10:28 p.m. | 2004-06-19 Fun Was Had My Friend. So, UA and I went to the LocalFestival today. It wasn�t in MyTown, rather it was in a really tiny town in the local area. Well, in a kind of broad sense of the term �local�. Closer to me than to you, I�m sure. And, we had a BLAST. I grew up in tiny towns so I�m quite comfortable in them. I know the rules, can spot the locals, know how to find out the secret tricks, etc. UA has always been a city girl, but she�s well traveled so she knows how to charm the folks. Actually, we make a really good team. Anyway, we hit the road pretty much on time. We had planned to take a particular route, but there was a big sign on the side of the highway that instructed us to take another route. Whatever, no big deal. It seemed to be the long way around, but we�re girls so we�re happy to drive and talk. Forever. We got there without incident and set out to find some food and drinks. Not a difficult thing to do at a festival. Then, we wandered. Talking, checking things out � you know the drill. Then, we had to pee. They had blue rooms (portable outhouses) all around but the lines were huge. I suggested that we just duck into a bar, order a drink and use their restroom. So we did just that. No line for the restroom and we didn�t even have to buy a drink since it was so jam-packed and UA and I are so short, no one really noticed that we just slipped in. UA picked the place and it was chockfull of members of a BikerGroup that I�m familiar with. I�m familiar with this BikerGroup because they used to rip and roar in the town I lived in during my adolescent years. As a youngster, especially a young girl, I was terrified of them. Mostly because all the town adults warned us younguns� about these dastardly dudes. However, from what I could tell, all they did was roar into town, set up shop in their favorite watering hole and get drunk as skunks. Later in life, I came to know some members � one being a sheriff � and learned that they were originally a fraternity group that did charitable work. Over the years though, the need for the particular charitable work went away and then they pretty much just became a party group. A well-mannered, albeit gruff, friendly bunch of partiers who like to ride motorcycles. Anyway, we decided to have a drink while we were there. Now, UA just turned 24 and she�s very cute so I give her credit for most of the attention we got. And, we got a lot. We also got tons of compliments, free drinks and jello shots. Okay. Neither UA nor I do shots. That�s just a given. Ever. But they charmed us into one each. Charm� peer pressure� whatever. Whatever we normally resist, uh, we didn�t. We also didn�t �shoot� the jello shots because we can�t. It took us each three �drinks� to get all that jello down and I cheated. When I threw mine in the trash can, it wasn�t completely empty. As several men pointed out. A couple of guys even called me a �cheater�. I was fine with that though. And, the guy who bought us drinks? Yeah. HE was CUTE. Very, very cute. He was sitting at the end of the bar and sent them over. We raised them and said thanks and, get this, he stayed at the end of the bar. Very refreshing. He was young too. I don�t know who taught him the right way to send drinks but whoever you are, THANK YOU. We were having so much fun but the free drinks and shots were right at the point of multiplying so we had to leave. As we made our way to the door, guys begged us not to go and even the bouncer told us we weren�t allowed to leave because we were too beautiful. Sigh. I love small towns. We wandered back to the other end of the, well, street to hit the ATM for shopping money. There are only two ATMs in that town and one was busted so, needless to say, there was a pretty long line. However, the guy behind us was very friendly and pretty soon we were engrossed in conversation so the wait was fine. It was worth it too because he taught a secret restroom trick. See, I asked him where the nearest one was and he told me that he worked for a CertainCompany and they�d made arrangements with a local resident for bathroom privileges. He told us where the house was and just to tell them that we worked for CertainCompany and wanted to use the restroom. I so love secret tricks. You just gotta know who to ask, I tell ya. So, we wandered back down the street and found the house. The owners and friends were selling water and other stuff in the front yard, so I told UA to go up to the only guy and ask him since she�s cute and young and whatnot. Sorry, it�s kinda bad to do stuff like that, but it works. This time was no exception. UA said the magic words, he called his wife over and she let us into her home to use their very nice, clean and fully stocked bathroom. No line, of course. Ironically, she said told us CertainCompany said there'd be a couple of ladies, but no ladies had been by so she was glad we finally showed up. UA and I both felt a little guilty, but mostly we were nervous that she�d ask us what we did at CertainCompany, or perhaps ask us where it was located or something. But she didn�t. We just chatted about her gorgeous home (it was quite large and very beautiful) and about all the prep work they had to do for the LocalFestival. Then we wandered off to shop some. UA picked up a couple of things, but I resisted. We ate some more. Wandered around. Well, and talked, of course. Always with the talking. Finally, we left. Now, originally, we only planned to attend the LocalFestival for a couple of hours. However, we had so much fun we were there for SEVEN hours. Both of us are a little gun-shy about doing things with someone we don�t really know � UA and I have never done anything outside of work together � and we tend to enjoy doing things that other people aren�t so into. But, we just really work well together and enjoy this type of thing. Honestly, we could�ve stayed there for much longer. We�re even plotting our next LocalFestival trip. I mean, we�ll have to find one first, but we are so there. If you live in a small town, beware because we�re probably headed your way. your thoughts? seed flower