Adventure to Los Angeles

Plans had been made rather spur of the moment even though things were booked about a month ahead of time. I found out that Scott was going to do the Hamilton Benefit for the music program. It is something that he has done before and he gives a lot of time to the school and has continued to do so even though his daughter has graduated. The Scott Bakula Fan Forum has a group of fans that attend his performances whenever possible and they don't hesitate to post the information on their board. I became a member a while back. Since I have been a fan of Scott's since his Quantum Leap days it only seemed appropriate that I would get involved in a group that is dedicated to him as well as the several that I am on that are dedicated to Enterprise. Even though it was my weekend off, I had the mindset that since I wouldn't be able to go to this event because we had spent a lot of money the previous November with traveling to North Carolina for my father's funeral. I vetoed a trip to Las Vegas this winter because of that.

But on the 3rd of February I was sitting on the couch and thought to myself that if I passed up this opportunity to meet him when would I get another chance. So I called the Hamilton and ordered a couple of the higher end tickets. Of course it was a voice mail so there was no immediate confirmation as to whether it was sold out or not. I spent the next 24 hours wondering if I had tickets or not…but a voice mail came thru while I was at work that confirmed that we indeed did have the tickets. Immediately going online, I looked for the airline bookings that the night before had been over $400 but imagine my surprise when I found flights for $240. So I plunked down my credit card number and had 2 seats to LA for 2/26

Getting on the phone the next morning we secured a hotel room at the hotel that the group was staying at. We decided not to try and drive in LA and figured with cabs ECT we would be ok. So we were satisfied that we had taken care of everything. But wait a minute, didn't I in my quest for wealth sign up for an extra shift for 2/27? Yes, I did. Well the option was to try and find someone who would work for me but after looking at the schedule I realized that wasn't going to happen. Well the only was out of this dilemma was to cancel the tickets and go to work, right? Not necessarily, feeling a little déjà vu, I decided to do something that I hadn't done with a job since I was in my 20s and that was to get the stomach flu on the 2/27. It was something that I was having a lot of guilt but willing to try and deal with it.

Then I privately emailed a gal that I had gotten to know on the board and after some emailing back and forth we decided that since she was renting a car, we would go along on a tour on LA with her. She would be coming in on Friday morning so would just meet up with her then.

The anticipation of the weekend was a little hard to bear. I didn't sleep for several nights after I booked all the tickets but then started focusing on other things. There was Enterprise to save from cancellation and we were in the middle of our Valentine campaign plus my usual weekly letters. There was work to go to and new Jeffrey Combs movies to find. I developed a mini infatuation with him to calm the nerves of the "Scott" trip.

Finally the day before arrived and I was running around the house like a mad woman trying to get the house cleaned before we left. I hate coming home to a dirty house plus I was very nervous about the whole trip so I kept cleaning.

The day arrived to leave and we were at the airport by about noon. For once the plane was on time and we actually got to Chicago earlier than we were suppose to. The walk to the next flight was in a different terminal and it took 20 minutes of walking to get there. That flight went out of the gate on time too but we got out on the tarmac they discovered that one of their 3 generators was not working so back to the gate. 2 hours later after the pilot went out and got McDonalds burgers for everyone we were off the ground and on the way to LA.

On the approach to LAX, I was amazed to look out the plane window and see nothing but lights below us. It was like the whole of California was a city. And as we landed it amazed me to see that the airport was in the middle of the city. After getting the bags we went out to try and find a taxi. Well that was darn near impossible. They didn't stop and there were hardly any taxis around let alone available. It was frustrating. Finally found a taxi stand but even then it took a long time to get a taxi. The drive to the hotel was interesting. We found out later that the city stretches on for miles and miles and mile…it is like the whole of southern California is a huge city.

CULVER HOTEL	CULVER STUDIO

The Culver Hotel is a very old hotel, which is next door to the Culver studio where Gone with the Wind was filmed. John Wayne at one time owned the hotel and they have renovated it so that it is to its original state. They had windows that open and all the furniture was antique. There was a huge wooden wardrobe in the room with wavy glass on it. I enjoyed the room a lot even if we didn't spend a lot of time in it. Seems the other members of the group were having problems with lost reservations, room keys that didn't fit and a staff that was not particularly helpful. We ended up being very lucky.

I was exhausted and we went to the lounge for a few minutes but I talked Jay into coming back to the room and going to bed. I was asleep in minutes.

The morning dawned sunny and windy. I was surprised, as it had rained there for the last couple of weeks. So that was a nice surprise. Since we didn't have a car and the taxis seemed few and far between, I wanted to find Hamilton High so if we had to walk on Saturday, we would know where it was and how long it would take us to get there. But first I needed to call in sick. Seems I had developed a full-fledged case of stomach flu with cramps and being unable to get too far away from the bathroom. That was a hard call to make. I felt guilty and expected that the manager would not be very pleasant but it went fairly smooth. She didn't give me a lot of sympathy but wasn't sarcastic with me either so that was good. I am not going to be able to call in sick for the next year.

