Merle.

I was a bad blogger yesterday-- I totally left my memory card at home. Had a camera, but no memory card. What a disappointment. So, I have no fun pictures of our trip up to Sault Ste Marie to see Merle Haggard perform.

Jake and I rode up there with his two sisters, two brother-in-laws, and his parents following behind us. If you knew the Henski side, you would understand that we laughed until our cheeks were sore and our abs were completely worked out.

At the ripe old age of 74, Merle is no longer a spring chicken, but he still puts on a good show! We sang along to all the classics, including "Mama Tried" and "Okie from Muskogee."

There were some serious die-hard Merle fans in the audience, my father-in-law included. Andrea and Wendy (sister-in-laws) decided to get their "inner-groupie" on and chase Merle down for an autograph to give to their dad. The opening acts, including Merle's son, Paul, were signing autographs and taking pictures with fans, but not Merle. He was hiding out in his massive tour bus. My brother-in-law, Paul joked that he was probably hooked up to his oxygen tank. (Not funny? Ok, bad joke.)

So, the girls found the bus, loitered around next to it, begged every band member, tour manager, and sound guy to let them on so they could speak to Merle and get an autograph for their dad-who is a huge fan. They were unsuccessful getting ON the bus, but they did score an autograph. One band member was kind enough to jump on Merle's bus and come back out with his signage.

We were, however, a little disappointed that he never showed his face.

The rest of the night involved a little drama-- My insane cheeseburger craving that led to the guys and I missing the shuttle, Wendy yelling at Don because he missed the shuttle, leaving my purse at the casino because I was so focused on my cheeseburger, making friends with the shuttle driver and his toothless girlfriend when riding the shuttle a third time to pick up my purse...

But the night ended wonderfully with the six of us huddled around one of our small motel rooms, telling stories, cracking jokes, and of course making fun of one another:)