Road Trippin to Texas

What an AMAZING weekend! I have to start off by saying I am a HUGE Wade Bowen fan!! For any one that does not know who he is, he is my Favorite Texas singer/songwriter! His songs have something that just connects with my soul and his voice melts my heart! I have been so blessed to get to see him perform live a handful of times and always enjoy it but what I Really wanted was to hear him play at Gruene Hall(the oldest dance hall in Texas) If you haven't been- you need to go!

I have been watching Gruene and Wade's dates and the last time he played there was 3 yrs ago and just couldn't go. I was SO sad, but told Jared IF he ever played there again I WAS GOING! In November of last year I was Shocked to see that Wade was coming to AZ!!!

Talk about excited! Don't get me wrong, I am happy to be back in Arizona, I love being close to my family and mountains are not to be underestimated... BUT I MISS my Texas music! My friends always ask, "what is Texas music?" I have to laugh- It's Texas music. It has its own arena for a reason :) The concert was at a small little "pub" in Tucson called The Maverick. It was great, there were probably 50 people there (not good for him... but I was happy) it was like a private concert.

After the concert he did a meet n greet. In Texas venues are PACKED and lines are LONG, so I was super excited that we would be able to enjoy this "visit". When I got to visit with him I thanked him for coming to AZ and said that I had been waiting to hear him play at Gruene Hall. He said, "ya it's been a while since we've played there." And I told him "three years!" lol Im sure he didn't even know the last time he was there.

On Christmas Eve, Somewhere on Some site Someone posted that they had been given tickets to see Wade Bowen at Gruene Hall on Jan 21st 2012! Lets just say there was a LOT of screaming in our house!! I was GIDDY! I can't even put into words about how excited I was. I had just told Jared to put in for a day off (another Texas singer Aaron Watson was going to be in Mesa in Jan) that morning. I sent him a text and asked how much vacay he had ant that he needed to take off the 21st and 22nd because we were going to Gruene!! When he got to the family Christmas party all I could do was smile! I KNEW that Wade booked that show JUST FOR ME!! I told him it was the BEST Christmas present he had ever given me!! (Thanks Sweetheart) The next 27 days took FOREVER!! I am lucky to have a sister and brother-in-law that live in New Braunfels and have a beautiful rental on the river about 5 minutes from Gruene Hall! *WHEN you go to Gruene Hall book your stay at Life is Gruene you won't be disappointed. It is beyond amazing and sleeps up to 20 people so you can take the whole family!*

I haven't been on a road trip for years and told Jared that we needed to go to San Angelo and see some of our friends and would like to just take our time and see where the road led us. I always have to have everything planned out and organized, so road trips used to be a great out for me to just let my hair down and roll with it. Luckily he was willing to go along with my crazy plan(or lack of hehehe) On Thursday I took Jarelyn to stay with Grandma and Grandpa D Kerr. They were so good to offer to keep her, and let me be vague in when we would be back! LOL man I married good! FINALLY January 20th came and Jared and I got up bright and early and were on the road! The trip over was pretty much a get there kinda trip. We wanted to have dinner with some friends in San Angelo and it's a 9 hr drive. Plus Everything on my "bucket list" were on the other side of El Paso!! When we came into town, I couldn't believe it had been a month shy of 2 years since we left Texas. It was a strange mix of feelings of "home". I know Arizona should be "home" but couldn't help feel a longing to be back "home" in Texas. Some day perhaps I will have both! We drove out to the lake and I cried wonderful happy memory tears! We even got to see Lee for a short hello. We met Ty, Michelle, Trey, and Ethan at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was the first place Jared and I ever ate when we went to Texas for his interview before we moved there. We had a great visit and it didn't feel like any time had passed at all. I always say that is the test of TRUE friendship and they certainly are! When we left there we went to meet Jason and Chandra at another restaurant across town. I laughed as we drove over, telling Jared it's awesome to vacation in a place you know your way around! Our visit with the Browns was just as great. Although way too short. The Bart Crow Band was playing that night so we met Rod and Jeanell and had a great time! The concert was 3 hrs late starting and they really didn't seem to be in to the show, but when they were done and the DJ took over I was on the floor for the rest of the night dancing my booty off! We stayed at the same hotel we stayed at on our first trip too. I was a lot more relaxed this trip for sure! LOL On our way to GRUENE!!! We left San Angelo and headed to New Braunfels. I couldn't believe in just a few hours I was going to be checking off the first thing on my "bucket list"!!! I have a strict motto that if you don't expect anything you won't be disappointed. I was pretty nervous because I had BIG EXPECTATIONS!!

One of the biggest fears I had was that the show wasn't even a ticket show! Ya Im crazy enough to drive 900 miles for an "At the door" show! Jared had been teasing my about "thinking" that this show was all about me, I told him that I had told Wade it would be awesome to hear him do one acoustic song at Gruene Hall SO when he did, then Jared was going to have to accept that Im way cooler than he gives me credit for. We got to Lisa and Phil's house and enjoyed seeing their new "little" house finished. We sat and visited for a while. At 4:30pm Lisa asked what time we wanted to leave (the show started at 9pm) I said right now! Everyone {including Jared} laughed and looked at me like I was crazy! Crazy yes, but I was NOT going to miss this show. When they finally decided I wasn't kidding... they got dressed and we headed over. We ate at Gristmill River Restaurant that was an 1870s cotton gin.

