The Tale of Gabben, The Nelson's, The Soul Man, and A Hotel With Alligators...

June 7, 2011

Fixing the problems at check in.

I was not pleased to hear my alarm go off that morning at 7:30am. But I did get out of bed anyway so that I could finish packing, and get dressed and ready. By 8:15am, my mom was driving Dad and I to Orange County Airport. When we got out of the car, one of the curbside check-in guys came right up to us to get our bags. However, I actually do not like doing curbside check-in, I much prefer to go inside to the kiosks and do it myself. But sometimes they move too quick to grab your bags and it just is easier to go with it.

When we walked inside we found Gabe, Larry, and Tim. It was Tim’s birthday! So lots of birthday hugs, and then we got back to the business of checking in. Gabe’s reservation was under the wrong name- or actually, they just spelled it wrong. Gabe Gabben instead of Rabben. It turns out there is a one hundred and fifty dollar fee for a misspelled name! The lady at the desk was really nice though and let him off with just a $30 reprint fee or something. We lucked out!

Once all that got settled, we headed through security and into the gate area. Dad wanted a snack, so he went to McDonalds with Larry, while Gabe, Tim, and I opted for Starbucks. With a little something in our stomachs, we were ready to rock! We got in line to board the plane, but it took a while. It was a sold out flight, and there was a backup getting on.

We were seated and ready to go right on time. The plane even took off as planned at 10am. I love it when that happens! We had a two and a half hour flight to Dallas. It wasn’t too bad though, went by semi-quick. Once we landed in Dallas, we had to get moving; we only had a forty minute layover. (Always makes me a little anxious when the layover is that short.)

Our bus to the hotel.

Our bus to the hotel.

I was the first one off the plane, then Gabe and Dad exited shortly after. I got a text from Tim saying that we might as well head to the next gate, because him and Larry were way in the back and it was going to take a while. So Dad, Gabe, and I headed up the giant escalator across from our gate. As we were waiting for the tram, Gabe saw a familiar face- actually the father of someone he went to school with. So they got to catch up for a while, because we were actually all headed to the same gate.

The tram took a few minutes- we weren’t the first or second stop… But we got to the C gates and headed toward C37. Our plane was ready and waiting. We had to wait a few minutes before they started boarding, but they got to it pretty quick after we arrived there! However, we were all in the last boarding group, which proved to be a bummer when we entered the packed- and extremely hot jet bridge! Gabe didn’t think he was going to make it to the plane, and I was breaking into a sweat. But once we entered the plane, it was a lot cooler.

Gabe and I at the hotel. Notice all the luggage around us!

I got to my seat and sure enough someone else was sitting in it. Luckily, they were in the wrong seat, but someone else (who also was in the wrong seat) was sitting in their chair. And that lady seemed very confused about the situation. I’m not sure what she thought was going on! I got organized and ready for the flight. It was a two and a half hour trip. I read for the first half, and then a major bonus was that the plane came equipped with in-flight internet! So that managed to keep me entertained for the rest of the time! And it was a good thing because I had a few people I needed to get back to.

We landed on time at 5:30pm into the Milwaukee Airport, after which we headed down to baggage claim to claim our bags… We also found Bob wandering around down there. As well as our driver. After we gathered the luggage we headed out to the shuttle bus. It was a party bus/shuttle bus; very comfortable.

It didn’t take us long to get to The Ambassador Hotel. We checked in and went up to our rooms. I have to say it is a beautiful hotel; originally built in the 1920’s and has a lot of art deco flare, (which is a favorite of mine!) and yet the rooms were all redone and very nice! By 7pm we all met down in the lobby for dinner. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel. It was amazing! I even got a cocktail called a Ruby Kiss, and it had dry ice in it- awesome presentation. The video Gabe got of it shows part of it’s awesomeness!

The whole gang at dinner.

After dinner- and a little dessert… (Had to put a candle in a lava cake and sing happy birthday to Tim!) We headed into the bar. Very cool bar, and great bartenders. We were rather entertained by the last half of the basketball game- it was the NBA Finals after all! Once that finished up we all decided to head back to our rooms. However, on the way, Gabe and I went down into the basement to find the vending machines and some water. Some interesting info about that hotel is that it is apparently haunted! And I have to say that the basement is a bit on the creepy side. We struck out anyways, and there was no regular water (only flavored), so we were out of there pretty quickly. But the elevators are another story too! They are very old, and actually have regular doors you have to open to get in and out of the extremely slow moving and small elevators. But I made it back to my room safely- and without any ghostly encounters!

