Afterglow 2014 - Day 1 Saturday

When I got home from work Korben Dallas knew something was up. He looked at me like I was crazy. OK, so maybe he didn't know what was going on because I am crazy. As much as I love getting away for a week, I wish I could take my kitten with me.

I don't necessarily hate my job, but I couldn't wait to get out of here. It's no secret that I spend the entire year counting down to Afterglow. So when the clock struck 5:30pm, it was time to get out of this bitch for a week and live it up in absolute paradise.

Jenny has a infallible measuring system - is this smaller or bigger than my head? This always worked... until now. When we found this frozen pizza that was the same size as Jenny's head, she had to add a new option to the measuring scale. I was too busy trying to eat Bacon Magazine to assist her with that, so I informed her that she would be on her own. How can I worry about head size when there is a MAGAZINE ABOUT BACON??

I don't know if my cat possesses the intelligence to understand why I was suddenly showering him with an abundance of love. I knew that I would go a full 7 days without hanging out with my best pal, but I don't think that he realized the struggles that lie ahead even though this would the 5th time that I would be leaving him for an extended period of time (with Afterglow 2013 and Brewers Spring Training 2014 being the other recent times). I made sure to get my customary picture with him before I walked out the door for good.

Afterglow 2013 was a real punch in the gut when we got to Pick N' Save and found out that Brian didn't take off of work and wouldn't be there that year. So when he walked into the store wearing shorts, a sombrero and a dirty white t-shirt, I nearly lost my mind. Too much rage in one place at one time. This was going to be a good week. I had no doubt about that. But first we needed to stock up. The body needs more than rage to survive.

After lunch we wouldn't stop until the Pick N' Save in Eagle River. Mom fell asleep on this short drive, which gave me the freedom to listen to my style music and take selfies while driving. My mother is still stuck in the stone age where telephones are land lines and are used to call other people. I believe they are portals to Twitter and serve as a method for capturing memories. When I was in South Carolina in Fall 2012, we ran over my digital camera with the car. I haven't bought a new one. So guess what I use my phone for?

Man cannot live on rage alone, so I filled my shopping cart with the essentials - bananas, lucky charms, tea, juice, monster energy drink, whiskey and tequila. That would probably last me 2 days. The McKissick family just arrived at the store and Kevin too would get the chance to stock up for the long week ahead. I'm not one to tell another what to consumer, so it gave my heart great joy when he started off with booze.

Jenny had invited her boyfriend Brandon to come up with us, so I already knew that this year would be overflowing with rage. After the disappointment that was Afterglow 2013, things were already starting out on the right foot. I went over to Mom's house in the morning and packed up the car. Jenny and Brandon met up with us in a very timely fashion. They surprised me that morning because punctual is not the term that I would use to describe those two. But Mom was ready to get this show on the road. So away we went...

While packing the car, I made sure to throw a couple of treats in there for later. I decided to tease you all with this pirate sword. What does it mean? Why would I ever need to bring this up North? Wouldn't you like to know. Stay tuned. Your questions will be answered in due time my friends. Don't worry about it.

We always try to leave around 9am so that we get up there at a reasonable hour. We usually pass through Wausau a little after lunch time, which means that a stop is in order. If it was up to me I would keep driving all the way to the finish line. But although I was driving, my Mother was calling the shots. So Arby's it was.

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