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GREAT BRITAIN TRIP I just got back from a great adventure. I went to Great Britain for the first time and did it all on my own, nobody else could take off work. Here is an outline of my resent trip that started on August 1st, but landed in England on the 2nd and ended on the 19th. TOWER HOUSE Before I went anywhere else, so I would not lose my nerve, I showered at the Heathrow Airport and went to Jimmy’s Pages house, it was on the way to my destination in Bedford, and I had to wait 6 hours for my train anyway. So I decided to give it a try and give him his get well present and card. He had knee surgery recently. It was a book on Elvis with hundreds of rare Elvis photos and bio on his peak years (1965-67), and a CD of 63 minutes of unreleased music by Elvis. Well instead I meet one of his old neighbors named George who was walking by, he took me too the Holland Park near Jimmy’s Tower house and bought me Latte and Danish. I was glad I was a little tired from traveling. Well he tried to talk me out of meeting Jimmy. What troubled me was that George told me that I would be sorely disappointed if I meet Jimmy Page. WOW?? However, I insisted on giving it another try so I went back and knocked on the front door, with no luck, then George found a side door by the garage and so we rang the bell there (I will post a photo of it on my site). Out came Dave Jimmy’s PR man. I told him who I was and that Jimmy tried to meet me 4 times back on March 24, 1975. I wished to change that terrible ending at that concert in 1975. Dave said, “ That was a long time ago. I said yes I know I forgot about it until November of 2005, when I saw a “CERTAIN” photo of Jimmy then I remembered that concert night in detail. I told Dave, what Jimmy said to me on that day in 1975, “ Debbie you’re a very special person with a natural ability and I want to meet you”. Dave said, “Really he said that?” I said, yeah! What did he mean by that, I said I think I know what, but I want to make sure. If he can remember why he pulled a chair by the side of stage and said that, then we got a winner.” “Dave said, “Well he is in a meeting right now, give me your cell phone number and I will have him call you.” I said I didn’t bring my cell phone. Dave said, “You didn’t?” Well if you get a cell phone he might call you on the phone, I said, “I have an itinerary, it had all the phone numbers of the hotels I was staying at, for my friends to use. So I gave him that and my old business card with my photo and with my current cell phone number, but it is only good in the “States”. George then asked for a phone number and address to contact Jimmy. Dave said, “ I won’t give you a phone number, but I will give you an address to write to him. By the way don’t ask me for the address to write to him, I won’t give it up, it is all in respect for Jimmy! Also if this story was were not true I would not tell Jimmy’s PR guy something like that, it is not in me to lie like that. I suck at lying. Anybody can tell if I lie. Well I ended up coming back later again on the 7th of August, after the Rhythm Festival to try and give the Elvis present to Jimmy himself, but ended up handing it over to Dave the PR guy at the side door. Of course Jimmy was in another meeting. I got tired of lugging around a book, because I have dozens of train station steps to pull my luggage up and down? Yuk! BEDFORD The Rhythm Festival was great fun and I was able to work back stage for the first two days and met a lot of musicians and took 3 gigs of photos and mini movies during the 19 days in GB. The music was very good but having the chance to rub elbows with all these musicans was grand, just image if Jimmy did the show like he was suppose to. HAZEL AND THE GIRLS The women in I meet at the “ Rhythm Festival were terrific. They helped me feel welcome and comfortable backstage, I swept the stage and they did the dressing rooms. We drank tea, beers and other recreational goodies. We got on well. I can’t wait to send the photos to them. ARLO The first night at the festival, I meet Arlo Guthrie, and shared a beer with Arlo and he wished me happy birthday. And his son downloaded the photos I took of the band on to his laptop. Met up with Donovan the same time too. DONAVAN AND CREW After the show I got to party with Donovan and his crew back at the Swan Hotel, I booked a room there and left that crappy B & B I booked from the Internet. Next morning the hotel did not have a room for me so they got me a great suite at the Woodland Manor which was closer to the Festival and the room was way better and I got half rate, cool and lucky again! Next morning I decided to use a taxi to get to the festival, I meet another girl named Vicki and we talked for a while then a guy walked by, he