Platinum Crazy Girl

It's official!  The Crazy Girl single has gone platinum.  The Eli Young Band has done it.  They have their first big hit and we could not be more excited.  Congratulations, guys. 

In addition, they performed their hit on David Letterman on November 3, 2011.

I feel like a groupie!

Next up - Letterman

We left Bryce  Canyon for Boise by way of the interstate, with a stopover in Cedar City, UT as well as Orem.

While in Orem, I left our hotel for a few necessities at a nearby Walmart.  While there, I passed the music department and could not resist looking through the CDs.  There was a prominent display entitled HOT and NEW, with a half dozen featured CDs.  In the center appeared LIFE AT BEST, the latest release of the Eli Young Band.  For those who are just now tuning in, the bass player is Husker's baby boy, Jon.  The release went to 3rd on the top country albums during its first full week and dropped to 5th during the second week.  Needless to say, we are excited.  The single release that came earlier, CRAZY GIRL, went gold and currently is nearing the platinum mark.  Their first bona fide hit.

Speaking of going gold, there is an official plaque that is distributed commemorating this.  Husker's son, Jon,  arranged for a customized (i.e., nameplate) plaque that recognizes Husker as the owner of that particular copy.  Husker is a very proud papa.

You can catch them November 4, 2011 on Dave Letterman.  

My knitting is about to get stupid ambitious shortly.  I am nearing the end of my current project, a cropped pullover, that I started as we left on our two-week odyssey to the Pacific Northwest, and frogged twice.  The band has a logo, and I want to make Jon a cap with the logo.  This is probably going to be frogged a few times, too, because the logo is very curvaceous and will require mucho trial-and-error.  The plan is to make it with this gray yarn with a gold (of course!) logo.  My first step will be to transfer the logo to graph paper after I do a gauge piece.  I am using sock yarn.  Pray for me . . . 

Where have all the bikers gone?

We have a couple of friends in Omaha who are bikers.  His and Hers.  Two or three years ago, he and one of his buddies rode to South America, intending to go all the way to Tierra del Fuego.  They got as far as Peru or Ecuador and the lead rider hit an oil slick as they went around a curve.  The trailing rider went down over the lead rider.  Both ended up flying home well banged up, one with a broken leg and the other a broken collar bone.

This summer, she went on a Komen Race for the Cure ride with her biker girlfriends to the Arctic Circle in Alaska.  Then she went down, had to be airlifted to Anchorage.  Fractured pelvis.  That was July and she is still on crutches.

Last week, as he was going home, a coyote ran out in front of him.  Broken collar bone - again, broken shoulder blade, 3 broken ribs.  Still hospitalized.

I was thinking about them today.  Husker likes the following, but is reluctant to send it to them.  What do you think? 

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BIKERS GONE 

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the bikers gone?

Coyotes spook them every one

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the bikers gone?

Taken a short road every one

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the bikers gone?

Gone by ambulance every one

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the bikers gone?

Gone to O. R. every one

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the bikers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the bikers gone?

Gone with their dreams every one

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Albuquerque to Blanding, UT to Bryce Canyon

The hotel in Albuquerque had an indoor pool (yeah), but they did not bother to turn on the heat (booo).  I tried it for a few minutes, but could not work up enough body heat to counteract the frigid water, so I gave it up after 15 minutes of laps.  Short laps they were - I measured this pool to be 5-6 strokes across.  The lap pool at my local Y is a 26 stroke pool or about 1 stroke per meter.  I communicate the size of a pool by number of strokes because I am poor at visually estimating the length of a pool in feet, yards, or meters.  Husker is always considerate of my desire to get my exercise, so when he makes our reservations for any travel, he peruses the available information about the swimming pool.  It is amazing how different the pools can be when you actually get there. 

On Sunday, September 4th, we left Albuquerque behind and drove north to Colorado and west toward Blanding, Utah.  Along the way, we stopped at Mesa Verde NP near the Four Corners in southwestern Colorado.  The drive into the park is worth a trip all by itself.  The vistas are awesome.

Note the cinder cone in the center.  The vista is many miles into the distance.  I have been to Mesa Verde before, but this was Husker's first trip there. 







On Monday morning, we took a scenic byway out of Blanding toward Bryce Canyon.  It was a most fortuitous decision.  The drive was incredibly beautiful!  It looked like something out  of an old western movie.  

We even saw a little of Lake Powell, which surprised us because we were not expecting to see it.  This byway held lots of eye candy.  Note the tent of a camper.  Tents must be pitched on a rocky terrain.





We encountered something on this trip - at every national park - that was unexpected.  There were many German tourists.  We heard German speakers at hotels, in the parks, everywhere.  Welcome!

 Bryce Canyon awaited in all its glory!  And the Germans were there.  I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did. 

 It was an overcast day, and rained lightly for a while.  Rained and eroded the hoodoos some more. 

 This shot is through the light rain.  It appears hazy, but it is a light mist. 

Bryce was exceptional.  It is one thing to look at photos and anticipate what will be before your eyes, but to actually see it nevertheless left me speechless.  Such incredible erosion, the hoodoos, the slender roads along ridges to reach these impossible vistas . . .

We made one last stop before leaving Bryce, and were met by one of the locals who has become a little too accustomed to the human crowd.