Jared and I shared a chicken fried steak with a salad and potatoes. It was delicious and Im so glad we shared because there I was hungry but way to excited to eat. We went to the Hall and they said they would make everyone leave at 7:45pm and start letting people back in at 8pm. We had about 2 hrs so we did a little {very little} shopping down Main St {as I wasn't willing to get very far away} Finally Lisa suggested we just go back to the Hall and wait- Great plan!!

My hubby is SO good to me! He really has to have a good sense of humor! I am normally a level headed, calm person. I could never get the whole star struck, boy band, swooning over the band Thing {Before} Now when I am at a Wade Bowen event... I morph into some giddy teenager! I tried my best to worn Lisa and Phil, but you just can't picture it until you've seen me in action! Making up for loss time of my younger days unused maybe lol I bet I sent Jared to look out the door every 5 minutes until at 7:05pm he said there was a line! Aaahhh I ran past him and grabbed my place in line! Luckily it wasn't too long yet. I was like a 5 year old getting in line to Disneyland for the first time. We waited for the full 55 minutes and watched as a CRAZY long line formed behind us. I knew we were close enough that I would was for sure getting in (I had warned Jared that I was seeing Wade tonight- or going to jail as a disclaimer before we left) as soon as we got in I was headed up to the front of the stage. The opening band was Rosehill. I had looked them up before we left because I didn't know who they were. The band I saw on YouTube was NOT the same one that performed {thankfully} When they finished I asked the lead singer for their playlist and he grabbed it for me. They did a good job but I was there for ONE reason. They started setting up the stage for WB and I started getting even more excited! I told Jared "he" must be close, Lisa asked if my "Wade-ar" was going off! hahaha luv it! When they came out on stage the rest of the world disappeared. I was in heaven!

Wade and the guys played so many of our favorite songs and was having a great time! I was right in front of my favorite singer at my favorite venue with my favorite person! This night was so great It was EVERYTHING I had hoped for. At one point there was a girl that tried crowding in on us and I told her that I had driven all the way from Arizona and had been there since 4:00pm I wasn't moving! Wasn't sure how that was going to go over, luckily she moved on to another spot and actually ended up telling people along the way my story. Even as the show was getting close to over there was still a line down the street outside of fans hoping to get in IF someone left. I was reading the play list on the stage and Lisa asked if there was an acoustic listed on there. I said no but that's okay Im good! The band finished playing the last song and headed backstage. The crowd of course started yelling and shouting for them to come back out. A little longer then normal went by and I started thinking maybe they were done. But it had been an amazing show and I had NO complaints at all. THEN it happened

Wade walked out on stage with his guitar. I think I had to remind myself to breathe! I turned and looked at Jared and couldn't help it my eyes just filled up with tears I was so over the top Amazed! I couldn't believe He was REALLY playing ME an acoustic song IN Gruene Hall!!! He started to play Somewhere Beautiful and Jared luckily suggested I record it! Lisa and Phil had gone to sit down and later told me they wished they could have recorded me that I looked like I was in shock. I think I still am! I was floating on cloud nine! There's a saying from a movie I used to quote a lot that says something to the effects of "I live on this little planet called reality where things like that don't happen to people like me"... OH YES THEY DO!!! The band came back on and played one more song together. Then Wade said that he had one more song they had to sing for us and that he wanted everyone to sing along. They started singing and Jared said, "now you're just showing off!" LOL They finished the night with everyone singing HEY JUDE!!! WOW WOW and WOW!! I seriously felt like I was in a fairy tale! I don't know how it could have been any more magical for me! After the show I yelled at Wade(given the Huge amount of people I doubted that he would have a meet and greet) I had gotten his autograph before but wanted something to remember THAT night. I told him I had just driven all the way from AZ to see him and asked him if he would have the band sign a Gruene Hall post card for me and he said sure and took it backstage. I wasn't sure if he heard me or maybe thought why did that crazy girl just give me a post card? I waited by the stage and asked one of the stage hands for the play list while I waited. I saw him lean out and point to me and then his manager brought out the post card with all their signatures on it and Wade gave me a thumbs up!! YAY!! The Hall had started clearing out and I was trying to find Jared and Lisa and Phil. When I saw Lisa all I could do was scream! I showed her my card and that's when she told me they had been watching me the whole time from the side. I went up front to the merchandise table and asked the guys from Rosehill to sign their playlist. They were supper cool and I enjoyed visiting with them and told them to come to AZ. Then I went and bought another Wade Bowen shirt to add to my collection! I went back up toward the stage because I wanted to tell the manager to be sure to tell Wade thank-you That was beyond anything I could have imagined! When I got up there Wade had come out and was taking pictures with a small group of people so I hollered at Phil to come so he could get a picture for me! I walked up to Wade and couldn't contain myself I just screamed! LOUD! He laughed and said can you do that again? so I did! Jared and Lisa just sat on the side and laughed at me. I told Wade I knew the show wasn't just for me but I had told him in AZ that I wanted to see him at Gruene... and then I had asked him to do an acoustic... and my name is Judy and he sang Hey Jude... Im sure I didn't take a single breath the whole time! He was SO great he just smiled and said of course it WAS for YOU!!

I feel so very blessed that I was given the chance to experience this night! I will not ever forget how amazing it was or how I felt like I had "the world in a bottle with the cork in my hand" to quote a great friend!