When I was doing some Hanson concert math, I realized that if I added in this one off show in Tulsa, my 300th show would be Zac’s birthday on tour, provided they didn’t add any other shows in between. Then they did end up adding a show in between and well, at that point I had already booked this trip and while I could have backed out – once you’ve given yourself a Hanson concert, can you really take it away from yourself?
I had hoped to fly Southwest both ways, but they didn’t have any flights to get me home so I did a Southwest/American split. I took an afternoon flight to Chicago, which had an hour and 20 minutes for a layover. Except no wheelchairs came and by the time they did show up, I had 30 minutes to get to the other gate and then I was left up at the top of the jet bridge and by the time a pusher actually came, she said ‘oh girl, you don’t have much time’, I mean… I know but is there anything I can do about it when I’m at the mercy of other people and there’s no one nearby to even flag down to call someone to help me? We got to the gate for the connecting flight to Tulsa with *9* minutes to spare and no chance to stop for food or the bathroom. For the most part, the flight was otherwise uneventful but we did have to wait for lightning to pass once we landed because the ground crew had taken cover. Uber wanted $50 to get me to the hotel and Lyft wanted only $20, so for the weekend my allegiance was with Lyft. I also ordered door dash to show up shortly after I thought I’d be checked in and settled and they didn’t bring half of my order so that was fun. (We have the worst luck with DoorDash/UberEats in Tulsa!)
Saturday morning I was pretty lazy, but ended up heading outside to hit up Ida Red for some Hanson merch and Antoinette’s for some snacks and to also see just how hot it was and how long I’d want to sit in it at the park before the show. I also ordered some lunch and timed it out perfectly to do it all in one trip. I ended up deciding to try and get to The Gathering Place around 4. I was hoping I could convince my Lyft driver to break the rules and drop me off in a closer parking lot than the designated drop off, and he agreed! As soon as we spotted the largest rubber duck he went into the lot and I told them I was just hopping out and no one had a problem with that. I found the stage and realized it was down a giant hill so I parked myself at the top because I wasn’t sure I could make it down on my own, and once I found out it might start raining I didn’t want to end up stuck down there if I had to run for cover.
At 5, Joleen Brown took the stage. She had won The Big Show Off that happened earlier this year and Zac Hanson was a judge. She did a 30 minute set and I think the weather was really messing with her – the sun was bright and shining right at the stage, but she powered through!
It then started drizzling and I debated if I should go find a tent or stay where I was, and once I committed to the poncho it started coming down a lot harder and I was mildly regretting my decisions but had to stick it out at that point. I also somehow didn’t put the poncho on right and my left leg was getting soaked but my right was fine? I think it was because I tried to hide my arms inside as well. Fortunately my new shorts that I was hoping would dry quickly, did. At 7 when it was still raining (and some thunder and lightning too) we were told that the show was going to still happen but would be delayed. The rain seemed to let up a little bit after 8 and the stage started to get set up for Hanson. I took my poncho off, but it ended up starting to rain again and the radar was showing until 11 so I kept it on – but was hoping I’d have enough breaks in the weather to get some photos! (Which I did, but haven’t gotten them off the camera yet) I also found out that having a cosmic brownie in the middle of a Hanson concert takes it to a whole other level, thanks to my friend Keena and her daughters who decided to share a snack with me.
The setlist was a bit of what I was expecting for a festival show with a couple of hometown covers thrown in – Livin’ on Tulsa Time and Never Been to Spain. I do think some of the set got cut short due to the delay, but I unfortunately haven’t seen a setlist from the stage to know what was missing. I thought that they might have finished with If Only – and was a bit surprised it was Get the Girl Back (unless it was a last minute change due to a wet stage?)
After the show I met up with my friends Jon and Adam, got to see the giant duck from the front and they walked me to the parking lot which was FOREVER away, so I am glad that I got my Lyft driver to break the rules! Jon ended up driving me back to the hotel because the spot to wait for ride share was very dark!
Sunday I woke up, ate the rest of my snacks, packed, and then grabbed a Lyft to the airport. As soon as I entered the airport, I got an alert that my flight was delayed by about 15 minutes. I had a decent layover in Charlotte, so I figured if it stayed that way, I should be fine. At the gate they told us it was a small plane and all roller bags would need to be tagged and if you had less than 30 minutes of a layover, they would check it to your final destination as waiting for the bags would hold them up and the bags would move to the plane much faster than the passengers would. The gate agent also thought we’d be able to make the 10 minutes the flight was late up in the air.
I was optimistic until we were getting ready to land and were told that Charlotte airport had instituted a ground stop and we were unable to land there and they wanted us to circle until 6:45pm. The captain said we didn’t have enough fuel to do that so we were going to circle for 10 minutes and see if we could land then or we would have to divert to Columbia, SC. After the 10 minutes we were told the ground stop was until 7:30pm and we’d need to divert to refuel. They had us stay on the plane for a bit, and told anyone if they got off they were terminating their trip and would have to find their own way back. A few people opted to try and get rental cars to get back to Charlotte. My 8pm flight to Hartford got pushed to 9:30 so I figured I’d still be ok and would wait it out. They then told us the ground stop was extended to 8:30pm and let us get off the plane. Of course my walker was nowhere to be found so they got me a wheelchair to get inside. I was able to see some fireworks while we waited. There were several other diverted planes, one of which got canceled until the next morning, but eventually we were told we would be boarding again. Of course, there was no one around to push the wheelchair so I had to steady myself with my suitcase and slowly make my way back out to the plane. It took a bit for us to finally take off, but in that time my flight got pushed to 10pm and then 11pm. I got to Charlotte around 10pm and by then, my flight was going to take off at midnight and get me back to CT at 2am. Most of the food places were starting to close, but my wheelchair pusher told me what ones were open 24 hours so I could get some dinner. (or lunch? I don’t even know)
The gate agent ended up giving me an upgrade to the extra leg room seats and I ended up having the row all to myself. The captain thought we’d land earlier than 2am and make up some time in the air, but even though he did get us on the ground at about 1:45am, the grounds crew was not ready for us so we had to wait. I got the valet shuttle to my car and got home around 3am – with a stop for McDonalds… for… dinner?
Fortunately I had Monday off due to the Labor Day holiday and was able to sleep in (I don’t think I actually fell asleep until around 5am) and not have to worry about doing much of anything. It’s always an adventure… and now I am trying to wrap this up and get it posted before I head out for my next trip…