I’d been lying down for a few
minutes when Cheryl’s cell phone rang. Up she jumped from her bed, and it was
time for our next surprise. Neal Schon’s step-dad Les was on the other end of
the line. The hows and whys we know Les date back to the Journey Fan Convention
in 1998 and progress through the last three years plus of Journey tours. We had
invited Les and Barb (Neal’s mom) to join us for lunch during the event, but
due to previous commitments, they couldn’t make it. Les, however, had asked
Cheryl for her phone number because he might have something for us. Turns out,
he did! We arranged to meet him at his office later in the morning to pick up
yet more goodies. Having totally lost any chance at sleep, Cheryl and I got
up and had breakfast, then got ready to drive around the docks of Oakland
looking for Les.
When we finally found the
place, we chatted with the guards while we waited for Les to come meet us. It’s
quite obvious that not a whole lot of women hang around the docks among
the sailors and longshoremen, so the guards were being quite friendly and
flirtatious. Always fun! Les showed up shortly, and we followed him to his car
and told him about all the stuff that Steve Smith had given us. When he asked
if we had a spare set of drumsticks to give him, we told him not a problem in
the slightest—Cheryl would bring him a set after we were done with all the
craziness. Les then told us what he had for us were “collectors items”—and he
pulled out a box of 16 “Lights” CD singles ...the same CD singles that
Steve Smith had given Ana Marie the day before. We politely accepted them and
were thrilled to see that he had gotten Neal to sign one—another raffle item!
We took our goodies and thanked Les profusely as we said our good-byes and
headed off to pick up Mary Ann at the airport.
We got Mary Ann safe and
sound and grabbed a quick bite for lunch in Millbrae (okay, so Lyon’s isn’t the
finest restaurant to take people, but it was close and reasonably quick.) I had
hoped to take a drive to San Mateo since I had some pictures in being
duplicated that I wanted for our “goodie bags”. Alas, despite promises they
would be ready on Tuesday, they still hadn’t arrived Thursday afternoon.
Frustrating.
We got back to the hotel in good time and started putting together
the goodie bags for our attendees. In went the T-shirts, CDs, 2 sets of
drumsticks (each), a gift from Dale, two guitar picks (another donation from
the band), and a blow-pop (thanks Dale!) We also included “the surprise.” When
we were done, we rearranged everything in our room so that it was a little less
cluttered–good thing too, because in short order the phones started ringing.
The rest of our guests were beginning to arrive at their various hotels and
were letting us know they were in town! People started arriving at our room
over the next hour or so. Since Ana Marie and Darla’s room was supposed
to be the gathering room and Mary Ann, Cheryl, and my room was supposed to be
the staging area, we had to scramble to hide everything as best we could. In
the future, we need to remember that those desks and dressers they put in hotel
rooms have drawers!
The first to arrive was Caryn
(aka Journeycat)—perfect! Besides being in town for our gathering, Cat was “on
the job” as Journey Fan Club Liaison with the grand prize winner of the Fan Club
trip to San Francisco. Since we had goodies to get to the band, we grabbed Cat
and showed her what we’d done. Each of the guys had gotten a T-shirt of the
event and a copy of a proclamation of Journey Day in San Francisco.
Cheryl had come up with the idea and did all the leg work on how to get the
paper work filled out and Ana Marie composed the tribute to our favorite band.
So the mayor’s office got the date screwed up (they put the day we needed them
by rather than the day of the concert) but it was a small detail. Cat thought
they were great and said she was honored to be the one to give it to the guys.
Michelle A. and Angie arrived a short while later, and the 6 of us kicked
around the room and chatted for a while as we awaited the return of the rest of
the group from Hanford.
They finally returned around
7:00, and after greetings and introductions, most of us were off to grab some
dinner. Darla, Dale, and Liz, all exhausted from the long trip, went back to
their rooms and got some rest. While we were walking up to the restaurant, my
cell phone rang. It was Rose, she was in The City, but lost and couldn’t find
her hotel. She’d called Ana Marie first, but Ana Marie told her to call me as I
“know how to get around San Francisco.” Great. I hate driving in SF. I avoid it
at all costs. So now I have to direct someone else?? I barely know the
street names. Fortunately Rose was on Market Street and needed to get to her
hotel out at Fisherman’s Wharf on Beach. Since I was standing on the corner of
Beach and Columbus at the time, I was fairly confident I could get her where
she needed to be. When I asked Rose what cross street she was at, I feared I
might be in trouble...I had no clue where it was! So I told her to relax and
head towards the Ferry Building then hang a left on The Embarcadero and she’d
be fine. Fortunately she was.
to be continued...
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