After a nice warm breakfast (served to us at a Baker's Square restaurant across the street from the Best Western Inn we had just checked out of) we left West Sacramento in our dust at about 9:30 a.m. Feeling adventurous, Judy and I headed West into Napa Valley via the 128 state route sidestepping the accused I-80 in the process. Along the two-lane route we drove through farmland ripe with corn, wheat, grapes and various other sun-ripened fruits and vegetables. The crows flying overhead looked fat and happy. Making our way into the hills East of Napa we were met with some of the grandest vista views on our trip. Lot's of twists and turns - very "Ghost Rider-Esc". It was a perfect day. The air was crisp and clean with nary a cloud in the sky. As the road we passed through wound it's way deep into the pristine and rocky hillside we crossed over several creeks and river beds along the way. Points of interest on the state route included the Monticello Dam and Lake Hennessy. Adding to the ambiance I made it a point to play Rush's live CD Exit Stage Left. The Spirit of Radio played first then Red Barchetta filled our ears. After that my need for speed was difficult to maintain - with a watchful eye for any nasty alloy air cars lurking about (that's the Highway Patrol to you and me) we raced on. Heh! I can't help it. I really get into my music eh?

Napa Valley was every bit as green and serene as I expected.

Turning South on Silverado Trail we came to a T in the road miles later where we turned right onto Trancas Street. Westbound we drove directly into the heart of Napa where we stopped to gas up and ask for directions to the Napa Vallejo Highway 29. I picked up another local road map while in town just in case. Four blocks later we were back on track. Stopping to grab a bite to eat for lunch at an Albertsons supermarket we headed out on the 29 South cutting West across Sonoma Highway 12 and South again onto state route 121. At Sears Point we turned West onto state route 37 which eventually met up with Highway 101. We were officially back in the bay area as was evident when the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge came into view to our left. Before long we had arrived at our second scheduled stop of the day - Muir Woods! My watch read 2:00 p.m.

Fresh and relaxing are words I will always use to describe the "redwood stands" of the bay area.

Running a short schedule that day prevented us from walking the length of the California monument trails during our visit. Invariably I managed to get into some hijinks while communing with Nature…

To find out more about my little misadventure click here and don't say I didn't warn you eh?

From the woods we headed South into San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and managed to drive down Lombard Street just South of Fisherman's Wharf. We were hoping to pay a visit to Alcatraz Island this time around but there just wasn't enough time in the day to do it. Next time for sure! It turns out the bay area was a lot bigger than we expected.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lombard Street.

Continuing South on Highway 101 we made our way through South San Francisco and San Mateo. Further along we met up with our old buddy Eddy (Dockie) who had graciously offered us room and board for a couple of nights while hanging with him in his home town of Redwood City. Eddy ¡mi amigo del área del bahía! would provide a few sight seeing outings of his own including an invigorating mountain trail hike in the Woodside hills area which offered views of both the Pacific Ocean on one side and the San Francisco Bay on the other - tres cool no? On the night of our arrival Eddy suggested we sit down to dinner at a local Japanese restaurant. Good call Eddy! The food was superb! During our visit I had the opportunity to meet Eddy's friend Gail. Gail's claim to fame in the world of Rushdom was scoring front row tickets to a Rush concert held in Toronto, Canada from a raffle held at the 2002 RushCon. Oh, and by the way - the Toronto show was her "very first" Rush concert ever! If that isn't a genuine claim to fame I don't know what is. Kudos Gail!

Gail, myself, Eddy and Judy at the Coconut Bay Restaurant .

On September 20th, prior to the event that night we headed out early to grab a bite to eat at a Mexican restaurant called Fiesta Del Mar. I wish I could say good things about the place. You see - they weren't very accommodating when it came to offering separate checks and our group had grown a tad too large to end up splitting the check without the possibility of stiffing the one holding the bill in the end (as is usually the case in situations like these right?). We didn't appreciate this predicament so in an act of defiance our group settled on a different kind of Mexican food being offered right across the street - Taco Bell!