We started out to the high school and actually found it quite quickly. It was only a 15-minute walk from where the hotel was. As we were walking back, I got a call from the gal that I had arranged to go with that day.

So anyway back to the hotel. There was a group of ladies standing in the front of the hotel when we got back, I had on my Enterprise T-shirt and they did also so we got together and introduced each other and chatted about the event and our trips and Scott. It was quite pleasant. Just then Pam drives into the parking area and hits a pedestrian that was walking across the parking lot. She didn't hit him hard but she never even saw him step off the curb.

We finally got going and I was amazed at all the car even in the middle of the day. I had heard stories but nothing really could prepare me for traffic like that. I was so glad once again to be living where I am. After about 40 minutes of terrifying travel we got off the freeway and we found Warner Bros with no problem at all.

They have high security at Warner Bros and the cars are valet parked. We went and got our tickets but Pam was a little behind us. She had lost her inhaler so we went back to help her find it. Once we had the inhaler secured we went outside to wait for our tour guide.

The tour of Warner Bros is awesome. They take us to see a film and then on to a museum to see a lot of props and wardrobe used in quite a few movies. The whole upstairs is dedicated to Harry Potter and lots of miniatures there and props like Harry's room under the staircase. The boxes of wands, the spider from the forest and numerous other props were all there. It was interesting as a fan. Downstairs we saw the time machine from The Time Machine with Guy Pierce and a lot of other things that I can't remember right now. We did see an Oscar on display there but can't remember which movie it was for or what category. I would make a great tour guide for them wouldn't I? Our purses and cameras are locked up, as pictures are not allowed.

We got to see a sound stage for the George ?? show and she explained how the episode was filmed and how long it took. She showed camera marks and how they choreograph the actors and the cameras. Then we went to the largest sound stage in North America. They have a water tank there where the Perfect Storm was filmed also Jurassic Park the T Rex scenes were filmed in there. After that we went thru the set of Gilmore Girls, which is different from a comedy show. At the back lot and exterior scenes we were allowed to take pictures. Then on to the ambulance bay and exterior of County General for ER where we had our pictures taken in front of triage. On the way back to the beginning of the tour, I saw Bradley Whitford from The West Wing in his car and I smiled and waved and he waved back and smiled. A little while later he was walking to the sound stage and we all waved at him and he smiled gave us all a big wave. We were not allowed to take pictures or ask the actors for their autographs but that was ok.

BACK LOTS	JAY ON THE LOT
BACK LOT TOWN	ANOTHER VIEW OF THE TOWN

At the end of the tour we were taken back to the parking garage and we were going to get the car but Pam could not find the ticket to retrieve it. That was a little frightening as with security as tight as it was, I don't think they were going to give her the car without a ticket. So she frantically looked for it all the time asking if we had it. Finally she found it and we headed off to try and find a friend of hers in Burbank. I got the directions from the friend and off we went. We stopped at a newsstand for a copy of Hollywood Reporter for the Enterprise Project ad and then we had supper at Fuddruckers. It was a good meal but I hadn't been eating much with all the excitement. At about 6:15, I suggested that we should probably get back as there was a Scott Bakula Film Festival that evening and I didn't want to miss the get together with the other gals. Finally she found the keys and we got ready to go. We finally got to the freeway but that was a joke. It was 20 mph and bumper to bumper. We were not going to be back in time for the start of the fest. We got back to the motel after an hour and a half in traffic for a 10-mile trip. It was horrible, I hate that traffic. I have since learned that we should have taken the back roads. I was very happy to get back to the hotel. We couldn't find a parking space so we had to drive around and find a parking garage. Finally got to the hotel at 8:30. Went to our rooms and then headed down to the room where the fest was going to be.

EXTERIOR ER SET	AMBULANCE BAY-ER
JAY-TRIAGE BAY ER	GAIL TRIAGE BAY ER

They were just starting to do DVDs when we got there so didn't miss much except for conversation and I would have loved to have gotten to know some of the others a little better. We were treated to dailies from Quantum Leap, some funny and some poignant, like the scenes of him talking with Beth in Mirror Image. He was very emotional and seemed to not be able to come back from it. We also saw 3 pilots that were not picked up by a network. The first was Father out of Control…horrible sit-com. He was good but the "kids" were horribly unfunny. Then we got to see a pilot called Boomer with him and Robert Urich, which was very funny. And then a drama called Prowler, which CBS didn't pick up because it was too "dark". I enjoyed them all. Then we saw some musical things that he had done. At 2:30, I was just couldn't stay anymore so went back to my room. Jay had gone to see a movie and then spent some time at the lounge downstairs, but he was sound asleep when I got into the room. So I crawled into bed and it took me a while to get to sleep.

