Thursday September 9, 2010:

I met Jim at Wendy & Don's north of Odessa where we proceeded to try and pack all our stuff into Jim's 1963 Jaguar. We were unsuccessful, as it has the world's smallest trunk where there was only room for ½ a pair of socks each. Fortunately, Wendy and Don agreed to take the rest for us in their 2005 Ford Mustang. The rest of the band would be meeting us in Watkins Glen. We drove to Kingston, picked Don up at work, then we convoyed to the Canada/U.S. border in the Thousand Islands. Paid the $2.50 toll. Don and Wendy were first to pull up to the border. Behind them, Jim and I were gabbing away like a couple of old ladies. Jim missed seeing the large 20' sign in red letters directing us to "Stop Here Until Light Is Green", and pulled up right behind Wendy and Don.

Border Guard: "Where are you travelling from"

Don: "Kingston, Ontario"

Border Guard noticing the "R-Banned" license plate: "And where are you banned from".

Don: "That's the name of our band".

Guard: "I see…" then he noticed that Jim was right directly behind.

Guard: "Are those guys with you?"

Don rolling his eyes: "Yes, I suppose".

Guard ranting: "What's wrong with you Canadians…can't you read? Do you not have stop signs in Canada?"

Jim pulled up next.

Guard: "What part of "Stop" didn't you understand?"

He was a very angry, fussy little guy and wouldn't let it go. Man, you break one little rule. Finally, his ranting ceased and he made us drive over to the side to search the car with a scanner mounted on a truck. I'm sure he thought it was a punishment, but Jim and I were gabbing away the whole time, fascinated with the whole procedure. We almost thanked him when it was over.

Taking Stock After Our Border Mishap

We set out again. For old time's sake, I brought along a melodica with a tube. Jim and I had used a similar one during a fateful trip to Mexico back in 1984…but it's best not to talk about that. Anyway, the tube was placed out the window to provide air power to operate the keyboard. It worked but unfortunately the highway noise was too overbearing. Ahead of us, Don would honk the horn while Wendy pointed to every stop sign they saw. It was quite amusing.

Our plan was to compose a song on the way down, but we talked so much, that the following is as far as we got.

"It was in the year 2010

When we first went to Watkins Glen"

It was about a 5 hour total trip to the Showboat Motel. Jim and I got a room there then all of us ate at the Rainbow Cove Inn. From there we headed in to Watkins Glen. Jim got stuck behind someone and said, "I'll have to wait for this idiot to pull out". It turned out to be Paul and Sue. We all met at Nancy and Denny's place. Wendy, Don, Paul and Sue, had met them before and become friends. They would be staying at their huge home conveniently located about two blocks from the main strip. Nancy and Denny thought that Jim and I were a "couple". We had fun not correcting them. Harold showed up three hours later. Apparently he had carburetor problems and had to tinker with the engine all the way there. So now, the whole Banned was there. We had a good time talking all evening. Later, Jim, Harold and I headed back to our reserved rooms at the Showboat. Harold had his own room with a queen-sized bed, while Jim and I shared a room with two twin beds. The receptionist had it wrong and tried to reverse the rooms. That wouldn't have helped our case with Nancy and Denny.

Friday September 10, 2010:

The three of us checked out and headed over to Nancy and Denny's for breakfast. Later, we all walked down the main street openly drinking liquor which is apparently allowed during the great race weekend. Jim drove his car to the show and got it shined and set up. He joined the rest of us to watch Harold enter the obstacle/skill course.

