WHEN THE STREET LOOKS LIKE THIS YOU'VE HAD ONE DRINK TOO MANY
I first met
Carol 'Foster' Vetter in Southern California 1971. I was on a great adventure hitchhiking
across the fruited plan. I was seventeen and had come from Texas where I had
spent my youth bouncing around from here to there. My mother a party girl
artist had no time for her three children and handed us off to anyone that
would take us. Later my bio father would disown me at age six and never see us again.
My younger sisters Donna and Eda and I would end up with our maternal
grandmother on her sprawling 1,500 acre cattle ranch. A hobby farm by Texas
standards but big enough for me to roam all day hunting and fishing and not see
anyone that didn’t moo. I owned my first pocket knife at age five my first
sheath blade at seven and my first shot-gun at ten. I never had to come home
for lunch.
So for me to
roam the south west countryside in the seventies was nothing I needed to fear.
I was more than capable of making good or bad choices all on my own. I made
many questionable choices and we shall move on now. The best decision I ever
made was accepting a job offer from the owner of an organic produce and health
food shop. Room and board plus $5.00 a day. It was hard work seven days a week
and I never looked back. This turned into a management position and much later
that turned into a lifelong commitment of marriage.
Carol was
always the boss no matter what business venture we engaged in. This never intimidated
me. My mother had terrible luck with men until her fifth marriage to Morris
Payne a good man. I learned from him what a good step father was all about.
However, by then I was ready to bolt. My grandmother was a widow who ran the
ranch with my aunt. There were few male roll models in my family. She was tough
as rawhide and I learned a work ethic from her and a love of history. My heroes
were Tarzan and the Lone Ranger Saturday morning adventurers on a Black & White
3 channel box. I learned determination and lust for adventure from fictional
male characters. Very early I was memorized by the worlds hidden in books by
authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H G Wells, Jules Vern, Eger Rice Burroughs
and my favorite Robert E Howard of Conan the Barbarian fame.
In April of
2015 Carol succumbed to diabetes and heart failure. It was a long and difficult
battle and once again I was on my own. For not a single blood relation of mine
that remains alive is interested in whether I’m alive or not.
Fortunately,
I have two fantastic step sons Patrick Foster and Phillip Foster. No two men
have I ever met can match them. Two great daughter in-laws Yanni and Claudia, eight
wonderful grandchildren and so far three adorable great-great grandchildren.
Not bad for an orphan outcast road-runner.
All of which
brings me to this point in time, I know as blogging goes you need to keep it
short and pithy but all that had to be said so you would understand my motivations
for this outrageous last few weeks on my Book tour. #CrossbreedbyKCV is a
series I and Carol wrote. Over the last seven years my dear friend R E Riepe
‘Rex” had a hand in getting me over some big humps publishing the first three
books. He too has just lost his wife and writing partner. Like my own wife Marcia
had been in a long struggle to live and finally returned to the cosmic flow. I
discovered Rex just a few weeks ago hold up in his dark studio cave. Depressed
alone and contemplating more tragedy. I knew exactly what he was going through
for I knew Marcia and the powerful bond they shared. They had worked together
for decades side by side and now half his very being was gone.
I had
pre-set for the whole month of January a list of things to do in Vegas. My
horror fan club #BloodMoonSocialClub was to have a reunion / book signing on
the 16th. A writer’s conference with the Las Vegas writers group on
the 21rst. Then I scheduled the Steamathon at the Main Street Station on the 29th30
&31st. All this and a trip to the Sandy valley Movie Ranch was
planned before I learned of Marcia’s passing.
Rex was not
eating, he was sick coughing up blood and drinking a lot. He was spending a lot
of time in Chubbys a shit-hole bar and that was not helping his mood. Nor was sitting
around staring at the empty bed his dear wife no longer occupied. He couldn’t
even turn off her TV.
Okay so if
you’re in a dark mood then let’s go all the way black. Let’s go Goth, a
community I feel very comfortable in despite my red-neck beginning. I took him
to Scarlet a roving Goth scene where we had drinks and met a lot of kool
characters in black. He noted they were all smiling and having a great time
dancing, this was New Year’s Eve.
The next night we went to Oddfellows and had
more drinks and pounding music. I ran into an old friend Matthew Gray Gubler.
#gublernation you may know him as Dr. Spencer Reid of Criminal Minds, or the
voice of a rodent named Simon depending on your age. Rex was coming out of his
funk and we were on a roll.
YOU NEVER
KNOW WHO YOU’LL RUN INTO IN VEGAS EVEN A MOUSE ACTOR
We stopped
in at his old watering hole and we were met at the door with and 86 order not
to enter. Wow, what luck for us it was as springs go a poison well anyway. The
best thing they did for us was kick us out.
Next we
rolled down to Last stop in Arz. and bought Lotto tickets in the biggest Lotto
ever $700,000,000. By now we had a following of friends on Face Book watching
as if this monster truck limo was going to crash and burn.
We kept
going night after night bar hopping all over Vegas. Sam’s Town silver foxes ,
Aces and Ails good buggers, 4 mile bar 1 notch above Chubbys, and a favorite
the Millennium Fandom Bar a great hang out for sci-fi fans.
Our FB hits
were stacking up and like the Lotto which was getting bigger the expectation
that we would be found face down on the strip was growing.
SLEEPLESS IN
VEGAS
Freemont Street
is lined with lively joints to party in so we snaked our way through them all
drinking and carousing like a pair of out of control millennials. Along the way
we picked up Paul Martin a Brit with a dry wit who is a great party pale. Each
night we end up back in the man cave on wheels and work until dawn on
publishing our books. Rex has thirty novels on Amazon. Google R E Riepe Fema
camp 37. His sales are off the chart as his dire predictions of a dystopian
future seem to be coming true. He has been a mentor and best friend. He may not
realize it but me helping him though his grief has been cathartic for me too.
