Off To See Arlo Fri

[Cheryl Harrell]

I'm off to see my friend Arlo the singer live in concert in Northern, VA on Fri & come on back home Sat. Sadly I won't have my laptop with me cuz my parents went to Nags Head for the week this week & I was a nice guy & let my folks have my laptop so my Mom can e-mail me & get her e-mails. They won't be back until Sat. I can get on here Fri morning before I go But won't be able to get back on until I get back home on Sat nite. Arrgh! I will be going thru message board withdrawal & the e-mails will be backed up the wazoo LOL! So have fun on Fri afternoon, nite & Sat morning while I am gone & I'll catch up on everything when I return. Boy will I have some reading to do LOL!

[Luckymama58]

Have a great time, Cheryl! Drive safely!

[kriziazafiro]

You'll be missed.
Have a great time and take care.

Besos

[Anna]

Have a good time, but be careful.

[Cheryl Harrell]

Thanks ya'll! We are gonna leave tomorrow morning & then come back Sat nite so I won't be gone too long. I'll be suffering internet withdrawal tho. I'll be having alot of fun! It'll be nice to see Arlo again & give him a good hug!

[Pitooey]

WoW Lucky You did get the photo on your signature! YAY...........

[Karen64]

Have a great time, Cheryl!

[Pitooey]

Have fun Cheryl........... Don't stay away from us too long.... Stay Safe........

[Cheryl Harrell]

Thanks ya'll! Off soon to see Arlo! Last nite actually early am, one of Arlos friends who we've gotten to know over the yrs & she's really nice & lives here in VA too found me on AOL instant messenger & we talked on it. We made plans to get together & hopefully find Arlo & eg t together with him. Will be back tomorrow nite. Next overnite trip should be to Mikes sisters in Columbus, Ohio sometime in August. I should have my laptop then. If my parents go off then, my Mom will just have to do without the laptop cuz I'm not going 2 weeks without e-mail & my message boards.

Se ya'll tomorrow nite! Keep Freddie warm for me.

[Anna]

LOL. Cheryl we`re going to have to find a 12 step program for you.

[tylersmistress2002]

Hey Cheryl! I have been thinking of you alot lately.... I keep hearing an advertisement for Arlo locally. He is playing in RI .... I dont remember exactly when....but every time I hear the ad, I think of you. I hope you enjoyed seeing Arlo.... I am sure you did. Maybe I will try to catch his show locally. Anyway, have a great day...

[Cheryl Harrell]

I bet the show you heard advertised is this one listed on his website:

2002-08-04 NEWPORT, RI NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL

That should be a good one as it's a big folk music festival with lots of acts including Arlo. In 1967 he played the NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL & did so well there he got a recording contract & the rest is history fame & fortune... Go, go, go as you'll have a great time! Do try to meet Arlo after the show. If you do do tell him HI from me & Mike & that I have recommended him to everyone on the CHICO & THE MAN Message Boards. If he's in your area folks go. He is soooo sweet!

His concert listings are here:

http://www.arlo.net/concerts/

I had the BEST time seeing Arlo as usual. The trip on the way up wasn't so hot tho.

Had a devil of a mess trying to get up there. Beware of the Bethesda, MD fuzz! I missed my turn off in Northern VA cuz they had changed the road signs. So I went too far past where I should've. So I went on a few exits further realized I was too far & was in Maryland. So I go to an exit in Bethesda, MD to turn around. Here comes a cop pulling me over. I asked what was wrong. Marylands laws are different than Va's LOL! I was in a right turn only lane & realized I was in the wrong lane so I looked to see if I could change lanes. No one was behind me but the other lane I needed to get into was full of traffic. So I stopped & carefully waited to let the traffic go by & the got in the other lane when it was clear. According to the pig you can't do that in MD like ya can in VA. Oh no I was supposed to have made the right turn & go around the block to right myself. How would I know that when I don't live in MD? I explained I was from out of town & on the wrong exit but to not avail. The cop was polite but still he recited to me this jazz that sounded like he'd gotten it out of some book they made em read to give tourists the riot at. If your outta state they will get ya in Bethesda. So I got slapped with a dumb ticket for $70! GRRR! The fuzz wouldn't even let me off. & The ticket had all these insane MD laws on it, Geeze!

