Jammin' at the Junction~a weekend in Helena

I cannot believe that it's Wednesday night and I haven't blogged about my weekend in Helena! I am just going to put the recap here that I did for bb.com. That pretty much says it all.

I arrived in Helena about 7:15 Friday evening and joined the others at La Reunion Coffee Shop. We made our way outside to sit at a table and along the stone wall to catch up with one another. Bo had sent a text to Joy that she showed us where he answered her post about Peeps being there with AWESOME and asked her to tell everyone hello. We kind of hoped he'd stop by, but she said he ended up dining with family at an Italian restaurant and spending the evening with them.

We went to the hotel where Debbie had set up FOOD and DRINKS for us. Debbie, you amaze me with your amazing organizational skills and thoughtfulness! Our room was the gathering spot to have a White Russian, Coconut rum, Hard Lemonade or some other refreshment and snack while we gabbed. It was a lot of fun.

We left and had breakfast at IHOP. We crammed about thirteen people around the table and had a great time! Then we went into town and looked around in the shops. They have so many unique things! It began to pour and once again we found ourselves at La Reunion hanging out on their sofas. Bo's mom and dad were there and Nancy came over and sat with us for a good while. She told the cutest stories about Bo running away from home when he was a little boy and also the time he put his potty on his head, and it wasn't empty!! The statement was made that he had always liked hats! As Debbie said earlier, she asked us to pray for Granny Madge and her husband who are not well.

When the skies opened up and we realized that the riders were stuck at one of their stops. We waited until the rain lighened up some and we went to Bead Biz where we ordered those beautiful copper wrap crosses to benefit Safe House. Some of the other girls bought other pretty jewelry, too, and our Sherry (ALGal) won the Alabama earrings that she had bid on! We headed back to the hotel to dress for the show.

Arriving at the amphitheater, we lucked up on a park right beside the railroad track. We made our way down into the park and saw a huge tent set up with tables and chairs. They had lovely fall arrangements in the middle of each of them, and a serving line was at the end with delicious barbecue from Jim & Nick's. At each of our seats was a plastic bag in which they had placed a Jammin' in the Junction poster and a tee shirt. The ground was muddy and there were planks laid out to walk on as we entered. They had spread hay around on the ground to help it not be quite so muddy.

After we ate we went and found our seats in the VIP section. We were about five rows back. The trail into the seating section was like slogging through a hog pen! We literally had to hang onto the rail or onto Bo's big silver truck which was backed up to the stage with a trailer attached to it in order to stand up in the muck!

We sat and listened to a wonderful blues band and in a little while Patrick came and said, "Peeps follow me." Well, like the good little Peeps we are we jumped to our feet and followed him! He led us to the dinner tent where he had us wait for a few minutes until Bo arrived. Miss Joy was walking with us up there and she had no idea what was going on! When Bo arrived, he gathered Joy up under his arm and Reba read the lovely presentation to her. People were moved to tears, including Bo, and both Joy and Bo were very appreciative for the memorial donation. Just an aside...Bo's nose gets so cute and red when he cries...anyway, back to the story! After Bo chatted for just a minute, we headed back to our seats in preparation for the Bo show to begin! The Mitchell Brothers did a fine job, as did Rock Candy, but it was Bo we were dying to see!

When the emcee started reading off all these things in introduction of Bo, I think Bo was dying to get on stage because he shouted out, "And I'm also a Scorpio!" and strolled out onto the stage to thunderous applause! The band Rock Candy was Bo's band that night and he started out with Remedy, which got the crowd going! Bo wasn't using a guitar, so what we had was stage-prowling Bo at his very best! Following Remedy, he sang I Don't Wanna Be, Vehicle, Whipping Post (!!!), They Call Me The Breeze (which he dedicated to his dad, Earle), and brought out his acoustic guitar for The Kid, Good Hearted Woman, If I Told You I Love You (with Patrick Mitchell singing harmony), and Mr. Larry's Song, a touching tribute to Mr. Childers. During the end of the song, the Explorers filed by and paid their respects to Miss Joy and the family. Rock Candy then rejoined Bo onstage for Witness. For the finale, Bo invited Miss Joy, the family, all Helena employees and volunteers to join him onstage for Sweet Home Alabama. Bo's joy was palpable as he ran back and forth putting the microphone out for different people to sing, including a few on the front row.

I hated to see it end, but we all had huge smiles on our faces. It was a fantastic show! We made our way out of the seating area and milled around for awhile, talking to each other, the Mitchell Brothers, and speculating as to whether Bo would come out. Lo and behold, here he came and signed autographs and had pictures with everyone who wanted one.

He was so funny. Debbie was using my camera and she asked if I was using the flash. I told her I was because it was so dark. She said she hated to flash it in his face and told him when she was about to take our picture that it was my camera and my fault that it was flashing. He jokingly told me to quit flashing him. I cracked up, but if I had thought fast on my feet I would have told him, "Honey, I would never flash you. I would scar you for life!"

We slogged our way back to the car, hit the hotel and hung out looking at pictures and raving about the show.

The weekend ended with a wonderful Chinese lunch on Sunday. Then sadly, we said our goodbyes…but only until next time!