King Biscuit Blues Festival 2023 is in the Books! We had a Great Time!

Javi and John at KBBF 2023

Last week I attended the King Biscuit Blues Festival 2023. Eddie and I left Wednesday, October 4 at 6 am and arrived mid-afternoon in Helena, Arkansas. I had a great time with family, friends, and listening to some great music. Missed not having Carrie or Corrie at KBBF, but hopefully we will have them join us next year.

Corn Dog is Lunch

Not only is the KBBF a time for visiting, listening to music, and having fun, but it is also time for eating some great street food. I did not go crazy this year, but I did have some good eats while at KBBF. The picture to the left is of me eating a corn dog that I sent to Carrie and Corrie who were missing out on the good eats. Along with the corn dog, I had a Gryo, tamales plate, fresh cut potatoes, fries with meat and cheese on top, and a variety of other good eats. Those are the ones I can remember. Oh, we also had catfish from the VIP tent that was really good. We had breakfast each day we were there too along with Bloody Mary's which helped to start the day right. Thanks to Amy, Liz, and Michael for getting the various eats for breakfast ready for us each day. 

Selfie with TBo and Javi

You might wonder what we do when we are working the KBBF, well, we carry equipment on/off the main stage. We run errands as needed. Between acts, we are able to enjoy good music and company. To the right is a selfie with Javi and TBo while listening to music. Sipping your favorite drink and enjoying good music, it is a great way to spend the day.

Selfie with Eddie on Main Stage

Snapping pictures of the bands is fun and I meant to do a whole lot more than I did this year, but I did manage to get a number of selfies while at KBBF this year. I realized as I am writing that I neglected to get a selfie with Shi although I did get some pictures of him with others that I will include later in this update. 

We hang around the main stage to help where we can and watch to carry items to and from the main stage. This year I helped a little bit with parking as vehicles came into the parking area and needed to be secured. After getting the musicians on the main stage, we help with positioning equipment needed, amps, and then we make sure they have water for their set.

Selfie with Bart at KBBF

Hanging out in the back of the stage or along the side enjoying things is what we do. It is a good time and we have fun interacting with the acts too. Again, I realized I did not take any pictures with any of the musicians. This is usually something that Carrie does when she attends. For me, I am lucky to get selfies and pictures of some of the acts. 

TBo and Shi Run the Show

The stage is run by Shi (Eddie) and TBo (Tommy). Shi is the stage manager and TBo manages logistics of the stage, parking, beverages, etc. Good news this year I do not recall seeing TBo, or Shi, upset about anything or at least nothing that got to me about something being wrong. Overall, the whole festival ran smooth this year. The picture to the left is of TBo and Shi on the main stage watching over acts and the crowd.

At Leslie's for Breakfast and Drinks

Picture of Crowd at KBBF

See the full photo set from King Biscuit Blues Festival 2023 on my Flickr account.

Looking forward to next year to be back at the King Biscuit Blues Festival. It is hard to believe 2023 is in the books. Until next time, have a great rest of your week!

"9 to 5 The Musical", Solilquy Bar, Preparing for KBBF, and Summary of Prior Week

Sleepy Oliver

It was a busy week for me with a conference I attended in Kansas City Monday - Wednesday. I made the decision to drive in each day instead of getting a hotel room in Kansas City for the conference. Made for long days the first part of this week, but it was a good conference with good connections being made. Tuesday night when I got home from the conference, Oliver was very sleepy and plopped down in his bed to do some serious sleeping. I decided to head to bed early that night too and went to bed at 9:30.

The rest of the week flew by and was catch up for me at work after attending the conference. Short week next week for me as I will be taking personal leave to head to Helena, AR for the King Biscuit Blues Festival. I leave Wednesday and then back the following Sunday. Looking forward to another KBBF and seeing everyone at the festival. Carrie was planning to go but decided she would not make it this year. Javier will be there and we will work the main stage at the KBBF.

Saturday night, Carrie and I went to see 9 to 5 The Musical at Topeka Civic Theater. We had a fun time joining Greg and Erin for the play. Prior to the play, we met at The Pennant for a quick dinner and drinks before heading to the play. It was a fun evening. The musical was good and it was the first play we had been to in a while. It was good to be back at Topeka Civic Theater.

Drink at Solilquy Bar

Following the play, Carrie and I decided to stop by Soliloquy Bar where we sat on the patio and had a few drinks. One of the drinks I ordered came out and was lit on fire. Another drink Carrie and I shared had liquid nitrogen that cooled down the glass, they then threw out the nitrogen which was cool to see the nitrogen hit on the ground. Our server was one of the owners, so we chatted with him for a bit and talked about the cool places to get drinks in Topeka and Lawrence.

