Can You Hear Me Now?

And the Montreal adventures continue… 600 million pictures in this entry, you have been warned.

Saturday, September 16 ~

I think Emma and I woke up around 9:00 a.m.? I can’t remember exactly. All I know is we did the whole showering/dressing thing while exchanging phone calls with Rob, Lo and Lindy (well, I was leaving messages for him to keep him updated on our plans because he was still sleeping) and eventually Rob, Dave and Natasha (Dave’s beautiful friend and back-up singer) went to Chez Cora where Emma, Gaby, myself and Lo met up with them. Lindy finally called and said he had just woken up and would like to meet us “somewhere else, a little later”. So our group minus Lindy enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. This is what I had:

How excited am I that NINE Chez Cora’s are apparently opening in Calgary??

And of course, the cameras were going steady:

Natasha and Dave

I don’t know what Rob just said.

Or what was said here! But we’re obviously having fun.

L-R: Gaby, Lo, and Natasha

Emma and Lo

Me and Lo

After the good eats, we decided “Donna has to see Old Montreal!” But of course, there is no way in hell Donna can walk all over there. Dave and Natasha left to take care of other things they had to do, so the rest of us went back to my hotel to inquire about where to rent a wheelchair for the day. Lo and Emma said they would go pick one up while Rob, Gaby and myself headed to Old Montreal to find a place to meet them. We settled on the side street of this huge cathedral, and took pictures while waiting, of course.

It’s like, my DREAM to be able to sit like this.

Me and Rob

Gaby and Rob, perching. Show offs.

Once Lo and Emma arrived with the wheelchair, we were off! Rob took care of pushing me around, which was not an easy task on those old streets and sidewalks. Lots of cobblestone. I came close to face planting it a couple times haha Sometimes I’d have to get up to walk over areas that were impossible to push a chair over, and everyone was so helpful. Lots of hand holding and arm holding and taking care of Donna that day. It was so sweet.

I’ll just toss up all the pictures I have from that day. Thanks to Emma and Lo for taking my camera and snapping these for me!

Our little family, minus Lo, because she took the picture.

The Gold Elvis. I wanted Emma to pose with him, but she refused. Partypooper.

I had to get a picture of the lady dressed like a sunflower!

After wandering around for a few hours, we decided to find an outdoor patio where we could sit, rest, drink, eat and get in touch with Lindy. After looking around for awhile and finding everything full, too expensive, or with stairs, Lo offered to run ahead and find a spot. She did, and we set up a few tables on the sidewalk of a place called Cache 101.

I don’t know which picture is cuter of me and Rob outside the restaurant:

After calls back and forth a bit we got hold of Lindy and he joined us too:

Once we realized we could not order alcohol on this patio (they only had a license for the rooftop patio) we were bummed. Lo once again went ahead to assess the stairs situation and figured I could do it with a little help from my friends. Handholding ensued, and I made it up to the patio and we got settled. Dave also joined us there. I think we sort of cut into the guys rehearsal time because they were going to be playing on one of each other’s songs later that night, and never had a chance to play together yet and practice. I think they were planning to do that at some point during the day, but you know, Donna was in Montreal, and that takes precedence over everything!!

After eating, we had to make our way back to vehicles, so I went with Rob and Dave, and Lo gave Emma, Gaby and Lindy a ride back to my hotel. The walk back to Rob’s van was a long and bumpy one! Rob dropped Dave off at his place so he could get their guitars, and I needed to pop into my hotel to use the washroom and freshen up, plus drop off the wheelchair and pick up my walker (Lo got me the wheelchair until Monday. Score!) As Rob and I entered the hotel lobby there was Lindy coming in with a 6 pack of beer and a grin so we all shared the elevator. We knew which room was mine as soon as we got off because we could hear Emma and Gaby giggling! We were all in my room when Lindy opened a beer for me, but there was no time to drink it! “Guzzle it!” he said. No can do. Thinking back, I should have placed it on the air conditioner and turned it on full blast to keep it cold. Oh, well.

Eventually we all made it over to the Yellow Door in time for the guys to set up again and soon the music began. This time, Rob played first, then Dave, then Lindy. Who, by the way, really showed off his comedic side the past two nights. The man is CRAZY. I think we were laughing too hard to take pictures of him tonight.

Rob and his smile (okay, and his music) wins over the crowd again

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Dave in the shirt Gaby and Emma made him

At the end of the night, they all played together, which only helped more to make this the best show I’ve ever been to.

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This awesome collage of pictures Gaby created pretty much sums it up!

Alrighty! After that amazing night, we were talking about what to do/where to go now. At first we had decided on a gay karaoke bar, which I was totally into. Take me to watch gay men in drag sing karaoke! Then Lindy said the Green Room, because he had friends going there, and a really good band was playing and it would be quite the party. I didn’t feel up to crowds and loud music, so as Emma and I went our separate ways (she in Catherine’s car with Lindy, and me in Rob’s van with Dave and Natasha) the last she heard was I would just be going back to the hotel.

When I got in the van Rob asked me if I felt like going out. “I’m not into going anywhere loud… but I’d be into a pub or something”. Rob said he would be into that too. But, we DID need to drive by the Green Room anyway, because Natasha had a friend heading there on her bike, and she needed to know that we weren’t going there now. Also, Rob wanted to quickly check out the Green Room for future reference.

While driving there, I was thinking, I need to call Emma and let her know where we end up. Then Lindy called Dave and told him “change of plans, we’re going to Casa del Popolo” which is all accessible so I was happy to hear that! And since I knew Lindy was with Emma and they knew I was with Dave and Rob, I just figured we would all end up at the same place.

So we arrived at Casa del Popolo, and found Lindy’s friends on the patio out back. We set up more tables and Rob got me a beer, a really yummy apricot flavour. Shortly after, Lindy and Catherine arrived, but no Emma. They looked all surprised to see me. “You’re here!!!” I asked where Emma was, why didn’t they bring her, and they told me Emma said she would stay back at the hotel to hang out with me because she thought that is where I was going to be. Oops. So Lindy called her for me and I apologized and explained… Lindy offered to pay for a cab to get her down there… or I suggested Lo pick her up (who was in Lasalle feeding a friend’s cats, but would be joining us ASAP). The cab would be faster. So, finally, Emma did arrive in one piece and LINDY bought her a BEER. Our little Emma…

Anyway, we stayed out on that patio talking and laughing until about 4:00 a.m. Lindy had a gig in Sherbrooke the next night, so he promised to call us around 11:00 to meet for a late breakfast. Rob gave me, Emma, Dave and Natasha rides home. Rob had to leave around 10:00 that morning so this would be the last time I would see him for awhile. Gigantic hugs and kisses and thank you’s… I love that guy. He was really stoked I came out to Montreal for those shows. Everyone was! But no one more than me!

Up in our hotel room, Emma and I were getting ready for bed. “What time should I set the alarm for?” she asked.
Me - Don’t bother, we’ll get up when we wake up…
Emma - But Lindy said he’d call around 11:00
Me - Yeah, well… we’ll wake up when he calls.
Emma - But what if he is all dressed and ready to go when he calls us?
Me - (Laughing too hard to answer).

Or something like that.

Do we wake up in time? Does Lindy call us? Does Donna get to go to Chez Cora again? Stay tuned for the next installment.