The past couple of weekends have been a bit crazy. Two weekends ago, we flew out to California for the wedding of our sweet friend Mary and the love of her life, Jose. Since it’s California, and we haven’t been to California in twelve years, we had to extend the trip a bit. I love going to California. I figured that we would just push through a little late on Friday night, and then we would be on California time for Saturday. What I didn’t figure was trying to push through after visiting a couple vineyards. I fell into bed at 8:30pm, California time, which is 10:30 home time. So much for pushing through. Travis, on the other hand, grabbed his guitar and headed down to the hotel lobby, where he ran into some people from the wedding, and met some new friends.
At about 1:30 (or was it 2:30) am, I woke up and decided I had to look for Travis. I pictured him asleep on the couch in the hotel lobby. I got dressed, put on a hat, and headed toward the elevator. As the elevator pings to our floor, there is Travis and Michelle, the sister of the bride, joking around. We all stood by the elevator and talked in hushed tones before heading back to bed, where Travis promptly fell asleep, and I tried to fall asleep. The following morning, at breakfast, I met the Travis traveling band. Seems half the hotel knew Trav. Micheal, who was in town because his father was dying, came over and was chatting about the sing-alongs. Turns out, his side gig is as the lead singer of a band in Ohio, Mid-Life Crisis, that covers songs from various artists. In one night, Travis had significantly improved his accompaniment, from my weak vocals, to a more experienced group.
The rest of the day flew by, with a beautiful wedding ceremony and a pumping reception. If you haven’t been to a wedding with a full mariachi band, and tacos cooked to order in front of you, then you are missing out. We were dancing, visiting, and generally having a good time until it was clear it was time to leave. Arriving at the hotel near midnight, we decided that the party must go on! We changed into comfortable clothes, and returned to the lobby with the guitar. Three hours flashed by in an instant. We met Micheal’s siblings, Sharon and Ken, along with a group from our wedding. Another wedding took up camp on the other half of the lobby. Travis and Michael were playing guitar and it was live band karaoke. At one point, we got the whole lobby, including both weddings, singing along to Sweet Caroline. We knew the night should end when, around 2:30am, a fight broke out and the police were called. And no, I wasn’t involved in any way. I’m a lover, not a fighter. In typical fashion, we waited until 3am, when one person was arrested, to finally go up to bed. That means it was 5am our time. On a work day, I would be getting up. I definitely don’t remember the last time I stayed up that late. Who knows when we would have turned in if there was no fight.
The following morning, we were a bit late getting moving. We were visiting my niece Stacey and her family in Sacramento. We had a fantastic visit with Stacey, Ari, and their three young kids. As usual, it included the Travis traveling road show. I honestly don’t know what we did for fun before Travis learned to play guitar. I used to think it was a fun, inexpensive hobby, until I realized the guitar count is around eight (but who can be sure because Travis won’t answer), and amps, cords, mics, traveling bags, and whatever else. When asked how many guitars he has, Travis answers, “enough to get the job done.” I included some pictures of the visit with Stacey and Ari, as well as our quick trip to two of our favorite vineyards in Sonoma (I can still have favorites, even though I’ve only been there once before, and it was 12 years ago), a two hour hike through Muir Woods, and a stay at a cute bead and breakfast in Half Moon Bay.
The trip was a whirlwind. Oh how I love you California! Oh how I hate coming home Tuesday evening and heading to work Wednesday morning. Last week was the longest short week of my life. I almost forgot, we met three new friends in the San Jose airport when Travis broke out the guitar and started playing. On a different trip, someone tossed a dollar in Trav’s guitar case. So, does that make this his side hustle? I don’t know exactly what the question is, but Music is the answer.