On the Patio at Solilquy Bar

Beautiful evening Saturday night to sit on the patio which was nice. The patio was busy when we arrived around 10:30 and then by the time I took the picture to the left, it had cleared out. The owner told us that they have a soft close of midnight which was something Carrie and I were wondering about as we sat on the patio listening to music and how the neighbors next door react to the traffic, music, etc.

It is now Sunday as I finish up this update and I am sitting here watching football. Both of my fantasy football teams are not off to very good starts. Hoping to get two wins this week with my two teams and bounce back. Also out there are my fantasy baseball teams which are not doing well either. Still, it is fun to follow players and make changes to try and win each week.

That is about all for today. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time.

Various rambling on a Sunday afternoon while watching the Chiefs and thinking of what to share...

I sit here on a Sunday afternoon watching pre-season Chiefs football and wondering what happened to the summer. Seriously, it feels like I blinked and the summer is over. Students move in next week on campus, classes start soon, and before we know it the year will be over. The post today is going to be more of a rambling post on a Sunday afternoon, so bare with me as I jump around on various thoughts.

Carrie leaves for Houston this week for about a week. I will hold down the fort and probably do some grilling. I need to start planning what I will cook while she is away. You may recall that last year Carrie went out-of-town and I did some grilling while she was away (see post) and I plan to do the same this time too. Last year I did grilling every day while she was gone. She will be gone about a week this time, so I might only grill on the weekend when she is gone... I have not decided yet. You might also recall that the last time she went to Houston on her own, she came back with COVID and I got sick too with COVID. Hoping that does not happen this time as that was horrible!

As we look to the fall season, we are hoping to find some time to do more camping. Ideally, I would like to get at least two more camping trips in before it gets cold. Last year we went out to western Kansas and had a great time, but it was also really cold at the end of October. We have King Biscuit Blues Festival coming up the first part of October, so hoping to get a camping trip in September in and then maybe one more in October. Sad we have only camped twice this year.

We have Washburn football that will be starting up soon too. Tailgating and we are thinking of traveling to watch the Ichabods on the road for at least one game. Fun to have this starting up again and I am looking forward to spending afternoons out watching football at Washburn University. It is always a fun time out on the campus following the game and catching up with friends. I am hopeful to have large gatherings at our tailgate spot this year and we might even break out the Firedisc a time or two.

Changing topics a little, my reading of books has slowed some. I am still reading at least once a day although some days it has only been a page or two. I need to pick up the pace and reading through the day. Right now, I tend to read only when I go to bed which means I am tired and can barely make it through a page before I put down my Kindle and call it a day. I am almost done with a book I have been reading for a few weeks now. It has taken me longer to read this one for some reason, so I plan to go back to some of my book series after I finish this current book.

I continue to fly my drone some days but with the heat we have had the past few weeks, I have not done nearly as much as I was after I first bought my drone. I continue to learn how to fly and how to respond in situations such as when the wind picks up and carries it away from me. I have not take many pictures with it since I initially bought the drone as I am learning how to fly and do so safely. I am also not taking it up high above the trees and instead keeping it at eye level as I learn to fly. Yes, I did lose one drone and quickly purchased a replacement, so it is a learning experience.

As we look at the semester starting, football season starting, and the weather starts to cool, I starting thinking about leaf cleanup for the fall. Thinking ahead, I bought a pack of bags for leaf pickup. The past few years I have called to have someone come out and do our leaves. I am planning to do this myself this year and I have purchased ahead of time the needed bags so I can get an early start once our leaves begin to fall. Not yet fall, but I have noticed some trees are starting to lose their leaves.

Enough rambling for a Sunday afternoon. Look for some posts next weekend about my grilling. Hoping to do some fun things while Carrie is away and it is always a learning process when I grill. Until next time, have a great week and I will talk to you next week.

King Biscuit Blues Festival Returns and It Was Memorable for 2022

King Biscuit Blues Festival Main Stage

After two years of not having the King Biscuit Blues Festival (KBBF), it was sure good to be back at The Biscuit! It will go down as one of the most memorial festivals in my memory of attending. Days were beautiful and yes I had some favorite acts too.

It was so good to see many of our friends that we would normally see every year at KBBF. Eddie, Carrie, and I got down to Helena, AR Wednesday afternoon. Much earlier than we usually arrive as we wanted to make it by mid-afternoon to help with some stage items that were happening for a tribute to Bubba who passed since the last time we had a festival. We had a fun night.

