UPDATED: 6/15/09.
Kaitlin and I headed southeast to Miami, OK on Friday for a Rascal Flatts concert. The trip was nice, through the rolling hills of southeast Kansas to Parsons, then south to Miami. We located our Super 8 motel easily, then we headed off to the concert. The directions on mapquest to Buffalo Run casino were incorrect, so after a short drive in the wrong direction and a stop at a convenience store, we made it. It had rained in Miami that morning. Gates were supposed to open at 5pm, but they didn't have the amphitheater ready because of the muddy grounds. We were in line for 3 1/2 hours, alternating between sitting in our lawn chairs, standing wherever we could find shade, and sitting in the sun. We had premium tickets, so once the gates were open - we made our way through a bunch of line cutters (security tried to keep it orderly and keep them out, with little success) and high-tailed it to the front of the stage. We were sloshing through tons of mud. They had thrown down a bunch of hay, but it didn't do much other than stick to your shoes like the mud did.
Cletus T. Judd opened the show with 3 songs - thank goodness he didn't do more as I don't care for him. Darius Rucker (from Hootie & The Blowfish) was next.
He sang songs off of his country CD - and was great. He also did some Hootie songs. He got the crowd up and on their feet, and was very enjoyable.
Finally, Rascal Flatts took the stage.
By then, everyone was truly hot, muggy and muddy, but we managed to have a great time. The highlight for me was when they sang "My Wish". I've posted the lyrics on here before - and it's the song on Kaitlin's slideshow of senior pictures. It was already making me teary-eyed, but when Gary LeVox, the lead singer, pulled a young lady with Down's Syndrome up on stage and sang to her; the tears flowed. (The picture didn't turn out very good, but I had to post it anyway).
She was SO excited and he was so gracious to her. She handed her camera and cell phone to her dad, so he could get pictures. Gary hugged her repeatedly and posed for pictures with her. Just a very tender moment.
The guys talked about how their fan club members complain because they are never together and "still" on stage during the show so people can take pictures. They got together, and on the count of 3, turned around and showed off their tushes for picture-taking. That got a laugh, and then they truly posed for pictures. Kaitlin got a great one.
My favorite Flatt is Joe Don Rooney. Yeah, Joe Don's a hick name, right? But this dude is pretty darn good looking.
He's married to a former Playboy bunny and has a 1-year old son named Jagger. He was born in Baxter Springs, KS, but grew up in Pitcher, OK. We were sitting next to his mom's cousin.
The ending to the evening sucked though. Although there were probably over 500 folks working the grounds outside - from security to parking lot attendants, they had no clue how to get so many vehicles out of there. We did not move for over 30 minutes, not one car length. After almost an hour, we finally started moving, but once we made it out of the parking lot, we sat in traffic on the highway for another 45 minutes. We were staying less than 2 miles from the casino, and it ended up taking us almost 2 hours to get back to the hotel. UPDATED 6/15/09. I have upset some people who live in Miami, OK by my original comment and for that I apologize, so I deleted one comment. I do think that the city of Miami and the owners of Buffalo Run Casino need to look at a better way of handling the traffic if they are going to continue to have concerts the magnitude of Rascal Flatts. The town itself is very nice (and folks, my husband is from Oklahoma), but I doubt I will attend a concert at Buffalo Run again. Just a personal opinion. I've been to a LOT of concerts over the years, and I understand huge traffic jams, but I think traffic could have been handled better.
All in all, it was a wonderful time spent with Kaitlin. Since she'll be leaving in August for K-State, these special times will be few and far between. So, even with all the hassles, I LOVED IT!
Now, for the homefront...we've been enjoying the nice weather over the last few weeks. We've had a few hot and humid days, but more nice days than not.
Here is our bradford pear tree in the front yard.
We bought it at Tree Top about 6 years ago, and it's grown quite a bit.
Here is our "memorial" swing, recently moved from the back yard to the front.
The frame was built by Wilbur, a long-time friend of Grammy (my mom's mother) and our family. We brought the frame of the swing to our house when we sold mom's house. The wood swing that is currently on it was Charles' (Corby's step-dad who passed away 1 1/2 years ago). Between the two of us, we have lots of wonderful memories when we're swinging. We are going to paint both, as soon as there is a "windless" day!
Here's a pic of our $800 cat, Sugar, on the swing!
Our flowers and tomato plants are looking pretty darn good.
I hope we get some good maters!
And - here's a victim of our drive to Oklahoma!
Sorry this was such a long post, but it's been a while. ENJOY!
