with some new members, Doug and Patty, for most of the afternoon. Fun people. There were some more Aimee jokes and Ray got through his new song. It is really a nice song.
At some point, Tipsy Tommy drifted away. Too much Friday night for him. Ray was fighting too much Saturday morning since he and Mark had stayed up drinking until after 4. They were both hurting pups.
The boys finally got to rocking and Wood-Eye, Donna and I took our turns on stage adding percussion. Donna had a bunch of bruises from playing the tambourine the night before on her hand and thigh. I told her it was the price she had to pay for her art. I got Louie on the dance floor after Donna tried and failed. She hadn't given him a bribe like I did - he got his back scratched in return for the dance.
The Babes and Roger and Todd had to head for home before the raffle. They entrusted me with their tickets (though they marked them first) and lots of people were buying. Whether it was the booze or the Vibra-Slap, lots of folks wanted that prize. We ended up with over $700 (how cool is that?) and the winner was a Mark fan who lives part time in San Carlos and Payson. David immediately offered him cash for the Vibra-Slap so he gained possession of it. Donna was a little bitter. She thought I should get it since I am such a natural talent.
I gotta say, David is not a natural talent. Oy vey. I told him he was a random player and he said he was a "Rebel" player. Regardless, he's going to need some lessons. He's bringing it to San Carlos in October so, hopefully, he gets some practice in before then.
Oh, the Roger story. I must tell that. I was just hanging out when the inside bartender asked for me. My first thought was that somehow Mark and Ray were setting me up for some embarrassment and my second thought was that someone was misbehaving and I was going to have to smooth it over. Turns out, Roger'd left an open tab and his credit card inside and didn't realize it until he was well on the road. He called the bar and had them find me to close out his tab.
I just had to laugh as he's done something similar before. There was a night at O'Brien's where he was rushing Todd out the door. 9 O'Clock Tom and I were still there hanging out when the waitress asked where Roger had gone. Turned out, he hadn't closed out his tab and, in this instance, hadn't even left his card. Tom paid it for him so all was well.
I added a 20% tip and closed the tab. It never even occurred to me to order anything on it until everyone was like, "Did you get us a round before you closed it?" and "You at least got one drink on it, didn't you?" Roger's bought me enough beers over the years so I guess it was his good karma that kept me from running up the bill.
Mark and Ray finished up about 7 and most of my gang went back to Greyhackle. The thought was that we'd all end up there. I ended up hanging with Mark's posse and having the prime rib dinner special at The Landmark. Awesome! What a beautiful piece of cow! They cooked it just right and served it with a baked potato and a really good grilled vegetable side. There was so much meat I couldn't even begin to finish it. (insert your own joke there)
After dinner, we went inside and did some dancing to the DJ music. Jim told me I still didn't know how to two-step and I had to admit he was right. We then headed back to Mark's cabin at Christopher Creek Lodge. I had a Rum and Diet with Mark and was feeling pretty beat when Rocket Man and Elizabeth showed up. Eric decided to go to bed and I followed him out.
When I got back to our cabins, everyone was tucked away so I headed off to bed. It was another let the clothes fall wherever night and I made sure I drank a bunch of water.
It was really a fun weekend and I'm sure I've left out all sorts of stuff (some of it intentionally). The Landmark is going to new owners on July 11 and I'm hoping they continue the weekend tradition. And maybe not run out of food. Or servers.
Finally, to answer Gary's burning question, they did not run out of Miller Lite.
