A Fair to Remember
July 25th, 2007
Okay, here we go, longest entry ever. LOTS of pictures! I had the most amazing weekend, which could have been even better if I hadn’t missed about 6 hours of hanging out with everybody because of my intolerance to heat 
It reached about 35°C on Sunday and that sucks for me! However, aside from that, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend or greater people to spend it with.
I arrived at the airport around noon, checked where the band’s flight was arriving from, and took a seat near that gate. I TM’d Rob to let him know I was there and where I was. He wrote back that he was in the rental car line-up and would be down to meet us as soon as he could.
I saw a bunch of people wandering by the luggage carousel, so I figured the flight had arrived and wandered to that area, pushing my wheelchair that was loaded with a couple of my bags and stuff. The first person I saw was Scott, who was peering at me as he got closer. I think I “eeeked!” or something as I gave him a hug, it was so great to finally meet in person. Next I met Alex, who is adorable, followed by Adam who is just a teddy bear of a man, and whose muscles would come in handy when pushing me in my wheelchair all over what turned out to be VERY rough terrain at the outdoor festival. (Mine was the only wheelchair there I believe, and I can understand why!)
Anyway, we all took a seat and waited for Rob. It was at this time that Scott presented me with a beautiful pair of earrings from his wife’s handmade collection - “Stacey made these for you last night”. How sweet is that?? I LOVE them:
When Stacey has an online store or something I will definitely link to it - she has photos of her jewelry on Facebook and it’s all beautiful, unique, and funky!
The line-up at the car rental place was so long, I guess Rob decided to leave and go back later, so he met up with us on the lower level. I was hoping our vehicle would be HUGE, because there was more than just my wheelchair and a couple guitars… although Alex would play a cello provided by the Fair and Adam the main stage drum kit, there was still a lot of instruments and gear. We brought everything up to the car rental place where Scott and Rob got in line and the rest of us went off to eat in the food court.
When we got back, they had just reached the service desk. Due to a mess up on the car rental agency’s end (of course), we received a free upgrade to a Volvo wagon. It sounded big enough, but once everything was loaded in, Scott, Alex and Adam still had to sit in the back seat with one of the guitar cases across their laps! I, on the other hand, got the front passenger seat. Just the first example of how wonderfully I was treated all weekend! They even let me have the air conditioning on the whole 2 hour car ride… I, too, sneeze and get headaches from A/C, but it is a necessary evil when it’s hot!
It was after 5:00 when we finally arrived in Fort MacLeod and checked into our motel. A main floor suite, perfect! Rob and Scott were kind enough to let me have my own bed in their room, because they’re awesome, and confident enough in their heterosexuality that they can share a bed with another man. Heh.
We drove to the fair grounds, and Rob got out to pick up our passes at the gate. We were all equipped with a gold wrist band that only performers are given to access all areas, and passes that said “Rob Szabo Band - Artist” which allowed us free food, water and $2 beers in the performer’s area. That’s right - I was an official unofficial member of the band!
Dinner was being served, so we filled up on burgers and salads before heading out to the main grounds. It was in the food line that I first spotted Melissa McClelland with her hubby Luke Doucet and said hello. She gave me a big hug and said “I didn’t know you’d be here!” Well, someone doesn’t read her Facebook wall often, because I wrote that. Heh. She’s soooo gorgeous and sweet, and we saw a lot of her and Luke over the weekend. Anyway, after eating Alex went with Rob to check out the cello she would be playing later, while Adam and Scott did their best to get me over to the main stage. Every move with me and my chair was a hellish experience - those grounds were bumpy and lumpy and stoney and holey, and if ONE MORE PERSON SAYS TO ME “you need 4 wheel drive on that thing!” I’m gonna scream! Hee.
Anyway, we found a decent spot with a good view of the stage. It was a perfect evening weather-wise, as it had cooled down a bit by then and there was a nice breeze. I finally remembered to pull out my camera (and you can tell I’ve already had a long day, but I felt more alert than I looked!):
Me and Scott
Me and Adam
Me and Alex
Adam and Scott
Me overlooking the crowd, holding my $16.00 latte. (More on that later).
