Denver Part 1: Josh Plumley (1995) and Beau Fleming

I know I've been remiss in posting lately, and I'll blame it on lack of internet (not entirely true) and the overwhelming draw that Missoula has to sit back and forget all responsibilities.

We found out that while eastern Kansas is just lovely, western Kansas is as flat and relentless as everyone says it is. So when dad said, "Look Katie, I think those are the Rockies!" I told him "No way, those are just the bottoms of clouds." I hadn't seen these kinds of mountains in some years, and they're just unreal as they rise from out of the plains of Kansas.

Josh Plumley met us at his house that evening and we walked to his neighborhood sushi restaurant which had a really odd western name that sounded more like an Irish Pub, but great sushi. There he introduced us to his wife, Alissa, and her mother, Phyllis. Alissa is one of the friendliest people I've ever met and made us feel incredibly welcome in their home (Josh did too, but he has nothing on his wife). Their story is that they work for separate companies in technology sales but had to communicate with each other fairly often via telephone. After (and I'm shaky on this fact) about two years of talking, they finally met at a conference and turned out to Alissa's surprise that "Josh wasn't an old man!" They spent the entire conference together and that was that.

On another note which may be of much interest, horror, or relief, depending on the audience, ESA as of next year is banning the practice of the students' favorite way of embracing the culture of Europe. That is, drinking in the British pubs and Parisian bistros. Goes for the teachers as well. Well we got to talking about this development to Josh and his take was "Probably for the best," and told us this story:

Josh and a friend of his had a couple of drinks and were walking back to the hotel when they were lured into an establishment by the promise of dancing girls. The two of them were escorted by a man down a flight of stairs into a room where they sat down by themselves. They ordered drinks from the man, which he brought over, and told them, to their horror, that they owed 600 pounds. Then the man walked out of the room. In shock, the two of them sipped on their drinks and decided that they were screwed. Next the dancing girls entered the room and provided a performance. The man returned and told them that they owed another 600 pounds. They were worried that not only would they not be able to pay, but they might not get out of there alive. Once again, the man walked away and they were alone in the room. So they decided that they better make a run for it before he came back and charged another 600 pounds for sitting there.

They escaped unscathed and if you think about it, got away with free drinks and a free show.

We got back to the the house after dinner and Beau Fleming showed up for a few drinks. I had a technology crisis and was dealing with my computer at that point, so I didn't get to hear his story. What I did gather is that he's a psychiatrist and has had some interesting patients. Dad let me know that it was too bad that I didn't talk to Beau because he's "really interesting and smart." Maybe dad'll write a post.

Matt Rainey and his bride-to-be Sally 6.9.2010

Our first visit was in Alexandria, LA where we met up with Matt (1994) and Sally for lunch at the Critics Choice about an hour after we had eaten a huge breakfast chez Trant consisting of a delicious quiche, biscuits, hash browns, and watermelon. Regardless, we managed to push through our respective lunches.

Now I can see that I’m going to become a purveyor of gossip if there are readers who actually know these people, or readers at all. Now, for the news on Matt.

Matt is finishing is residency this month and planning to open up a private practice in Ville Platte, where he’ll be able to catch KBON on the radio and see his 5 year-old son, William, whom he has nicknamed his “hurricane baby” (Hurricane Ivan, I believe). He’s also opening up a clinic in a town near Ville Platte which lacks any kind of doctor, and he told us he’d be open to barter in trade for medical service. That includes chickens, potatoes, or pies, although Matt says he’s now on a Mediterranean diet which does not include pies, but allows for a drink or two nightly and lots of fish (although strangely he ordered a philly cheese steak sandwich, which I gather is not Mediterranean).

Anyway, before Sally arrived he told us their story: One night he was out with a bunch of buddies in New York City where he was doing his last year of Med School. He was getting onto the subway to head back to Brooklyn and sitting across from him was this girl that he thought was pretty cute. Since he was feeling pretty “frisky,” he struck up a conversation with her. After they talked the entire ride to Brooklyn which somehow took two and a half hours, he got her phone number at the end of the line. The next day he took her surfing on Long Island, a sport which he took up while in school in Granada (the island), and she either liked surfing or Matt enough to stick. They’ll be getting married on August 28th.

Then Matt brought up a story of an outing club trip: Dad had taken a group out to the Rio Grande over Mardi Gras. Most of the trip had gone smoothly at first, but one uneventful day, the group heard a scream from a little ways away. The crowd ran to check out what had happened and saw one of the students, Chris Richard, rolling around on the ground, pants down, screaming in pain. Turns out he had been using the bathroom, and his leg must have fallen asleep or something and he accidentally sat down on a cactus, which must have accounted for the screaming. For some reason or another, dad had brought a plethora of tweezers on the trip. Thus armed, several students sat around and pulled the needles out of his behind. He fainted. For the next few days he couldn’t paddle, but he eventually gained back his strength, although it couldn’t have been too comfortable because once the group got back to Lafayette, he had to see a doctor for the little infections that he had on his bottom on account of the cactus needles that had broken off and remained embedded in his skin. We’ll be visiting Chris in Humbolt Country, California.

Other news: Scott Rainey, Matt’s brother is expecting his second child in about 6 months.

Dad’s words to us after this lunch: “Scott and Matt were something like brothers to me.”
Us: “Brothers? Aren’t they a lot younger than you?”
Dad: “Ok, maybe more like sons.”

Morgan and Cameron donate!

This past Sunday I drove to New Iberia thinking that dad and I'd hang out, talk about our plans, maybe set one thing in stone, and he'd buy me dinner. He had gone upstairs to what I thought was take a nap. I was trolling the book shelves looking for Lonesome Dove when dad walks downstairs seersuckered out.

"Dad, you look nice..."
"Thanks."
"Any particular reason?"
"Morgan Weiland's wedding, you should come."
"When is it?"
"In about an hour."

I refused politely, pretty sure that I hadn't been invited, but five minutes before go time, dad convince me to get topped and tailed, although I knew that I'd be really sweaty sitting outside in the brutal May heat (I've been recently told that "sultry" makes the weather sound much more romantic than really really hot and humid).

Anyway, Morgan had invited dad to the wedding when he was in D.C. last fall raising money for the brand new scholarship fund, which Morgan and Cameron (I guess her monetary er ins and outs are now also his) donated to. So I'm considering this wedding as our unofficial beginning to this adventure. Plus the Tates were there so it seems like a good place to begin, although they gave money long before this blog and bus trip ever materialized.

Anyway, the wedding was beautiful, the bride and groom were generous and wonderful, and we got to sit next to Cameron's uncle and aunt who told us about their adventure:

For the past three years, they've been living on a 42' sailboat, moving from port to port, paying off local bandits, and generally living their dream. They had bought dress clothes specifically for the wedding and were planning to chuck them before they got back on the boat. They had a great story about a boat part, island bureaucracy, and a thousand pesos, but I had two of the stiffest gin and tonics I've ever had in my life, so that's that.