YES I KNOW THE NAME OF THE SHOW WAS BACK WHERE I COME FROM III, but it’s the first time I've seen
him in Knoxville.
When this concert was first announced, I thought it would be really cool to go, but I really didn't think it would happen
for me. With all the other shows I had already been to, and with the big trip to the West Coast already in works, I really
didn't think that I would be able to swing a side trip to Knoxville. As much as I wanted to go to Knoxville, since I wasn't
making my somewhat yearly trip to Tennessee for Fan Fair. Well, the more I heard everyone talk about it and the long
list of people who were planning on going, I had to at least attempt it. With the first mention of adding this show to our
list of shows for the year’s tour, Nikki and Jen did not bat an eye. They wanted to go just as badly as me. So it was
another road trip in the making.
Our first thought was to fly, but since we’v' spent so much of our hard-earned money on so many other shows, we
decided to drive. Hey, it’s only 12 hours away and much cheaper than flying. Besides, we always have so much fun in
the car. It’s almost the best part of the trip and why not when you have good friends, great music, and road sodas, you’
re almost guaranteed a good time
So at 2 am on Friday morning, the day before the concert, we packed up Jen’s car with our luggage, two coolers, and a
tailgate party supply box. We met Nikki at the “SECRET MEETING PLACE” in Pennsylvania. We've actually used this
place twice now. The first time was when Nikki and I decided to go wish Tim good luck on his surgery back in January.
Getting back to loading the car with our luggage. Jen invested in a contraption to hold our luggage on the top of the
car. We need more space inside our vehicle as we travel. This contraption actually delayed our departure time. I
pleaded many times with Jen that she test it out beforehand, but she never did try it out. Not until that morning, that is.
Naturally, she had difficulty trying to get it loaded and tied down. The luggage carrier had these straps that constantly
whipped in the wind. We could hear the noise inside the care. At one point, while traversing over one of the bridges
that would take us to the US Mainland, we couldn't hear the straps anymore. Jen got very nervous, she thought all of
our clothes had landed in the Hudson River, and she decided to stick her head out the moon roof. Not one of her
brighter moves. Her glasses just about flew off her head while almost getting whiplash.
Since once again it was more important for Jen to be at the bowling alley the night before a road trip, she didn't get any
sleep before we left. I drove from Long Island to the meeting place in Pennsylvania and then through most of Virginia.
Jen slept on and off through most of that, mostly because I kept telling her to go to sleep. When Jen finally woke up,
somewhere in Virginia, the first words out of her mouth were “when can I have a beer?” We told her not until she ate
breakfast. So, we were now looking for the nearest Golden Arch.
So once Jen’s belly was filled with hash browns and some sort of Mickey D’s egg sandwich mess, she passed around
the road sodas. As is now tradition, when we first hit the sights of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we needed, or at least I
did, to hear and sing-along with John Denver’s COUNTRY ROADS. This continued through the state of Virginia. When
we were about 50 miles out of Tennessee, we got in touch with Gary (a.k.a. Groth, a.k.a. Big Kahuna). We actually
found him on the road about 100 miles East of Knoxville and we caravaned the rest of the way, right to the hotel.
It was so weird, finally getting to the hotel. So much happened in such a short period of time. I’m sure I don’t
remember everything correctly, and that’s not from the few road sodas I had. It’s more from traveling for 12 hours
without getting much rest. It’s also due to the fact that Lois Lane (a.k.a ME) left her notepad and pen at home. Clark
was so disappointed in me. He’ll get over it, like he always does. I left Nikki and Jen at the car, while I checked in.
There was so much going on inside the lobby. I heard some commotion and turned to see Nae and Kelly walking in. It
was so exciting to finally be able to meet both of them in person.
After I was done checking in, I went back out to the car to help the girls unload the car and load the luggage cart. It’s
amazing that we got all of our STUFF on that cart. Well, just about all of it. Jen pulled the cooler that had wheels and I
believe Nikki had to carry one item. But hey, we didn't need to make a second trip out to the car and that was bonus.
As soon as we got to the room, I immediately unpacked and with that out of the way, I started making my jug of
Margarita's. That jug lasted all afternoon, evening, and into the wee hours of the morning too. I did share with anyone
who wanted some. Unfortunately for me, not too many were interested in Margarita's.
At our hotel that weekend, there was a very special event-taking place. It was a tattoo and body piercing conference.
Jen and Nikki should have snapped a few pictures of my facial expressions when I first came across some of these
artists. Not that there’s anything wrong with tattoos or body piercing. It’s just not my thing and not something I normally
come across in my sheltered world, and certainly not what I expected to see in Knoxville, Tennessee.
