Boycott?

So...

let it be known that when it comes to concerts with Kimmee, we don't have the best luck.

Let me quickly get you caught up to speed:

• We saw Gavin DeGraw with Julie and it rained and we had to huddle under a tiny awning with lots of people.
• We saw The Pussycat Dolls and The Black Eyed Peas, and it rained so hard that we had to change out of our clothes and into back-up clothes once we got back to my car, and overnight, my clothes molded.  I'm not talking about a drizzle - I'm talking about a downpour.
• We saw The Dave Matthews band on the hottest day of the year in 2010 and maybe you remember, but Kimmee's flip-flop broke and we NEVER stopped sweating the entire night.  The temps read 103 when we got out of the car.

So I'm not exactly sure, to be perfectly honest, how I talked her into venturing out again with me to see The Dave Matthews Band this year, but I did:)

And our adventure certainly did not disappoint.

Aside from the fact that I couldn't decide what to wear and was feeling too old to be going to concerts anymore, we were doing great (and running! on! time!) until we were in concert traffic and the temperature gauge on my car came on.  We were overheating - and quickly.

We moved out of concert traffic, pulled over, stopped the car, and called for back-up.  Our plan was to head to the nearest gas station for coolant.  We never made it there.  We tried, but Siri was confused and there wasn't a gas station close enough to keep the car from dying. 

We ended up back in concert traffic, but were able to pull off to the side literally second before the car cut off.  We were 1.9 miles from the concert.  Now what?

As thousands of concert-goes filed past, we sat on the side of the road while waiting for a tow-truck.  Kimmee was sure we were heading home.  I was sure we were getting to the concert.  We decided a tow-truck would come get the car, the driver would drop us off at the concert, and then Brad would come pick us up while my dad stayed with the sleeping babies.  I was bound and determined to make this mommy's night out happen.  One way, or another.

Turned out to be another.

The first tow-truck somehow got messed up, but our insurance called to assure us that another company was on the way.  They'd be there within the hour - uh oh, we're cutting it close to Dave coming on now, and I was starting to panic.  Not to mention we were being eaten alive by mosquitos but didn't want to wait in the car because it was smoking, smelled horrible, and might have blown up at any moment.  Or so we thought.  We finally decided we'd take our chances - the mosquitos were vicious.  Good thing I'd decided to wear jeans.

The tow-truck driver called and announced he was at the Hooters and he was looking in our direction.  "Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm no where near a Hooters!  I'm 1.9 miles from a Dave Matthews concert that starts any minute!!!"  

Turns out he was not in the right location.  The motorcycle cops who happened to drive by (for the second time) gave him directions and said he'd be there within 15 minutes.  We could wait 15 minutes.  I asked the cops if they had extra helmets we could use so they could drop us off.  That was a "no."

A few minutes later, the phone rings, and the insurance company informs me that the tow-truck driver decided it was too far and that he was no longer coming.  They were trying to locate another tow-truck driver to help us.  It wasn't easy, but about 20 minutes later they found one that was on its way.  I informed the company that the car would be unoccupied, we wrote a note on a napkin for the cops so they didn't tow the car, and we were off.  On foot.  For 1.9 miles.

As we got closer and it started to get dark, we could hear Dave playing.  So we ran.  Yes, we did.

{This is us, running.}

We jumped a fence (no sense in running around to the road since we didn't have a car), 

and made our way into the concert venue, tickets in hand.  Finally.  And it seemed as though Dave wasn't playing.  In fact, everyone was out and about, getting food, and chatting.  We! made! it!  We were so excited.  We grabbed some food and found our seats just as he started to play.

During a song neither of us recognized, we decided to go get another snack, when we heard a vendor yell out, "Last call for alcohol!"  The alcohol part didn't matter because neither of us were drinking, but how was this possible?  We'd only been there for 45 minutes!

I'll tell you how it's possible.  We arrived during intermission.  

It's okay.  Really.  I took a deep breath, and we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the concert.  We still had an hour to go and heard lots of great music...some of which I'd never heard them play live before.  It was a good time.

When the concert ended, we gave Brad a call, and he was already on his way towards us.  We began to walk, planning to meet him on a road about a 1/2 mile away.  Key word: planning.

That road was closed to incoming traffic.  What this basically means is that Kimmee and I had to run 1.9 miles, in the dark, to get to Brad.  We called him on Kimmee's cell phone, and for safety reasons, kept him on the phone as we made our way to him.  He had to listen to us huff and puff and laugh for 1.9 miles.  I'm sure it was amusing.  For him - not for us.  

I was sweaty and hot - running 1.9 miles isn't easy when you don't run.  Too bad I decided to wear jeans.  But we made it - safely and soundly!  We had fun:)

So...will we boycott concerts in the future?  We probably should.

But something tells me when Dave tickets go on sale next year, we'll be in line:)