The Tale of Keb'Mo, a 26 Hour Travel Day, and The Road Trip Home...

Keb'Mo and I.

Keb'Mo and I.

Nashville, Tennessee was absolutely beautiful! I ended up with a good mix of work and play… I had a couple meetings, and even went to song write with dad, Gabe and the amazing Keb’Mo! He is such an incredible talent. And driving to his house was a gorgeous drive toward the country. I was falling in love with the houses and open land on the way there!

I got to stop by Larry’s studio to record a couple background vocals for some songs the band is currently working on. That was a lot of fun too! Larry has an amazing studio in Nashville; it is in an old house and has an awesome vibe!

The whole gang in front of Larry's Studio.

I also took some time to do a little shopping! I figured this would be a great place to check out some great country wear; but I actually didn’t find too much. I found about a million pairs of cowboy boots I would have loved to buy, but I held myself back. It was nice to have a little time to relax and catch up on all the things that had been set aside while I was on the bus.

Nashville was truly an inspiring place, beautiful and artistic.

February 18, 2011

My alarm blared at me come 6:30am. I rolled out of bed to finish packing my things, then dad and I headed downstairs by just after 7am. I went to the valet to get the car while Dad stopped to check out of the rooms and get some coffee. Soon the bags were in the car and I was turning on the navigation to the airport. The drive went smooth- no traffic! (Which surprised me since it was around 7am. Growing up in California, you know that would never happen!)

We arrived at the airport, and the nice navigation lady directed us straight to the Budget car rental drop off spot. Someone greeted us and got everything squared away with the car in no time. Then we walked into the airport and up the tall escalators to the ticket desks.

We walked to American Airlines and up to a ticket kiosk. I got myself checked in first, then helped my dad get checked in as well, (he is not so great with electronics…). My big suitcase was overweight, but there was nothing I could do about it at that point, so I conceded and paid the price.

Dad getting searched.

Tim, Bob and Gabe were waiting for us right in front of security. We got into the three lines. Dad and Bob got in the left line, Gabe and I in the middle line, and Tim in the right line. Gabe and I decided it was a race; however, we were losing. But then, a change of luck! They opened up a new security line right in front of us! Tim still beat us, but we were done soon after him; somehow Larry managed to get through after us (he must know tricks since Nashville is his airport, because we got into the security lines while he was still parking his car!), then Bob came wandering through with my dad’s stuff in hand. He pointed to the “pat down” cubicle that was a clear cube a few feet away that the selected people got to go into so they could be searched. Sure enough, my Dad was standing in there with a big burley TSA agent. He had his arms out and legs spread. We all started busting up- and you know Gabe and I got our cameras out! (Not going to miss a Kodak moment like that!) Dad was held there for about five minutes. He even turned around to see us all waiting for him and watching everything unfold. He did a little tap dance for us, then the TSA agent got back to business.

Once our venture with security had wound down, we walked toward our gate which was only two away. My Dad accidentally ran into someone, and then when he looked up to see who it was, it turned out it was Tyrell Owens. All the boys were very entertained by that!

We had about an hour to waste, so we stopped at the first restaurant- (a Nashville favorite that the actual location is on Broadway) called Tootsies. The service was extremely slow. It took the whole hour to get our food. There was a very interesting and strange younger man delivering food to the place, and at one point he stopped at our table and said, “I just have to say that you look so much like Kate Hudson. Really.” We all just sort of said okay. (I don’t normally hear Kate Hudson as a look alike for me, but I would take that comparison any day!) About five or ten minutes later he stopped back at our table, this time he said, “Imagine; Ashton Kutcher with a Tom Selleck mustache and playing Magnum PI. Just imagine…” We all just froze for a minute, then I started cracking up. So random!

View from the plane.

By the time we were done, the plane was just starting to board. I ran to the bathroom first- which was in the wrong direction, but I made it back and got in line to get on the plane. I was soon in my seat and getting comfortable. We took off on time at 9:30am. Once we were in the air, I spent the flight songwriting and working on some to-do lists. The flight went by pretty quick, and we were on the ground in Dallas around 11am.

As I exited the plane, I stopped to ask the agent what gate the flight to Reno was going out of. She said, “Oh yeah, Reno… That flight has been canceled.” I asked if there was any other flights; she said there was maybe one other flight later, but our flight had been canceled due to weather. So I waited for everyone to get off the plane. I informed our fearless leader Tim of the situation.

