Got in 4 hours ago. 2760 miles round trip. Not a hitch with the truck or the drive. I had one heck of an excellent time!
Got to meet up with pappy in Albuquerque.
Got to the Hard 8 in time on Wednesday to hear Randy on the radio. He's BONAFIDE!
Thanks to Butch for arranging the Wednesday night accomodations.
Had a great time wheelin the 45 on Thursday. Made some folks nervous wheelin the skinny-tires up the crack at the Cotton Bales, but the rig rode the line just fine. Climbed some obstacles I had doubts about. Made good use of the sliders and the rear bumper. Pretty much saved the passenger side of the bed from ending up like the driver's side.
Had a LARGE time hangin with the Cottonland boys Thursday evening. Those of you who have not had the pleasure to hear Bodean's dad sing and play the guitar really missed out on some first class entertainment

. It goes a LONG way to explaining where Bodean got his musikality from!
Thursday night's highlight had to be getting a chance to play Randy Kruse's vintage Martin. It is without a doubt the finest muscial instrument I have ever had the opportunity to put my fingers to. Copperhead Road will never be the same.
Friday I finally put down the old-school mantle long enough to wheel one of the Trail Team FJs. Super kudos to RockcrawlinToy for letting me take the 'special' course [pretty much wherever the heck I felt like pointin it] That was another large time.
The special stories Butch shared with me and Chris about David made it easier to sit thru Kowboy's eulogy before the raffle. I hope Butch will take a few minutes to type them out and share them on the board, They are great stories, and I am already passing them on to appreciative listeners here in Kali.
I had the chance to listen to a very different John D. Hale band than I heard two years ago, and though Butch thinks it was just me listening with different ears, I have no doubt that John is a lot more comfortable AND professional as an entertainer than two years ago. Having him accompany ME on the mandolin was very, very special. Every one who went to bed after John's show also missed the highlight of the evening, which was Randy ABSOLUTELY nailing a cover of Folsom Prison Blues.
Saturday Butch and I went out with the VA boys and got in some good technical wheelin, and I enjoyed rockin Ol Yeller for the Wise One.
There's a whole mess more stuff spinnin thru my head, but I'm tired of typing for now.