After everyone got settled in, had a few drinks, and basically had a chance to unwind from their morning drive to
Knoxville, we decided to go on a hunt for some food. What better way to find some food, then to go for a stroll through
the city of Knoxville? We wound up at a place called “ye old steakhouse”. The food was good, the atmosphere was
fine, and the company was excellent. We weren'’t too rowdy, but it was a good idea that the host sat us outside.
We had discussed going to listen to Kenny’s rehearsal. Earlier that day he had invited anyone in the area to come
down and listen to the rehearsal while he was on the radio. We couldn't’t make up our mind(s). Gary went to get his two
guitars, and Nikki and Jen were planning to go pick up another friend who had sent an SOS. The friend had gotten
stuck at the rehearsal and wanted to hang out with some fun people. I decided to join Nikki and Jen on their rescue
mission.
Unfortunately, rehearsal wasn''’t done. We stayed a short while and listened to Kenny and his band rehearse. It was
during this time that I got to test the new port-a-potty, complete with the large Pringles can donated by Joyce
(kennyisnumberone). It worked great. Eventually we abandoned the rescue mission and headed back to the party at
the hotel. The party was going full blast. Everyone was having a great time, and I got to meet a few more members of
the fan club. It was great to finally meet some people that I've known through KC’s website for so long now.
Eventually, Nikki and Jen did go back out on that rescue mission, and they were successful this time. In their absence,
Gary was having a good time playing some songs on that guitar of his. He even gave me the spare so that I could strum
along too. Gary wasn't the only one using his special talents to entertain. Kelly Jelly had her sharpie out and was busy
autographing assorted body parts. She got me on the bottom of my foot and my shoulder. The one on my foot is
permanently embedding in the socks that I wore to the concert on Saturday. Apparently, I didn't scrub my foot as well as
my shoulder while in the shower.
We sang a lot of songs that night during the big sing-along. The one song that will forever stand out in my mind is
WHAT I NEED TO DO. Oh boy, we were so loud during the line leading up to and including KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE. I
really don’t know how we never got a knock on the door from hotel management.
After their being some talk about how long everyone would stay up or how long they could stay up without passing out,
I think I did pretty good considering. I tried taking a nap on Thursday, starting at 4 PM with my intentions being to wake
up at midnight. I don’t know if I ever really fell asleep, but I wasn't too tired during the 12-hour drive. I believe I slept for
about 45 minutes at one point. Somehow I was still going strong at 2 am Saturday morning (or Friday night, however
you want to look at it). Funny, I don’t remember seeing Groth moving around at 2 am, and he was worried about me.
Let me tell you, Saturday morning’s hangover really stunk. YUCK!!! That Jose does it every time. It was so bad that I
do believe that Jose has made his last trip with me. You know what that means. I’m no longer the Margarita Girl. From
now on, I’m sticking to my Heiny’s. Somebody, beer me! Good thing this year’s tour is close to being over. I only have
four more shows planned (that’s right ONLY). For those last four shows as far as I’m concerned, it’s the SENORITAS
TOUR.
I was glad to see that our new roommate, Carol (kcsfloridagal) is an early riser, just like me. Although I do believe that
it was me who finally woke up Jen and Nikki. I was only trying to drain the water out the coolers and add some new, un
melted ice to them. It really wasn'’t my fault that the bottles kept making so much noise. Eventually, we got our butts in
gear and headed out to get some much-needed food. We wound up at a Shoney’s on 11W and had us a breakfast
buffet. That buffet did a really good job at calming my stomach down from all the havoc wreaked by Jose. (Bad Jose,
very bad)
Well now with my calm and full stomach, it was time to head back to the hotel and figure out the plan of attack for the
day’s events. A bunch of us decided to walk to the venue. It really wasn't that far, but since Knoxville is in the foothills of
the Smokey Mountains, there was a hill or two to go up, and down, and up, and down again, to get to the venue. Back
in January, Tampa was a nice walk from the hotel to the venue also, but at least it was flat. We did eventually make it
there, despite the sweating, rain, many stops, and the weight of the items I had packed to take with us. We couldn't go
dry after all. I packed as much beer as possible. Why didn't I pack some of those lightweight shello jots? Nae, why
didn't you help me pack?
As much as I really appreciate the effort that Jon and I’m sure mostly Kortney went to for the fan club area, it really
wasn'’t big enough. I apologize to both of you if my name was one of the absentee names you called. Really I was
there, but couldn't get anywhere near the tent. I did see both of you, but couldn't get through the massive crowd to say
hi. I did wave, but you were both very busy. I look forward to further such outings, if at all possible. It was a good idea,
and with that experience behind, we can move on and improve.
him in Knoxville.