We went to the closest gate agent, but they wouldn’t help us; we had to go to the ticket desk outside security. Tim, Larry, and I went out to the ticket desk after we left our bags with Bob, Gabe and dad. We began talking with the ticket agent and it was seeming completely hopeless! All the flights to Reno, Sacramento or anything else we could think of, were all oversold and even if we got on the waitlist, we would be numbers 27-32. They had already rebooked my dad’s flight for the morning, and rebooked me going through Los Angeles and getting into Reno, NV at 7pm the next day; which wasn’t even an option- we had an 8pm show in Lake Tahoe that day! I wouldn’t have even made the show. The rest of the band wasn’t even rebooked.

Tim got ahold of Denise- our travel agent. She managed to work her magic and get my dad and Tim on a 7:30pm flight from Dallas to San Francisco; then the rest of us were booked on a flight that left for San Francisco at 9:30pm. We had a long, long wait in store for us. We went back through security to figure out the rest of the details. We all met up and talked about the options. We had heard that the driving conditions were pretty horrible, so for the moment the plan was to get to San Francisco and then drive as far as Sacramento that night. (Hoping that the icy drive up the mountain to Lake Tahoe would be easier and safer in the morning light.)

In the Dallas Airport.

We found a gate agent that helped us get our new boarding passes and organize our bags so that they would hopefully make it to San Francisco; and she even put Larry, Bob, Gabe and I on standby for the earlier 7:30pm flight. It took a while to get that all done.

By 2pm, we decided to get a day-rate on a few rooms at the Grand Hyatt. (Dad thought that sounded a lot better than waiting in the airport the whole time.) I went to my dad’s room and we ordered some room service and watched a movie. Dad napped for a couple hours while I worked on some things. Then by 6pm it was time to head down to the hotel lobby to meet up with everyone.

We went back through security… (That is the third time I went through security that day!) Then we walked toward the gate; Gabe had already been rescheduled to be on the first flight at 7:30pm. Larry, Bob and I stopped at the gate to find out that we were numbers one, two, and three on the standby list. A promising sign, but still hard to have much hope!

All of us took over a long row of seats by the gate. Gabe and I began screwing around and made a little video; then he ventured to the candy store to get some gummy candy. We all sat waiting to hear the next word on our flight. Shortly, the bad news came in of a thirty minute delay. We were all discouraged. However, there was some good news; we were all able to fit on the plane! Larry, Bob and I got assigned our seats, it was a relief that we were all together on that flight.

I went to get some frozen yogurt to cheer myself up- that is always a favorite of mine! Not long after I got back to the gate and took a seat, there was an announcement about our flight. They said that our plane had to take off at 9:30pm. (None of us understood quite why we had to take off then, but we realized that if the plane didn’t depart by then, we would surely be stuck in Dallas overnight.) After a while, I decided to hit up the candy shop, everyone else already had. (Let’s just say I was trying to fit in and it wasn’t about the candy at all…)

By the time I got my bag filled up with Jelly Belly’s, Cinnamon Bears, and Pop Rocks, the plane was starting to board. I went back to our row of seats to grab my bags, and then I was off.  I was able to get on the plane right away. I found my aisle seat toward the middle/back of the plane. (I’m not a fan of aisle seats, I prefer a window, but at this point it was just good to be on the plane!) The flight was full. Bob was actually sitting in the aisle seat on the other side of my row- so there was at least one friendly face around.

At baggage claim.

After we took off, I did a little writing, then I tried to take a nap. I can’t say I got much sleep though; I just couldn’t get comfortable! It was a long flight- about three hours and forty minutes. But we did eventually land in San Francisco. We all got off the plane, and waited for the rest of the guys to come our way. As we stood there at the gate waiting, and waiting- it was a big plane with a lot of people. Finally, Gabe emerged from the jet bridge, and we all broke out in a fit of laughter. He looked like the walking dead- like he had just woken up from a seven year sleep. It was perfect!

We all walked down to the baggage claim to await our fate. I have to say that after all our delays and plane changes, we were truly awaiting a miracle to see our bags on that carousel. Low and behold, a miracle it was! Some of our bags slowly began to show up. Then the incoming bags started to slow down. We were missing one bag… One of my two bags! Fully discouraged, I walked over to the baggage desk. I spoke with the lady, and soon witnessed the next miracle of the night- she had my other bag there! Apparently it had made an earlier flight! I was so relieved, as was the rest of the band. I believe we all may have done a bit of a celebratory jig!

The limo.

After that, we all walked out to the curb to meet our car around 1am. It took a while for the car to get there- and it was rather chilly outside. But we eventually saw a long stretch SUV (Navigation) limo coming our way. The big strong boys piled the bags up in the back. I slid into the limo first, and all the way to the farthest corner. Gabe joined me next on the backward facing seats. Then Larry next to him, then Tim; both on the side facing bench. And Dad and Bob on the forward facing seats. Even though the limo was big, with all of our bags and such, we were still in pretty close quarters!

