Monday, June 16, 2008

Got a car
Got some gas
Let's get out of here
Get out of here fast

Closed on the new digs Wednesday, and the entire first floor was torn out on Thursday. No more kitchen, no more floor, goodbye bathroom.

The weather finally turned here on Friday, and it was a gorgeous weekend. I ended up going to the gym all three days, which is odd for a weekend, but, hey, it's almost bikini season, and you know how I love to rollerskate around town in my bikini.

Friday evening, we did the art walk in Bozeman and checked out our friend's show. I bought some pieces from her. Following that, we went to dinner at the Emerson with Ross, my friend who is doing the remodel on the new house. We had a nice time. The purpose of the dinner was to introduce him to a waitress at said restaurant that we thought might be a nice match for him.

Saturday, I spent the morning at the gym and the remainder of the day with Bells. He hadn't seen the new house, and we had a specific "task." We brought the drum set over to its new home. It seems happy and comfortable, if a bit nervous about my heavy-handed drumming.

As long as we had that "task" to do, why not bring the guitars, amps, microphones, percussion, congas, rattlers and what-have-you's, and break that music room in properly?

And indeed we did. It was a little rough at first, since we haven't played together in almost 5 months, while Bells was off working in Arizona, and having a baby. It took a couple songs to shake off the rust and get in sync, rhythmically. (That word is a bitch to spell. I have a headache now.)

Once we got locked in, it was good, and some of it was very good, which isn't surprising when you consider I have played guitar with him for 17 (!) years. He has since switched to drums as his primary weapon of choice, but remains fluent on guitar.

It was really fun to have all the toys out and to be able to TURN IT UP. He was teaching me some things on the drums, like, uh, subtelty and songcraft, and I was teaching him some of the new songs I have learned on guitar over the last few months.

We actually tested the "soundproof" nature of the room, by cranking the Marshall to ten and jamming while the other walked around the house outside. Yes! It is indeed soundproof.

That night, Stanette and I watched I Am Legend, which we both liked a lot more than we expected. (I am a bit skeptical of Will Smith, but he was good in this one.)

Sunday brought another trip to the gym and our first float on the river. I dusted off the inflatable kayaks, got the paddles & pump and packed drybags. We drove two cars; one to the take-out and one to the put-in. With all the rains we have experienced, the Gallatin was really high and was pushing pretty hard. What is normally a three hour float took and hour and a half.

It was worth it, though. I found some standing waves to surf. To "surf a wave" in a kayak, you turn backwards and paddle furiously upstream to position yourself on the wave. It feels a lot like catching a wave on a surfboard, and once you catch it, you stand still on that wave, carving to and fro in one place as the water rushes past you.

That is a crappy description, but you'll have to trust me that it's fun. And if you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I am an expert on fun.

We also saw huge, white pelicans with ten-foot wingspan, a dozen large hawks, ducks, deer, and, of course, my eagle friends who have nested in the same spot for three years. We didn't get out at the nest, because the river was blown out and I didn't feel like tromping through mud. We'll be back, though.

Here are some pictures of them from two years ago:





After the quick float, we went home, watched Tiger Woods while Stanette made chicken tacos, then we watched the Lakers beat the Celtics.

/weekend.