A Little R&R

Various shots 'the morning after' the storm.

So...we made it out of Idaho Springs...we made it to Greeley...the trucks made it, too...and it was ON WITH THE SHOW! Things went well...and now we are all looking at a few days off in downtown Denver...re-charging. And where has MY eagle-eye reporting disappeared to? Well, Wednesday night after our show, my friends, The Horsley Family (who live in Arvada, CO and came to see the show) took me away with them to spend some time at their home relaxing and catching up. Scott Horsley and I were roommates during my freshman year at college - and he and his lovely wife, Shelly, live in Arvada with their 5 sons and 1 daughter. The schedule for our time together has been to rest, laugh and catch up on the past...oh...12 or so years. And a lot has happened. Like 6 kids... Scott's dental school and thriving practice...the Wonka Tour...or all of my other adventures on the East Coast.
But I think the most SHOCKING and yet delightful thing that I have learned in my time with the Horsley family is that one of our OTHER roommates from way back at Ricks College has gone on to become....get ready for this one...a SUMO WRESTLER. And not just any sumo wrester. He is the 2 time defending US Champion in his weight class. (Which, according to my research online, is a pretty heavy weight class....since said roommate is weighing in at 420lbs these days.) What I LOVE about the story is that Kelly (that is the roommates name) is living his dream. (Who knew!?!?!?!) And not only has he been living it, but he has been so determined to be the champion that he has become that he went to Japan to train at a sumo wrestling camp....where he was the ONLY white guy there and the ONLY guy who didn't speak Japanese. But he wanted it so badly that he strapped on his diaper every day for a month, went to train with the best of the best in Japan, and couldn't mutter a single word to anyone for that whole time. The lesson? Sometimes in our quest to follow our dreams, things might get a little lonely and sometimes people just won't understand and it's going to be difficult. Our choice at that point is to either quit and walk away or just strap on our diaper and get on the mat with the big (Japanese) dogs. It's by doing that latter that we become the (sumo) champions that are waiting inside each of us.

2 shots of Kelly. He is on the RIGHT in both pictures. In the second, I believe he is going for the Grizzly Adams approach.

Kelly in action.

Whoa.

I am loving spending time with the Horsleys...and I am loving the chance it is giving me to relax and unwind from the crazy schedule we've been pursuing the past 6 weeks. The key to surviving a life on the road is to have access to the people in your life who ground you. My life has been blessed time and time again by the friends I have who keep me level-headed and laughing. What an incredible experience to be able to meet up with so many of them on this West Coast leg of the tour! This little stop in Arvada with Scott, Shelly and Co. has been the R&R I needed before heading out on the next 6 weeks of this thing I call MY dream. And for those of you who have followed along thus far, you know this dream of mine isn't THAT far off from that of Kelly's...mentioned above. We're both big guys who have a 'costume' that consists of one kind of diaper or another. And we're BOTH a pretty big deal in Japan.
Over.
G