Here's that extended post about my weekend:

On Thursday I got up and dressed, ate, finished packing last minute things (toothbrush, socks, et cetera) and waited. Tim had a test to take and we were leaving right after that. He ended up having to do some last minute cleaning and chores for his mom, so we left at about 12:30 instead of the predicted 11. We stopped in Santa Rosa to get a few things from Wal Mart and some food, then continued to Oakland, where we stopped in the Asian Mall for Tim to try to get some chinese person discounts on a cell phone case. He didn't, so we kept on our journey and it was pretty uneventful for the rest of the day until we got to San Luis Obispo. We met up with Pete-man and went to his place, and at this point it was like 8 or so and I was starving. For SOME reason, ordering pizza kept getting shoved aside so they could do other stuff online (because for some reason they were using the dominos website even though it was around the corner). We finally went there, and I got his for a Baja California license plate, then went back to Pete's and ate and watched Anchorman. Then we just messed around and went to the CalPoly campus (which is five minutes walk away) and took a bunch of bitchin pictures, stole a janitors duster, raptored each other a bunch, then went back and played some Donkey Konga and eventually ate raviollis. Lastly, we went to a little park thing right next to his room and took more pictures. It was a REALLY bitchin time. By this point it was like 2 in the morning, and I had to get up early, so we went back to his place and crashed. I slept pretty well.

But I woke up at 5:45 and couldn't get back to sleep, so I took a shower and got dressed (in my American flag pajama pants, a Hawaiian shirt, and my flannel jacket) and put a few things I might need in my backpack. The plan was I am to take a train to see Chris a day before the other two finish that trip, while they chill in SLO and just mess around. Pete drove me the five minutes to the station, and away I went. The train ride wasn't bad, the view was really nice because it pretty much followed the coast the whole way. Much better than the train through the Central Valley. Anyway, I got to LA and Chris was stressing and freaking out because I (oh horror of horrors) walked out of the station so they wouldn't have to park and pay some parking fee. They found me using the patented "Go around the block until we see him because we KNOW he's somewhere around the edge of the block" technique that I had suggested, and after a bit more directional confusion and time we finally got back to Chris' house. For those not in the "know" Chris moved yet again early this summer, to Torrance, and I was yet to see their new house. It's not too horribly small like I was expecting, from what I'd heard about it, and more importantly I got to see Chris, her grandma, and SPIKE (Chris' golden lab). I hadn't seen Spike in very nearly a year so I was thrilled to see her again, and Chris and her grandma and uncle and I went to lunch and then to a movie. Man Of The Year was decent, but it should have been sillier, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Afterwards, Chris and I just played videogames and played with Spike. I really enjoyed it.

Saturday, the day of the concert:
I don't remember at all when I woke up, in fact, most of the fist half of the day is blurry for me, for some reason. I know we went to Target and got some stuff to make food for Tim and Pete and I the next day, and I got a 12 pack of Jones soda, and then brought it back. Then we went to the beach for about an hour, and that was really nice, and Chris and I just walked and sat and talked. Pete and Tim didn't leave SLO until 11, so the earliest we were expecting them was 2:30, so at that time we went back to her house, called them when we got reception back, and found out they were still a good hour away. So we walked Spike, and then played more Donkey Konga until they got thurr. Then Chris' grandma Muffin-ed Tim, which was badass, and the four of us just lazed about and talked. We left at 5 for the concert, and got there a bit early, thanks to Keenan helping us over phone because of Tims typicaly bad Asian directions. There were SO MANY OUT OF COUNTRY LICENSE PLATES that we called a truce even on them after a while. The line to get in (if you ALREADY had a ticket) was seriously 3/4 of a mile long, and we were early. By the time we got to the front, it was easily 2 miles long. We hit up the bathroom, then the merchendise stand, and I got a poster for Chris, a shirt for Alex, one for Zach, and one for myself. I'm getting paid back for the ones for Alex and Zach, and I wanted to get Chris something, and I know she'll eventually steal the one I got myself so it all works out. Then we played the waiting game. We got to our seats, sooner or later 3 Inches of Blood came out. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'd listened to their album and it wasn't bad. They played their songs well but didn't do much else, and there was too much of the screaming and not enough singing. But one day they might be pretty good. Then there was a half hour delay because of problems with traffic, and finally we heard it....
Doctor Doctor started playing over the speaker system.....Tim and I freaked the FUCK out. Nicko McBrian came out on stage and sat down towards the end, and then made the noise that Different Worlds starts with into a microphone, and from then on it was fucking Maiden going at it. They played through their entire new album in order, and then played Fear of the Dark, The Evil That Men Do, Hallowed Be Thy Name and Iron Maiden, and I have to say it was fucking RAD. A lot of people wanted less new stuff and more classics, but I say fuck 'em. I am an Iron Maiden fan, not a fan of their songs, and I love the new album. Yeah, overall it's more mellow, but it's still got it's moments, and they're plentiful and top notch. Live, every single song was way better than the recording. Bruce Dickinson commanded the crowd through each new song just as well as he did songs he's been doing for twenty years, and that is really what got me. I really can't say anything else about the show. It was fantastic. Afterwards we went to Dennys, and it was like...homecoming or prom night or something so it was pretty full. But a waiter saw Tims The Trooper shirt and grabbed his shoulder and started singing it, and we hit the ball off immediately and told him about the show and so he cut us in front of a bunch of highschoolers. It was rad. Then we tipped him $20 and went to Chris' house. Tim and Pete went to sleep in the garage immediately, Chris and I watched The Stuff and then I joined the other two and she slept in her room.

Sunday I got up around 8 and woke Chris up and just sort of talked to her for a while until Tim and Pete got up, and we all (sans Chris) ate breakfast and got ready for the trek home. Chris' mom made an appearance for about three minutes to meet Tim and Pete before we all left. I was amused how her and Chris' dad were conveniently busy doing other things and going places pretty much the entire weekend. Yeah, I don't think they were avoiding us....not at all. Anyway, I was really sad to go, but it wasn't as bad as it has been in the past. On the way to San Luis Obispo we listened to Music To Press Buttons To and that was hella good, and we just talked about videogames in general. When we got there, we went to a comic book/cd/record/geek action figure/movie store and just looked through stuff, talked to the cashiers (who were Maiden fans) about the concert and Maiden in general, then got frozen yogurt and Mexican food. Ate at Pete's, burned some cds, then Tim and I headed out for U-Town. The drive was really long but not bad. We talked about a huge variety of things, too much to go into in this already really long entry. He drove until we got through San Fransisco, then I drove the last two and a half hours.

Looking back I'm kind of sad that it's over. But not really, because I know I've got more times like this weekend to look forward to. I can honestly say it was one of the greatest times of my life. It was just so much fun I can't even put it into words, and I really bonded with Tim a lot, in a totally non-gay way, and Pete too. Chris and I were really happy to see one another and I think she feels closer to them as well, and of course everything between her and I was fantastic. The weekend just really had it all. It was probably the best weekend I've ever had, and if not #1, then a really strong contender.

And in three weeks I'm going back (by myself this time) to see Blind Guardian with Chris.