Here is a video of the backstage experience. TOO COOL!
Showing posts with label Ames. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ames. Show all posts
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Road Trips and Guitar Picks - Wide Open with Jason Aldean
Wednesday night Dan and I jumped in the Caddy and pointed it toward Ames. Our destination was Hilton Coliseum for an amazing evening with one of my favorite country singers, Jason Aldean. When Jason came onto the country scene a few years back with the song Hicktown, I was instantly into his music. He was someone I always wanted to see perform live. Well as luck would have it Jay Verner from Country Financial was cruising blogs one day and ran across mine. I opened my e-mail one day and saw this e-mail with the subject line Road Trips and Guitar Picks. I get lots of e-mails from people asking for this and that and offering this and the other thing, so I don't always open e-mails, they usually get deleted. I'm so glad that I opened this one. Jay asked if I'd be interested in attending Jason's March 10th show in Ames. I was instantly excited. I e-mailed him back and asked if this was for real and he responded back that it was. Well I took the bait and said of course I wanted to see Jason Aldean and what sweetened the pot was the fact that I would be going backstage to meet him too! Holy WOW! So all this explains the blog posts I made about Jason Aldean and the videos I posted. It was part of the deal and I certainly was more then happy to promote Jason, Country Financial, and the Road Trips and Guitar Picks site.
So back to heading to Ames. We get there and stand in line at Will Call. I started talking to this guy in front of me, Dan Woessner, and he ended up being an agency manager at Country Financial. He introduced Dan and me to all of the other Country Financial people in the group and weird enough they had all heard of the blogger, IowaHarleyGirl. Thanks to Dan and the other Country Financial team members for letting us tag along with them to get into the venue. Once we were inside I met Jay, who had e-mailed and invited me to the event. He was introducing me to people and they too had all heard of this blogger, Harley Girl. I was beaming, for sure!
The backstage experience was great. They had food and drinks. The room was all decorated for the event with Jason's Billboards. I autographed a sign that is going all over the US with the concert which I thought was pretty cool. Finally we all lined up to meet Jason and have our photo taken with him. I do have to say he is one good looking young man. WOW! I was star struck and all I remember was saying to him, I can't believe I'm actually meeting you...I can't believe I'm actually standing here beside you. After the photos, Jason and two members of his band sang an acoustic version of Big Green Tractor. Then he answered questions. He's a cool guy. Wish I had photos but they weren't allowed. It was very intimate though. An experience I will never forget.
After the meet and greet Dan and I headed upstairs to our seats. They were awesome. Luke Bryan opened the show. He was really really good! I knew a couple of his songs and he swayed me over to being a fan. There was a quick set change and then there he was, Jason Aldean! The boy can rock in a country sorta way!! I always love it when the artist you are seeing loves up the crowd and he really did. His band is amazing too. I couldn't stop dancing once he hit the stage. And he made my knees weak when he said "yeah momma" in the song Johnny Cash! His songs really have that down home twangy country feel that I love. It was a great concert!
I can't thank Country Financial enough for this amazing experience. Thank you so much for finding my blog and asking me to promote this event. I had a blast! This was something I really needed after my whole experience last year. It really made me appreciate what was going on all the more! Thanks to Jason Aldean for taking the time to meet us and share an intimate moment with us. I think it would take a lot to do something like that. We all think we know a star because we've read about them and know things about them but they are coming into the venue not knowing a single thing about any of us. I'm sure it's as surreal for them as it is for us. Anyway...getting a little too deep on this post. :)
If you have a chance to see Jason Aldean or Jewel on the Road Trips and Guitar Picks tour...do it! It's an experience you will love!!!!
So back to heading to Ames. We get there and stand in line at Will Call. I started talking to this guy in front of me, Dan Woessner, and he ended up being an agency manager at Country Financial. He introduced Dan and me to all of the other Country Financial people in the group and weird enough they had all heard of the blogger, IowaHarleyGirl. Thanks to Dan and the other Country Financial team members for letting us tag along with them to get into the venue. Once we were inside I met Jay, who had e-mailed and invited me to the event. He was introducing me to people and they too had all heard of this blogger, Harley Girl. I was beaming, for sure!
The backstage experience was great. They had food and drinks. The room was all decorated for the event with Jason's Billboards. I autographed a sign that is going all over the US with the concert which I thought was pretty cool. Finally we all lined up to meet Jason and have our photo taken with him. I do have to say he is one good looking young man. WOW! I was star struck and all I remember was saying to him, I can't believe I'm actually meeting you...I can't believe I'm actually standing here beside you. After the photos, Jason and two members of his band sang an acoustic version of Big Green Tractor. Then he answered questions. He's a cool guy. Wish I had photos but they weren't allowed. It was very intimate though. An experience I will never forget.
