Before the show...

Okay, I don’t know how much of this you guys truly care about but I have it written out so I’ll share it.

This was all originally written by hand and I tiled it “A day of waiting and lots of driving”

As you know, Tonya and I had planned on attending the Dierks Bentley concert together in Everett, WA on December 1, 2006. The week of the concert the Pacific Northwest and Southwest BC got slammed with one of the worst storms in years. Record snowfall combined with freezing temperatures shut schools and places of business (I was essentially off work for the whole week) and cut off power in many areas. Tonya’s home was one of the places affected. She, her husband and son were without power in their home for ___ days. On Wednesday night she called me to say that they weren’t expecting to have their power restored until the following Tuesday. Because of this, she wasn’t comfortable leaving her family to attend the concert and asked if I’d be able to find someone else to go with.

I immediately called my brother Seth. He’s a country fan like me but he’s never been to a concert. I figured this one would be a good one to start with. Plus, because the weather was still questionable, it gave me a driving buddy just in case anything went wrong.

Friday, December 1st dawned cold and clear. It had warmed up enough overnight that the salt was able to do it’s job and melt the snow and ice on the road. I had a couple of stops to make on the way into Everett. At the bank, Tim Horton’s for coffee, at Mom & Dad’s to check my email, at Leanne’s to pick up a cd I had left on the island and then onto the Passport office in Surrey (something I’d been planning on doing since MARCH!)

The line at the passport was incredible. Out the door and down the hallway just to get a NUMBER! Once you got inside, the estimated wait time was another hour or so. Luckily I had filled out my application using the online system so once I got my number I only had to wait a few minutes.

From Surrey we headed South to the Peace Arch border crossing. The way wasn’t that long but it still was a wait. Of course by this time our coffee and water had processed so the first thing we looked for when we got across the border was somewhere to pee. I don’t like using the restrooms at gas stations, preferring instead to stop at fast food restaurants. I knew there was a Burger King in Blain but I wasn’t sure where. After driving around for a few minutes on rough, unplowed roads (which aggravated our bladders and sent us into a fit of giggles) we finally located BK. We did our thing, grabbed some Whopper Jr’s as a snack and hit the interstate.

In Bellingham I stopped at Stampadoodle and Paper Zone. Both are stores I have wanted to check out for a few years. They’ve always been closed when I went by though. Seth was a hilarious shopping buddy. He read all the word stickers aloud, commented on the embellishments and fingered some pretty glittery paper. (The glitter ended up ALL over his black jeans. He was NOT impressed but it sure was funny).

We arrived in Everett around 4p and located the Everett Events Center (EEC) before looking for somewhere to eat. We had a horrible time and after driving around aimlessly for too long, ended up parking right beside the EEC and hiking up the street a few blocks to “Café Vino”. The meet was good. Nothing too memorable but it filled us up.

We got back to the EEC around 5:30. KMPS (the radio station) was broadcasting live and there were staff in red shirts all over. We both signed cards for the US troops in Iraq and entered to wing back stage passes to meet either Miranda Lambert or Dierks. Then we lined up with the other “General Admission” ticket holders. It was cold out but we passed the time chatting with people in the line and I made a new friend, fellow fan club member, Janalyn. She was there with a friend of hers but I missed her friends name.

At 6:30 the doors opened. We hit the merchandise table first where I picked up a t-shirt that I have been eyeing for months. From there we headed down to the floor of the EEC. Our tickets were checked at least three times on the way down before we were finally given wrist bands showing that we were authorized to be there. We got in and secured excellent spots right by the stage. Janalyn and her friend were right there too.

~Heidi