It all started a few months ago on Facebook. Well actually, it all started over forty years ago at Busch Gardens, when I met a couple of very friends working at Busch Gardens. Kevin and Marek converted me from rock to country rock; groups like Commander Cody, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Charlie Daniels, and Marshal Tucker. There was one, Jerry Jeff Walker, who did a cover of “Up Against the Wall Red Neck Mother” that I have listened to for years. Not my favorite song of his but one that has good memories and good friends associated with it. I like a live version of it that at the beginning Jerry says “and this song is by Ray Wylie Hubbard”.

Now I have been listening to this song for forty plus years and had no idea who Ray was. Not until this year. About six months ago something bad happened and Facebook was all lit up. Someone I follow posted that there was too much negativity on Facebook. Tells everyone to send him a message and he will send back a letter. You had to pick a song from a band that their name started with that letter and post it on Facebook. Well somebody got a “W” and posted a Youtube of Ray playing somewhere in a field in Texas just knocking it out of the freaking park. I showed it to my wife and asked “I would like to see this guy would you? Being the sport that she is she said yes. So he was touring in Northern California but what caught my eye was a concert in Austin at a the Paramount theater built in 1915 on Ray's 70th birthday. That sounded much more fun so I asked my wife if she wanted to see him “in Austin?” She said “that would be awesome”. Did I say I love my wife.

I had enough points on Southwest so the airfare was all of $11.50 for both of us. When I went to buy concert tickets the website stated that you had to buy a subscription to the Theater to go to that concert.

Not deterred...

I checked what the minimum subscription was. You had to buy three concerts.

Still not deterred...

I checked what was playing on dates close to Ray's concert. It turned out Aaron Neville was playing the night before and Marc Cohn was playing two nights after. I really like Marc Cohn and had heard of Aaron Neville. Looked to see what the damage would be if I bought all three. Even buying the bests seats we could for Ray's concert, the total for two people to go to three concerts was $210 bucks. I have paid $250 for two seats to see Jimmy Buffet.

Done deal...

So I booked the flight and buy the concert tickets. Start to realize it may be an out of control weekend so ask some friends, who would have bail money, if they would want to go? Before they could ask me “Ray Wylie who?” I sent them the YouTube video. One of the couples I asked like Neil Young. So to seal the deal I sent them the lyrics from a song Ray wrote; “New Years Eve at the Gates of Hell”, that mentions Neil:

And sure I drank a lot of gin and tonic

But I never threw away my Panasonic
I kept that turntable through my divorce
Playing Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Drunk out of my mind singing "Tonight's The Night"
It was as lethal on vinyl as China White

Damn they are in.

Austin was freaking' awesome. The people were nice, there was a ton of stuff to see and Ray's concert was fantastic. He opened up with songs that I had been listening to for the last few months. I think the lyrics from “South of the River” say it best:

It was a good night for rocking with a band that delivers

The Aaron Neville and Marc Cohn concerts exceeded our expectations.

Back to Austin. Where we were staying had the constant smell of BBQ floating through the neighborhood. The son of one of the couples traveling with us lives in Austin. So they got to see him and he gave us tours to local dive bars and the inside scoops like the Salt Lick is BYOB. And the rooftop bars, well I wish LA had root top bars like Austin does. Oh and the town is awash in good craft brews.

I have to say the entire trip was great but similar to buying the concert tickets. We were constantly dodging bullets. At first, the subscription thing looked like it would kill the detail but it didn't. Dodged a bullet.

When I made reservations for my daughter's flight she told me she was coming home Sunday but really meant Monday.  I was out of points so I was worried about what the added cost was going to be.  Turned out the flight was cheaper and I actually got points back.  Dodged another bullet.

The GPS on Uber sent our airport driver to the wrong address at 5:30 in the morning.  Luckily I could see his flashing lights a block away, called him and we were on our way.  Dodged another bullet.

While on the layover in Phoenix we stopped at a bar to kill time. It was time to board so walked over to the our boarding gate. My wife asked me for her bottled water that I had put in my suitcase because we were out of hands. Now this suitcase has everything I need for the trip because as a rule I don't check luggage. Look down to the ground by my feet and surprise no suitcase. Crap, left it at the bar. Luckily the bar was close, it was still there, and TSA had not been called yet. Dodged another bullet.

My daughter missed her flight home because the Longhorns had a game that weekend and on Monday everyone was heading out of town. The actual TSA line was 60 minutes instead of the 20 minutes that TSA was estimating, oops. Now there were lots of flights out of Austin that day but every flight out was booked full. In the end, she made a standby flight that left after her original flight but got her home sooner than her original flight. Go figure.  Oh and at no charge because her original flight was delayed. Dodged another bullet.

Coming home our flight out of Austin was delayed enough that we were worried about missing our connection which was the last flight into Burbank. I had an important customer meeting the next day so we tried to get an earlier flight. No dice. By the time we left they cut the delay time by twenty minutes and we made our connection with just a few minutes to spare. Dodged another bullet.

When one of our fellow travelers got home, he realized he did not have his cell phone. Called Southwest and the cleaning crew found it. Dodged another bullet.  That was it Fate's six gun was out of bullets and missed all six times!

Sometimes the bullets you dodge are what you remember the most years later. Lots of bullets dodged and good memories created on this trip.

Thank you Austin, you have a good groove, the trip was great. 

I will have to come back to see Jerry Jeff Walker! If I am lucky may have to buy another subscription and stay a while!