30 Days on the Road

OKC- Greenville, TX- Lawton, OK- Ft Worth, TX- Greenville, TX- OKC

Finally made it back to our hangar after a fairly harrowing ride. Triple digit speeds along I35 heading North.

When you're faced with riding with a horny, homesick young wrench (that also misses his Mommy) you buy the ticket and take the ride.

I figure he got laid, got fed and got his laundry done yesterday. He'll be ready to hit the road again in a week or so.

Me, I'm ready now. With a little luck I'll be headed back out of this frigid wasteland by Tuesday. (As we careened North we watched the thermometer in the rear view drop steadily.)

Most of this trip was good.

It can be (very) frustrating working in different shops with different ways of doing things. Sometimes better ways, sometimes not. You just have to roll with it.

As much as it chokes me to say this, it's all in your attitude. Attitude was Grandads biggest pet peeve.

"I did what you told me Grandad."

"Yeah, but I didn't like your attitude when you did it."

Some people lack the Attitude Control the Road demands. They make it harder on themselves, creating little self fulfilling prophecies. They make it difficult on the rest of the crew in a variety of ways.

BUT, we got it done. Only one trip to the emergency room, one drunken scuffle in the parking lot and one crew mate hauling ass for home in the middle of the night.

And, we did manage to have a little fun along the way.

The Lee Street Bar and Grill in Greenville was cool. We made it over there for a few Wednesday night jams. The first night I saw this young guy tuning up in the hall way. I do mean young. He finally hit the stage with the house band and proceeded to blow me away. Composed, calm and cool. Right at home on stage. RIFFING Stevie Ray Vaughn. Playing and singing. He's been taking lessons and playing for four years...

He's TWELVE YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

His mother confided that the Kid thinks we drove down from OKC every Wednesday to hear him play. We played along.

One night I tipped the band and walked my tab. Oops. Went back the next day. Bartender says, "What can I get ya?"

"Uh, my tab."

He looked at me for a second, "Burger, fries and Miller Lite?"

"Uh, yes. There were Miller Lites involved."

They were cool about it. I was embarrassed and they knew it.

We tried to take in some blues. It was billed as a blues bar. $7.00 cover. "Who's playing?"

"A DJ."

"Never mind."

We did go back another time. We had to fill out membership cards. I listed my address as 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and signed it Dr Hunter S. Thompson.

I got served.

We hit the Hangar Bar and Grill. It was billed as a grill. No food served.

Another cover charge paid for a decent Country Pop band. When they played that Cross Canadian Ragweed song, 'Boys From Oklahoma'...

I'd shout "BOOMER!!!"

Everyone would turn to look just in time to see/ hear Sally reply, "SOONER!!!"

We went back the last night. The turn out was so small that the band didn't even play. We played pool and played, "Let's get Sally drunk and watch him try to walk!" Cuervo and Patron flowed.

In Ft Worth I finally had chances to hit the Stockyards. In all of the years I lived in Dallas I never made it to Ft Worth.

Very cool.

Billy Bob's IS huge. That's the way it's billed, ''The Worlds Largest Honky Tonk''. 'The White Elephant' also cool. It's the bar used in the Walker Texas Ranger TV show. 'The Stockyard Saloon', 'The Star Cafe'; "For the best steak in Dallas go to Ft Worth".

The Road. Work hard, play hard. An 8 hour day was a short one. 10's were the norm and 12's not uncommon. Two guys even pulled a 20 hour shift. There were a few nights when we had to work nights, that stank.

Now, I'll drop off my laundry and be ready to roll come Tuesday. This looks like a solo trip which will be very nice. When you go with a crew, EVERYTHING is a committee decision. That gets old.

I'm just glad to be back in my element for a while.