As a child, I had two favorite musicians – Garth Brooks and New Kids on the Block.  I saw Garth Brooks in concert this time last year.  This year was my turn to see New Kids on the Block (15 years after their “retirement”).  Penni & I saw them in concert on Wednesday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Atlanta, GA.  After last year, I never thought any concert would top Garth’s.  I was wrong.  The NKOTB concert was the best concert I’ve ever been to, hands down.  It really is hard to put the experience into words.  I’m going to give it a try, though.

Who actually goes to see New Kids on the Block in 2008?  The majority of the people in the audience were women between the ages of 25 and 35.  There were some teenage girls and some guys there but most were original NKOTB fans like myself.  The crowd was enthused before the first note of the first song and never sat down or quit singing along.

The NKOTB sang all of their biggest hits plus some of the songs on their new album.  My new favorite song of theirs, which is actually an old song of theirs, is Tonight.

Our seats were across the arena from the main stage.  Halfway through the show the “kids” came down to our end and sang 2 or 3 songs on a mini stage with a grand piano.  That pretty much ensured that there were no bad seats in the arena.  I am kind of surprised they made it to and from that stage OK, though, because they had to walk through the crowd to get there.

Here is a slide show of the pictures I took during the concert.  Enjoy!

The past 5 days have been great!  I dropped Penni off at the airport for her trip back to Georgia earlier this morning and have been doing a little bit of work since then.  I’m supposed to be meeting my cousin Paige after while to hang out and reconnect.  (She’s from TX and I haven’t seen her since her grandfather’s funeral earlier this year.)

The New Kids on the Block concert was AMAZING!  I’m sitting here listening to their music as I’m working and writing this entry.  I’ve got several pictures and a full review coming later.

Penni & I had a great time at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.  Ron Hornaday won the Craftsman Truck series race Friday night.  Kyle Busch won the Nationwide series race Saturday afternoon.  Carl Edwards won the Sprint Cup series race last night.  I have lots of pictures and stories from TMS to share in the upcoming week.

Stay tuned!

Yesterday didn’t quite go quite as planned (at least where the first half of it is concerned).  I couldn’t get myself out of bed on a vacation day at the same time I normally get up for work.  That was issue no. 1.  Then, it took my laundry longer to finish than I anticipated.  I finally left Northwest Arkansas around 1:15/1:30 yesterday afternoon (a little while after my goal of noon).  The trip down was pretty boring.  This is a good time for a road trip, though, if you like looking at the scenery.  The colorful trees in the mountains on I-540 and I-40 were gorgeous.  I have 255 songs loaded on my iPhone and went through them all.  (I’m not one that lets every song play all the way through so I skipped ahead a lot.)  I made it to my hotel and got checked in by 7.  Considering I stopped twice, that was pretty good time.  It took me exactly the same amount of time Google Maps said it would.  (I did make 2 stops along the way which I don’t figure Google factors in.)

Oh yeah…I got gas for $2.05 before leaving Springdale and found gas for $2.09 in Durant at one of Oklahoma’s gas station slash casino slash Burger King places.  I haven’t looked at the gas prices here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area yet but I would assume they are at least a little more than the two prices I paid yesterday.

I’m at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport right now waiting on my flight to Atlanta, GA.  It leaves at 11:55 am.  I’ll arrive in Atlanta on 3:15 pm EST.

I’m officially on vacation starting tomorrow and ending next Tuesday!  It is going to be quite a busy travel week but it is going to be really fun.  Here’s a run-down:

1. Leave Northwest Arkansas around noon Tuesday and drive to Dallas/Ft Worth, TX.
2. Fly from Dallas to Atlanta, GA Wednesday at 11 am.
3. Go to the New Kids on the Block concert in Atlanta Wednesday night.
4. Fly from Atlanta to Dallas on Thursday morning.
5. Spend practically 24/7 at Texas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR events/races.
6. Leave Dallas/Fort Worth bound for Northwest Arkansas Tuesday morning.

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