was going to the festival also, his name was Graham, so all 3 of us shared a cab. Then the guy wanted to stop at the ATM and get money so I went in the store to get fruit, which is when Graham started buying me everything for the day. I found out he was Graham Forbes, a music writer and musician, later on that day. He was in a band back in the sixties called “The Incredible String Band”. ROY HARPER Next night I meet Roy Harper, he was the sweetest one, of course we talked about Jimmy Page. Jimmy was to play with him at the festival but he backed out the last week before the show, so Nick Harper took his place. Roy told me what was really going on with Jimmy, he did have minor knee surgery but it would not of keep him from performing on stage. Jimmy had some personal stuff going on in his life. That is as much as I will right about because it is all in respect for Jimmy. Roy gave me a nice hug; it was nice of him to make me feel better, about Jimmy. I told him that an Indian Shaman told me I was to meet Jimmy back when I was six years old. He seam very excepting of this, I was surprise! He told me not to take it personal if Jimmy did not see me. I told Roy I remember seeing him at the side of the stage at a Zeppelin concert back in the mid 70's. I watched him swing around a dinosaur. Roy said, your not that old are you? I said “yeah.” He said but it was a monkey not a dinosaur! I said, I thought it looked like a dinosaur but it was hard to tell. But anyway I remember seeing you there! Roy was flattered that I remember and I was happy he remembers it too. Conclusion, if Roy remembers that, then Jimmy has to eventually remember our meeting, it was much bigger. OTHER MUSICIANS I also meet Jah Wobble, Roger Chapham and his band, Gordon Titcomb, keyboardist with Arlo, Graham Forbes, he bought me everything, but I got the vouchers for the meals from the management, so he could have some noodles. Graham was with the “incredible string band” back in the mid sixties, but he was interviewing and writing, not playing. THE STORYS I meet the " Stories" cool new group, signed on with Warner Bros, also caught up Geno Washington, Mike Reed; he is a famous DJ and promo man in England. I posted a few photos on my website. Also meet with Cara Dillon, Seth Lakeman, basically almost everyone who played the first two days. NICK HARPER Including Nick Harper, who was terrible nervous about playing Jimmy's part. I should not of gone in the dressing room, but I was actually there first and talking with John Cooper Clark the comedian, when Nick came in the dressing room to practice Jimmy's part, well I told Nick about how Jimmy tried to meet me back in 1975. He like my photos of me when I was a teenager and said, " Wow, your cute, no wonder Jimmy tried to meet you." Nick was too nervous and I got kicked out of the dressing room, but at least they were one of the last acts of the night. CAMP PEOPLE The third day I hung out at the beer garden and meet up with some of the tent camping people, that was cool they feed me and bought me beers and gave me cigarettes and made dinner for me, and other recreational goodies. I ran out of cigarettes because all the musicians liked mine. Especially the guitar player for Roger Chapman, I ran out of three packs in less than a week! FESTIVAL CONCULSION I never had to buy anything the whole three days except for one or two beers, when I went off by myself. Plus I was stupid and left my purse in the outhouse with my passport! But I got it back right away from the security guard. All my money and everything! I was lucky, AGAIN! The whole festival I was lucky, and it must have been the right time for me. BACK IN LONDON After five days in Bedford and the three-day festival, five days because the 1st day to was to get settled, next day to report for back stage work as instructed by Jim Rider. I went back to London and looked around the first day, went to "the Swan Pub” and meet up with some New Zealanders and partied on. We went back to the hotel and smoked some lettuce. I lost my wallet and freaked out. We pulled the room apart. Then we went back to the Swan where were and the others had stayed, thank god! We looked around and someone found it under the table on the floor where I sat. Everything was still there including the 130 pounds I had, which is 260 USD. Lucky again! The owner of the pub told me he just had dinner with Robert Plant 2 weeks ago. How cool is that. He said Robert is really the nicest guy you could ever meet. He also told me there was another Swan Pub in Stockwell area, but advice me not to go there at night by myself. That was OK I was having a great time right there. This Swan Pub was right across the street from Hyde Park, the park is famous for all its big time concerts. So it was not the Swan Pub that