Delta Dirt Distillery

Carrie and I decided to stop by Delta Dirt Wednesday afternoon as we figured it might be our only time to be able to stop by there to see. As it turned out, Carrie and Javier were able to go there the later in the week. Carrie and I thought the place was going to be so busy would not be able to get into try it out. It was really good! I want to go back and try it when they are not limited on their drink selections. We sat at the bar and enjoyed our drinks. Yes, we could have had more because they were so good, but we wanted to get back to help out at the stage.

Drinks at Delta Dirt

Good way to start out the festival. Normally on Wednesday when we arrive at the festival, we go out to eat some place. This night, we were down around the stage helping out where needed and really having a good time catching up with everyone.

Once again this year, I did not take as many pictures as I had planned. I took a few Wednesday and a few more on Thursday. That was about it. I had also planned to record notes and information for each day from the various acts, but instead I only worked, drank, and ate. So, I had a good time and enjoyed myself.

Carrie and I with Friends

We spend a lot of time down in the "Next Act Only" area. This is where the crew hangs out, watching, talking, and laughing. As acts pull up to the area, we help them carry their equipment to the stage. Between acts, we help prepare acts for their set.

For Thursday, the first band started at 11 am. The rest of the days, the first act was at noon. So, it is not too bad and drinking cold beer throughout the day helps.

Corrie Posing in Carrie’s Hat

Eddie, Corrie, and Carrie Selfie

Tommy and Carrie Selfie

Aunt Carol and Carrie Selfie

Bart and John Selfie on Main Stage

Javier and Carrie at Delta Dirt

 See the full album from Carrie and I on Flickr Album Kings Biscuit Blues Festival 2022.

Great to be back at The Biscuit! Fun to see everyone. This will certainly go down as one of my most memorable festivals. Long break since the last festival and then everyone got together and it was as if never had a break.

Until next time, have a great week!

Camping Discussion for September and October plus Future Camping and Taking Our Dog in Cooler Temperatures

Carrie and I have not been camping in a few months, so we are thinking about going here soon before it gets cold. We are debating on whether to go camping for our anniversary or wait until October. We are looking at options and trying to figure out when we could do a long weekend for another camping adventure.

We learned this week that the annual festival I attend each year, King Biscuit Blues Festival, has been canceled for the second time in a row. Sad to hear we will not be at the festival this year and not able to see our friends that travel from all over the country to attend. Although it makes sense with the rise of COVID cases across the country, it is sad to not be going again this year. So, instead of going to a blues festival, Carrie and I might take a long weekend and go camping instead. Although no dates are set and we do not have anything reserved at this time.

If possible, we would love to be able to do two or three more camping trips before it gets cold. I am not sure how that will work out though. As we see August come to an end, we move into September and if the first few weeks of September are anything like the last few weeks of August, it would be very warm to go camping. Granted, the weather should start cooling down where it will be nice to camp, but it would be cool during the evening and just the day to deal with the heat.

We did learn from our camping adventure back in June (see Camping in Hot Temperatures at lake Milford Near Junction City) that we can go camping in extreme temperatures, but it would be nice to be able to take our dog and not have him overheat in the weather. So, hopefully late September we can get a camping visit done and then two more in October.

I am not sure how much Oliver likes to camp as we have only taken him two times so far in our adventures, but he seems to like the experience. He sleeps throughout the day, enjoys going on walks as we do much more walking when we are camping than at home, and he likes watching the people at the other camp sites. The weather might be too warm to take him in September, but hopefully we can take him at least once in October if we can get a date set.

We did book a camp site for the future (2022) in Big Bend National Park and we cannot wait for that trip. The dates are tentatively set as Carrie could see the dates disappearing, but we do have that to look forward to in 2022.

What trips do you have planned for future camping sites? Do you have a favorite you would recommend that Carrie and I visit? We would love to hear from you in the comments. Until next week, have a great week!

Listen to Artists Planned for the 2021 King Biscuit Blues Festival via Apple Music

The King Biscuit Blues Festival 2021 is planned for October 2021. The Biscuit is Back! We missed the King Biscuit Blues Festival last year and glad it will be back this year. Each year of the Biscuit, I try to listen to the acts that will be playing the main stage. The past few years, I have created a playlist in Apple Music where I can listen to the various artists who will be on the main stage.

Using the main stage line up, I put together roughly two songs from each artist listed as playing the 2021 KBBF.

• KBBF 2021 Playlist
• KBBF 2019 Playlist
• KBBF 2018 Playlist

So, join me in listening to acts for the upcoming festival and reflect back on past arts from prior festivals. 

We will see you at the King Biscuit Blues Festival October 6 - 9, 2021.