Meatloaf for Dinner

Last night we went to the Meatloaf Concert in Calgary. It was a great show and that man can sing!

It all started approximately thirty years ago when I was living on the prairies of Saskatchewan. The album Bat Out Of Hell was at the top of the charts and my best friend, Colleen, and I settled into the thick of it. Many of our party nights consisted of belting out the words and gyrating to Paradise by the Dashboard Light and swaying to the bittersweet melodies of Two Out of Three Ain't Bad.

Six weeks ago I received a phone call from Colleen and she told me she had tickets to the upcoming Meatloaf concert in Calgary. Needless to say, I jumped on the bandwagon - and dragged George along with me. In reality, I was more excited about a reunion with Colleen than I was about attending the concert...

On Thursday I rose early and moved through my regular routine with a touch more alacrity than usual. I had to plan ahead for the trip to Calgary and the possibility of not making it home by Friday morning to send the kids off to school. Our older daughter, Beth, was looking after her younger siblings, as well as the running of the household, while we were gone.

I had to work, but only for a couple of hours, so that gave me time to get things ready for the three-hour trip through the mountains. I packed a light lunch consisting of a baguette, some bruschetta - from a jar, garlic sausage, cheese, fruit and baby carrots. Finger food is great while on the road. The bottle of wine I packed is now sitting in my fridge - unconsumed.

George and I hit the road shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon. The highway through Kootenay National Park (KNP) had been closed overnight because of black ice and poor driving conditions, but was re-opened by the time we left. Unfortunately, the Trans Canada Highway between Lake Louise and Golden was closed indefinitely due to a dangerous mud slide and all traffic had been rerouted through KNP. The entrance to the highway into the park is through a narrow canyon and the number of semi trailer trucks that were traveling that road was astounding. We had to wait in a scary spot while the huge trucks attempted to negotiate a tight turn, from both directions, between the high rock walls - they were literally getting stuck!! It was nuts, but we made it.

We arrived in Calgary and met Colleen and her partner, Greg, at their hotel. The drive from Saskatchewan is longer than it is from our valley and Colleen's kids are grown, so they spent the night there. We had to be home in order to get our own children off to school and George off to work.

After a beer in the pub and a light dinner, we drove to the concert venue. I was reliving the last concert we saw there, and it was no comparison... The Who vs Meatloaf/second row centre vs semi nose-bleed seats high above the stage?

The show itself was great. Meatloaf has such an amazing voice and he puts his heart and soul into his performance. His band is very good and the two girls who were singing backup were fabulous. The lighting was well done and the audience had fun singing to all his old favourites, as well as to some new material. There is some good music and I would like to get his new album.

I did catch myself yawning through the performance, but only due to the fact it was my own bedtime. The show ended about eleven o'clock and we still had a long drive ahead of us. After dropping Colleen and Greg off at the hotel and joining them for a drink, which consisted of a glass of water, we were on the road again. George drove and he made it as far as Lac des Arcs near Exshaw in the mountains. I could hardly hold my own eyes open, so we had a forty-five minute nap at a roadside pullout. The stars were bright and the wind whistled and rocked about the van as we caught a few winks.

After resting, we continued on with George driving and I still dozing until Castle Junction where George had to stop. I took over the driving and we wended our way back through KNP. I had to stay on my toes, because the main highway was still closed and the park road was overly busy with trucking traffic. We made it to our valley where I had to stop because I simply could not keep my eyes open. George drove the final ten kilometres and we arrived home just after four o'clock in the morning. We literally dropped into bed - entirely exhausted!

The kids woke me up at seven thirty this morning and I saw them out the door - after they had readied themselves on their own. I was quite impressed! I guess there is a good thing about regular routine. Once everyone was gone, I fell back into bed and slept for another four hours.

George is still at work and I expect we'll have an early night this evening!