So we had to get off on the exit for Northern VA, stop at a gas station to find out how to get there from there since we were on the wrong road & finally got there. Whew!

Arlo had already gotten there & was inside the building so we missed seeing him on his way in. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't turned off on the wrong exit & then got that ticket. Grrr! We've gotten to know Amy the young girl who sells the stuff for Arlo at his shows & were visiting with her. We never did get to meet his new bus driver (The old one Dennis who we really loved & was popular with Arlos friends quit working for Arlo to settle down locally in his area) cuz...

If that wasn't enough of the law (I was pretty sick of cops by then LOL), at Wolftrap before the show we had been visiting with Amy & was waiting for her to come back. Well some cop comes up to me & said we couldn't wait there anymore cuz only workers were supposed to be there so we had to leave that area. Can't they go chase some criminals?

So we went back to the front of the place to wait for the show to begin. We ran into Arlos friend Sue who lives in Northern Va near there & she had a friend of hers with her & we got to meet her friend who seemed nice! Arlos friend Agnes & her friend Don were there. & So was Arlos friends Libby & her hubby David. We've gotten to know them over the yrs thru going to Arlos shows & they are nice folks. Ate some hotdogs & hung out with them until time to go find our seats. They were 10th row in the indoor section. I don't care for the lawn seats cuz you can't see very well from there.

The show was actually a Judy Collins show & Arlo & John Gorka the folksinger & Natalie McMaster the fiddle player girl was there. They were all good. John Gorka was sooo funny. Natalie McMaster did an excellent job of playing the fiddle. Judy Collins did a great show. She did all or most of her hits I think. She sang a few songs, then each of the other singers got to do their shows. Arlo didn't get to sing as long as he normally does cuz the show wasn't all him & they had to have time for the other singers. There was an intermission & then Judy Collins did the 2nd half of the show & then at the end she had the other singers com out & they all did a few gospel songs like AMAZING GRACE which was a big hit for Judy & Arlo does it in a lot of his shows. An excellent show!

Then after the show was trying to find Arlo as he usually will come out & meet fans & that's when he comes & meets us. WOLFTRAP PARK is a sentimental place for me as that's where I went to my first Arlo show back in 1989 & where we met him for the very first time at the very first show & became friends with him. It's been an adventure ever since then. :0

The rest of the story is coming up in another post as I'm afraid if I go on too long in one post, it will cough up & hang up & I lose everything I have written... Stay tuned...

[Cheryl Harrell]

We never did get to find out from Amy where Arlo was gonna meet folks after the show or if he was gonna meet during the intermission instead of after the show cuz the cop had kicked us out of where Arlos bus was. & She was gonna let us know. So we had to ask a concert worker & they told us to ask the workers with walkie talkies. I had to ask I dunno how many workers & they refer me to another one. During intermission I asked a concert worker they had told me to ask during intermission. They looked at some sheet of paper & then said that he had left word with them that he wasn't going to see us after the show. I asked why & they didn't know. I felt like crying it was so disappointing. I wondered were they telling me wrong or what cuz I knew Arlo would never brush me off like that. I couldn't find Sue or anyone else either. So after the show we went off to find Sue & Agnes, Don etc. Found them & gave them the bad news. We all wondered were the concert workers telling me wrong or what. Arlo didn't come out at the places he would normally come out to meet people when he was there in the past. We all went up asking different concert workers where he'd be coming out at. Some told us wrong. I think they thought we were all groupies & wanted to get rid of us LOL! Finally Don was able to weasel it out of some concert worker that Arlo was gonna meet people on the Plaza near the concessions stand. So we went there & he came out! YAY!