Zep Man went to, but it had an out door patio with umbrellas and great food and Scottish beers. Then the new Zealanders and I went to the Hard Rock Cafe and they bought me dinner and I bought several T-shirts for my friends back in the states. WALES Next day I went to Wales and checked out Cardiff Castle, also the Hard Rock Café also did a little Welch shopping for presents but cut the visit short and stayed only half a day. BACK IN LONDON Wilf Wright Jimmy’s tour manager told me that I could come back and talk with Dave, Jimmy's PR guy. He told me this the day before I went to Wales, right before I went to the Swan pub. I said what time is good he said 4 pm. I figured Teatime, yeah! I thought I was going to meet Jimmy, but a’ last Jimmy was in the next room and Wilf turned me away, Jimmy was not up to it. I heard Wilf say to Jimmy as I left. " I did not like doing that, she came half way around the world to see you. She was nice!" Then Jimmy said, REALLY? Then Wilf Wright walked toward the back of the house and left Jimmy in the living room. Then the door automatically shut and I left. I only got as far as the front door before the entry room door. Bye the way Wilf has nice red hair! Jimmy has this cool black and white mosaic style fireplace with a matching large vase setting there in the entryway. Shit Jimmy was only 20 feet away again!!! Just like the 1975 concert in L.A. How frustrating was that! What is up with this, my luck sucks when it comes to Jimmy, so close yet so far away every dam time. Why is the timing bad? SHIT it sucks...the big one! So many dam times, it is too much, dude! Before this day Dave, Jimmy’s PR guy asked me three times if I had gotten a cell phone in London, when I was there on the 2nd and on the 7th and the 8th. He said Jimmy would probable call you then. But a’ last I did not have my cell phone and no place would rent me one without a long term contract, so I must remember to bring my cell phone, next time. But Dave the PR man was nice of enough to give me a direct address to write Jimmy. It actually did not hit me until I got back to the states. I got a direct connection to Jimmy now. Great! So I wrote him two times. Well that is enough. One to jot his memory about the concert in 1975 and the one to keep his chin up and to let him know he had a friend in me. STRANGE PHONE CALL Funny though about the time he should of gotten the second letter. I was back in the states; I got a call on my cell phone. I said hello, no answer, I said hello no answer again, and I said is anybody there? I heard a "hum" from a man's voice and then a click. This call lasted for 12 sec. That is a long time for silence. I could hear breathing and not many people have my cell phone number. I could feel it was Jimmy, but I guess he is still depressed. That was a strange call. It sounded sad; it is a woman's intuitiveness. The letter I wrote Jimmy was really good, sincere and heart warming. It was about keeping your love and how it is the strongest power a person can have and how import it is for a quality life and telling him not everybody is the same. JIMMY CONCULSION The timing is bad anyway for Jimmy, I am sure he will contact me, when things are looking up. He knows who I am, what I look like, he has my business card with my photo, both my addresses and both phone numbers, a color sheet with several photos of what I looked like as a teenager, so I think he will contact me later on. Well he should anyway. Like Wilf said, "She came half way around the world to see you." On the other hand, I got to meet Jimmy's tour manager and PR man, plus the contact info, and Jimmy knows that I exist, what I look like and my contact info, so that is a plus. TASK BRAZIL Well next day I went on my Task Brazil Interview down in Kennington, the interview went very well, I even spoke a little Portuguese with them, but logistically they could not figure out how I could get a dental office to accommodate my project. But I am still studying Portuguese, because I was having so much fun with it and maybe I can do another project that fits with the program better. Maybe next spring, be great to see Rio. TOURING LONDON The next day I went touring around and went to the tower of London and walked all over the place. Then a nice pub for pub food and meet more people. I sure saw a lot of the underground in London during that time. Came back to my hotel and then went across the street to an Internet cafe and got on line, then went to bed. BATH Next day that I took the train to Bath and did the whole tourist thing, the two-hour walking tour. The Roman Baths, it has lots of rooms not just the green bath you see in photos and a museum too. Then I went to the new health spa that opened up that week, lucky again! And went in the hydrogen peroxide pool (instead