After the meet and greet Dan and I headed upstairs to our seats. They were awesome. Luke Bryan opened the show. He was really really good! I knew a couple of his songs and he swayed me over to being a fan. There was a quick set change and then there he was, Jason Aldean! The boy can rock in a country sorta way!! I always love it when the artist you are seeing loves up the crowd and he really did. His band is amazing too. I couldn't stop dancing once he hit the stage. And he made my knees weak when he said "yeah momma" in the song Johnny Cash! His songs really have that down home twangy country feel that I love. It was a great concert!
I can't thank Country Financial enough for this amazing experience. Thank you so much for finding my blog and asking me to promote this event. I had a blast! This was something I really needed after my whole experience last year. It really made me appreciate what was going on all the more! Thanks to Jason Aldean for taking the time to meet us and share an intimate moment with us. I think it would take a lot to do something like that. We all think we know a star because we've read about them and know things about them but they are coming into the venue not knowing a single thing about any of us. I'm sure it's as surreal for them as it is for us. Anyway...getting a little too deep on this post. :)
If you have a chance to see Jason Aldean or Jewel on the Road Trips and Guitar Picks tour...do it! It's an experience you will love!!!!
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Bittersweet Journey
What a week!!! I'm sitting here listening to a little Captain and Tennille. Yes that's what I wrote, stop laughing. They are ICONS! :)~
Ok...so what a week...Thanks for the comments on last nights entry B.B. & Ann. I'm glad I blogged what I was thinking because I didn't think about it for the rest of the night! That guy was a jackass though...WOW!
Last Sunday Dan and I stained the deck at like 6 am and then hit the road on a 230 mile journey. I've gotten to the point this year where I ask where we are going because there have been a couple recent adventures that have turned into long distance rides and I've been sitting on the back freezing like an ice cube because of poor planning or lack of communication. A few weeks ago I had to finally gesture at the road sign to exit at Story City so that I could put on my leather coat. When I got off the bike Dan was like..."What's up?" Steph..."I'm freezing!" Dan..."And you call yourself a biker chick!" Steph...Arm punch..."Yep I still do!!" LOL It was funny...guess ya had to be there, huh?
Ok...Captain and Tennille...while a great duo...not really inspirational blogging music. Need to find something else. LOL Alright...I'm going with a little Poison...Bret Michaels is a biker...this will be good! :) Hey D-Day...how was the show? Bret rocks...
Back to the trip...so we get on the road and head over to Hwy 330. Great back roads on the way over and 330 is a nice road with not a lot of traffic even though it's 4 lane. We are headed over to Parkersburg to see the tornado damage. I get into my head and think a lot when we are riding...I'm mentally preparing myself for what lies ahead in Parkersburg while still trying to enjoy the ride. I have mixed feelings about this Parkersburg trip. I've never seen the destruction that a tornado has caused first hand.
We've had so much rain in Iowa that the fields are flooded and many rivers are out of their banks. We come up on the 30/330 bypass and there is a sign telling us that we will need to exit and go through Marshalltown because 330 is under water at Albion. We cruise into M-town and stop off at a Kum and Go for gas. Here is a pix of Zippy Pickle at the pump and the current price of gas as of last Sunday.(3.75 was for the cheap stuff)
Back on the road we head through NE Iowa on Hwy 14. We get to Grundy Center and my stomach starts to get butterflies...I'm bracing myself for what I'm about to see. We head past the new Grundy County truck stop, off of 14 and Hwy 20, and are now getting closer to Parkersburg. We blow by the road closed signs and I'm actually hoping at this point that we won't be able to get too close. I see the P-burg water tower and a lump forms in my throat...the closer we get I can hear myself saying Oh My God out loud. Everything that greeted you to this town when you enter it on Hwy 14 is now gone. Debris is everywhere. The tears begin to fall from my eyes. Dan pulls off the road and we both sit there and just look...silent. It's the worst thing I've ever seen. Peoples lives torn apart by nature, strune all over the country side. After about 10 minutes Dan starts up ZP and says that he's going to see if we can ride through. I don't want to...I want to turn around and go back. I'm feeling guilty for being there because I'm not volunteering to help...I'm just another gawker. The ISP lets us through and then we are stopped again by some volunteer firefighters up from Norwalk. One of the guys doesn't want to let us in and I really don't blame him. I'm feeling like shit at this point, thinking that we should have gone back. The looks on peoples faces were so sad. There was no laughter, no smiles. We got past the firefighters and venture into P-burg. As you ride through town it's amazing to see houses that weren't affected at all. It's unbelievable how mother nature picked and chose that day whose lives she was going to change. We ride up by the high school and it's destroyed. National Guard trucks line the parking lot at the school. I finally asked Dan if we could head out. My heart couldn't take anymore...we had to get on down the road, so we did. I didn't take any pictures, it just didn't seem right...if you want to see footage go back to an earlier post and watch the videos. http://iowaharleygirl.blogspot.com/2008/05/deadly-tornado-parkersburg-ia.html
Back on the road I reflect on life, reflect on what I just saw, said a prayer for the people of Parkersburg and then moved it out of my head. We stopped in Iowa Falls and had lunch/dinner at DQ. Then we cruised on over to Ames and stopped off for a cup of coffee at Burgie's Espresso Cafe. Fueled up ZP and were back on the road headed back to Johnston. This was a bittersweet journey. I still feel guilty for gawking but I'm glad I went up there to see it first hand. Seeing that kind of destruction really makes you think about the things that are most important and it's obvious that they aren't material belongings. My thoughts continue to be with the people of Parkersburg.