When this concert was first announced, I thought it would be really cool to go, but I really didn't think it would happen
for me. With all the other shows I had already been to, and with the big trip to the West Coast already in works, I really
didn't think that I would be able to swing a side trip to Knoxville. As much as I wanted to go to Knoxville, since I wasn't
making my somewhat yearly trip to Tennessee for Fan Fair. Well, the more I heard everyone talk about it and the long
list of people who were planning on going, I had to at least attempt it. With the first mention of adding this show to our
list of shows for the year’s tour, Nikki and Jen did not bat an eye. They wanted to go just as badly as me. So it was
another road trip in the making.
Our first thought was to fly, but since we’v' spent so much of our hard-earned money on so many other shows, we
decided to drive. Hey, it’s only 12 hours away and much cheaper than flying. Besides, we always have so much fun in
the car. It’s almost the best part of the trip and why not when you have good friends, great music, and road sodas, you’
re almost guaranteed a good time
So at 2 am on Friday morning, the day before the concert, we packed up Jen’s car with our luggage, two coolers, and a
tailgate party supply box. We met Nikki at the “SECRET MEETING PLACE” in Pennsylvania. We've actually used this
place twice now. The first time was when Nikki and I decided to go wish Tim good luck on his surgery back in January.
Getting back to loading the car with our luggage. Jen invested in a contraption to hold our luggage on the top of the
car. We need more space inside our vehicle as we travel. This contraption actually delayed our departure time. I
pleaded many times with Jen that she test it out beforehand, but she never did try it out. Not until that morning, that is.
Naturally, she had difficulty trying to get it loaded and tied down. The luggage carrier had these straps that constantly
whipped in the wind. We could hear the noise inside the care. At one point, while traversing over one of the bridges
that would take us to the US Mainland, we couldn't hear the straps anymore. Jen got very nervous, she thought all of
our clothes had landed in the Hudson River, and she decided to stick her head out the moon roof. Not one of her
brighter moves. Her glasses just about flew off her head while almost getting whiplash.
Since once again it was more important for Jen to be at the bowling alley the night before a road trip, she didn't get any
sleep before we left. I drove from Long Island to the meeting place in Pennsylvania and then through most of Virginia.
Jen slept on and off through most of that, mostly because I kept telling her to go to sleep. When Jen finally woke up,
somewhere in Virginia, the first words out of her mouth were “when can I have a beer?” We told her not until she ate
breakfast. So, we were now looking for the nearest Golden Arch.
So once Jen’s belly was filled with hash browns and some sort of Mickey D’s egg sandwich mess, she passed around
the road sodas. As is now tradition, when we first hit the sights of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we needed, or at least I
did, to hear and sing-along with John Denver’s COUNTRY ROADS. This continued through the state of Virginia. When
we were about 50 miles out of Tennessee, we got in touch with Gary (a.k.a. Groth, a.k.a. Big Kahuna). We actually
found him on the road about 100 miles East of Knoxville and we caravaned the rest of the way, right to the hotel.
It was so weird, finally getting to the hotel. So much happened in such a short period of time. I’m sure I don’t
remember everything correctly, and that’s not from the few road sodas I had. It’s more from traveling for 12 hours
without getting much rest. It’s also due to the fact that Lois Lane (a.k.a ME) left her notepad and pen at home. Clark
was so disappointed in me. He’ll get over it, like he always does. I left Nikki and Jen at the car, while I checked in.
There was so much going on inside the lobby. I heard some commotion and turned to see Nae and Kelly walking in. It
was so exciting to finally be able to meet both of them in person.
After I was done checking in, I went back out to the car to help the girls unload the car and load the luggage cart. It’s
amazing that we got all of our STUFF on that cart. Well, just about all of it. Jen pulled the cooler that had wheels and I
believe Nikki had to carry one item. But hey, we didn't need to make a second trip out to the car and that was bonus.
As soon as we got to the room, I immediately unpacked and with that out of the way, I started making my jug of
Margarita's. That jug lasted all afternoon, evening, and into the wee hours of the morning too. I did share with anyone
who wanted some. Unfortunately for me, not too many were interested in Margarita's.
At our hotel that weekend, there was a very special event-taking place. It was a tattoo and body piercing conference.
Jen and Nikki should have snapped a few pictures of my facial expressions when I first came across some of these
artists. Not that there’s anything wrong with tattoos or body piercing. It’s just not my thing and not something I normally
come across in my sheltered world, and certainly not what I expected to see in Knoxville, Tennessee.