of chlorine), that was cool! It had jets all over and a shoulder jet shaped like a fan. Best of all was the view you can see all of Bath the thousand-year-old buildings in sand stone. The green hillsides and a great sunset. I was wishing I had my friend there. But I still had fun I met lots of really nice people and interesting ones too, it was to cool! The middle room had four different saunas with different oil scents. Lavender, floral and eucalyptus and a plain smell. There was several foot bowls where you set in wooden seats and turn the jets on your feet. In the middle was a large shower with a bunch of different showerheads. The bottom floor was just like the pool on the roof and I did the same there. After two hours I left and went to a nice pub and a light dinner. MINI BUS TOUR Next morning I did a day tour of Avery, we saw a druid wedding, Stonehenge, Stow-on-Woe, a few small cobbler towns and crop circles and an ancient pictograph of a horse on the hillside. It was a grand day. I also meet a Scotsman dress in beautiful Kilt ready for a wedding, he was best man. Well his other friend, also dressed in a kilt took several photos of us, before the tour guide came looking for me. He knew I was having a grand time. There is something about a good-looking man in a kilt, it is real special. After the tour I went to a real nice restaurant called Johnny Browns and had a nice late dinner. SCOTLAND Next day I went back to London to catch my train to Edinbourgh, Scotland! Spend all day on the train and got to the train station there were a lot of people in Edinbourgh. The International Arts Festival was going on WOW it is BIG! Well I walked about a mile down the road to my hotel B & B, it was nice. Great bed, flat screen TV, like I was planning to watch it a lot, hahaha LOL. Got settled went to a near by pub and got pub food and beers talked with a few people, then went to another pub and meet more people, then head on back to the room. Next day I toured Edinbourgh castle, it was my favorite castle, I saw the stone of destiny, the crown jewels, the dungeons, the cells, and ballrooms. Military quarters, and even a display of a CAMERON deserter, my ancestors on my mom’s side. Our guide Peter, was real nice and told me a bus driver was trying to sell one ticket, so I went to find him but stopped at the visitor center first, to find Military Tattoo Tickets, the event of the year and sells out 6 months in advance. I tried to by tickets on line before the trip but no luck. After going in the visitor center at the bottom of the castle. A German man heard me looking for a ticket. Just my luck again, he had one extra one and sold it to me for face value. How lucky was that, WOW! That night I went to the Military Tattoo show, thousands of Scotsmen in kilts with bagpipes, fireworks, military in kilts of different colors, drummers from all over the world. Murals running across the castle wall. The lone Piper on the top of the castle, horses, tanks, drill routine, etc. it was better than I thought it would be, awesome! SCOTLAND BUS TOUR Next day I went on a bus tour of Loch Ness, went on a boat ride on the Loch, Ben Nevis, Glencoe and the Highlands, saw the land owned by the CAMERON CLAD, my ancestors, very cool. It was along 9-hour tour we covered a lot of ground. I also toured Urquhart Castle the oldest castle in Scotland. I got the Cameron crest with the Cameron colors for the kilt, book and few other items. Learned a little a bout the Cameron’s. Meet I guy at the castle in a kilt of course, his name was Willie Cameron that was cool. Great day saw quite a bit of Scotland. SCOTLAND SHOPPING Next day I shopped for more jeans (only took one pair) got 4 cashmere sweaters, very soft and new shoes 2 pair, only had one pair with me. Then I went to the post office and mail a lot of stuff back home. I did this a few times in London also, a total of 12 boxes and packages. It is hell trying to go up and down all the stairs between the Train stations and the Underground. ADVICE take as little as possible, the stairs will kill you. Mail things home as you go along on the trip. There is very little accommodation for the handicap! So be prepared! When going to G.B. BACK IN LONDON Well I got back to London late afternoon arrived at Marylebone station, northwest side of London, the first time in London I was in South Kensington in the southwestern side of London. Next time I go to London I will check out southeast and northeast near Camden. I had the best room yet it was the best one. Had computer in my room and everything, mini bar, sauna shower and feather bed, flat screen TV it was a real nice suite. But the view was lousy, can't have everything I guess. Well I was tired and stay in my nice room that night. First time I did that! Next day I got up early and