Have a great weekend and hug the ones you love!!
IHG
Ok...so what a week...Thanks for the comments on last nights entry B.B. & Ann. I'm glad I blogged what I was thinking because I didn't think about it for the rest of the night! That guy was a jackass though...WOW!
Last Sunday Dan and I stained the deck at like 6 am and then hit the road on a 230 mile journey. I've gotten to the point this year where I ask where we are going because there have been a couple recent adventures that have turned into long distance rides and I've been sitting on the back freezing like an ice cube because of poor planning or lack of communication. A few weeks ago I had to finally gesture at the road sign to exit at Story City so that I could put on my leather coat. When I got off the bike Dan was like..."What's up?" Steph..."I'm freezing!" Dan..."And you call yourself a biker chick!" Steph...Arm punch..."Yep I still do!!" LOL It was funny...guess ya had to be there, huh?
Ok...Captain and Tennille...while a great duo...not really inspirational blogging music. Need to find something else. LOL Alright...I'm going with a little Poison...Bret Michaels is a biker...this will be good! :) Hey D-Day...how was the show? Bret rocks...
Back to the trip...so we get on the road and head over to Hwy 330. Great back roads on the way over and 330 is a nice road with not a lot of traffic even though it's 4 lane. We are headed over to Parkersburg to see the tornado damage. I get into my head and think a lot when we are riding...I'm mentally preparing myself for what lies ahead in Parkersburg while still trying to enjoy the ride. I have mixed feelings about this Parkersburg trip. I've never seen the destruction that a tornado has caused first hand.
We've had so much rain in Iowa that the fields are flooded and many rivers are out of their banks. We come up on the 30/330 bypass and there is a sign telling us that we will need to exit and go through Marshalltown because 330 is under water at Albion. We cruise into M-town and stop off at a Kum and Go for gas. Here is a pix of Zippy Pickle at the pump and the current price of gas as of last Sunday.(3.75 was for the cheap stuff)
Back on the road we head through NE Iowa on Hwy 14. We get to Grundy Center and my stomach starts to get butterflies...I'm bracing myself for what I'm about to see. We head past the new Grundy County truck stop, off of 14 and Hwy 20, and are now getting closer to Parkersburg. We blow by the road closed signs and I'm actually hoping at this point that we won't be able to get too close. I see the P-burg water tower and a lump forms in my throat...the closer we get I can hear myself saying Oh My God out loud. Everything that greeted you to this town when you enter it on Hwy 14 is now gone. Debris is everywhere. The tears begin to fall from my eyes. Dan pulls off the road and we both sit there and just look...silent. It's the worst thing I've ever seen. Peoples lives torn apart by nature, strune all over the country side. After about 10 minutes Dan starts up ZP and says that he's going to see if we can ride through. I don't want to...I want to turn around and go back. I'm feeling guilty for being there because I'm not volunteering to help...I'm just another gawker. The ISP lets us through and then we are stopped again by some volunteer firefighters up from Norwalk. One of the guys doesn't want to let us in and I really don't blame him. I'm feeling like shit at this point, thinking that we should have gone back. The looks on peoples faces were so sad. There was no laughter, no smiles. We got past the firefighters and venture into P-burg. As you ride through town it's amazing to see houses that weren't affected at all. It's unbelievable how mother nature picked and chose that day whose lives she was going to change. We ride up by the high school and it's destroyed. National Guard trucks line the parking lot at the school. I finally asked Dan if we could head out. My heart couldn't take anymore...we had to get on down the road, so we did. I didn't take any pictures, it just didn't seem right...if you want to see footage go back to an earlier post and watch the videos. http://iowaharleygirl.blogspot.com/2008/05/deadly-tornado-parkersburg-ia.html
Back on the road I reflect on life, reflect on what I just saw, said a prayer for the people of Parkersburg and then moved it out of my head. We stopped in Iowa Falls and had lunch/dinner at DQ. Then we cruised on over to Ames and stopped off for a cup of coffee at Burgie's Espresso Cafe. Fueled up ZP and were back on the road headed back to Johnston. This was a bittersweet journey. I still feel guilty for gawking but I'm glad I went up there to see it first hand. Seeing that kind of destruction really makes you think about the things that are most important and it's obvious that they aren't material belongings. My thoughts continue to be with the people of Parkersburg.
Have a great weekend and hug the ones you love!!
IHG
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