7:30 in the morning and I was wide-awake. Of course this was THE day. I was nervous and apprehensive and trying very hard not to think about anything. We still had a whole day to kill. Jay wanted to go up to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and hired a car to take us there. When the guy picked us up, he quoted $45 each way and the other guy had said it would be $30 each and he went on to inform us, we probably could not get in there today as it was the day before the Academy Awards. I was all for going back to the hotel. I was very worried with all the traffic that we would not get back to the hotel and would chance missing the Benefit. After all that IS why we went to LA. But I also wanted Jay to enjoy his time so off we went. We drove all the streets of Hollywood and got about 3 blocks from the Kodak and it was all blocked off, pedestrian and vehicle traffic was blocked. So we had the guy turn around and take us back to the hotel. He promised us a discount to the airport the next day because of the mix-up so we gave him the $90. I hated doing that…. I felt like a country bumpkin. Not a good feeling as the day before I had done battle with Pam who although she couldn't drive and couldn't navigate felt that she was more informed than I was to which lane she should be in. It was Jay's call and I bowed to how he handled it.

Well, now what shall we do? We went over to a Greek restaurant and had a nice lunch. They had very good food. I enjoyed it but Jay got a plug. We went for a walk after we were done. We found a residential area and walked in there for a ways. As we got further into our walk, I realized how tired I was with so little sleep both nights. I was worried that I would be too tired to enjoy the evening so I kind of insisted that we go back to the hotel area. We walked around the Culver Studios and talked with the security at the gate but there was no way to get in. There was nothing going on. The significance of the studio was that Gone with the Wind was made there. There main building was Tara in the movie. It is definitely familiar.

We decided to go to a movie since the theater was across the lot from the hotel. Jay picked Passion of the Christ to go to. I was not all that anxious to see that but went along with it. Before the movie started though, I spotted a Cold Stone creamery and got a small dish of coffee ice cream with chocolate chips in it. Snuck it into the theater and ate it, what a wonderful treat. The movie….well that is another story. I hated it. I didn't understand the point of the whole thing. It was truly nothing but horrible violence. I failed to see the message he was going for. Arguments began as we got out of the theater but since this is my telling, I am not obligated to show the other side. Seriously while I was not sickened by the movie, I didn't understand his point in making it.

Then it was back o the hotel. I was very tired at this point but at 4pm there was no way I was going to be able to get a nap. We made a quick trip over the Trader Joes for some bread and cheese for Jay. When he gets rid of a plug, if he doesn't get anything to eat then he get hypoglycemic and I didn't want him to have his evening ruined by that.

I soaked in the tub for a long time and Jay ate some bread and cheese. I was feeling nervous but had resigned myself to not expecting too much from the evening. I decided that I was going to just enjoy the show and Scott and just relish being in the same room with him and seeing him live. So I got dressed and at 6:15 we headed to the lobby. Half way down the steps we run into Cory who we had met in Burbank the day before. She had her car and needed a place to finish putting on her makeup. She was staying with her nephew and he had no hot water. So in exchange for a ride to Hamilton high school she got to use our room to freshen up. Well worth it.

Back down to the lobby where there were 2 gals sitting and we went over and talked with them. Lin and Karen from Phoenix who needed a ride and we all went with Cory. Since Jay and I had walked the route the day before, we provided expert navigation and we are at the high school very quickly. We found a great place to park and then we went into the concert hall. We were there fairly early and as soon as they opened up Will Call, we got our tickets and went and stood with others and chatted. Nice way to spend time.

Our seats were Row G and one over from the aisle. Coincidence was that Cory had the seat on the end. The show started with a little number with Scott and another gal. It was rather surreal to actually see him on stage. I had a hard time believing that he was really there. But he was. He introduced a couple of numbers and had a couple of exchanges and then the next 2 the last number was his number with Chelsea. They did a number from I Do I Do called Nobody's Perfect. It was a cute number with the couple fighting a little and Scott managed to work in a little bit about the fans. Chelsea was giving him a bad time about his "fans". He was defending his fans stating that they helped him with his "enterprise", and a little more went on with him having us clap and then stop on his command. It was a very nice tribute to the fans in the audience. It was a great number and they work well together. It was fun to see him and not on a tape or on the TV but live!! I want to see them perform I Do I Do sometime. I am slightly familiar with the show as we had seen it a few years ago at the Chanhassen Playhouse near Minneapolis and this number made me think that it would be a lot of fun with the 2 of them. I have picked up the exchange on stage from a post to one of the lists. This gal remembered it or recorded it, now sure which but below is the exchange on stage where Scott draws in his fans.
C: Dear, you know I hate doing these things.
S: What things, dear?
C: You know, with your fans.
S: Remember, dear, these fans are responsible for the success of my
latest "enterprise". (loud cheering from fans)
S: (center stage, arms open wide) After all, I am the star of the
show. (When the cheering didn't start again, fans got a look from
Scott like "come on, you missed your cue", and a hand signal, and we
finally caught on and cheered again. He eventually used another hand
signal to cut us off!)