It took me a little bit before I could fall asleep, but eventually I had sunken into that very comfortable bed. I was exhausted from the day of travel, and stuffed from all the amazing food!

June 8, 2011

I woke up at 6am for no reason, and I just could not get back to sleep! Well, not until about 9am, when I finally crashed for a couple more hours. I needed those extra hours too! But once I finally did actually get up and moving, I had to start getting ready. I also had some business I had to take care of, but I got that settled as quickly as possible. Then I was off to sound check.

I met dad downstairs at 3pm and we found the shuttle bus waiting for us outside. It was a five or ten minute ride to the Potawatomi Casino. We got straight to work and we finished sound checking rather quickly. Our soundman for that gig was Jeff, and he is from Milwaukee. So he had the hometown advantage! He got us in and out of there very fast.

The theater in Milwaukee.

Jeff, Tim, Larry, Bob, Gabe, and I all went to the Asian restaurant at the casino. It was really good too! Just what I needed! Then we jumped on a shuttle bus back to the hotel. I have to admit that the streets are rather rough in Milwaukee. Gabe was sitting on the seats across from Larry and I, and we hit a corner and a couple big bumps at the same time… Gabe ended up landing between Larry and I. He tried to make his flying through the air look smooth though- so I give him props!

We actually made it back there by 5:15pm, so we had two and a half hours before we needed to leave again- which is a lot more then we usually end up with! So we were all excited about that! As we got on the small, slow, old elevators, some poor soul got on the elevator with us. It was a younger fellow, and Bob was standing right behind him singing, “Potawatomi” (in a melody he made up), and this guy looked like he was creeped out and ready to bust out of the elevator! I could see the panic on his face! He couldn’t get the door open at first, and his fear was growing. I felt bad for him, but we are a special group- takes a special kind of person to not be creeped out by us!

The guys waiting to go back to the hotel after sound check.

But 7:45pm I was ready and met the guys down in the lobby and headed over to the casino. (Dad took a bit of a later shuttle.) The Nelson’s were opening the show for us, and the band and I wanted to catch at least part of their set. (Yes, the Nelson’s as in Ricky Nelson’s kids…) They did great! Very talented boys!

Dad got there a bit after we did, and we all hung around backstage watching the show on A&E about trafficking drugs- and the people getting caught. (As one of the Nelson’s referred to as the “show about stupid people”. And they are pretty much right!) Dad’s part of the show started just after 9pm. I got ready- put my in-ears on, etc… Then I chatted with the Nelson’s for a bit. But eventually I was up! The show was interesting. I got out on stage and sure enough, my in-ears did not work! There was some technical problem. I did “Time of My Life” with out them- which is not easy, I basically couldn’t hear myself at all. But then they had a new pack ready for me, and that one worked! So I switched those before the next song. Also, by the end of the show, dad was introducing the band, and right as he was acknowledging me, I couldn’t help it and was trying to hide a yawn- but Dad caught me and announced his yawning daughter! Pretty funny!

Me and my Bloody Mary.

After the show, Dad and I went out to sign for a bit, but then ended up backstage where we had some food delivered. I got a great salad, and a very special dessert… Dessert Nachos. Yummy! Cinnamon and sugar crisps, strawberries, hot fudge, caramel sauce, and ice cream! Wow! I shared with everyone- and everyone was loving it!

We headed back to the hotel eventually though, and Bob, Gabe, and I went straight to the bar. I got my first Bloody Mary (the bartender there is kind of famous for it), and it was quite the presentation! Very impressive. Soon Larry and Tim joined us as well and we all hung out until the bar shut down. Then it was time to get to our rooms for a little rest.

I admit, it took me a while to get to sleep. But I did fall asleep eventually. We all knew that we needed to get as much rest as possible the next day, because the following day was going to be a killer!

