So I am starting this month's journal later than I have in YEARS... which is interesting since we have only been doing this for years.
I'm sitting here (clothed) on a Wednesday afternoon. It is 4:20 (hehehe, but that is NOT why I am late) Heather is cleaning house - (she just cooked Dim Sum) and Our Friend Ginny is sitting on the couch working on her notebook computer. We all saw Pirates of The Caribbean last night... and she ended up staying the night. No funny business!!! She slept on the couch. Two cute, hot, sexy girls in my house last night and I only hooked-up with one of them? How has my life changed?
Actually, this is one of the few things I am NOT complaining about this time.
We (Heather and I) have had a very hectic and trying couple of weeks... I'm going to try and catch you up the best way I can.
Andy prefers it when my journal has about a dozen photos... not the 30 you'll get this time... but in the end this is MY journal... besides it is the only way I can remember even HALF of what we did this time.
Our journal this time commences at the end of the Georgia show. Our fan club has doubled in size this year... largely due to the careful ministrations of our dedicated Chapter heads, and the Talented and wonderful Sharyn... Our fan club president.
Last year's Members Only Meet-n-Greet was sparsely attended, though mildly fun... but this year we really stepped it up.
 Riki and Jef looking dapper |
 With the fans at the GA Meet-n-Greet |
 At the White Trash Party |
Let me tell you a funny (?) story about Jeff Sharret - from my birthday party no less!
After a bit of drinking and partying that night, Jeff pulled Heather aside and said: "Make sure he treats you well, is never bad to you. You know dear, if he touches you, if he hurts you I'll mess him up. He does anything you let me know..." Jeff may seem like a big teddy bear, but he works in the prisons... He could really do it - gleefully.
Thanks buddy!
After a fun evening, we decided that we weren't done partying just yet... so we dropped by a friend's house to visit their 'White Trash Party'. Now, having rennies throw a white trash party is a little redundant... How do you tell the difference? Riki and I stayed but briefly.
- Tom Stoppard
We got our eyes examined in downtown Buckhead, and then went to lunch. The eye exam was for Heather's eventual LASIK... Buckhead is a ritzy, downtown area with great stores, amazing restaurants, and horrendous traffic. The doctor put drops in our eyes... dilating them, making my normally bad driving even more hazardous. We didn't know where we were going and couldn't see it anyway... stressed and aggravated by the traffic and the danger, we got in to a bit of a squabble... in the moment I shouted at her "Are you going to put your seatbelt on or not?" "No, I'm going to leave it off to punish you! And then I'm gonna throw myself though the windshield, that will teach you!"
Very reasonable... we both started laughing at each other. Finally we get to a store to buy new sunglasses... Heather can't bear to wear the horrible ones the doctor's given away for free; she picks a set that makes her look even more cute, adorable, and yuppie.
She is the coolest chick I haven ever met, fun, supportive, and just enough of a pain-in-the-ass to keep me challenged.
As we were working hard to break-down Heather's shop in Georgia we were also struggling with some (more) stress with the trailer. I had planned my trip down to Florida to address a bunch of small repair jobs with Jef's repair guy. But in the last week or two in Georgia two more immediate problems developed with our house:
The AC went on the fritz, and we developed a leak in our sewer tank.
June, Atlanta, temperatures in the 90's and humidity even higher... try to sleep in that! But who was I kidding? In an RV, all of the waste from your toilet goes into a big, plastic tank under your floor... where it sits for a while until you pump it or otherwise empty it. Imagine if everything that you flushed down your toilet was sitting in a big tank some where for two weeks, in the heat and humidity... now imagine at the end of that time it developed a tiny leak and slowly dripped-out under your house. Smells bad enough to wake me from a sound sleep... believe it.
Now I really needed Jef's repair guy!
- John Wilkes Booth, to one of his paramours
We travel with walkie-talkies so we can communicate while driving... but I think I have finally trained her not to call (too much) from the hours of eight till eleven (eastern). Nancy Grace, Bill O'Reilly, Hannity and Colmes... all the non-news news is on then!
We arrive in a nice new (to me) RV park in St Pete. A few miles down the road from where I traditionally stay... nicer, and easier to get into than the park I used to live in. At first I wondered about the location, but in just a little while I MUCH preferred it.
I have an IPOD! And a PSP, and I am a big fan of Illegal Downloads of movies, songs and games... as if the location of the new RV park wasn't nice enough... my aircard (broadband, from Sprint) really works well here... sitting in my traveling palace I am honest-to-God downloading at real, broadband speeds!
We arrive on Thursday afternoon, had most of Friday to get a little (and I do mean a little) settling in done. The first thing you do is level your trailer, then extend all the slides, then settle the stabilizers. Next you hook-up water, electric, and sewer... then aim the satellite dish. After all the external work is done, you unwrap the plates secured for travel, move the knick-knacks and bottles from the bar back into place... and then clean/rearrange anything unsettled during transit.
 Jef and Sharon apparently ate too much... |
Thursday evening was a bit of a 'coming home' party at the house of our old friend Earl. All Tortugas and their ladies (present) over indulged with food and alcohol... Jef and Sharon even hammed it up a bit to emphasize our gluttony!
We were supposed to continue with the trailer, settling the next day - but we only got to do a little of all that on Friday, because Heather, overloaded with clothes as she is, had "nothing to wear to the wedding."
(To be fair I picked up some new shoes... I needed some dressy sandals for the mid-day, mid-June gathering!)
