Yes, I am way, way behind on the blog. Yes, I will go back and catch up on everything that was missed including the winning World Sand Castle Building sculptures but, in the meantime, this opportunity must not be ignored.
Barry and I made a mad dash to Utah to retrieve the accumulated detritus of the his misbegotten bear hunt (another story, but one which begs to be told). The "bear hunt" was initiated by our good family friend, Jay Wirig (another whole story which absolutely begs to be told) and after an exhausting week of wrangling mules, hiking into the wilderness, dressing up like cowboys and shooting absolutely nothing Barry simply walked away leaving his gear, guns and hunting getup in the Wirig's garage. Hence...the mad dash to Utah to get the mess out of Yvonne's hair.
We actually had a quite pleasant road trip except for one moment when I phoned Scott to let him hear the song that was playing on the car stereo. Barry and I were happily rolling down the road listening the the old Bobby Goldsboro song (for which Scott was actually named) "Watching Scotty Grow." Our eyes were moist as we sang along and thought about our sweet little baby boy, Scotty, so...we called...apparently waking him out of a sound sleep at crack of dawn 11 a.m.!! Anyway, I don't know how he did it or even what he said but pretty soon he had Barry and I going at each other over something - at least Scott hung up with his job accomplished.
The trip got especially entertaining on the way home. Now, for anyone following the blog or listening to Wendi you know that Barry is typically the King of Decorum. Hardly anyone ever knows his business (at least before we started blogging) and he never, ever displays his emotion in public (think Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry and you'll about have the picture) We pulled into a Flying J in Winnemucca, NV and I popped in to use the restroom and peruse what is inevitably the best accumulation of travel snacks and vehicle paraphernalia under one roof in the Western Hemisphere. I was happily gathering up an armload of Barry's favorite snack items when Barry burst into the store in a full crouched run hissing (yes hissing) through clenched teeth while dancing from foot to foot around the store display I was shopping "GET OUT THERE AND WATCH THE CAR! I'VE GOT TO GET TO THE BATHROOM! I CAN'T LOCK THE DAMN CAR CAUSE YOUR KEYS ARE IN YOUR PURSE!" My immediate response is a confused, "What? Huh?" Now, I'm not oblivious to his distress but it is just too hard to resist....He throws a final desperate backwards glance my way which causes me to unceremoniously deposit my selections in a heap on the shelf and shoot for the door.
See, the car was full of guns, black powder and re-loading equipment. I mean we were like a rolling terrorist armada - there was no way we could leave that stuff in an unlocked vehicle. Apparently, he was only being gallant (which after this experience is probably an end to that) in allowing me to use the restroom first. In my defense, he didn't make it explicitly clear how critical the situation in his bladder was until he came tearing into the store hissing and dancing.... To my credit, I didn't collapse on the floor in hysterics. I didn't even get the uncontrollable giggles until we were ten miles down the freeway.
Now, over the long years of our marriage, I've learned that there will be payback. This payback came sooner rather than later. We spent the hours between Winnemucca and Antioch listening the "Collected Hits of Marty Robbins." I ask you, is that fair? It was my car after all. For those of you who don't know, Marty Robbins was the old country singer famed for his 'singing stories.' Some of you may know the one about the Town of El Paso with the luckless young cowboy in love with Fatima. Long/Short: he ends up dead. What you might not know is that Robbins had at least four completely different renditions of the story (talk about milking a franchise!) He sang that sad sack tale from four different perspectives: the girl, the young cowboy, the handsome stranger he killed, and the shoot-out that ensued killing both the girl and the young cowboy. I swear, if I could get on Jeopardy and they covered that topic area I could win a million dollars!