I snuck a pic of Melissa and Luke watching the stage
It came time for everyone (except me) to head back stage where Rob was, and get ready to go on. As it got closer to their show time, more and more people were gathering and standing right in front of me so I couldn’t see the stage. I decided I would use the power of the golden wristband to snag me a spot on the other side of the barricade, smack dab in front of the stage. If I could only move my wheelchair, which was stuck in some holey, lumpy ground. A nice woman saw me struggling to move, and offered to push me wherever I wanted to go. Bless her! So she helped me get through the gate and plant myself in front of the stage, where Coop (Scott) saw me right away and gave me a big smile.
I watched their awesome show, it was soooo great to finally see Rob with a full band. They were fantastic, and very well received by what was now a huge crowd, screaming their heads off.
The Szabo
Alex and Rob
Rob, Adam (if you can see him - I can’t, but he’s on drums!), and Scott
The Coop
After the show, I was immobile again, stuck in the lumpy ground, until Adam (who is so great, we talked a lot over the two days, and he gave me his latest CD too) came around and helped me get to the performers’ area where we all drank a couple beer (except Coop had, like, six!!! Hehe. Adam had none and did the driving, FYI) and ate pita and hummus. By about 1:30 a.m. we were all ready to return to the motel and sleep. We had to be up and ready to go by 10:00 am, as Rob had a songwriter’s circle to perform in at 10:30.
It had been a loooong day. Damn that Coop, he falls asleep in about 30 seconds and they’re both such quiet breathers, I felt self-conscious! I turned and faced my back to them in hopes that my own breathing didn’t bother them. Soon Coop started to snore and I felt better about myself. The next day he insisted that I snore too, and so does Rob, and he does not, only when he’s on his back. WhatEVER.
We woke up far too early… before 7:00 am. I did NOT want to get up yet, my body was fighting it, and even when Rob asked me if I wanted a coffee, I said no. Of course, I thought he meant the motel room coffee. When the guys said “we’ll be back soon”, I asked “where are you going?” and they answered “to A&W for coffee” (well, coffee for Scott, hot water for Rob). “Oh! Get me one!” I said. “Oh, you want one now?” Rob asked. “I didn’t know you meant going out to buy coffee. Absolutely I want one!” (A&W has good coffee and our motel was right beside it).
They came back and I sat up in bed and drank my coffee. The guys were dressed and then left the room so I could do the same. Then we knocked on Adam and Alex’s door, who were also already up and dressed, and we all went to A&W for breakfast. Bacon N’ Egger combos for me and Coop, “Festival Breakfasts” for the rest. Rob and Adam don’t drink coffee, so me and Alex got extra. Woot! Everyone was commenting on the A/C in there, “it’s freezing in here!” and I’m all, “it’s lovely in here!!”
Then it was back to the rooms to pack up and check out before heading back to the grounds. It was starting to get very hot. Rob joined Luke Doucet, Oh Susanna and Anne Loree in the songwriter’s circle while everyone else found me a shaded spot near the sound booth and sat around me. Melissa joined us, too, and went up on stage to do a song with Luke at one point. It was incredible, they’re great together in every way!
Alex, Adam and Coop watch the songwriters’ circle
Melissa and Alex girl-musician talk
I never got any pictures of the performers because it was way too sunny!
Right after that show (each songwriter played 4 songs, and all were great), we headed over to a tent by the main stage for a songwriter’s workshop. Which was basically a bunch of songwriters sitting around discussing their songwriting process, what works for them, how they manage time, etc. and I totally did not belong. But I stayed and listened anyway. It wasn’t very long, because Luke and Melissa had to drive the 5 hours up to Edmonton where Melissa was opening for Chantal Kreviazuk that night.
Luke and Rob at the songwriter’s workshop
Then it was lunch time, so back to the performers’ food area for sandwiches and salad. I was slowly dying from the heat; it was close to 1:00 and I knew I was not going to last. It was the hottest part of the day, I’m sure. Rob asked me what I wanted to do, if they could find me a breezy, shaded spot? But you really couldn’t get both - the shaded areas blocked the breeze and the breezy areas were the wide open spaces in the bright, hot sun. And I really didn’t think it would help at that point, anyway. I had to tell him what pretty much broke my heart to say… “I think I need to be driven back into town and left somewhere air conditioned for the rest of the day.” I knew they all wanted to stay and catch a couple more bands and do some swimming in the river, and I certainly did not want to keep them from that. So, Coop went to get the car while Rob, Adam and Alex pushed/escorted me to the exit. “Do you want a book?” Rob asked. “I’ve got In Cold Blood, have you read that?” I hadn’t, so I gladly took it. I figured I could be dropped at a coffee shop or somewhere that isn’t unusual for someone to sit and read all day while sipping lattes.