June 9, 2011

I allowed myself to sleep in for a while. But once I was up, I had a lot of work to get done! So I got busy figuring everything out. Not much happened until around 8:15pm though when Dad and I got a ride to the casino. The Nelson’s were opening again, so we got there with plenty of time before our show. We all hung out backstage for a while, and then it was show time!

The show went great! As did signing. The Nelson’s gave me a vintage Ricky Nelson shirt that is awesome! I love it. Dad and I had ordered some food for after the show. But when we were done stuffing our faces, we all hopped into the bus and back to the hotel. We were all in a hurry to get back to the hotel because of the long day ahead of us… I was up in my room before midnight, and I was in bed not long after. Sadly I just could not get to sleep though! But by 2:30am, I think I finally passed out.

June 10, 2011

4:30am came very early. But my alarm went off and so I knew I had to get out of that comfortable bed. I very quickly through things into my bag, and got into regular clothes; and I was down in the bus by 5am as requested. We all gathered and drove off to the airport. When we arrived, we found the line for Delta to be insanely long! Luckily, a skycap came inside and said they were open outside if we wanted to check in there. Indeed we did! So that saved a bit of time!

Yep, that is me being felt up at the Milwaukee airport.

After we all got ticketed, we were off to security. It was my lucky day, I was picked as the random person to be felt up. And they really do feel you up when they search you! Gabe made sure to get documentation of the event in picture form. I was laughing most of the time because all the guys were watching and enjoying the show.

But after that was done, we found a place to stop and get some breakfast. We had some time to waste, so we hung out there for a bit; and then by the time we left and walked to our gate, they were starting to board. We all got in our assigned seats and ready to take off by 7am. We were all sitting in the same area of the plane. Gabe and I were sitting together, so I got to spy on his movie most of the flight. (He has a new iPad, and always has good movies for the plane on it!) I finished up some reading and writing and then attempted to nap, but wasn’t very successful.

We landed on time in Atlanta, it was only about a two and a half hour flight. Once we got there we had about a three hour layover though. We all walked down to the tram and got on that to take us to the next terminal where I new flight was. When we exited, we started looking for places to eat. We pretty much circled the terminal first to check out all of our options, then ended up at Chiles.

We had a leisurely lunch, and then afterwards we headed to the gate. We found a row of seats and we all got comfortable. Soon we started hearing announcements about our flight being oversold, and weight restrictions. We started to get a bit worried. However, they started boarded, so we got in line. We had to get on that plane, staying later was not an option, we had a show that night.

We all managed to get on the flight; without any of us getting bumped. Again I was next to Gabe and got to finish watching the movie he started on the first flight. This trip was a bit shorter, only about an hour or hour and a half to Alexandria, Louisiana. When we touched down, we were right on time at 1:30pm.

It was a very cute, small airport. It had fountains and a lot of nice decorative touches. We found baggage claim and our drivers rather quickly. The bags took a bit to come up though, and took even longer to get to us. I have never seen a baggage carousel move so slowly ever! We couldn’t believe it! But eventually we had all of our luggage and headed out to the vans.

We had two conversion like vans for all of us. I was in one van with Tim, Bob, and Gabe. It was about a forty five minute drive to Marksville and the Paragon Resort and Casino. We were all fading on and off throughout the drive. It had already been a long day!

The resort was beautiful. In the lobby there was even a pond with alligators! Loved that! I spent some time checking that out while Tim got us checked in. By the time I had my key in hand, and found my room (which wasn’t easy), it was 3:30pm. I decided not to waste time, so I jumped right into the shower. I don’t think I have ever gotten ready for a show so quick. I think I was ready in about forty minutes- with show makeup and all!

By 4:20pm, I began walking down to the theater. It was a bit of a walk! The resort was rather large. When I got there, they were just about ready for me to sound check. (Dad didn’t come down to sound check that day because he knew that going back to sleep for as long as possible was more important for him.) The guys and I got done pretty quickly, and turned the stage over to Sam Moore’s guys. (We were working with Sam Moore of Sam and Dave that night. I love him, so talented!)

During sound check, my cousin Heather had arrived. I was very happy to see her! All the guys and Heather and I went to grab some food in the steakhouse as soon as we left the theater. It was a very nice and civilized meal- once we got seated at least. Gabe and I had walked in to talk to the host about getting a table, and they were less than welcoming to us. But we got seated anyway.

