Whoever said "Never meet your heroes" needs some new heroes.
- Me
I've been procrastinating the shit out of writing this, but it needs to be done! I must release my tale unto the universe! I know I need to just get started, and whatever needs to come out, will. I'm having a hard time seeing things without the "I FUCKING MET SHANNON LETO" lens. But I shall try. I also slightly met Tomo and even less-slightly Jared, too. But perhaps I'm just not ready for them yet. heh.
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT A ROAD TRIP. ABOUT MEETING AMAZING FRIENDS, KRISTY AND JEFF (NOT GONNA CRY). A FUCKING JOURNEY THAT BY ALL ACCOUNTS COULD'VE KILLED ME. HENCE, ADRENALINE. BUT WHICH I LOVE TO ITTY BITTY PIECES INTO ETERNITY.
THIS IS ALSO A FANGIRL STORY. SO IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH THAT, THEN PERHAPS DON'T READ THIS.
Some fun names: Whiskeytown, Beaver, Hooker Creek, Weed*, Sams Neck Rd., Bob & Alice's Boring, Glory Hole (not kidding), Hoodoo trails
Note from journal:
"SHASTA IS AMAZEBALLS" pretty much covers it. I was just puttering north, north, north. "OH. THERE'S A FUCKING MOUNTAIN PEEKING BETWEEN THE TREES. THAT MUST BE RELEVANT."
I stopped at a Living Memorial with some sculptures that was just really emotional for me. I got some vid of a little windchime someone had created and tied to a tree. Saw a snake cross my path. Saw some lizards fornicatin'. They just stopped. ("Maybe... if we don't... move... she will walk... away.") Walked a labyrinth, and discovered the worst goblin king ever in the center (a pine cone).
Note from journal (the only one from this day)
9/12/14
Started today off with a wasp in my car.
I had stopped in Bend, OR for the night (Holiday Motel *thumbs up*) and started with a wasp in my car. Thought we got it out a few times, wound up whining to facebook about it and got some wasp killer (glad I didn't spray that shit). Adrenaline is an understatement when one is driving 70 mph and discovers a wasp in their car. THANK THE FUCK FULLY, I saw it in my rearview and it never came at me.
Several times I was on the side of the road with all the doors open, swatting at my back window. *sigh*
Finally, I stopped at an awesome bridge rest stop area *sign* "DO NOT BRING YOUR ANIMAL. MANY DOGS HAVE DIED HERE. PUT YOUR DOG AWAY," accompanied by a charming icon of a dog jumping over a barrier. It was a 300 foot drop. YEAH. Cool bridge though! And a neat bird that wouldn't shut up. The wasp was still there and I had all the doors open. I asked some random fatherly-looking dude if he wouldn't mind helping me kill it or get it out. It was wedged head-first against the window at this point. He's like "Oh no, it's about to die. It's boiling alive right there. Just keep an eye on it. Drive (!!!!!!!) for a half an hour with the windows down and I'll bet it'll be dead." Well. I drove 15 mins which is some kinda feat. Yeah, it's dead.
HIS NAME IS ROBERT PAULSON.
I also happened upon a little ~old west~ town called Shaniko (ask how I remember that name. Nevermind. Shannon... Shaniko.) There was a single-room schoolhouse they'd converted to a wedding chapel, wooden plank "sidewalks" which I loved hearing when I walked. An old hotel with posts for horses. A jail and the bank which was roughly the size of a walk-in closet. It was A FUCKIN DORABLE. I wanted to campout there.
*WEED. Wow. You might've heard there was a giant fire there. I stopped there on that Thursday? I think? A few days before it started burning. I stopped at a souvenir shop and got some vintage postcards and made a mental note to come back for some more and stickers, etc. I had some coffee and a bagel at Ellie's across the street. Besides spending the night in Bend, it was the longest I stayed in any one place during drive-time. More on WEED later.
I drove through a reservation and saw horses and horses and horses. I had never seen them out so far from a farm-looking place. I called them wild even though... there's a fence. So, not really. :/ I'm still happy I got to see them though.
