Everything was packed and we were ready to head down the road when Bob noticed that the indicator light for the RV's brakes was not lit. Uh-oh. Six hours later he and Jim (our neighbor) with all their volt meters and tools could not find the problem. But I was determined to go to the conference so I packed a bag, got into our little sports car (Mercedes SLK) and headed down the road at 5:30 A.M. Friday and drove straight through to Nampa, ID and got there in 8 hours with one stop for gas, one stop for lunch, and a few rest area stops. Interstate freeway all the way there and I made it in time for the first rehearsal on Friday evening.
I signed up for the Bronze (advanced) division and the pace was rather brutal. Saturday morning was a 3 hour rehearsal and another 2.5 hour rehearsal in the afternoon. But after standing for 5.5 hours almost constantly, my lower back rebelled, and I spent the evening flat on my back (reading of course) after taking massive amounts of tylenol. Sunday morning I felt pretty good and was able to rehearse for 2 hours. The final concert Sunday afternoon was fabulous. The last piece we played was 'Stars and Stripes Forever' and was a big hit.
The concert was over at 2pm (mountain time) and I was on the road by 2:30 and home by 9:30pm (pacific time): another 8 hour drive. It was 101 degrees for part of the way and the car ran like a champ with no problems. Lots of cars pulled off to the shoulder with their hoods up.
I spent Monday doing laundry, watering the garden, pulling weeds (damn things), and running errands. Just now trying to get caught up with blogs. I feel so out of touch when I don't blog. I hope I haven't missed any big dramas or name calling or authors behaving badly because I HATE being left out! Let me know so I can go rubberneck. The last big stink I read was at Karen's and I loved it. I want to be her when I grow up. (okay, I know I'm older, shutup).
I did not get as much reading done this weekend because I had to drive. If the RV problem had been fixed, Bob would have driven those 16 hours and I would have read! *sigh* oh, well. But I was able to finish two books. Yay!
Crazy Kisses by Tara JanzenThis was the 4th book in the Steele Street series and it was another fun read. It is Kid Chronopolous and Nikki McKinney's story who we met in the first book (Crazy Hot). Kid and Nikki have a steamy past. In CH Kid walks out on Nikki after some pretty steamy sex (she was a virgin). CK takes place months later when Nikki tracks Kid down in Panama. Their meeting is sizzling hot! And of course danger follows. Janzen again gives us an exciting ride and I thoroughly enjoyed it. All of these books have been consistently entertaining reads and the steamy sex is a plus for me. My grade: B
I see Kristie reviewed the next one Crazy Love and gave it a 5 out of 5. Must go shopping.
Surrender by Pamela ClareThat plaid on the cover was deceiving. Everytime I looked at it I though "Scottish set historical" but of course it's not. The book is set in colonial America during the French and Indian War. The hero Iain MacKinnon and his brothers have emigrated from Scotland and are now being forced to lead a band of colonials to fight along side the British against the French. Anne Campbell has been forced into indentured servitude by her evil uncle. This was a wonderful book! After loving last year's Ride the Fire, I was reluctant to start this one (even though Kristie recommended it) because I was afraid it would not live up to the quality of RTF but I'm so glad I finally picked it up. The heroine is so incredibly strong. I loved the hero as well. The historical details seemed very authentic and the story flowed smoothly with a tight plot and interesting characters. Looking forward to the other brothers' stories. My grade: A-
I'm exhausted. I better head to bed.
5 comments:
That's a lot of driving! But it was worth it, right?
I'm going to have to read those Crazy books now, everyone loves them. This is going to be an expensive weekend. LOL
So far for me Crazy Kisses is the weakest of the bunch. I didn't think Kid really ever understoon how much he hurt Nikki and I think she let him off the hook to easy. Like I said, I think Crazy Love is my new fave, although.......
And I loved Surrender too. Not quite as much as RTF but still bunches and bunches. And it's so damn good and refreshing to read a historical in this kind of setting with ordinary type people rather than dukes and earls and such.
And wow - that is a lot of driving!! Glad the car held up :)
Ames: Definitely worth it! It's been a pretty good series.
Zeek: You must try the first one at least to see if they are your cup of tea.
Kristie: I think I gave Surrender and RTF the same grade but liked RTF a tiny bit more. Same strong heroines but the hero in RTF was to die for. I think you're right about the hero in CK but for some reason it didn't bother me quite as much.
I see you are reading Music of the Night. How goes it? Any good? At least the cover looks pretty. LOL :)
I lurve me Surrender and RTF....but I agree, RTF was hotter. I hope she brings out more in that series...I'm going to try her other stuff.
Sandie
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