We drove for a little while chatting and enjoying each others company, but then the boys requested we stop somewhere before 2am so they could get some beer for them and wine for my dad. We got out of the limo like a highly trained team attacking the snacks at Seven Eleven. We stocked up- big time! (I have to say we know how to buy some junk food!) Soon we piled back into the limo and got back on our journey.

In the limo.

Slowly, we all dropped like flies- our sleeping heads falling on whatever was close by. I woke up to find that we were near the bottom of the mountain and stopping again to use the bathrooms and such. Then quickly back into the limo and on our way into the snow storm. I was soon curled up and back to sleep- as was everyone else. But pretty quickly after that, we were stopped and forced to put chains on the limo. That took about an hour probably.

The drive... View out the windshield.

The snow outside was intense. Once we got moving again, I woke up enough to look out the front window, and it was a scary sight… I could barely see a few feet in front of the car. It was white everywhere! I passed back out soon though; basically I was asleep on and off the whole ride. By the last hour, we were all a bit more awake and giggly. Gabe was in rare form. He took a shot of the vodka that was provided in the limo- it pretty much smelled like rubbing alcohol. That got him in a fun mood; well, I think it was the mix of that and the delirium from the lack of sleep. But Larry was still passed out- as usual; and so Gabe got very close to Larry’s face and simply said, “Hi”. He repeated himself once more, which awoke Larry enough to ask if he had been snoring. Gabe responded, “No, just wanted to say hi, it has been a while since we’ve talked.” Larry swiftly replied, “I know, I’ve missed you.” Then he passed right back out. We were all loving it!

The TV's in the bathrooms at
the hotel.

My room.

Finally, we started to drive into the town of Lake Tahoe. It looked beautiful. We were all awake and chatting. Gabe somewhat proudly announced, “I got drunk and sobered up about five times today!” Seems like a lot… But it had been a 26 hour travel day! Twenty Six hours! It was pure insanity! We arrived at the Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe at 7am. I can’t explain the exhaustion!

Without too much delay, I was on the way to my room. It was a beautiful room on the thirteenth floor. Amazing view! Truly breathtaking! I had to get on the computer and rebook a flight before I went to sleep though. Luckily, it did not take too long, and soon I was passed out!

February 19, 2011

Dad at sound check.

Since I didn’t make it to bed until about 8am, you could imagine I slept most of the day. My wake up call- and multiple alarms that I set all went off at 2:30pm. I was still tired, but knew I had to start getting ready anyways. I jumped into the shower, and then did my makeup.

Sound check was moved a little later to about 4pm for me. So I wandered down there to check things out around then. It took me a minute to find the theater because I had no idea which direction to go. (It has been years since I have been at that hotel!) But I did find it! What a great room! I was loving the vibe- especially the old school booths in the back that had chandeliers and white drapes around and above them.

The view from my hotel room.

Things moved rather quickly that day, I don’t think anyone wanted to waste too much time! Afterwards, Gabe, Larry, Bob and I decided to go get some food at the coffee shop. I was intrigued by the fact that the coffee shop had a creek running through it, and a lot of lush plants. It was quite a nice environment.

By the time we were done, it was time to go up and finish getting ready. I curled my hair and threw on my stage clothes. I went down the elevator to find my dad’s room so I could walk down to the theater with him. I was lucky that I remembered the his room number and ended up knocking on the right door! He was just about ready to go.

The view from my hotel room.

Soon the escorts arrived at the door and we were on our way backstage. We went through the service elevator, and through the back way- inside the hotel. My dad recognized the trip since he had worked at this hotel a lot of times throughout his career. When we arrived at the dressing rooms. I was informed that the dressing room Dad was in was the one Jack Benny was in when Bobby Hatfield and Dad opened for Jack. He also showed me which dressing room he was in back then- which that night was the band’s room.

I roamed about backstage for a bit, snacking on the deli trays and such. Then watched as everyone got on the stage and the show started. I ran back to the dressing room at that point and put my in ears on, and hooked my pack for the in ears on the back of my top. But the pack wasn’t lighting up, or making any sound. I assumed this was not a good sign. I went to find the monitor guy. He checked it out for me, and it turns out the batteries had died! I am so lucky that I turned on my pack a few minutes early that night- that could have been a disaster!

But the show ended up going great! Gabe had a lot of friends and family, so he had a large cheering section! There were actually a lot of friends of all of ours there that night, which made for a great audience. After the show, dad and I went out to sell like usual, and that was a bit crazy! Lots of people pushing and pulling us in every direction. But they were all very nice people, and it was a lot of fun to hear some of the stories they were sharing.

Myself backstage.

