A Little More Cowbell

So I haven't been very on top of the bloggin' of late. I think I have two weekends of various and sundry activities to catch you up on.

A couple of weekends ago, Nikki was with me as I navigated the CR-V through the worst thunderstorm I have ever had the pleasure of driving through... for about 10 or 15 miles it was wicked. We were on our way up to Chicago that Friday evening to see country artist Billy Currington perform at Joes's Bar. Once through the storm the drive up to Chicago was relatively uneventful, and thanks to good directions from Lindsey there were no incidents to report.

The concert was very enjoyable, however hearing Billy Currington sing "Good Directions" without my buddy Nathan, it just wasn't the same. That is "our" song, and Nathan was supposed to go with us, but he had a better offer and went to DisneyWorld with his girlfriends family instead. The opening act, Lee Bryce, was pretty good too. He wrote Garth Brooks most recent hit, "More Than A Memory" and has a new song he wrote that Tim McGraw has recently recorded.

The only problem with the concert were a few concert-goers that were not following your basic general admission concert etiquette, such as pushing Nik and I out of the way, or just standing right in front of us, after we had clearly staked out our little spot for quite some time. Also, we had the pleasure of standing right next to a 50ish couple that really needed to "get a room". I am all for a little hand holding, perhaps a kiss or two throughout the evening, but really folks I do not need to see the tongues... pulease! Thankfully they left before the encore, because one of the songs Billy sang was "Let's Get It On".

Billy introduced a guy on the side of the stage towards the end of the concert, he said the guy had written Honky Tonk Badonkadonk. It was hysterical because at the exact same time Nik and said to each other "Ok, was it just me or did that guy look just like Nathan... a little shorter and rounder than Nathan, but other than that very creepy how similar they looked.

After the concert Nikki and headed west from Chicago and drove to Eric's place. We got there at about 2:30 in the morning. Needless to say we all slept in on Saturday. After breakfast/lunch we ventured out to see the highlights of the QC... Isabel Bloom studio store, and the John Deere Pavilion. Nikki kicked my but at the planting and combine simulation game... I definitely brought shame to my farmgirl status. We found a Model B tractor and Nikki took a picture for her Dad (Captain Map) because that the kind he drove as a kid on the farm. We grabbed some eats at Huckleberry Pizza in Rock Island and then headed to the River Bandits game.

It was Cowbell Night at Modern Woodman Park. I am not sure if y'all are familiar with the cowbell skit from Saturday Night Live... if not take a look... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZOHY7Z5eaQ&feature=related

It is one of my favorites skits, and they played it a couple of times on the jumbotron. Nikki, Eric and I all got souvenir cowbells as well. They were lots of fun. The River Bandits lost the game, but Eric and I got to have a pint of Bent River Uncommon Stout so we got over it, and the soundtrack at the game was pretty much personally designed for Nikki so we all had a good time. After the game we stopped a martini bar in Rock Island where Nik and I tried a few new martinis. After a lazy Sunday Nikki and I headed home that evening.

It was nice to have company on the drive home, and great to get to see and concert and still fit in a visit with Eric too.

Editors Note: The first picture is entitled "Rally Cowbell"... I love this picture of Eric, he was wearing his rally cap in the 9th trying to get a Bandits victory