Last Thursday, I got in a car with my dad and younger sister, and we drove off to spend the weekend in Kentucky. My dad had some meetings there, but Helena and I were tagging along so we could go to The Who concert :)
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| the mobile office... |
We got in late on Thursday after a long drive. I joined my dad for a meeting (aka convincing him to buy me breakfast and coffee), and then went back to the hotel for a dip in the hot tub before we checked out. Helena and I grabbed Chinese for lunch, and then settled in at Starbucks to wait for my dad to finish. Once he met up with us, we headed out to his friend Larry's home, where we would stay for the rest of the weekend.
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| a morning dip.. and the hot tub all to myself! |
We went out to a fun hibachi grill place for dinner and stayed up a while to talk. The next morning, we got to spend some time hanging out with Larry's horses - two beautiful Paso Finos, Mocha and Kona. We got to groom them and walk/jog around with them, and Larry showed us a few of the exercises he does with them. Afterwards we piled into the car and drove out to Asbury University to see their equine center, and then to the horse park. Obviously in Kentucky, horses are the main attraction...
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| early Kentucky sunrise |
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| Mocha and Kona, Larry's paso finos |
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| exercising Mocha |
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| Mocha wants to be a horse model... look at that hair flip! |
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| She got excited when we took her up to the house... thought it was time for a field trip! |
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| Kona (on the left) and Mocha (on the right) |
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| Mocha tried to eat my phone. |
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| the sign on the horse barn at Asbury University |
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| stunning blue eyes on this horse! |
After seeing the horses, Joyce (Larry's wife) made us a fantastic dinner. It was taco salad, with avocado of course!, and finished off with Kentucky Derby Pie. I think it's now called Winner's Circle pie. I tried it, but it wasn't my favorite - I just don't like nuts in my desserts.
Finally, it was time to head out to the KFC Yum! Center, where the Who's Quadrophenia and More concert was being held that night. Pete Townshend was treated for drug addiction a long time ago by my grandparents, when my mother was a young girl, and has had a soft spot for my grandmother ever since. We were able to get these tickets through our uncle, Lorne, and Nicola, who is Pete's amazing personal assistant. They got us great seats, and backstage passes as well so we could meet Pete before the concert. After walking around the place a few times and being taken to several different areas, we finally found the room where we could wait to meet Pete. To our surprise, there were around 10-15 other people who were also waiting to meet Pete. It was a little unexpected, but then again, this was our first time backstage at an event like this, so we didn't really know what to expect. We got to meet Nicola, and Pete's biographer Mark, and I got to meet a couple guys that my dad works with in Kentucky, who were also given tickets and backstage passes. We ended up waiting a while, since Pete was taking a nap, and about 15 minutes before the concert started, Pete finally came in. He came over to talk with us first, and the first thing he said to us was that he was sorry to hear that Gramps had died. We were so touched that he took the time to speak with us without interruption. We got a picture with him, and he signed our tickets for us, and after that he spent a little time speaking with the rest of the guests in the room. Then it was time for the concert! We had seats right up at the front, and also made sure to bring earplugs, which was good because we were right below some speakers. We felt pretty out of place though, since most of the people there were my parents' ages and older. The place was packed, too - you had to look at the very top of the nosebleed section to see any empty seats. The majority of the concert was Quadrophenia - the Who's second rock opera, followed by a few of their most popular songs, like "Who Are You?," "Behind Blue Eyes," and "Baba O'Reilly." It was a great concert!!
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| seats up at the front! |
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| our VIP backstage passes |
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| Helena and me with Nicola |
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| hanging out with Pete Townshend! |
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| the packed stadium |
The next morning, we packed up our things, ran out to see the horses one last time, and then headed home. It was a great weekend - lots of time to talk, hang out, see some new things... And it was such a great opportunity to hang out backstage and spend a little time with Pete.