did the hop-on and hop-off Bus tour. It was great, you cover a lot of ground and see much of London this way. I did get off and on several times. I got off to do the Thymes River boat ride, saw a lot of historical buildings and got it narrated. Got off for the Beatles tour but could not find it. So I walked over to Piccadilly and checked out Virgin records and bought 3 CD’s pink Floyd wish you were here, Roy Harper’s Jugular, the Police “best of.” After that I jumped on the bus again and learned more about the city, then stopped for the London Eye, best way to see all of London with the best views, great for picture taking! After that I check out the street performers, then I went for a light salad, coffee and small sandwich for dinner sat right by the Thymes river, what a beautiful city. Great sunset! Wished I would have had one of my friends at that time, but I went on a walked on the south side of the river and checked out the sights. I was quite surprised the weather was great 90% of the time on the trip. Only three days got cold for a while they said it was a hot spell, just right for a southern California girl though. Hehehe. That night I went to the “ Old Globe Pub in Marylebone, near my hotel room. Meet a couple gals from Pennsylvania and we drank beers to eleven, they had to catch the last Under ground train. I went to my room. STRAFORD-UPON-AVON Next day got up early and headed for the train station to see Shakespeare's place of birth and the city it self, the town is very quaint. Went on a bus tour, went to Ann Hathaway’s house (his wife), had a steak at the White Swan pub, very cool place, they were a bit shock when I asked for a doggy bag. But they did try to make do. They don’t do take away in a restaurant with the leftovers. Late afternoon, early evening I catch the train back to London and got back to pack and get ready for the return trip home back to the states. I was glad I mailed most of my stuff home because of the Security checks during the HIGH Alert! PLANE HOME AND SECURITY I did not take any thing in, check in my bag and took my small backpack, had to stuff my purse in it, only allowed one small carry on. They padded me down, I had every check through, did the metal detect or, by the way, walking through one of those is like getting 72 dental x-rays taken. Just a little dental fact I know from my old occupation. Well I had business class tickets, so after the padding down I went in to the Red Carpet Lounge to wait for the plane, I had my tea and biscuits whilst I waited for the plane. When I left I took two small diet Pepsi’s with me. I figured it was ok because I was in the secure area and if not, they would tell or ask me. I was not sure because I was busy with my adventures and holiday, and did not watch much TV. Who has time? So I left it up to them. If I had been asked I would tell them. Well I went through another security check and no body said anything to me. So I just went to the plane. Later during the flight, I ask the stewardess if I could throw the empty cans in the galley, so I did. Twenty minutes late some old stewardess came over and gave me a rash of shit about bring liquids on the plane. I told her no body asked me. She did not believe me and said this was I serious matter. I said yes I know it is, somebody was not doing his or her job. She did not believe me. I told here well no harm done; it was perfectly safe because I already consumed those liquids, so there is nothing there. But she was a poop and started giving the gal next to me a rash of shit too. She had nothing to do with it. That lady doesn’t not know how to do her job either. Well everything else was great, the wine was great so we just got drunk on wine, ate, watch movies, sleep until we got to San Francisco. The gal next to me was nice and fun, she was done with her trip though, but not me. I had to change my luggage for San Diego. I had to wait two hours and catch another plane to San Diego. So I hung out and catch the next plane a total of 20 hours of travel. I was tired. Well after walking around, bought an SF Shirt, hung out at the Red Carpet Lounge and getting a beer. Finally I got my plane to San Diego. Yeah!!! Got there about an hour and a half, landed and meet my good friend Mark who came to pick me up. Boy I need a Vacation now! Funny I did not go in one museum on my trip. I just did not have time, I thought I would, oh well next time I go to London I will do the museums. Took three more days to feel back to normal again and got all my mailed packages over the next few days. So that worked out well. That was my big adventure in a nutshell. Believe it or not I did leave out a lot of detail. Like I say in my caption on PZ, “Make life happen”. Cheers, Little Light
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