Hello!
I hope this finds you well!
I wanted to take a minute to let you know about some of the exciting stuff that’s been going on recently. So, without further adieu!
Westward to Logan, Utah!
So, June got kicked off with a nice big BANG! I left June 2nd and drove to St. Louis, MO to play a quick couple of sets at The Stone Spiral, a nice little cafe with super tasty flatbread sandwiches! Met some wonderful folks and look forward to going back again. Packed up and left for Kansas City where I would stop overnight and stay with some friends. Well, that was the goal….. Let’s just say I am very happy to be alive!
**Read below to learn more about whether or not I am still alive.**
I got into Kansas City fairly late, around 1:15am. It was an absolute struggle to stay awake on my way to Kansas City from St. Louis. It had been a long day already. Plus, adding 5 hours of driving and 2 hours of playing, left me exhausted for the drive.
A friend of the family said I was welcome to stay with them, regardless of what time I would be getting in. She also mentioned a major road closure that I would need to make sure to avoid in order to get to their house.
She left me the directions to avoid the road closure in a series of text messages. So, with my GPS on I was making my way to Kansas City. As I was getting into their area, just outside of KSC, I noticed my GPS was lagging behind a little bit. This was probably due to having it on all day. It needed an information dump.
No time for that!
So, I kept on driving towards their neighborhood not giving it too much more thought. I continued to follow my GPS as it sloooowwwwly, but surely, fed me directions to their house. And then it happend, I hit the road closure.
DAMN!
I put too much faith in The Google. So, I now had to figure out how to get back to the point at which my friend’s directions began. Where are those directions she left in the text messages? Ugghhhhh…So, I guess my way back to a point of reference from her text messages and try again.
As I turn into their neighborhood the not so prompt “step by step directions” are becoming more and more…ssssllllooooowwww. It’s like waiting for directions from someone who is falling asleep, or in a drunken stuper. And everytime I think I have found my way around the road closure I come to it again.
This happened a total of three times, taking a total of 30 minutes. I will leave out the utterances one would have heard had one been riding with me. They were colorful, not so original… but therapeutic.
I FINALLY make it around the road closure! I begin listening very closely to my GPS, “In 150 ft. turn left, in 1000 ft. turn left”………and….and….”WHAT NEXT!?!?! HELLO???
Where’s my next turn!!!?!?!
So, I go ahead and make the next left turn. It’s a cul de sac, just like she said. I drive down, make a loop, check the street address twice.
BINGO!
I’ve made it!
I get out of the car, walk over to the sidewalk to double-check the street address again…you can never be too sure about who’s house you’re getting ready to go inside.
Am I right, or am I right?
I grab my luggage and my laptop and walk to the front door. Door is unlocked just like she said it would be. I walk in and there’s a dog, just like she said, “we’ll have most of the dogs with us, but there might be one hanging out downstairs.” Check and check.
So, I walk inside and start looking for my room. It’s supposed to be upstairs with a light on. Voice in the head says, “Well, this is strange, I see stairs going down but none going up. Am I already upstairs? Was I supposed to come in a different door???”
I continue to look around with the assistance of my “burglar light” on my phone. The dog, a German Shepherd, is watching me pretty closely at this point. Yes, I said “German Shepherd.”
The dog never gets bothered until I get close to the stairs leading downstairs. Not too unusual, its owners, “my friends”, must be sleeping down there.
After a few attempts at locating my bedroom, with no success, I give up and use the bathroom, I like to stay hydrated on the road. I decide to lay down on the couch. I need sleep. The dog has now relocated itself to the front door. It looks like I am staying.
I check some emails and pass out.
Z.z..zz…zzz…z.z.z.z..z.z.z..z.z…..z.z.zzz.z..z.z.z.z..zz.zz…..z.
My friend had said in one of her texts, “we’ll probably be gone by the time you wake up, sometime between 7:30-8am, maybe earlier.” So, at 6:30am I hear someone leave…Voice in the head, “well, that makes sense. Going back to sleep now.”
Then another person leaves around 7:45am. Nothing unusual about that. And then, I hear a baby. Voice in the head, “what is a baby doing here? Man, they let me stay here even when they have other company in town? They are so sweet to accommodate me!”
“Wait, they have 21 grandchildren. It’s probably one of their grandchildren.”
And then, I hear footsteps.
So, around 8:15am I decide I might as well attempt to wake up and be social. I am exhausted.
I am sitting on the couch when I hear, and then see, a woman and a man, late 50’s – early 60’s, walk over and say, “hey, are you alright?”
Me? “Oh, yah….I’m tired, but I am fine. Where’s Alice? Has she already left?”
(At this point I am thinking these folks must be staying with Alice and her husband since they don’t have kids at home anymore, they’re very social and accommodating, lovely folks.)
They’re response, “Who’s Alice?”
Voice in the head, “Oh, !$@#.”
“You mean Alice ____ doesn’t live here????”
“Where am I!?!?!?”
This question was followed with somewhat of a look of confusion by my new, without prior approval, “hosts”, and a little laughter from everyone.
“How in the world did I end up in a stranger’s house??? Isn’t this 4788 Oak St.?”
(I’ve changed the address to protect the innocent.)
Their answer, “nope.”
After I tell them about the street closure, my lagging GPS, and multiple attempts to get into the neighborhood, we figured out that I was supposed to take the NEXT left turn!
I was roughly 1500 ft. from where I was suppoed to be.
Yes, these folks share THE EXACT SAME HOUSE NUMBER!!! as my friend’s house, the one where I was supposed to stay.
The good news? I’M NOT DEAD!
Whooo-WHOOO!!!!
We laughed for a bit…a great laugh actually. My laugh was accompanied by a sense of gratitude I have yet to experience up until this day.
Gratitude not only for them not killing me upon my waking, but also for how concerned they were for me, asking me if I was okay and if I had gotten enough sleep.
Now, I ask you, “what are the chances of that happening!?!?!”
I gathered my things together and the husband and I walked outside to my car where I grabbed some CDs and business cards to prove that I was not a burglar, or crazy person.
Well, I am crazy in the best of ways…the healthiest of ways. This is what I’ve been told.
The husband says, “We asked our son, “who is on the couch?” His response, “must be one of my friends.”
I want to take this moment to thank their son for the most wonderful assumption, and his parents for sparing my life. And, to the German Shepherd, I love you.