Wed-Thurs

While it's true that I came home bruised and injured, I think it was one of the best trips up to Challis so far. Final word on thumb - no break, "just" dislocated; ankle - sprain (still hurts like hell)... In addition to these injuries, I came home with a nice sinus infection that kept me home today.

Wednesday morning we arrive in Boise and pick up the rental car. First stop - Wally World for snacks and drinks...not a veggie or fruit purchased. This was probably a mistake. Second, we stop in at a pizza parlor for lunch. I played it safe with a Caesar salad and pizza. The other salad looked interesting. Suzy declares herself drunk as we leave. LOL! The drive to Stanley begins.

We stop a few times along the way. The scenery never grows old.

After checking into the cabin and setting our luggage down, we head to the Rod 'n' Gun...for 9 1/2 hours. Suzy and I school the rest of the bar at ping pong (hahaha). We play drinking games. We are, essentially, the only people in the place. We meet a river guide that refreshes our memory as to how to play "Asshole"/"President". He said he'd sit in for the first two rounds...um, yeah, he was still there when we left the place around 1:30 a.m. There was a foosball lesson in there somewhere, too. It's probably not a great thing when the bartender is very concerned as to how the group is getting home.

After hitting it hard the day before, I'm kinda dragging Thursday. I think we went to The Bakery for breakfast and then headed over so some could go canoing. Maureen and I went to the post office and stopped in on a few shops in Stanley. We also tracked the progress of the canoes along the road. We set up at at little spot on the side of the road at a bend in the river...then the rain came. We booked it back to pick up the other car and drove downstream to find the girls. The rain made for a slow, cold, wet ride back to Stanley.

It was the early afternoon when we began driving to Challis. We checked into Room 209, as usual. There are a few new decorations in the Northgate...and I wonder how long these will last. Vegas arrives and we head out to greet them, then it's off to Antonio's for an early dinner. Well, after a stop at the liquor store. We see most of the RRB boys walking down Main Street. Inside we find the Martins and have dinner. We walk out in time for RRB's soundcheck. Randy is singing "A Song for You" and it was one of the highlights of the weekend for me. I have a bit of it recorded, and now wish I'd recorded the whole thing. You'd only know it's RRB by the voice because we were still back on the far side of the street...but it's great just the same.


I have no idea how we passed the rest of the time before the street dance began. Giggly juice, maybe??? In my mind, the sun is set and Muzzie's on stage with Willy on the drums covered by the tarp due to the light rainfall. Then, the heavens open up and a steady downpour begins. RRB's set will be delayed.

Deeming it safe to go on, Muzzie introduces RRB and everything is going great. They sound great, the crowd's reaction is great...and then some jackass throws a bottle and hits Geoff. All I saw out of the corner of my eye was the light reflecting off the glass as the bottle was flying. Then, I saw his head. Randy stops the show, and they tend to Geoff. I was sure the night was over. I had no expectations for them to return to the stage. I have no idea why Erica, Shannon, and I end up behind the stage, but we watch as all the guys return to the stage. After a few songs in, the band retires and leaves Randy and Brady to finish up with an acoustic set.

We hang out for quite a while after the show. There are some ninja moves, more giggly juice, jager, flashlights, introductions, photos, and gawking…

I was just about to type that it was a fairly early night out by the fire, but that would be a lie. There were not many people out that night, but I think I made it in around 445.

*The video is being processed by youtube...just FYI!