The theater in Marksville.

Once the food was all gone, we went back up to our rooms for some rest time. I had about three hours until I needed to be anywhere, but I was too scared to go to sleep, I was afraid I wouldn’t get back up- or be crazy groggy if I did! So Heather kept me awake! Sam Moore started at 9pm, and Heather and I went to meet Dad up in his room at 9:15pm. Our security escort was there shortly after to take us to the theater. They actually took us in a van, which was very nice! It was going to be a long walk in my stage shoes, and in Dad’s cowboy boots.

We walked in and got settled in the dressing rooms. I hung out in the guys room for a while because Dad was doing an interview in his. (Plus the guys always have better food choices!) We were all getting ready to get on stage by 10:15pm.

Dad and his sandwich.

It was a great show. Ready wonderful crowd! We did a bit of a shortened show since we were working with Sam, but it was perfect! So nice to have such an encouraging audience after such a long and exhausting travel day! Dad and I went out to sign after the show, and that was wonderful as well!

Afterwards, we all hung out backstage for a little while, but eventually Heather and I headed up to my room. I was exhausted! Once we got there, we chatted for a while (you know, girl talk…), but I’d like to say we were asleep sometime around 2am.

June 11, 2011

My alarm went off by 10am, and I just could not get myself out of bed. I felt dead! So we hung out in our room for an hour and a half, then started getting packed up and ready to check out. We walked out to Heather’s car; which was a bit of a walk in the hot sun with all of my luggage, but I made it! We got everything shoved into the truck, and then we were on our way.

It was about a five hour drive from there to Heather’s apartment in The Woodland, Texas. I was somewhat delirious for most of the drive; I just could not shake that feeling! But we had a good time. We drove through some beautiful areas! Including a little town called Bunkie. (I love the name!) We made a few stops for food, gas, bathroom, the usual… And had to go a bit out of our way to pick a few things up. But I was comfortably laying on one of her couches by 6pm.

Entering Texas.

I called that couch home for a while; I needed a bit of rest! But by 7:30pm Deven (Heather’s boyfriend) got home, and we were ready to head to dinner. We went to Landry’s and it was wonderful! I love that place! We had a nice long dinner, and great conversation. After that we just headed back to their apartment to hang out for the rest of the night. I got ready and tried to go to sleep by a reasonable hour, but that didn’t exactly work out. I tried, but I just wasn’t able to get a great night’s sleep.

June 12, 2011

My alarm rang at 7:30am, and I jumped out of bed to get ready. I had to pack up my bags again and begin to take them down to the car. By 8am Heather and I were on our way to Houston Hobby airport. (Normally I fly out of IAH because it is thirty minutes closer, but Hobby had a direct flight to Branson Airport, so I had to go with that!) We actually ended up getting there faster than expected, by 8:40am. We said our goodbyes, and I was off to check in.

I was on Air Tran that day, and I was actually in business class, because when I bought the ticket, it was just as cheap to do that! So when I went through security I got to go through the business class line, and that was great, very short! Once I made it through there, I scouted out for some food. I found a very nice looking sandwich, and some little things to munch on. I was a happy camper! Hobby is a great airport! So easy and small!

Branson Airport.

I waited for my plane to get there, and once it arrived we were boarding within fifteen minutes. We were in the air a few minutes early, probably about 10:20am. The flight went by quick, and there was WiFi on the plane, so I got to get some work done while in route too!

We touched down twenty four minutes early! I don’t know how we did that, but it was impressive! I went to grab my bags, and then waited for my mom by the curb. She picked me up and took me home. I was so excited to take a shower, and unpack some things! But after that I took my mom out to run some errands around town. Then by 5:30pm we went to pick up Dad and we all went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner- a favorite place of mine!

By the time we were done with that, I just went home and began to unpack a bit more, and more importantly, I began to get ready for bed. I needed a lot of sleep, and I intended on getting it! I was in bed by 10pm, and asleep within minutes.

(As a follow up, I slept over thirteen hours! And the only reason I woke up then was because my alarm went off. Had it not woken me up, I might still be asleep!)