Standing in Viejas

I got up at about 7.30am and went for a swim. Apart from going out to lunch, I spent the rest of the day catching up on some accounts work (as I haven't had much time in the first few days of this trip).

When I looked for a hotel here I put in San Diego in Expedia and it brought up this one so I booked it. What I didn't realise was that it's in an area called Oceanside which is actually an hour from the concert! Consequently I left at about 5.00pm and got to the casino at about 6.15pm as the traffic was heavy at one point. There were loads of places to park (for free!) so I joined the line at about 6.30pm. It was mainly all Blondie fans in the line but they let us in promptly at 7.00pm. I went to stand on Kasim's side (no surprise there!) but I saw some friends at the front who had been at the M&G (so were allowed in early) so I stood with them and ended up in the second row in the middle, near Todd's microphone.

This was the most sociable concert of the tour so far as one person I knew was introducing us all to each other so that helped make the time go faster. The only thing was that I was standing from 6.30pm until 11.30pm which was very hard on my feet (especially my bad foot).

The concert itself was great and it was nice being able to see the whites of their eyes again - my seats are further back for the last few concerts. Kasim was all over the stage again which was good to see but it was harder for me to see him more than anyone else on the stage as I had to turn my head to see him. The people at the M&G were all raving about how friendly he was there.

I left the venue at about 11.30pm and got back to my room by 12.30am and to sleep at about 2.00am again as, with this 8 hour time difference, my boss had sent me some more work to do!

Working in San Diego

My friend was working this morning so I left when she went to work (7.30am). As I couldn't check into my hotel so early (San Diego is only about an hour south), I stopped off for some breakfast at a Denny's enroute and then did some work for a couple of hours in my car.

I got to my hotel at about noon and they allowed me to check-in okay. I then spent most of the rest of the day working (I have to pay for this trip somehow!) and did a few updates to KI.com.

I popped out for dinner to a Chinese just near where I'm staying but I was quite disappointed. I love the Orange Chicken that they have in US (none of the UK Chinese have that) but this one was quite fatty. I also wandered around a little Mexican market that's near my hotel. I love the TV show The Apprentice and I was really lucky as in this week's episode (the only one I've seen of this series as they're not showing it at home yet) Donald Trump fired two people!

I got to sleep at about 2.00am.

Relaxing in Orange County

We'd decided to lie-in but amazingly we laid in until 10.00am!

We had a lovely relaxing day, mainly chatting a lot! In the afternoon we drove out to some of the beaches nearby and saw some multi-million dollar houses. Some of them were on a small man-made island that were realy small but still cost that amount! (One house was $75m!!) We caught a little ferry across that could only fit 3 cars on it!

In the evening we went out for a lovely meal and then sat around chatting until 1.30am! I didn't realise how much I needed a relaxing day.

Los Angeles

Why do I keep waking up early?!!!

My alarm was set for 8.00am but I woke at 7.00am again so I got up and did some work until I checked out at noon (as I had all day virtually free).

I leisurely drove for the 4 hours to Universal City and stopped for some lunch on the way. I got there at about 6.00pm and did some work in the car.

I left at about 8.00pm as I didn't realise the $10 parking area was so far from the venue. This was easily the largest place that they've played and it was virtually sold out! As I was going into the theatre part someone spotted me and we said hello (how I was recognised in the dark is beyond me!) and during the interval a friend came and found me and we arranged to meet after the gig. My seat was a fair way back considering how early I booked the ticket but it was still a good concert.

Afterwards I met up with my friend and her husband and we walked back to our cars through CityWalk (which is a massive area of shops and bars). We were both in about a 7 storey car park and yet our cars were parked next door to each other!!

We left at about midnight but there was really heavy traffic on the I5 as they got 5 lanes down to one due to roadworks overnight!

I got to my friend's house by 1.30am and we chatted for a while so we got to bed at 3.00am.

Las Vegas

The hotel above is of the view from my room with the mountains in the background.

My original plan for today was to drive out to the Grand Canyon but it's 5 hours each way, there's a concert tonight, I have a load of work to do and I'm fed up with driving!!

I spent nearly all day working on the laptop, mainly getting stuff ready for Month End which will be on me as soon as I get home. I also did a bit of website work for a couple of clients and caught up a bit on KasimInfo.com. (I did find time to meet a friend for lunch and I wandered around the casinos near me too.)

I left at about 7.30pm and there was loads of traffic going into the centre of Las Vegas - I just didn't think that it was Saturday night so there would be! I parked the opposite end of the casino to the venue so that was quite a walk too - thankfully my foot is getting easier although it's still quite swollen. Heels are still out!

