Well, it was quite an exciting weekend! The best fun I've had at one of these ever! Around 48 people showed up, and it was great to meet all the new people, and visit with the ones I already knew. I was very impressed and pleased that while several of us have had alot of tragedy and heartbreak in our lives, we were able to meet in such joyous circumstances, truly enjoying each other's company. To many of us, it felt like HOME being with each other, and the weekend just went way too fast! John and I came home Sunday night and were just exhausted.
I went up on Thursday night with Wildfire, whom I picked up in Austin for the ride to Dallas. I had never met her and found her a delightful and talkative companion on the ride up. It made the trip go way faster, and we arrived in about three hours.
We called on the cell phone, and Arrowstar answered and was giving us directions to the hotel. Meanwhile, FMZ was pacing back and forth because the room he got only had one bed and he was supposed to be sharing with Gumbo. He said that he was NOT going to share a bed with a Gumby. He would be forced to keep his "gum-ass" up to the "Gum-wall" all night. Hehheheeh.
We arrived at the hotel, where we met up with Arrowstar and FMZ. We all then went eat some supper at a Mexican restaurant, where we were joined by Elsewhere. On the way to the restaurant, there was a terrific thunderstorm, which was segmented by explosive shows of lightning against an emerald sky. I stopped the truck to catch some on film, but those #@#&@^ digital cameras are too slow. We were following Arrowstar and FMZ up to the restaurant, and somehow ended up following the wrong car. We ended up following this imposter car into a residential area, and I was thinking "Who would put a restaurant in a residential area?" We pulled up next to the car when it parked, and it was a 17 year old kid. He just stared at us like we were insane. We finally called Arrowstar, and found the restaurant. Hehehhe. The lights went out when we were eating, so we thought we *might* be able to dine and dash, but it was not to be. Grin. We started talking about tornadoes, and Wildfire asks FMZ "Do they have lightning in England?" BAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! We all got a good laugh out of that. She meant to ask him if they had tornadoes in England.
We went back to the hotel, where we hooked up with NotPerfectYet. What a card! We partied in her room for a bit, then went up over to FMZ's room for awhile.
Friday day was spent meeting up with those who arrived early and we all went to the Farmer's Market, where we were able to sample fresh produce and look at some cool antiques and Mexican furniture. We all then reassembled back at the hotel, where we greeted more guests in FMZ's room. The wine was flowing and the conversation was interrupted by loud bursts of laughter. It was so great! Several were really hungry, but it was hard getting everyone to agree on which place, and at what time to go to supper. Finally, I just decided to go eat and got Logan'sRun and Shotgun and we went to eat at Gloria's... a wonderful Salvadoran restaurant. When we came back the party was still going on, but several had gone over to Valis' house. I went over there where I met Rabbit and his lovely wife, Nova for the first time. The oeur d'ovres were wonderful, and everyone was having such a great time.
Later, back at the hotel the party went on until around 5 a.m.
Saturday we got up and everyone hung out at the pool until it was time to get ready for the chili-cookoff. We went to the West End Pub and had a few drinks, then everyone tasted the different chilis. Valis was hottest, FMZ won for tastiest, and Little Toe won for most original, even though it was haggis. Hehehhe. We then went to the restaurant for the BBQ meal.
Afterwards, back to the hotel to party s'more.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and even Rat, who is so quiet and thought he was along only out of husbandly duty, had a good time. Wow! He usually is very shy in crowds, and ya'll even got a few smiles out of the old man!
Sunday morning, we all gathered for breakfast at a great little cafe and then it was time for one last pic and time to head home to Austin.
I was so happy to see and meet everyone, and felt a genuine sense of belonging to a great tribe: The A-Tribe. People who are sincerely interested and care for each other. Thanks guys for such wonderful memories!
Anyway.. without further ado, here's the pix! If anyone does *not* want their face shown, please PM me and I will remove the pic from the site.
http://community.webshots.com/album/147942011EfFhoW
Country Girl