Riders in the Sky @ Tweetsie Railroad Park

                       May 15 and 16, 2009

...in which is accounted donna j.'s return to the Riders' army of dedicated followers!

by donna j.

Well, I've returned from many (many, many) months of Riders-less existence to write once more of a very exciting weekend with the most fabulous cowboys on the stage. To return to the fold, my husband and I decided to pack up the whole crew (consisting of Zoe, a 13+-year-old elkhound, Daisy, an 8-year-old elkhound and my current service dog, and Bob, an 8-month-old elkhound in training) and travel to North Carolina to catch the Riders at their famous two-day performance with the folks at the Tweetsie Railroad. It was fabulous! Ya should-a been there!

We arrived on Friday and got moved into our cabin, which was beautiful and very secluded. We didn't have any neighbors to worry about, which was fortunate, because Bob can get a little "barky" sometimes. His training hasn't taken care of that yet! The cabin was lovely, we had plenty of room, and the dogs loved it! Anyway, after that first day of unwinding from the long (very long) car trip, we got up on Saturday morning, ready to go see Riders for the first of two shows that day.

We arrived at Tweetsie Railroad Park. It's a lovely, fairly small (we're used to Disney theme parks) theme park whose focus was on trains. We made it down to the theater where the Riders were to perform. It was really nice (a little far for me to walk, but I'll do anything to see the boys again!) and they were in an outdoor theater under a huge, yellow and white tent with plenty of seating. We managed to get front row seats for all four shows. We took Daisy and Bob with us to all of the shows. I don't think anybody had any trouble with that. The dogs behaved very well and they stayed under our seats and in front of us the whole time. Bob was a little rambunctuous the first show, but as soon as he was shown what we wanted, he settled down and just laid there until Ed told him to move! That search & rescue dog training is good for more than just search and rescue!

The show was wonderful, and the guys seemed really glad to see us. They were a little surprised with two elkhounds in the front row, but when they saw that they were quiet and didn't disturb anybody, they were fine with them being there. I made sure they stayed in front of our chairs only, so they didn't squeeze out and crowd the people next to us. I figure, if I want my dogs to  be allowed in places, they'd better behave and not get on other folks' nerves! And they did. This was not Daisy's first RITS show, but Bob had never been to a show of any kind before, and I think he did wonderfully.Everyone around us seemd to think so too. We had many people asking if they could pet him or what his breed was or how old he was or any number of other things, but no one asked him to leave, so he done good! He and Daisy were good enough that Joey dedicated at least one song in each show to both of them by name! He liked my guys, but I think he hit it off with Bob the best. Bob really liked him, that's for sure.

Anyway, back to the show. The only song I remember particularly was the one that I requested to have Ranger Doug perform; "I Still Do." I love that song, and he did it to perfection. Thank you, Ranger Doug! You made this saddlepal very happy! That was the only song I requested this weekend, because they did most of the others that I reallly like anyway, so I was very satisfied with my request. I also met Ranger Doug's significant other on this trip, and she was a VERY nice lady. His daughter Grace was there too. Grace is very special for many reasons, but the most special reason to me is she was born just before MY Gracie was born, and I was thrilled to find out that Ranger Doug and I both had little Gracies, and they both grew up to be beautiful ladies. My Gracie passed away about two years ago from cancer, but she is still very special to both Ed and me, and it's always nice to have a gorgeous remnder of her.

We had several pictures taken of us and the guys. I've included a couple here for you to see! The only thing that I can tell you about the shows particularly is that they were all good, I sang more than I have in over a year, it was nice to have the Riders recognizing both Daisy and  Bob from the stage at every show, and I left happier than I have from any other show in the last few years. The Riders did four entirely seperate shows, all completely differerent and all fabulous. Thank you, Riders in the Sky. To quote (nearly) someone very famous and near to all of us, "I was proud to say that I loved a little group like you, and I STILL DO!"

[ photos to be uploaded sometime this week. Come back and check by Friday! ]