Saturday, at an (relatively) early hour, we headed out on the two hour journey to see our good friend, and Tortuga Palooza 2 villain Dean 'Johnny Phoenix' Lasseter married. His young bride had her heart set on a June wedding. Even though it was in FLORIDA, and the late afternoon. (Kids!)
The wedding was beautiful, funny, serious and playful all at the same time. The ceremony took place outdoors in a park that while Christian, very much looked like a Mayan Temple.
 Many gifts were laid upon the gift table |
 Dean: nervous, or just too hot? |
 As the ceremony commences, Dean still looks overwhelmed |
 Nope, not nervous at all (awwwwww) |
 The reception was outside, and lovely, despite the beastly heat |
 Jef gallantly volunteered as photographer... much to his detriment |
 (Click to watch the .AVI) |
And I even shot a movie to show how adorable the bride was when she entered... ADORABLE!
Many were the stories we could tell of our various sweating, nerdieness, or getting busted for making a bar-run... suffice it to say it was a rowdy, Tortuga-influenced party.
Heather and I made the two-hour trip BACK to St Pete, had a night off to finally get some settling-in done. (And watch some Blockbuster!)
Sunday was packing, more movies, and drinking... in preparation for early Monday making the two-hour trip BACK to Orlando to meet with friends.
One of my best friends out here on circuit is Muggsy; he is the primary B-team guy playing Ded Bob... (Think about that the next time you hear the puppet cracking on us!)
He and his lovely belly-dancing girlfriend Collette, as well as my sweet-little fiancée had never been to any of the Magical Theme parks in Orlando!
Capitalizing on our network of friends, I arranged for a really cool vacation for the four of us. Universal, and Universal's Islands Of Adventure (my favorite park ever) on Monday, hotel Monday night, Disney's Magic Kingdom Tuesday, Cirque Du Soleil (La Nouba) Tuesday night, and trip home on Wednesday.
It didn't quite work out that way. As we were meeting Billy for the free passes to Universal, Heather was being very very ill! We gave the tickets to M & C (I got tired of writing Muggsy and Collette) and checked in early to the Hotel.
A few hours of bed rest, and some cuddling set my honey right, and she was ready for a nice dinner out, even with Muggsy's creepy choice of underwear. We ate at Emeril's, (great Mojitos there) and had a lovely (if pricey) dinner.
 Hey kids, c'mere...! |
 Our quartet at Emeril's |
 Is this a plushy thing or a furry thing? |
Funny note: As we entered Florida, it was the very beginning of hurricane season. As we began our trip to Orlando, Heather the prognosticator joked "Wouldn't it be cool to experience my first hurricane while I am here?"
She almost got her wish. A tropical storm, a mere one mile-an-hour below the hurricane threshold targeted Orlando. Muggsy and Collette had a great (if soggy) time at Universal, and as we approached Disney the next morning the sky was so very inviting!
 Ma! Storm front a-comin'! |
 Soggy but still smiling |
 Mickey's nothing to sneer at |
There was no problem with the girls' tickets as we moved into the magic kingdom... Muggsy and I were saddened to learn our tickets weren't scanning but we eventually got things worked out. The rain worsened and stormed intermittently until just after we purchased ponchos of our own... then ironically cleared up.
 Lemme in or I'll pout...! |
 We're Poncho - where's Jon? |
Since we missed the Monday Universal Trip, Heather and I decided to delay our return so we could make it up on Wednesday. Our passes allowed us to hop between the two parks...
I had a little problem with some of the wildlife at the Jurassic park area, and then Heather and I enjoyed a drink before challenging the dueling Dragons in the Lost Continent area. We loved the Mummy ride; she hated Twister (too much experience with REAL tornadoes... silly Kansas City girl!) We both adored Spiderman and Hulk... it was a smashing success... and GREAT fun.
 T-rex Dentist at work |
 Is Griffin House nearby? |
 Dinner with Jef and Sharon at Ceviche |
- Tom Stoppard
The biggest reason I paid to fly my fiancée out to the wilds of Iowa was because it was the closest we would come to KC (and my baby's friends) until we returned to Minnesota in the fall. Her best friend (and ridiculously talented photographer) Ann Brown made the trip out.
As did her other old dear friends Tanya and Kyle... When Heather wasn't socializing, she was selling Tortuga Gear...
 Photographer Ann Brown and husband Bob |
 Heather's friends Tanya and Kyle |
 Kay Kinsey and Chad |
 The costume? Groovy! |
We are always amused by how folks dress up at events like this, Star Trek ‘Away Teams', Klingons, and Star Wars Stormtroopers no longer seem to impress us... but this guy really made the Tortugas grin. Can the true nerds amongst our fans identify this brilliant costume?
Crammed in amongst all the things we did that trip (including a sickness I don't think I will ever reveal to our adoring fans... lets just say that trying to compensate for the all-meat diet we were eating led me to discover the effectiveness, or over-effectiveness of Jef's favorite laxative... *shudder*) We also got to award the winner of our Win a Date with the Tortugas Contest.
Little did we suspect that she had been prepped by our stage-partners in GA, The Lost Boys, and she sprang a surprise on us by delivering these teal-care packages... Thanks Lost Boys! And at dinner that night with Deb Johnson (the winner) we gave the Lost Boy Salute
 The Lost Boys send Teal Love... |
 Tortuga salute meets The Lost Boys |
See ya soon!