My seat was in the 4th row but it was in a semi-circle so I was only a few feet from the part of the stage where Kasim stood which was great! As I posted in my review, security were very strict but a few people from the pit got up and stood at the stage during Candy-O. As nobody was standing along Kasim's side, I just stood there which was wonderful!

After the concert the traffic was bad again so I didn't get back to my room until past midnight. They still hadn't fixed my wireless connection so I disputed that at reception and got them to wavier that charge. I got to sleep at 2.00am.

The Hoover Dam

My alarm was set for 8.00am but I woke at 7.00am so I got up and went for a swim while my laundry was in the washing machine - I live such an exciting life! I had the included breakfast and left at 11.00am.

It was about a 7 hour drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas but it was really pretty as it there were loads of mountains around. I also went over the Hoover Dam so I stopped to take a few photos.

I got to Las Vegas at about 7.00pm (as I stopped for something to eat enroute). I'm staying off the strip (as I saw it in 2000 and it's cheaper here) at the Fiesta Hotel. The room is really nice but the wireless Internet signal was low the whole time. I had to do the payroll for work so I HAD to get it off so in the end I used the cable connection in the room after I'd rung Cox Internet 3 times and engineers from the hotel had reset my connection twice.

Due to all that I didn't get to bed until 3.00am but at least everyone will be paid!

Phoenix

We got up at 8.00am and left by 9.15am. It was about 6 hours to Phoenix but I hit some traffic as I reached the city. I stopped for lunch on the way (I hardly ate all day yesterday!) so I didn't get to my hotel until 5.00pm.

I left again at 6.30pm and drove into central Phoenix (I'm staying out in an area called Mesa). I found the main area okay (there are loads of convention centres) but I couldn't find the venue so I decided to park and walk. I asked the attendant where the Dodge Theatre is and she said that I was on 3rd Street and it was up on 3rd Avenue! Trust me!

I had a spare ticket so I tried to sell it (even $1 was better than nothing!) but the tout I asked doubted that he'd even sell those he had! My seat was in the front row and about 4 feet from Kasim when he was at his microphone - perfect! My toe still hurts if I stand for too long so I sat through Blondie's set. I stood all through The New Cars but I had to keep shifting my position and sometimes rested one leg up on my seat.

It was a great concert but I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have (in the main part due to my foot). It's my last concert right near the front (unless they allow us to stand at other venues) so I enjoyed seeing "the whites of their eyes"! Phoenix was 102 degrees today (wonderful!) and the AC wasn't too fierce in the theatre so they were soon all getting very hot on stage. Elliot took his jacket off after about one song and Kasim took his off earlier than normal. (He really is wearing some lovely clothes on this tour!!) Todd kept wiping his glasses as they were getting all sweaty!

I got out of the car park quite quickly and got back to my hotel by 11.30pm. I had some website work to do for one of my clients so I didn't get to bed until 2.00am.

Pala

A friend (now an ex-friend!) rang me on my mobile at 4.30am as he didn't realise I was in the US! I then only dosed until I got up at 6.30am so I felt quite tired all day. I had the included breakfast and had some work to do so I left at 10.00am.

I set off for the Los Angeles area along the 101. It's a really pretty route down the West Coast and although most of the time I couldn't see the Pacific Ocean, it was lovely and sunny and there were always mountains in the distance. Although it's not an Interstate road (the closest the US gets to a motorway) most of the time the speed was 70mph or 75mph.

I expected to get to my friend's house at 4.00pm and then she was going to drive us to Pala. Unfortunately due to things that I won't go into here, my friend had to give someone else a lift to the show so they went ahead and I made my own way there. Unfortunately the directions I'd printed off before I left UK were from SF to my friend's house and there to Pala, plus from SF directly to Pala which didn't go down the 101 so I ended up having to drive to her house and then back up north to Pala! As it was the rush-hour at this time in LA, it meant that I didn't reach Pala until 7.00pm ..... I was shattered as I'd driven for 17 hours since yesterday morning!

I went into the venue and got my ticket. Blondie had already started playing but, as I wrote in my review on KasimInfo.com, they were SO loud! I go to a lot of concerts but that was ridiculous. I stayed for one song and then stood outside listening. Even with the doors closed it was plenty loud enough. Some people I knew came out and chatted so it was very sociable. The person I was supposed to have gone with had done into the soundcheck and apparently Todd arrived late so Kasim sang lead on Bye Bye Love!

As soon as The New Cars came on stage lots of people rushed the stage! There was no way that I could stand for all that time (a couple of people today thought it may be broken but I don't think it hurts enough for that - I just can't bend it at all and all the foot is swollen) and as I was near the front I soon couldn't see as more and more people stood there so I moved back a few rows and sat there. I took quite a few photos today but most didn't come out too well...my videoclips were okay though!