----
Finally arrived in Moses Lake like... fucking... 12 hours later? Did I mention there was a wasp in my car? And that I was detoured 1-1/2 hours out of the way from the freeway because of construction, which in OR evidently means SHUT THE ROAD DOWN, EXCEPT ONE WAY, FROM WHICH THERE IS NO ESCAPE FOR 2 MILES. RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAGE.
I got there and saw some dude outside smoking and I go "Oh, you're not Kristy..." and he goes "No, but I'm Jeff." "OMG HUGS!" lol then a millisecond later, Kristy came out and I hug-tackled her, too. Then I introduced them to my dead wasp, "His name is Robert Paulson" (Yeah, I know I said that. It just never gets old). Since they guided me through the chaos.
----
MARS day:
We went to Moses Lake and wandered, saw some green water. Went to Potholes park and wandered and left to some other park and ... wandered (not all who wander are lost). And saw a camper up ahead with a canopy and what appeared to be a naked older gentleman with his back to us. Commence freakout. Then discover he was wearing a banana hammock. PROPS DUDE. I would shake your hand but no thank you.
Then I put on the fanciest make-up possible in 10 minutes and we GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TO THE GORRRRRRRRGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Everything went smoothly... saw a wood-carving of a bear playing a flying-V guitar, a bar called "Whiskey Dicks" *snort* This place though... It was truly like a mini-Grand Canyon. The stage is ginormous and the backdrop is a ... um... gorge? with the Columbia River flowing through it (part of Lewis and Clark's trail).
We were in the pit. Which, by all accounts of pitness, were pretty... not "mellow" but... maybe "breathable". I got fucking WIRED on the energy. I'm glad I didn't drink because that would've been a disaster. It was a special kind of excited energy that was amazing (if you don't know me and my dealio, then just continue on. Nothing to see here.)
Once the set started, there was still room to breathe and dance and dear god JUMP. JUMP AND JUMP AND JUMP AND MORE JUMPING AND DON'T FORGET TO JUMP AND HEY CAN I JUMP NOW LET'S JUMP I CAN'T HANDLE IT JUMPPPPPPPPPP!!!! Being short semi-sucked. :/ but it's part of concert life. There were a lot of tall dudes. Like... there are a lot of dudes, right? But then there are tall dudes. Not just some but like EVERYWHERE. And some girls in front of me who were shorter than me. OH, HONEY. :(
After Jared asked everyone to get up on shoulders, I could've sworn I kept hitting some girl in the knee or something behind me with my rampant jumping. Nope. Some tall dude's face. "Sorry." ... "Oh. Sorry." lol
Kristy was close by but she's taller than me so she was usually next to or behind me. I got to capture a moment right before and during the confetti going off and that was pure madness and bliss.
Points for not knowing what to expect. That shit was phenomenal. BALLS!!!!!!!!!! CONFETTI!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUMPING!!!!!!!!! SINGING!!!!!!!!! FREAKING OUTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and how could I forget... when it got a little pushy in the pit, one girl screamed "It's not that kind of party!" LOLOL best.
Jared, at some point, said that if we buy a CD, they'll be around to sign it after the show. But we didn't wanna leave the pit. And afterwards, figured the opportunity was gone. So after we found Jeff... GUESS WHAT!??!?! BEST BOYFRIEND EVER. He had gotten her a CD and signing wristband! (YEEEEE!!!! So excited for her. Mars is her favorite band.)
_ DEEP BREATHHHHHHHHHH_
OK..
I won't give details from Kristy's experience, because that's personal to her and I'm respectful like that. And I won't even post ALL the details of my experience because, because.
There's the line, the building, then the fenced-in patio (where they were actually signing). There's a group of a handful of people by the fence. I split off from Kristy to wait for her afterwards, and it didn't occur to me to get in there to get a pic when she was going through (sorry, Kristy. :/ ) but we wound up coming back and sorta hovering by the fence. I still don't really know why. I think I wanted a clean pic of everyone. One crowd person was completely blocking Jared "It's her job." said someone. Oh yeah.
