New Kids 4/16

• Hey folks. Boy did I have fun the last five days or so. Let me break it down for you. Wednesday morning I left work early, and went to Millbrae to pick up the wheelchair rental van for the trip. The San Mateo Bridge was still messed up from an accident the day before, so Cathy took the Dumbarton Bridge to get me there instead. The guy from the van company was a few minutes late, and I really had to pee. Eventually he arrived, I got my vehicle and was on my way. I got to Kimmie's house in Lodi around 10:30am, and took a nap in her room while she was doing some last minute packing. Erlene (Kimmie's sister) and Joyce arrived a little after noon. Soon we packed the van and left around 1pm. We stopped by Kimmie's very close friend Kevin's apartment, but he wasn't home. Then we picked up some Weinerschnitzel, ran by Kimmie's apartment to grab her disabled placard, and hopped on the freeway. By 4pm, we were at the fantastic Holiday Inn Express in Clovis. This place was great. Nice beds, big enough bathroom for a wheelchair, pool, jacuzzi, gym with brand new equipment and free breakfast. After Joyce and I took an afternoon swim, we all went to dinner at Red Robin down the street. I had a Maui burger, it was tasty. Once we got back to the hotel room I pretty much passed out. I had been running for 24 hours on about 2 hours of sleep. Kimmie woke me a few hours later so I could use her lift to help her into bed, then I hopped on the train to sleepytown once again.
  
• Thursday we woke up just in time to get Kimmie in her chair and speed on down to breakfast. They have a great spread there. Hard boiled eggs, 3 different types of milk, 2 different types of yogurt, eggs, sausage, biscuits, gravy, bagels, muffins, white/wheat toast, 4 different types of cereal, oatmeal, coffee, apple/orange juice. It was fantastic. Once we were done chowing down we went back upstairs. I took a shower and got ready for the concert, although we were leaving hours later. It takes Kimmie a LONG time to get ready since she has CP and is a paraplegic, so she needs a lot more bathroom availability. To pass the time waiting to leave for the show, I watched lots of Cops on TV and snacked on chips and other stuff. Before we knew it, it was time to leave.
  
• We were about 5 minutes away from the Savemart Center, and we got there way early. There was already a line of about 20 girls there, just waiting to see the boys get out of their tour buses. We were able to get the first spot in line for the 5 Star VIPs, since everyone else seemed to be enthralled watching Jordan Knight leave his vehicle. Once inside we signed in, got our gift bags and were shuttled downstairs. We drank soda and ate some veggies/cheese, then finally got in line to see them. Being the second group, we didn't have long to wait. When we first walked in, I saw Jonathan dropkick Jordan in the throat, and Jordan fell on the floor in the fetal position. It was so funny. A few other girls asked if he was okay, and I walked up and said "Why are you on the floor? Get up, dude." I'm so mean. So I did hug all the guys, though I can't really remember in what order. Then we took pictures. Unfortunately all the girls grabbed a New Kid but me so I was stuck in the middle. Oh well. Kimmie got to have her picture taken separately with the guys, and that made her entire year. They wanted Joyce and I to stay for her picture too, but security kicked us out. Boo. I'll be back in July, so maybe Kimmie and I can get a solo group pic with the guys. That would be nice. After meeting them, we got our tickets and left to get Kimmie's camera (they don't let cameras into the meet & greet, I kept mine in my purse anyway) and the posters she brought. There was quite a bit of confusion when we arrived upstairs, because the table where we left them had vanished. After bothering many security personnel, I had to stake out the guest services desk and wait for the camera. Forever. Even took everyone to find their seats, transferred Kimmie to her seat, stowed away her chair, went back upstairs and the camera still wasn't there until 10 minutes later. Then I found out that security had "confiscated" the posters, because they weren't allowed. During the show we saw several girls who had snuck theirs in. Grrr.
  
• The show itself was off the hook. About 80% of the songs they performed were from the 80s/90s. So awesome. I took a lot of pics, and a little bit of video. There are no real words to describe just how amazing their live shows are, you need to see it for yourself. I know Sandi has. The ending was the best part, we were rained on by tons of confetti. So great. After the show, we hit up Dennys down the street for some post-New Kids grub and went back to the hotel, which was practically next door.
  
• Friday morning we woke up just in time to grab breakfast downstairs again. We headed on back to the room, I showered, and Erlene helped Kimmie pack her stuff to leave. We got out of there before noon, and decided to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory down the street past the arena. So yummy, especially the banana cream cheesecake. We cruised the mall for about half an hour, then had to gas up and head back to Lodi. Although there was a little traffic, we made it back a little after 5pm. I left by 6pm and made it back to Millbrae a few minutes after 8 (had to gas up before returning it).
  
• So yeah, the trip was fantastic. I'm sure everyone had a great time. I went back to Kimmie's on Saturday/Sunday and we had fun then too. Watched quite a few movies. I left in the late afternoon a few hours earlier than usual. Both of us were tired and after spending 5 days together you start to want some space.
  
• That's about it folks. Back to the old grind here at work again. Off to take a power nap.