We all stood around hanging out together, Mike & I, Sue, her friend, Agnes & Don having fun visiting while Arlo met fans & then we'd all meet him when he was thru with the fans. When Arlo is meeting the fans I like to stand to the side & take some pictures him while he's meeting the fans so I can get the picture taking outta the way & be free when I see him to talk to him & get some closeups. This concert worker who was a young girl got smart mouthed with us & said I couldn't stand there to take my pics. I'd have to wait & go in the back of the line. I tried to explain to her I was a friend of Arlo's & when Arlo is meeting the fans I like to stand to the side & take some picture of him while he's meeting the fans & Arlo doesn't care. The concert worker gave us all a hard time about standing there hanging around & said we had to go to the back of the line. So Sue told her that we were friends of Arlos waiting to see him & he knows were here & explaining but the concert worker girl still got smart mouthed. Arlos friend Illyse was there & was standing right next to him up close which the concert worker girl didn't like & she said something to Illyse. Illyse told her that we were all friends of Arlos & back off LOL! The concert worker girl still got smart mouthed again so Sue finally told her again we are all friends of Arlos & he doesn't care us standing there & Illyse told her again. Arlo turns & looks & smiles like he knows us. The concert worker girl slunk off knowing she's just chewed up a famous stars friends LOL!

We all had an excellent time visiting with Arlo. He is so sweet! Most of us had their pics taken with Arlo except me who was taking pictures of everyone else with him. I took some pics of Mike with Arlo. In one of them it was cutting Mike off in the lens & I didn't know it but Arlo saw it & told me. He accused me of doing it on purpose LOL! He was just teasing me as he does sometimes. I re-took it again making sure Mike fit all the way in. I found out Arlo doesn't play golf contrary to rumors that he did. Told him we'd see him in Hampton, VA in Nov. the next gig he's doing anywhere near VA. So much to talk about & going on.

It was eventually time for him to leave. I hugged him goodbye & got all sad as usual & cried as usual. I had to reach in my purse to get a hankie. Arlo stopped & talked to us all a few more minutes. Then he was ready to leave for good. I hugged him again & cried again & had to get out the hankie again. I told him I loved him & boo-hoo... He looked kinda sad like he wanted to cry too but was trying act okay. He left (concert workers took him on a golf cart thing) & when he walked away, I just lost it all & broke down a little. Had to reach for my hankie again. I realized I couldn't really cry cuz his friends are all there & I don't want them to see so I had to get okay real quick which I did. So we walked with them part way to their cars but couldn't walk with them al the way cuz we were parked in handicapped due to Mikes being legally blind from his diabetes & our diabetes & they were in regular parking. We all hugged each other goodbye. I felt like crying again but didn't want to in front of them. I hate it when your eyes mist all up & you can't let them get that way or be embarrassed. They left & we rode back to our car on a golf cart thing. They have those for the handicapped there now which was great! We left for the hotel after calling my mom from my cell phone to let her & dad know we were okay. Then off we went to spend the nite at Arlos hotel!

We got a good deal on the motel room. A $200-$300 room for $79! Knowing Arlo he got that deal too! The hotel had internet puters you could use for free to do your e-mail & websites etc. I got on them to check my mail & message boards including here. I tried to post on it but it wouldn't let me. It would log me in & when I'd try to post it'd ask for a password & I'd put it in & the message wouldn't post but go back to the password screen even tho I used the right password. Yuck! I read everything on here but couldn't write. Yuck!

More on our adventures at Arlo's motel later as I have to go to town in a bit. I know the suspense is killing you. Stay tuned.

[tylersmistress2002]

You are right! It was the Newport festival! It is always a good show. He must be very talented.....only the best perform at that festival. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

[Pitooey]

What an adventure Cheryl! You guys went through so much to see Arlo. Sorry about that ticket. I felt bad for you.

Luckily you did see Arlo after all even if you suffered through that nasty worker.....