Kaitlin and I headed southeast to Miami, OK on Friday for a Rascal Flatts concert. The trip was nice, through the rolling hills of southeast Kansas to Parsons, then south to Miami. We located our Super 8 motel easily, then we headed off to the concert. The directions on mapquest to Buffalo Run casino were incorrect, so after a short drive in the wrong direction and a stop at a convenience store, we made it. It had rained in Miami that morning. Gates were supposed to open at 5pm, but they didn't have the amphitheater ready because of the muddy grounds. We were in line for 3 1/2 hours, alternating between sitting in our lawn chairs, standing wherever we could find shade, and sitting in the sun. We had premium tickets, so once the gates were open - we made our way through a bunch of line cutters (security tried to keep it orderly and keep them out, with little success) and high-tailed it to the front of the stage. We were sloshing through tons of mud. They had thrown down a bunch of hay, but it didn't do much other than stick to your shoes like the mud did.
Cletus T. Judd opened the show with 3 songs - thank goodness he didn't do more as I don't care for him. Darius Rucker (from Hootie & The Blowfish) was next.
He sang songs off of his country CD - and was great. He also did some Hootie songs. He got the crowd up and on their feet, and was very enjoyable.Finally, Rascal Flatts took the stage.
By then, everyone was truly hot, muggy and muddy, but we managed to have a great time. The highlight for me was when they sang "My Wish". I've posted the lyrics on here before - and it's the song on Kaitlin's slideshow of senior pictures. It was already making me teary-eyed, but when Gary LeVox, the lead singer, pulled a young lady with Down's Syndrome up on stage and sang to her; the tears flowed. (The picture didn't turn out very good, but I had to post it anyway).
She was SO excited and he was so gracious to her. She handed her camera and cell phone to her dad, so he could get pictures. Gary hugged her repeatedly and posed for pictures with her. Just a very tender moment.The guys talked about how their fan club members complain because they are never together and "still" on stage during the show so people can take pictures. They got together, and on the count of 3, turned around and showed off their tushes for picture-taking. That got a laugh, and then they truly posed for pictures. Kaitlin got a great one.
My favorite Flatt is Joe Don Rooney. Yeah, Joe Don's a hick name, right? But this dude is pretty darn good looking.
He's married to a former Playboy bunny and has a 1-year old son named Jagger. He was born in Baxter Springs, KS, but grew up in Pitcher, OK. We were sitting next to his mom's cousin.
The ending to the evening sucked though. Although there were probably over 500 folks working the grounds outside - from security to parking lot attendants, they had no clue how to get so many vehicles out of there. We did not move for over 30 minutes, not one car length. After almost an hour, we finally started moving, but once we made it out of the parking lot, we sat in traffic on the highway for another 45 minutes. We were staying less than 2 miles from the casino, and it ended up taking us almost 2 hours to get back to the hotel. UPDATED 6/15/09. I have upset some people who live in Miami, OK by my original comment and for that I apologize, so I deleted one comment. I do think that the city of Miami and the owners of Buffalo Run Casino need to look at a better way of handling the traffic if they are going to continue to have concerts the magnitude of Rascal Flatts. The town itself is very nice (and folks, my husband is from Oklahoma), but I doubt I will attend a concert at Buffalo Run again. Just a personal opinion. I've been to a LOT of concerts over the years, and I understand huge traffic jams, but I think traffic could have been handled better.All in all, it was a wonderful time spent with Kaitlin. Since she'll be leaving in August for K-State, these special times will be few and far between. So, even with all the hassles, I LOVED IT!
Now, for the homefront...we've been enjoying the nice weather over the last few weeks. We've had a few hot and humid days, but more nice days than not.
Here is our bradford pear tree in the front yard.
We bought it at Tree Top about 6 years ago, and it's grown quite a bit.Here is our "memorial" swing, recently moved from the back yard to the front.
The frame was built by Wilbur, a long-time friend of Grammy (my mom's mother) and our family. We brought the frame of the swing to our house when we sold mom's house. The wood swing that is currently on it was Charles' (Corby's step-dad who passed away 1 1/2 years ago). Between the two of us, we have lots of wonderful memories when we're swinging. We are going to paint both, as soon as there is a "windless" day!Here's a pic of our $800 cat, Sugar, on the swing!
Our flowers and tomato plants are looking pretty darn good.
I hope we get some good maters!And - here's a victim of our drive to Oklahoma!
Sorry this was such a long post, but it's been a while. ENJOY!
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