MYSTIC
CANYON
Yeah I
barricaded myself in the studio and went on a three day drunk. But I didn’t
have the time to break down and withdraw into my shell when Carol passed. I was
taking care of our hundred and fifty acre Mystic Canyon artist retreat and film
studio in New Mexico. I had to pull it together, and now I’m a man on a mission.
I must finish this dream of a remote location of melding nature and art for
future generations to come. Life is short especially when you have punched your
ticket to ride life’s merry-go-round as many times as I have. You know the ride
will end soon so you can't get off the carrousel and take a long break. You get
on the wildest pony you can find and go like hell’s right on your heels. Because
it is!
Thus far we
have held our own with revelers, gamblers and every denizen of Sin City’s LED
night life. What’s next who knows? Here for you viewing pleasure are a few highlights
of our escapades.
LOTTO LIMO
We drove all
the way to Last Stop AZ to get in on a killer jackpot.
MILLENNIUM FANDOM BAR
2nd
CHANCE AT LAST CHANCE
No winner
was picked so we celebrated. Edward Riepe ‘T-Rex,’ and I rolled in at about
3:am and woke the bird up with our revelry. He was not amused! We’d hit every
bar with a band within our circle of carousing and were still jazzed. After all
we still had a shot at the soon to be 1Bill. LOTTO. We rounded up back at the
RV and proceeded to argue over scientific advances in cryogenics vs
nano-biotech medicine. We also made plans for how we would use our winnings to
save our beloved country from the total economic collapse due any day now. And
at no time did we discuss young red heads and stretch limos. Really, I swear not
a word!
ROAD
TRIPPING WITH RIEPE
I can’t get
over how thousands of Nevadans rushed all day to state-line venues to stand in
the chilly high desert air. Just to buy LOTTO? OK it’s a Billion-plus, but why
stand in line and freeze? Hours in some cases. Rex and I stopped long enough to
get snaps. Then we hauled ass to Kingman. Got our tickets in 15 min. and drove
back to last stop and had lunch. Some of the same people were still in line.
200 miles round trip but I learned a lot in that road trip from Amazon’s RE
Riepe author of 30 books. I’ve come to know that Rex is particular and takes
great care in dispensing his trade secrets. I feel honored that he gives me a
look at his very independent publishing house Worlds of R E Riepe.
ROG’AN
SNEERS AT THE SECURITY FORCES GUARDING HIM AND HIS TREASURE.
A challenge
has been leveled at the Critical Care Comics Heroes by Super Villain Rog’an
this epic battle of wills is set for; Sat,
Jan. 16. The CCC heroes must enforce Rog’an’s community service. As
guests enter Rog’an must hand over 1 comic to each one who then may keep it or
donate it. The more visitors who come the better for the heroes to persuade him
to do a good deed and surrender all his loot for the kids stuck in hospitals
dealing with severe illness. This may take some time Rog’an is a tough crafty
super villain and very tricky. #BloodMoonSocialClubReunion
FLEE I AM
ROG’AN THE TERRIBLE
There was a
time when mortals trembled before me. Now I bake cookies for my grand children
ROBIN TOOK
THE NIGHT OFF
COW QUEEN
YIPPEE KAI YAY! My oldest and dearest friend in NV. Invited me out to her
fabulous equestrian retreat in Sandy Valley. Marilyn Gubler, mother of that
famous rodent actor ‘Simon’ rides out into the sun set each day. She presides
over rodeos both American and Mexican and has a heard of impressive
#CrossbreedsbyKCV… Not mutants… cows! She’s as gorgeous as ever and treated me
to wine and cheese on the roof of her incredible Santa Fe stile hacienda at
sunset. Later we had succulent roast pork & savory chicken for dinner and sumptuous
Mexican food and jalapeno pizza for lunch the next day. WoW!
BEAT UP BY A
CHICK!
Laura ‘Gubler’ Dall has grown into a beautiful intelligent woman from
the teen I last saw. Her husband Tim is a great guy and they have a super
little boy Hunter. Laura is just wonderful but she still doesn’t like my silly
pranks. I had forgotten she has a bit of a mean streak and she gave me quite a
pounding. Don’t worry though the swelling will go down in a day or so.
FIRST HORSE
RIDE IN 25 YEARS
I’ll ride
any horse so long as they are not called Widow Maker or El Diablo. I know that
old trick of putting the new guy on the outlaw bronc. So they gave me Luna. I
learned later her nick name was Lunatic! But we got along just fine however I
think she sensed I was crazy too.
DIESELPUNK GUNFIGHTER
Ranch kids gather for an impromptu bird show.
MACAYO ROCKS
THE RANCH HOUSE
Rex got a
much needed rest with me in Sandy Valley horseback riding for two days. He was
deathly ill and stuck it out on his couch. As soon as I rolled in we grabbed
our English buddy Paul and hit a half dozen bars. We were disappointed to find
Oddfellows dark on a Mon. night but this isn’t the old ‘never close the doors
Vegas’.
{Screw the
Doctors} Rex was feeling better by the time we called it quits. We then worked
on our publishing empire for a few hours until the crack of dawn.
Each day Rex
seems to take a dive for the worst but then as the sun slips away he downs a
stiff slug of whisky and we climb into the Black Panther [my Kia Sportage] and prowl
the night once again. Rex, long before turning his creative talents to writing
was a guitar player.
Vegas hasn’t
killed us yet and we have discovered new incredible night spots to explore.
More to come so keep reading but fair warning. The future looks grim as we push
our crumbling old corpses to the limit.
Will we
survive? Or will we OD on the scintillating sensations of wicked wicked Vegas?
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