We figured since I got to milk my birthday for four glorious days (and then some since Robert took me shopping the next weekend!) that the least we could do was give Robert a special day too. On July 31, 2003 we flew to Omaha. We stayed that night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at a gorgeous Holiday Inn right next to a casino – that was fun. The next day we headed up to Clear Lake, Iowa for the 10th Annual Tommy Bolin Festival. Haven’t heard of Tommy Bolin? I hate to say that I hadn’t either before Robert, but I am a fan – check out the page for details. We stayed in Mason City, Iowa and attended the show at the legendary Surf Ballroom on Friday and Saturday nights. What a great show! Friday night was Craig Erickson, Glenn Hughes and Pat Travers. Saturday the day started with Black Oak Arkansas (I am now such a fan!), then we had Crow, Les Dudek, Savoy Brown, Rick Derringer and the Tommy Bolin tribute band.
We had a fantastic time and met some great people. Traveling with Robert is always like that – we talk to everyone and anyone and it makes for such an enjoyable experience. Thanks to all the great people we met if you find your way in here – hope to see you next year!
On Sunday we drove back to Omaha – nothing against Iowa but it’s somewhat of a boring drive through corn fields and soybeans… but we survived. We spent a good part of the day at the Strategic Air & Space Museum south of the city. I enjoyed it but that was for Robert too – he used to be stationed in Omaha and he knew so much about all the planes – he’s worked on most of them – that I had the best tour guide out there. We explored some of his old haunts after that, then returned to that great Holiday Inn in Cedar Rapids.
Okay, I’ll get to the pictures already! It was a great trip and a fantastic way to spend his birthday with the man I love! OH – one final note – my good camera died so these are all digital. Great for people pictures, not so hot for stage performances. Don’t expect a lot!
CLEAR LAKE, IOWA – AUGUST 1, 2003
*Surf Ballroom ~ well the back side of it anyhow ~ Craig Erickson’s bass player is peaking out the stage door.
*Surf Ballroom ~ from the side.
*Robert with Doug – a nice guy from Wisconsin that we met (I hope it was Wisconsin!)
*Me & Robert inside before the show – love my red eyes.
*Robert with Johnnie Bolin – brother of Tommy and drummer for Black Oak Arkansas
*Bizarre shot of Glenn Hughes on stage. Those pictures we couldn’t correct we kinda tripped out because they looked cool.
*Glenn Hughes on stage
*Glenn Hughes on stage
*Glenn Hughes on stage
*Glenn Hughes on stage
*Glenn Hughes on stage
*Glenn Hughes on stage with Craig Erickson and the bass player (I was bad with names all weekend!)
*Robert shaking hands with Glenn Hughes – okay so I cut most of his head off – I couldn’t get back far enough in the crush of people for a good shot!
*Robert with Glenn Hughes
*Pat Travers on stage
*Pat Travers on stage
*Pat Travers on stage – another tripped out shot – during the 70’s this would be considered album art… *G*
CLEAR LAKE, IOWA – AUGUST 2, 2003
*Robert outside the Surf Ballroom with the marquee overhead.
*Black Oak Arkansas on stage.
*Black Oak Arkansas on stage ~ another tripped out photo
*Guitar Player for BOA – sorry, bad with names.
*Drum solo ~ Johnnie Bolin on drums accompanied by Jim Dandy on the scrub board – awesome!.
*Drum solo ~ Johnnie Bolin on drums accompanied by Jim Dandy on the scrub board.
*Jim Dandy on the scrub board.
*Robert with Jim Dandy.
*Me & Robert outside the ballroom with the “headstone” – see their webpage for details.
*Poster outside the ballroom for the show.
*Robert outside the ballroom.
*Me outside the ballroom.
*Me & Robert outside the ballroom.
OMAHA(ISH), NEBRASKA – AUGUST 3, 2003
*B-52 at the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
*B-52 cock-pit at the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
*Overhead shot at the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
*Overhead shot at the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
*Overhead shot at the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
*SR-71 at the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
*Me being attacked by the SR-71 at the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
*Robert being attacked by the SR-71 at the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
*Robert outside the bar he used to hang out at 20 years ago in Bellevue, Nebraska
And that’s it – another fantastic trip…
