As I sit in my hotel room in Manassas, Virginia about to head out with my son to the Manassas Battlefield National Park, I remember that this trip was originally planned when I was a senior in High School. My brother, Jamie, and I were planning to fly from So Cal to DC after I graduated from Buena Park H.S. in June of 1980 and tour the Capitol and surrounding Civil War battlefields.
In January of that year, Jamie received a call to work with American Entertainment Productions in Columbus, Ohio. As I recall, he received the call on Monday and was gone by Friday. In his first 12 moths on the road, he would traverse across the U.S., Germany and Iceland and western Canada. I remember three distinct thoughts standing at LAX watching my brother get on that plane: I was going to miss him, our trip to DC would not come to pass and I wanted to see the world as well.
By June of 1980, American Entertainment had decided to form a rock band to tour the states and I was chosen as its drummer to play alongside my brother on guitar. I flew out of LAX on the day I was to walk in my high school graduation. I wasn't looking back! That summer I toured Western Canada, the Midwest, Lake Tahoe (working alongside BB King and Paul Revere and the Raiders) and met a few celebs in Vegas. Over the next 3 years I would have the opportunity to hone my skills as a drummer, vocalist, emcee and manager and travel to various locales around the globe: Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Israel and Egypt.
Now, 30-plus years later I sit in yet another hotel room, with the same passion for travel, in the midst of the trip I had planned 32 years earlier. This time it's with Jonathan who is showing severe signs of the travel bug himself. My brother and I still take advantage of every opportunity to hit the road. We'll be heading to Atlanta in late April to catch the Beach Boys reunion. This time, though, it will include his wife Brenda and my family. I look back and realize that I have been blessed to live the dream of my own personal journey. So, it's off to Bull Run!
