Brydn's 2003 Travel Journal - Shelby, Montana

Brydn's 2003 Travel Journal - Shelby, Montana

The End of Racing


There are plenty of events going on around the Shelby Fairgrounds.


At the end of the races, everybody splits in 10 minutes. I go back to my hotel room. Pat, Brian and Judah go to check in their room at the hotel. Pat and the desk clerk clash personalities. Out of spite, the clerk sets up all three of them in a non-smoking, single room that's the size of the one single bed. Ken goes to the office and settles the whole thing with the clerk. Pat, Brian and Judah get a large room with three beds. Pat goes, "the customer is never right." Ken goes, "Pat can be sent home." I go to Albertson's to get deck cleaning alcohol, q-tips, and a twelve pack of PBR's. I try two other places in Shelby before I find ice. I go back to the Shelby Fairground's track to clean heads and straighten out the mess. The fair is having a destruction derby in the center of the track. I hadn't seen a destruction derby for years and years. Looking on was fun, I have a view from the judges booth on the roof. The master deck stack signal can't be recorded. The first thing I think is that the modulator over is heated. I swap out the modulator. Sure enough, up pops the signal. I take out the tape stuck in the new deck by unscrewing the screws and taking the top off the deck. I start cleaning the first deck. I get a hold of Andy on the cell phone. I yak with him while I'm working on the tape deck. I tell him about the destruction derby and horse racing in general. We make plans for a band gig in Portland, Oregon happening on Halloween. There are no light bulbs or lights at all in the production room. Once the daylight is gone, I'm finished. I watch a rock band play music on the track stage while I'm on the roof. The band's a loud four piece with a double kick drum kit. They're a good rock band. Their harder rock sound repels the country audience like two alike poles of a magnet. A group of guys in cowboy hats are not all that interested in the band. I take a flash picture from the roof and then explore around the rest of the Fairgrounds. There are lots of motor homes and tents parked in back of the midway. I go back to the hotel. Pat, Brian and Judah aren't anywhere to be seen. So, I return to my room. Ken's up late. I boot up my computer. I have to tighten down the screws inside the computer that hold the CD burners in place. They had shaken loose going over the rough Glacier National Park roads. Ken shows me how to play Spider Solitary. It goes right over my head. I get to bed early. Ken is still talking to me when I fall asleep. I get going early the next day. I stop at the discount store for a couple more quality video tapes. I try cleaning the head on main deck. No use. Something has really gone wrong with it. I swap the bad deck out for a new deck and a new video tape. I'm hungry, so I get breakfast at the 4H booth; eggs, links, hash browns, and coffee. The coffee tastes like Iodine, which Ken says tastes good.