To celebrate my 50th birthday the Fat Pack arranged a trip...
Now, as you would expect, when a man reaches 50 all he wants to do is to settle down with his pipe and slippers, and reflect back on his life — both the good and bad times.

Not with this bunch you don't baby!

They booked me on a trip along Route 66 in the USA which goes from Santa Monica in California to Chicago, llinois. The birthday didn't end there though. They went and joined The Route 66 Preservation society and were given a section of the 'Mother Road' to look after. This section is about 100 miles long. It starts in Williams and finishes in Winslow, Arizona. The same Winslow the Eagles sang about in their song "Take it Easy". As my birthday was on the 21st of January they had decided that we should stop in a Wigwam in Holbrook. Now who in their right mind would think that I would rather spend my birthday in a Wigwam on a cold Arizona night, as oppossed to my warm comfy bed at home with my loving wife"? (They must be mad!) Well, I would. And I did; which I suppose makes me as mad as them ! ! !

On my birthday night I was lucky enough to be able to send a letter to my wife by the last Pony Express rider in Arizona (Hashknife Pony Express), but she is still waiting for it to arrive. I think the pony must have thrown a shoe... mmmmmm!


Special cachet used to identify the mailpieces carried by the Hashknife Pony Express, Official Mail Messengers of the U.S. Postal Service.
Click here to find out more.

That night we were chased out of a bar by 2 Navajo Indians because we won them at pool too many times. Apparently it's not done in those parts. It is their land after all. Also, whilst singing on stage in a bar we had dollar bills thrown on to the floor in front of us by some Texan's. I dare not repeat what was written on the bills — except it was to do with sex and travel!! And I always thought that we pretty good? I did enjoy the hot tub in the open air of the mountains of Santa Fe as it was snowing though. Now, that was different. There are things that you thought you have attached to your body that suddenly vanish when the weather is as cold as that.

We were made celebrities by the mayor in a small place called Adrian in Texas . This is the place where Route 66 reaches its exact mid point. We donated to a monument that is to be built at this point and as a result the Mayor gave the Fat Pack honorary citizenship of the town. Not sure what that means though, although we have been invited to the official opening of the monument on August 17th. Our engraved brick which has all the Fat Pack names on it, is currently on display in their memorabilia shop, and it was a nice surprise and great honour to find that out of the thousands of bricks to be used in the monument, ours should be the one chosen to go on public display.

The local Texans sang us a very nice song which they dedicated to us. Paul thought it was an excellent cowboy song and heartily congratulated the guys for their selection. DID PAUL KNOW THE WORDS THAT WERE SANG TO US? (I THINK NOT!) It's called "THE RODEO SONG", and the link is: http://www.angelfire.com/home/hawg/rodeo.html
Listen for yourself. (Allow a short time to download.)

My birthday was a great success. Now all we need is another excuse to go back. So, let's see... When is the official opening of the monument??????

Click on a picture for a closer look.

And this is what the local press had to say...
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