As the line was just finishing, Gabe introduced us to his crew of people. His parents, his sister, and her boyfriend were all there; as were all his best boys from high school. They were all great people, and loved the show- and were so proud of their Gabe!

Jeff and Chris.

After I finished up out there, I ran backstage to get my stuff and make a little sandwich. I went to wait for Tim to wrap up all the merchandise stuff, then I was escorted back up to my room. I set my backpack down, and got changed into something a bit more comfortable; after that, I called Gabe to see where he was at- he had insisted I go out and hang with him and his guys that night.

Myself at the Pub.

I managed to locate them at the Sports Bar. Some gambling was attempted by them, only to realize they weren’t ready to gamble yet; so the six guys and I braved the cold (the very, very cold) to go to the Pub a block away. We were not prepared to be walking outside, but that didn’t stop us. We hung out at the pub for a couple hours- which included a couple games of pool; then we braved the cold yet again to get back to the hotel.

Gabe and Chris making a funny face
on Elliot. 

They were ready to try gambling again at this point… However, it was 2am, and I had to leave the hotel at 4:45am, so I decided to call it a night. I got back up to my room and I packed a little bit- at least I got a little more organized anyway. Then I crawled into bed and let my eyes shut for a bit.

February 20, 2011

My alarm seemed very rude that morning at 4am. But I was excited to get up and get moving! I got dressed and packed everything up as quickly as possible. In no time, I was down in the lobby. I met my limo driver and he got me into the small SUV limo, then we began the drive down the mountain to Reno.

Inside the limo.

The drive was pretty easy. However, toward the bottom of the mountain there was about ten minutes where the fog was so thick, you could barely see the white lines dividing the lanes! That was a little scary- especially since he didn’t seem to slow down for that! But I did make it to Reno airport, and early at that, I was there just before 6am!

I checked in at the desk for my 7:30am flight to Denver, Colorado, then on to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Everything was appearing to be on time! So I stopped to waste a few minutes and play a little video poker on one of the machines, then I continued on through security. I wandered around for a while and waited for the flight to board. Soon I was on my way into the plane. I got comfortable in my seat and right after we took off, I took a bit of a nap. I was woken up by a little turbulence on the way into Denver. But we landed safely rather quickly.

I exited the plane and got on the tram to the other concourse. I had to go straight to my next gate and get a boarding pass since it was on a different airline. The man at the desk informed me that the plane would probably be delayed about twenty minutes. I walked over to a charging station to get my phone plugged in and charged up and I waited patiently.

The Reno Airport.

After some time passed and the flight was still not boarding; they announced that the plane had been delayed again. The flight was coming in from Montana, and the weather wasn’t great there. The plane was supposed to take off at 12:35pm. I kept updating my friend Michael- who was picking me up in Colorado Springs; but every time I informed him of a delay, there was yet another delay! Finally, I was on the plane by 1:30pm. They closed the door and were ready to go.

But then an announcement came over the loud speaker, they said that the maintenance crew found a small dent on the side of the plane and they have to make a detailed note of it. Apparently that entails very, very detailed pictures and measurements. It took a long time, and I was very antsy! We finally started moving toward the take off line at 3:30pm. However, as were turned the corner to the line of planes waiting to take off, it was just depressing! We were the 14^th plane in line to take off, (there was only two runways open at the Denver airport that day because of the wind, and they were both being used for take off and landing planes). We had about a twenty or thirty minute wait. It was obscene!

Finally we began down the runway and as we started to lift off, a strong gust of wind hit our small plane and titled the plane so much that I would swear the wing just about touched the tarmac. Not a great start! The good news was that it was only a twenty minute plane ride. The bad news was that is was the scariest twenty minutes of my life so far. I have never experienced any kind of turbulence like that. I can’t even explain it. We finally landed in Colorado Springs at 4:15pm, and I was shaken. I couldn’t believe that trip!

I walked to baggage claim and got my luggage, then headed out to the curb to wait for Michael. He showed up pretty quickly after I got there. It was so nice to see a happy and familiar face after the last few crazy travel days. I was a bit of a wreck from all of that, but I was trying my best to hold together. It is amazing how much all this traveling and such can take a toll on you!

Our rig that we drove to Missouri. I love this picture... Michael fully air born!

I didn’t actually make it home to Branson until February 23. I drove with Michael the next day to Kansas City to visit some friends and help him move there. Then the following day we were on our way to Branson- with a stop over in his hometown Fair Grove, Missouri for a meeting he had, and to visit with his family for a minute. But I did make it home safe and sound; however, I was exhausted and on almost no sleep! I was not in my finest form! I apologize for that! But sometimes when you are dealing with these kinds of things, you just can’t help it.