Mmmm... Taco Bell Grandes... Eat now and worry about the left cheek sneaks later...

To be totally on the up and up - the Fiesta wasn't a complete loss that day. During our stay we ran into even more fellow Rush fans while waiting for the rest of our group to arrive. Puanani (Ancient Queen) most notably was a pleasant surprise. Years ago, Puanani and I had met through a mutual friend - one with whom I worked during my days at Disney. Puanani (who was visiting from Hawaii) was the person who informed me via an Internet message that Geddy Lee would be making an appearance in Orange, California on Thursday November 30th, 2000 to meet and greet fans and to promote his new solo album my favorite headache. If it wasn't for her timely notice I would have missed the opportunity to meet Geddy Lee all together. As a token of gratitude a friend and I asked Geddy to personalize a copy of his CD to her while we were there. Aloha indeed!

To read more about the day I met Geddy Lee click here

Impromptu Rush fan gathering near Shoreline.

Finding our way to the Shoreline Amphitheatre we took advantage of the pre-show time to mingle with the locals and begin distributing RushCon 3 flyers (unbeknownst to members of the venue's staff). That day we managed to spread word of the next RushCon event quite splendidly. Satisfied with the interest we had generated for the Convention, Judy and I purchased our beer, split up with our buddies sitting in separate sections and made our way to the coveted third row seats we paid handsomely for. Sweet! - Okay, are you ready for this? - As if that wasn't enough of a treat, no sooner had we settled into our section, a guy named Todd working the venue walked up and asked us discretely to accept wrist bands. "Wrist bands?" we asked 'What for?"

Todd informed us that tonight everyone sitting in the first five rows of the amphitheatre would be allowed access to the pit right in front of the stage.

Standing there mouth agape, wide-eyed and in shock I asked Todd to repeat what he had just said - in my good ear (Heh! Not really - I just wanted to throw that part in for the fun of it - the "good ear part" not the wrist bands eh?) I could have sworn I heard angels singing in the background.

"YES! OOOH YES! WOO HOO!!!"

The Gods were smiling down on us that night!

What incredible luck! As the lights went down we flew right up to the pit barrier. At that point nothing in the world could have pried our fingers loose from the rail we clung to. The show was phenomenal. For the next three hours we stood there eye to eye with Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson. We sang along to every song. Judy even shed a few endearing tears. In that moment - we agreed (and justifiably so) that all the money we had spent on our Rush road trip had been well worth the price. This concert was the highlight of all highlights for us. We will remember it for as long as we live. "My dearest wish had come true" - I bowed to the power of a fortune cookie! (insert gong sound effect here).

We didn't want to leave after the show - They made us anyway.

Oh yeah - I almost forgot! I snuck in another disposable camera that day! I wasn't able to snap any pics however. As it turns out - throughout the performance Judy and I also stood face to face with Fred the security guard in the pit. Rats! On second thought - Fred turned out to be quite a nice guy. At one point during the show this hosehead behind me tried real hard to muscle his way between myself and a fellow Rush fan standing next to us who had introduced himself as "Mike". I began to get a little ticked when this knob refused to stop pressing into our backs. As a guy who respects personal space I surprised even myself when I entertained the idea of actually turning around and punching hosehead right in the face after asking him repeatedly to move back. He wouldn't budge - In fact - The guy started yelling at Mike when the thought occurred to me that Fred "the security guard" was sitting right in front of us this whole time. Turning back to him I asked if he could lend a hand with our situation and he did! He was on it in a flash. You're the man Fred! The rest of the evening was a real slice of heaven. Highlights this time around included - Almost making Geddy laugh when we sang "Why are we here? Because there's Beer!" while toasting the band and pointing to our ice cold Pale Ales - feeling the heat from the stage pyrotechnics on our faces plus - oh yeah - STANDING IN THE PIT AND EVERYTHING THAT WENT ALONG WITH THAT! YEAH BABY!!! YEAH!!!

- 'Nuf said!