After the concert I set out for my friend's house. Although it was *only* about 90 minutes I found that really tough going staying awake as I was so tired. I got to her house at about 12.45am. Another fan was staying too that night and instead of going straight to bed we ended up chatting and looking at photos until 3.00am!

Delays and Bruises

I think Kasim has it easy on tour!! He didn't have to drive back to Memphis to return a car (he caught a flight to LA) and when he does travel by road he's in an air conditioned coach probably with fridge and kitchen, video or television, computer hook-up and beds! He doesn't have to sit there driving for hour after hour, mile after mile!!

When my alarm went off at 4.00am I really didn't want to get up! I left at 5.00am and my foot is really swollen. I can only just fit my loose shoes on that I wear for flopping around in at home - there's no chance of me wearing my smart shoes tomorrow! The toes itself has an amazing black and blue ring of bruise around it!

It's an 8 hour drive from Dallas to Memphis so I dropped off the car by noon. I'd drive 1,155 miles since Thursday (and I didn't even use the car yesterday). When I got to American Airlines to check in they asked if I wanted a wheelchair as I was limping so much! I declined.

They announced that the incoming flight was delayed by about an hour. As I only had a 45 connection time in Phoenix, Arizona they booked me on a later flight but it meant that I had a three hour wait there.

Somehow my seat was in one of the emergency exit rows so they had to move me as they didn't think I was mobile enough. They sat me next to an American Airways employee who constantly moaned to me that she'd wanted a double seat as she wanted to sleep!

The flight took about 2 hours 50 minutes and then I sat around Phoenix Airport for the next 3 hours! I did some work there but I was tired and the time really dragged.

I caught my next flight to San Francisco which only took an hour and 30 minutes. Instead of arriving at 6.00pm and making a good start down to LA, I didn't arrive until 10.00pm. Car Rental is a long mini-train ride and then a long walk away from the airport which I didn't need at this time of night. I then had Hertz's most sexist customer assistant as he said that he'd get me a small car which was easy to park!! I told him that was necessary and that I don't have trouble parking.

I eventually set off at 10.30pm and I was totally shattered! I didn't have any where booked to stay this evening so I stopped about an hour down the 101 and found a nice motel with wireless Internet. I quickly logged on and sorted out a problem with an invoice that my company had.

I got to sleep at 2.00am PST.

Downtown Dallas

I'd set my alarm for 8.00am but I woke up at 7.00am. Unfortunately the swimming pool doesn't open until 10.00am so I just did some work in my room and had my included breakfast which was basically toast!

My friend arrived at 11.00am and we drove into Downtown Dallas via Dealey Plaza! We went around The 6th Floor Book Depository Museum which was fascinating! It was one of those where they had an audio tour (plus videos on the way round) and it was packed with info. On the 7th floor there was also a video about the press coverage which was interesting too. They even had a photo of JFK taken on the day I was born! (I was born on a famous day in US history.)

It was so detailed that we didn't get out of there until 3.00pm! We then went to the Grassy Knoll (see photos below) and (accidentally) found the JFK Memorial (which is very unimpressive). As we were walking along I was looking ahead of me and didn't realise that the pavement (sidewalk) was uneven and one slab was sticking up so I badly stabbed my big toes on it!

We then went into The Conspiracy Museum which was also very interesting. They also have small sections about the Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr asasinations. We also sat and watched about a half hour documentary (I needed to rest my foot) about 10 questions raised about the Warren Commission. The most fascinating thing I found was the fact(?) that Kennedy was loaded into an ornate coffin at the airport but arrived at his autopsy in a plain coffin in just a body bag.

Afterwards we fancied something to eat and found a restaurant where we sat outside and chatted for about two hours! As it's Mother's Day over here today they gave all the females a rose which was a nice touch. Unfortunately when we left I discovered that my big toe had swollen to double it's size and I can't bend it which makes walking difficult!

We got back to my hotel at about 8.00pm and I've spent the last couple of hours doing some accounts work. Now I have to get an early night as I have to leave at 4.00am tomorrow!

A view of The Grassy Knoll (the car is roughly where the limo was when the fatal shot was fired):


The Book Depository viewed from The Grassy Knoll

A close-up of the Book Depository - the window where Oswald fired from was the second window down at the far end

The fence on the Grassy Knoll where a second gunman may have been

My first ever time seeing Kasim in Texas!!

I got up at 5.00am after only 2.5 hours sleep so I felt shattered! My aim was to leave at 6.00am but one of my clients had sent some work in overnight so I didn't get away until 7.45am. As breakfast hadn't started by then, I had to make do with just some grapes in my room.