Jim Displays His Jaguar

Harold has been entering and winning for about 6 years in a row. I was surprised to find out that Harold had entered me as his second. He told me a "second" before our race started. He instructed me on my duties as he maneuvered around the first track. They had several different courses that we had to complete. I was pretty nervous as I didn't want to be responsible for Harold losing his title for the first time. All races had to be completed in the fastest time. The first one involved hitting, but not knocking over, cones with the front and rear bumpers. The next race, Harold was blindfolded and I became his eyes telling him to go either left or right. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I quite often get the two mixed up, but it seemed to work out all right. In another race, we had to pause half way through, then get out where we were each handed a stick of gum. We could resume the race once each of us had blown a bubble. The next race we had to pause again at the half way mark and get out. We had to space each other 10 feet apart then throw a bicycle tire over each of our heads. Harold threw long…I ran backwards, tripped over a cone, but still managed to catch the tire around my head. Another one, I had to get out and skip a rope three times. I would have preferred to skip a rock off the judge's head. The last race we both had to get out again. Harold was blindfolded and had to throw me a football which I managed to catch. Thanks singlehandedly to me…and maybe a bit to Harold's driving skills, he nailed each contest and was once again awarded the coveted first prize trophy for the seventh year in a row. They must hate it when he shows up.

From there I had to run back to Jim's car as I was signed up to be Jim's navigator in the Vintage Car Race. We paraded down the main strip past the mass of onlooker lining the streets. Jim drove us following the original race route through the mountains and town, doing two laps. The streets are closed off and there are throngs of people turned out just to see Jim and his Jaguar. It was an excellent run! Later we sat in his car drinking beer and answering questions to all the people that came to gawk at the shiny black Jaguar.

While Jim was busy with "his peoples" I took that opportunity to explore the gorge nearby. I could only hike for about a mile as I had to be back, but it's an amazing place to explore with paths and steps cut right into the rock. Reminded me of the Great Wall of China…although I've never been there…and I'm never going back.

We all met by Jim's car and walked back to Nancy and Denny's. We sat around eating snacks that Denny made. Really good snacks!! At home, I would call that a meal. Their friend, Marsha dropped in with a couple of guitars. We each had brought our respective instruments (I had my harmonica and uke) so we were able to have a pretty good jam. At midnight, Don, Jim and I walked Marsha home.

Harold slept in the backyard in a tent and Jim and I were invited into the fold and given the upstairs suite.

Saturday September 11, 2010:

Denny and Nancy made us all a great breakfast. This is much like a 5 star resort. Jim and Harold disappeared to see the antique car race at the track. I went with Paul and Sue in their SUV following Wendy and Don in their Mustang to Ithica. We stopped in at the local music store and played everything they had. Their prices weren't much different than at home but we had a lot of fun.

Denny, Nancy, Wendy, Don, Jim, Sue, Paul

Denny, Nancy, Wendy, Don, Jim, Dave, Paul

Checking Out A Lot Denny & Sue Were Buying

Paul Tries To Magically Levitate Jim

Denny and Marsha had supper waiting for us when we got back at 5:00. Excellent again! Marsha dropped in again but we didn't do anything musical tonight. Instead we sat around talking until all hours, then Jim and I headed up to our suite.

Sunday September 12, 2010:

Another 5-star breakfast at our host's house. Harold headed back home early this morning, anticipating more carburetor problems on the way. The rest of us followed Nancy and Denny to Sam's Club so we could shop around. Much to the amusement of Nancy and Denny, Jim held various dresses out in front of me on hangers to model. Somehow, one of the hangers ended up in my mouth as Jim snatched it away. I was like a small-mouth bass on a hook. Fortunately, it only bled for a few hours. The scar is still healing.

Jim announced that he was going to purchase a telephone. The Van Horne's are well known for their tight-fisted spending habits. We all gathered around in awe to witness the event. Few of us had ever seen the famed "wallet". It took several minutes for Jim to remove it from his pocket as it had partly fused to his pant lining. He removed the concertina wire that surrounded it, activated the eye scanner and entered a secret combination. There was an audible creak. Two moths fluttered away as he pried it open. A hush fell over the store as a rainbow magically appeared with two angels singing Hallelujah. Jim paid for his item with Canadian dollar bills, which, as a matter of interest, had been discontinued in 1973. Once he replaced "the wallet" back into his pant vault, normal traffic flow and noise resumed.

Jim Allows Wendy To Touch "The Wallet" As Angels Sing In The Background

Eventually we said goodbye to our gracious hosts and drove the five hours back home. Already I wasn't looking forward to the horror of making my own breakfast the next day.

U.S. Customs Made An Addendum To Their Signs






View My Stats