We were back to the hotel by
2:00 and in bed shortly thereafter. Our Saturday event was an early lunch at
the Fog City Diner, site of a Journey photo shoot for the Raised on Radio album. (And, to our
surprise, there was a picture of Neal hanging on the wall outside the ladies
room!) Amazingly we ran on time for this day, and got to the diner for a group
lunch. While we waited on our food, we held a personalized quiz for Cat, since
she’d missed the entire event the day before with her Fan Club obligations.
Then it was time for the raffle, and I think everyone went home happy with some
autographed goodie.
Back to the hotel for a quick
change of clothes and a video thank you from the committee to the band (next
time, cue cards for me...) and off to the cars for the drive to
Marysville for that night’s concert. Smokers in one car, nonsmokers in the
other, and we were off. I led to the bridge and Darla (with Ana Marie as a
navigator) let the rest of the way. We would have been perfectly on time too if
we hadn’t missed the exit and gone about 3 miles out of our way. I still hate
driving a mini van though...awful awful awful...and the fact we weren’t killed
twice is simply amazing...I guess my skills are better than I thought!
Mary Ann had gotten Fan Club
seats for the two of us, and Ana Marie had them again for she and Toni. Imagine
our shock when Ana Marie got after show passes again! Wow. Mary Ann and I had 3rd row seats for this show, and as luck would have it, Cat
was sitting in the same row, two seats over! We talked to the couple sitting
between us, Mark and Jae—also fan club members—and asked if they would mind
moving down a seat so that the three of us could sit together. They were more
than gracious and agreed, and so, when “Faithfully” was played, Cat, Mary Ann and I wound up on the giant video screen as we swayed back and forth in time
to the song. Yet another claim to fame!
Once more the show came and
went too quickly and it was time to go outside. Getting through the throngs
of people with after show passes was a bit of a trick—apparently a couple of
radio stations had given bunches away. We all waited outside again for Ana
Marie who was able to bring her Aunt Sheryl to the after show this time. The
wait wasn’t nearly as long this time…Ana Marie was out in about 20 minutes. We
all piled back into the cars and headed back to The City, having said our
farewells to Angie and Michelle A. who were staying in the area on their way to
Konocti the next day.
After more adventures in driving
through San Francisco in a mini van, we arrived back at the hotel around 2:00
and gathered the committee in my room. Mary Ann had a 6:00 flight, so her
shuttle was picking her up at 4:15. We all stayed up with her to say good-bye,
and then crawled into bed. The 8:30 wake up call was a cruel way to start
Sunday morning, but we had arranged for an “informal” farewell brunch at 9:00.
I had just crawled out of bed when there was a soft knock on my
door...uncertain if we’d put out the do not disturb sign, I got up to answer it
to make sure it wasn’t housekeeping. It wasn’t. It was Dale. I told her I’d
just gotten up and I’d meet her in the lobby in a few minutes. I splashed some
water on my face and pulled on some clothes and stumbled downstairs as the rest
of my committee members slowly awoke and arose.
Brunch ended and it was time
to say our good-byes. Everyone needed to check out of their hotels and get
headed for home. It had been a fantastic weekend and the complete and utter
exhaustion I was feeling was well worth it. I finally arrived home for some
brief rest around 3 Sunday afternoon. I unpacked enough to do laundry, took a
nap, ate a light dinner, and crawled into my very own bed for a good night’s
sleep.
Journey Past and Present 2001
was over. The next week was mine...all mine...5 Journey shows in 7 days...
to be continued...
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