Then one darling young woman asked me if I wanted her spot. "REALLY?!?!?!" Somehow magically, the lady still blocked him. So we just hung out. Fuck it. I got nothing better to do. haha
My Slightly-Met Tomo Story is this: I waved and smiled. He waved and smiled. The end. *closes book*
BUT THEN. When they were done....
And everyone's getting up, we're still hanging out and talking and being us. I don't think it even occurred to me that they were getting up to leave? It's a blur.
Shannon walked over to us... arms out... palms up... smiling. "LIKE A FUCKING FLOATING BUDDHA." I mentioned before ~if you don't know me~... his energy was ... indescribable. I feel silly writing about it now. But I can't express the warmth, generosity, curiosity, happiness, calmness... radiating from him in just that short time. He's like "AH. MY CHILDREN. I LOVE YOU." (He did NOT say that. lol) We agreed later that it honestly seemed like he was about to hug the fence. He looked at all of us with a slowly sweeping glance and then asked if we had fun. Some other things happened and I'll keep those to myself (sorry, not sorry). And then it was over and he started walking away. I lost my hat in the melee and said "Where'd my hat go?" and the girl behind me "It's in my hand" LOLOL Thank you, Boo.
We started to walk away and I was still bouncy. Just recalling it is making my foot tap. *SNORT*
Kristy told me that if I met him and he talked to me, to remember to talk this time. And I described it like this: "It's not so much that I didn't know what to say, it's that my face forgot how to work." Truth be told, I don't even know if I was smiling!
And then some more things happened... I had on a cool shirt *I PREFER THE DRUMMER* because yes I do. And Kristy is amazing and gave it to me for my birthday. That experience with him just solidified that.
Heroes are fucking cool. I saw them interact with every single person. I saw hands shake and smiles and looking into of the eyes. I heard compliments galore (from them!). I saw a few people be pulled aside so their assistant? handler? could take a pic of them. They were truly involved and present. They gave every one a moment. They seemed happy to give it.
I'm still even more excited for Kristy's experience. I really don't know if there's a "first" experience that can ever top that. I mean... that was the most epic of epic. I'm so incredibly grateful that I got to share it with her.
----
Deciding if I want to end with that because the reason for the trip was Kristy and seeing MARS.
It is the Adrenaline Tour though..
ABOUT WEED.
I had just left a vista point featuring Mt. Shasta in the background and it was so windy that I just left. Within a few miles, I saw some smoke coming up. This is hard to relate because it happened pretty fast, but as I approached it, it was still waaaaaay off on the horizon, and very low. If you drive anything but HWY 5, it's winding and there was no way to tell that once I saw the source, whether or not I'd be near it.
My thinking is that if the fwy was in danger, I'd be turned away. So I kept driving.
There was a white truck, and some sort of tanker in front of me. It felt like we all had the same idea: DRIVE FAST. GET THE FUCK AROUND IT.
I kept my eyes on the road. Any pics I got were because I put my phone to the side of my face and took a pic holding down the volume button. Window and focus be damned.
It sounds melodramatic to say now, but when I neared it, and the smoke covered the road for a second... my car lit up red and I couldn't bring myself to look over. My body was hot, I was worried my tires might melt and that this is how people die. ADRENALINE.
GO GO GO GO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. As I rounded into town, I could see people walking up to the hillside. It was down the street from the souvenir shop I stopped at. People outside of Ellie's came out to watch. I'm like "GET THE FUCK OUTTTTTTT." The people in cars knew. We saw it from several miles away. We KNEW. JUST. GO. I had to stop at a red light. I looked over and saw the hill on fire.
FUCKING SURREAL.
I'm getting amped thinking about it. When I got on the freeway again, people were speeding like crazy towards it in order to get around. The idea is probably not so much that you're driving into something like that as much as "get the fuck there or around it and if no one stops me I can make it"
I stopped at every possible rest stop after that to try to calm down.
Kind of a boring-if-you-weren't-there way to end it. But that's my tale.
OH. I KNOW.
SONG OF THE SUMMER.
"DO OR DIE"
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GC63HGcsfEg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
And the story goes on....
actual date of show 9/14/14