OH, speaking of lattes, I ended up spending $16 on one at the Fair grounds on Saturday. GRRR! It was so stupid! Rob was taking me to find the port-a-potties (and thankfully there was one big one for wheelchair accessibility) and we passed a latte/cappuccino stand. I made it clear I’d be getting one after. So, we stopped there and I ordered a large ($5) with vanilla flavouring, and handed her a $5 bill. She said, “oh, it’s actually $6 with the flavour” and I looked in my wallet. No change, so I handed her a $20 bill. She handed me back 2 toonies ($4) making a joke about how I have change now, and talked about how the lid would be on upside down because she didn’t have big enough lids, but surprisingly that worked well, blah blah blah. I was distracted and totally forgot to remind her about the rest of my change - a $10 bill, thankyouverymuch. Idiot. I didn’t realize until later that night. Argh!
Anyway, Coop arrived with the Volvo and we loaded my chair and stuff into it. We drove into town and I saw a “Java Shop” sign, so we stopped there. I just took my cane because from this point on it was short distances, no need to drag out the big chair. We walked into the Java Shop and I could tell right away it was not air conditioned, and even Coop said he could see by the way things were blowing they just had a fan, so no go. We got back into the car, and he said “how about the A&W? It was cold in there!” True enough, and at least they had coffee. I could forgo a latte that day. “We can get you a root beer float! In fact, I’m going to get one too and join you for a bit”.
So we settled me into a little corner booth close to both the counter and the bathroom, and Coop bought me a root beer float. We sat and chatted for awhile, and then he headed off to join everyone else back at the Fair. So, it was just me, coffee, refills, water, and In Cold Blood. Which, by the way, is an awesome book, but I only got to page 106 (would have been more, but I got chatting with this lady beside me who was also escaping the heat for a couple hours). I need to buy my own copy ASAP so I can finish it.*
Around 6:00 pm Rob sent me a TM - “we’re going to be about an hour - how are you doing?” and I answered “I’m good, are you/have you eaten there?” (figuring they would, because it’s free) and he sent back “we’re just about to - you?” and I said I’d eat there then, and see them soon. I got myself a Teen burger, onion rings and a big mug of root beer. A funny side note is that Alex is a vegetarian, and Coop said that if A&W made a veggie burger, they could call it the “mis-placed underprivilged half-cousin burger” or something like that. Ahhh, that Coop… he gave us a LOT of laughs all weekend.
Anyway, shortly after 7:00 Rob and the band piled into A&W to greet me, load my chair in and get ready for the road trip home.
At one point, I pulled my camera out and held it up in the air, facing the back seat, and snapped a couple pictures not knowing what I would get.
Then Coop grabbed my camera from me and started clicking. I’m just going to upload them all, there’s some cute ones, cool ones, and silly ones.
Szabo in the sun
Alex and Coop
Coop and Adam
Rob
Rob’s arm, my arm
Alex
Me
We got to my place about 9:30. They all came in for a few minutes to use the bathroom and meet the kitties:
Coop and Pita
Then, it was the saddest part of the weekend, saying goodbye. Great big hugs and kisses from all, and “see you in Septembers” and all that. They were off to the airport to return the Volvo and catch the red-eye back to Toronto. I went to bed and crashed so hard that the next morning Home Care had to bang on my bedroom window to wake me up.
*Update: I went to the mall to pick up a copy of the book, but they were selling it for $14.00 US/$21.00 Can. as per the back cover. I asked them if that was any different now that our dollar is worth about 96 cents US, and she said “no, we have to sell it for that”. So I bought a Jennifer Weiner and an Oprah book club selection, on mega sale at Wal-Mart, instead. Then I ordered In Cold Blood on eBay for $6.49. HA! @ Coles.
awesomeeeeee