My Yahoo directions said that it was about a 7 hour journey and the actual directions were pretty good. It felt a long way (especially as I felt so tired) but I had some good CDs with me. I stopped in Hope, AR (the town where Bill Clinton was born) for lunch. As I wanted to get to Dallas as soon as possible I just had a Wendy's. When I set off this morning the temperature was 68 and by Dallas it had reached 96 - wonderful!!

I got to South Fork Ranch by 3.00pm and went on the tour there. Although it's a commercial item, the people who worked there were obviously fans of the TV show so they were very enthusiastic! They explained how they got around things like the fact that the house is so much smaller than it was portrayed and how they doubled the size of the swimming pool on the screen!

I left there at about 4.15pm and I had some trouble with the directions as a road was closed. I got to my hotel in Grand Prairie by 5.45pm. Grand Prairie seems to really be a suburb of Dallas as the only sign I saw for the place was the City Limit! This hotel is adequate and has Wireless Internet which was one of my priorities. I had a quick cup of tea while I got changed (no time for food today!).

The venue was about 5 minutes drive away and was easy to find. There were loads of signs saying "no cameras" but when I went in she just asked me if I had a camera phone and checked my handbag! She didn't ask if I had an actual camera nor look in my carrier bag!

My seat which I thought was in the second row actually turned out to be the front row (there was no row A) which was a nice surprise! I was seating next to Wendy from TRC who I've "known" for quite a while so it was nice to finally meet her. She also introduced me to several Todd fans so it was great to put faces to names. There was also a Meat Loaf fan there who I'm friendly with so it was a very sociable gathering!

Blondie put on a good set again but security was SO oppressive! They didn't allow anyone to go to the front and stopped people taking photos. During their encore loads of people went to the front so security didn't stand a chance!

As I thought there was no way that I could take photos being so close to security and I was worried about having to hold my camera bag if people came to the front, I gave my to a friend who was sitting further back to look after for me. Afterwards I was kicking myself for doing that because as soon as The New Cars came on stage so many people came to the front that security couldn't do anything and I could have easily snapped away...never mind I'm sure there'll be other chances and I just enjoyed the concert.

It was a great concert again and it's nice being close enough to see the expressions on the bands' faces! I was also close to Elliot Easton for the first time so I could watch his guitar playing closely. Kasim was scampering all over the stage again which was great to watch!

The concert finished at 11.20pm but I didn't get back to my car until 12.20am as I was chatting to different people. By the time I got back to my hotel I was gasping so I had to have a cup of tea before I went to bed at 2.30am...a long day!!

Tunica Concert

The Tunica / Robinsonville concert was brilliant!

As it didn't start until 9.00pm I left my hotel at 7.45pm. I was in Arkansas and had to drive into Tennessee and then into Mississippi but I was at the venue by 8.30pm. I collected my ticket and my seat was three along from the middle aisle between Todd and Kasim in the second row so was a great seat!

I wrote a full review on KasimInfo.com but when I first went in I was very concerned that all around me may have been only Blondie fans but thankfully that wasn't the case at all. As I said in my review, I just couldn't get over how much Kasim was smiling and obviously having fun on stage considering this was the first concert of the tour!

As there was so much that was new I didn't take photos until the encore and then just snapped a quick 4 as people were standing in the front by then.

The concert ended at 12.20am so I left immediately and got back to my hotel by 1.15am. A friend rang me to hear what I thought about the concert and I had a cuppa while I wrote some of my review so I didn't get to sleep until 2.30am.

Culture in Memphis before the concert

I was up for about 3 hours in the middle of the night (6.00am UK time) so I did some work and then managed to sleep again until 7.00am.

I had the included breakfast and had a long chat to a friend on the phone so I didn't leave until about 9.30am. I drove into Downtown Memphis and spent about 30 minutes driving around looking for the National Civil Rights Museum. Eventually I pulled into the Memphis Tourist Center and asked for directions. It appears that my Yahoo directions were telling me to turn left on a road that didn't start to a block further back!

The museum was fascinating and was very well laid out. It's been built into the side of the Lorraine Motel which is where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in 1968. The photo above is taken from the outside and if you look to the right of the wreath then you can see people looking out as they've replicated his hotel room up there. They also have the actual bus which Rosa Parks was arrested on when she refused to move for a white man.

Afterwards I drove up Beale Street (the place in Memphis where all the clubs and music places are) and went to Sun Studio. This is the studio where Elvis Presley made his first recordings as well as loads of others like Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and even recently U2.