After everyone got settled in, had a few drinks, and basically had a chance to unwind from their morning drive to
Knoxville, we decided to go on a hunt for some food. What better way to find some food, then to go for a stroll through
the city of Knoxville? We wound up at a place called “ye old steakhouse”. The food was good, the atmosphere was
fine, and the company was excellent. We weren'’t too rowdy, but it was a good idea that the host sat us outside.
We had discussed going to listen to Kenny’s rehearsal. Earlier that day he had invited anyone in the area to come
down and listen to the rehearsal while he was on the radio. We couldn't’t make up our mind(s). Gary went to get his two
guitars, and Nikki and Jen were planning to go pick up another friend who had sent an SOS. The friend had gotten
stuck at the rehearsal and wanted to hang out with some fun people. I decided to join Nikki and Jen on their rescue
mission.
Unfortunately, rehearsal wasn''’t done. We stayed a short while and listened to Kenny and his band rehearse. It was
during this time that I got to test the new port-a-potty, complete with the large Pringles can donated by Joyce
(kennyisnumberone). It worked great. Eventually we abandoned the rescue mission and headed back to the party at
the hotel. The party was going full blast. Everyone was having a great time, and I got to meet a few more members of
the fan club. It was great to finally meet some people that I've known through KC’s website for so long now.
Eventually, Nikki and Jen did go back out on that rescue mission, and they were successful this time. In their absence,
Gary was having a good time playing some songs on that guitar of his. He even gave me the spare so that I could strum
along too. Gary wasn't the only one using his special talents to entertain. Kelly Jelly had her sharpie out and was busy
autographing assorted body parts. She got me on the bottom of my foot and my shoulder. The one on my foot is
permanently embedding in the socks that I wore to the concert on Saturday. Apparently, I didn't scrub my foot as well as
my shoulder while in the shower.
We sang a lot of songs that night during the big sing-along. The one song that will forever stand out in my mind is
WHAT I NEED TO DO. Oh boy, we were so loud during the line leading up to and including KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE. I
really don’t know how we never got a knock on the door from hotel management.
After their being some talk about how long everyone would stay up or how long they could stay up without passing out,
I think I did pretty good considering. I tried taking a nap on Thursday, starting at 4 PM with my intentions being to wake
up at midnight. I don’t know if I ever really fell asleep, but I wasn't too tired during the 12-hour drive. I believe I slept for
about 45 minutes at one point. Somehow I was still going strong at 2 am Saturday morning (or Friday night, however
you want to look at it). Funny, I don’t remember seeing Groth moving around at 2 am, and he was worried about me.
Let me tell you, Saturday morning’s hangover really stunk. YUCK!!! That Jose does it every time. It was so bad that I
do believe that Jose has made his last trip with me. You know what that means. I’m no longer the Margarita Girl. From
now on, I’m sticking to my Heiny’s. Somebody, beer me! Good thing this year’s tour is close to being over. I only have
four more shows planned (that’s right ONLY). For those last four shows as far as I’m concerned, it’s the SENORITAS
TOUR.
I was glad to see that our new roommate, Carol (kcsfloridagal) is an early riser, just like me. Although I do believe that
it was me who finally woke up Jen and Nikki. I was only trying to drain the water out the coolers and add some new, un
melted ice to them. It really wasn'’t my fault that the bottles kept making so much noise. Eventually, we got our butts in
gear and headed out to get some much-needed food. We wound up at a Shoney’s on 11W and had us a breakfast
buffet. That buffet did a really good job at calming my stomach down from all the havoc wreaked by Jose. (Bad Jose,
very bad)
Well now with my calm and full stomach, it was time to head back to the hotel and figure out the plan of attack for the
day’s events. A bunch of us decided to walk to the venue. It really wasn't that far, but since Knoxville is in the foothills of
the Smokey Mountains, there was a hill or two to go up, and down, and up, and down again, to get to the venue. Back
in January, Tampa was a nice walk from the hotel to the venue also, but at least it was flat. We did eventually make it
there, despite the sweating, rain, many stops, and the weight of the items I had packed to take with us. We couldn't go
dry after all. I packed as much beer as possible. Why didn't I pack some of those lightweight shello jots? Nae, why
didn't you help me pack?
As much as I really appreciate the effort that Jon and I’m sure mostly Kortney went to for the fan club area, it really
wasn'’t big enough. I apologize to both of you if my name was one of the absentee names you called. Really I was
there, but couldn't get anywhere near the tent. I did see both of you, but couldn't get through the massive crowd to say
hi. I did wave, but you were both very busy. I look forward to further such outings, if at all possible. It was a good idea,
and with that experience behind, we can move on and improve.