I drove out to Tunica and found The Grand Casino quite easily. All along the 61 there (a road about 15 miles long) they have different boards to advertise the various casinos and there wasn't a single one that mentioned The New Cars! Even when I got to the casino (I just turned around in their car park) I could see nothing advertising tonight's concert! Considering The Grand Casino is away from most of the casinos in Tunica, I thought they'd be advertising all their forthcoming shows more. (There were several of the Truck and Roll boxes in the car park.)

I had some lunch and got back to my room by 4.00pm. I did some work and now I'm just about to leave for the first concert of The New Cars Road Rage Tour!!

Sue's Road rage Tour!!

I can't tell you what a relief it was to get into that taxi!

When there was first talk of Kasim Sulton playing a US tour with The New Cars I decided that I wanted to see the first few, the last few and any in Texas (as that's one state that I've flown into several times but never really visited). Of course, I was lucky because the second concert is in Texas so I could kill two of those birds with one stone (it's just a shame that they're not playing more in Texas).

I also decided that this was one tour when I was actually going to be organised beforehand and it wasn't going to be a last minute rush. Unfortunately about 3 weeks before the start if the tour, my laptop broke and (eventually) I was told that it would take up to 6 weeks to get it repaired! As well as "doing" KasimInfo.com I do website maintenance for a couple of clients and they wouldn't have been too impressed if I couldn't have maintained their websites for a couple of weeks! Thankfully one of my accounts jobs offered to lend me one! (This wasn't quite as generous as it sounded as they also want their accounts kept up to date while I'm away too!)

Anyway with all that, plus having to work until 11.30pm 3 out of the last 4 nights before I left to complete some month end accounts, it was such a relief when the taxi arrived and picked me up at 4.30am (even though I'd only had less than 4 hours sleep)!

We got to Heathrow Airport by 5.30am and I checked in immediately and was through immigration by 5.45am! Then started my day of sitting around! I caught the 07.55am American Airlines (my favourite airline but also the cheapest for this trip) flight to Chicago which left pretty much on time.

(Thankfully!) it was an uneventful flight and I had a double seat to myself. I wasn't too impressed with their film choice but I had loads to read so the time went quite fast. We landed almost on time at 10.30am and I sailed through immigration for once. (As I've visited US so much, I often get the third degree but this guy just looked bored and asked me why I was here ("a holiday") and didn't even ask how long I was staying!). I had almost a three hour wait at Chicago so I did some work (it's so nice having a laptop with a battery which lasts three hours rather than 3 seconds!!) and read some more. When I left UK it was lovely and sunny and in Chicago it was windy and rainy (later when I got to Memphis on The Weather Channel they were showing pictures of the weather in Chicago!).

My American Eagle flight left about 20 minutes late but it was only an hour and 20 minutes flight to Memphis. When I got there I discovered that my suitcases had caught an earlier flight again. (Sorry but after the Lockerbie bombing back in 1989 I still think that's so dangerous but it seems that they haven't learnt anything.)

I collected my hire car and that was a bargain as I'd paid for an economy car but they only had an "intermediate" so I had a bigger one. Don't ask me what make it is - I just know that it's silver! It's funny but I landed in Tennessee, I'm seeing Kasim in Mississippi and I'm staying in Arkansas! It was only a 10 minute drive to my hotel.

I think this hotel must have been new when The Cars was first around as it's definitely seen better days! There's a big sign outside it saying "Welcome Music Fans" but I think they mean country music fans as there's some sort of festival on here at the moment!

It's funny but when I first came to US to see Kasim (1996) my priority was a hotel with a swimming pool. In 1999 I always looked for a hotel near a library or Kinko's as I'd e-mail another one of the JudyGirls and they'd upload the stuff to the website. In 2000 and early 2001 I'd look for a hotel with Direct Dial to the UK so that I could use my Psion (a hand-held computer) to e-mail things for someone else to upload again and from 2002 onwards, I'd look for free locals calls so I could dial in on my laptop using an ISP. Recently it's been high speed access and now it's free wireless! I wonder what it'll be on the next Kasim Sulton Solo Tour???!!!!

Anyway I updated a couple of sites and then went out again. I felt really tired so I just looked for a pharmacy and stocked up on my favourite US shampoo. I was amazed that I was served by someone wearing a Police uniform! I fancied some dinner but I didn't like the look of the restaurant near me so I just went into KFC opposite and I was disgusted to discover that they've stopped doing Zinger burgers!! How on earth can this be progress? I had some over-spicy buffalo snack thing instead.

And then this rock-chick (as they call me at work!) got to bed at 8.30pm as I was shattered and I'd already been up for 24 hours by then.