Jay found out that the lady in front of us was Patricia Morrison ( who was the original Kate in Kiss Me Kate on Broadway) who apparently was a stage actress and he worked with at a playhouse in the Chicago area. He went up to her after the show and introduced himself and told her that he remembered her from way back when. She was very gracious and talked with him for a little while.

Then it was on to the school for our meet and greet. I had enjoyed the show very much and was still not expecting a lot from the meet and greet. You know how it is, when you admire someone and look up to them, sometimes those expectations are not lived up to and there is disappointment. I really figured that Scott would be nice but it would be the same old thing. He would look at us and you would see from his eyes that he was not with you. He would be paying attention with half of his being and the other half was moving past the event and onto other things. But that was ok. I wanted a picture, an autograph and a moment of time in the same room as him. I fully expected that he would forget about us all 5 minutes after he walked out the door.

SCOTT AND JAY	SCOTT Q&A
SCOTT AND FANS	SCOTT AND JAY

We filed into the classroom and I found a seat over on the side with Jay in back of me. Jay Schwartz, Scott's publicist was there and as soon as we were all in the room, he greeted us and gave us some information about the new DVD and brought a packet of pictures to give out to us all. Since he only brought 45 and there were 55 of us or so, the "newbies" got their first and then the other people until they ran out. Actually the pictures were quite nice. One was a PR picture for Major League back to the Minors and then some Quantum Leap things along with a picture of him and Dean that was signed. All of them are very nice things. We saw the beginning of the new Quantum Leap DVD that is where the play and scenes are ect. Disappointing that there are no specials on this DVD but hopefully there might be some on the next ones.

Scott came in fairly quickly after that. He walked in and everyone applauded, then he moved over to Rosie, the disabled lady that always comes to these events. He went over and knelt down beside her and gave her a hug and as he talked with her stroked her hair a little bit. Then he gave her a kiss and got up after a picture was taken. He walked to the front of the room and asked how we all were. He wanted it explained what a "newbie" was so they were all trying to tell him. Then he asked if there was anyone there from another country. There were 3 ladies there from England and as they spoke up, he chatted with each one for a moment. Then he wanted to know where the rest of us were from. People started yelling out states and he paid attention to each one of them. Chatting a little bit with each person about their state or hometown ect. He focused totally on who he was talking/listening too. I was very impressed with him. After he talked to each person, he continued to ask. "Ok where else?" and someone else would pipe up and he would chat. When things died down a little bit, I spoke up. "North Dakota?" He looked at me immediately…"South Dakota?" I clarified the North and he said "sorry". He seemed to realize it was important that there is a difference. So then he asked where and I said "Fargo". He said something about the accents and the movie but I am afraid that is totally lost in my brain somewhere and I started to answer him but someone from the back of the room asked a question and he turned and gave them his attention. Sigh…. oh well. It was a nice moment so I just watched and listened while he focused on this other person and answered her questions. I was amazed when he was finished talking with her, he immediately turned his attention back to me and said, "Ok go on, lets hear it." I have no idea where I got the nerve or didn't fall apart with him looking at me but I just grinned and said in my best North Dakota (fake) accent. "Yah, sure you betcha." He laughed and the rest of the room laughed but I was the most thrilled that I had made him laugh. He answered a lot of questions on the show. He hopes that UPN will cancel Enterprise so that another station that appreciates it more will pick it up. He has talked with Dawn Ostroff and she refuses to promote the show. He says he wouldn't even waste our time with UPN. He encouraged people to continue to write pr call Paramount and CBS and Viacom. He seems very frustrated with the whole thing. He mentioned the ad in the Hollywood Reporter and how everyone at the set was "thrilled" with it. He indicated that the rest of the cast is a little nervous about the possibility of cancellation and this ad has helped a lot. He asked a little about some of the groups on the ad like "what is the Dominic Keating Estrogen brigade " and "what is House of Tucker." Then stated, "Never mind, I don't want to know!" He was asked about T'Pol secret and some of the spoilers for the rest of the season. He refused to divulge any information…thank goodness. I didn't want it spoiled for me. He said Azati Prime is his favorite episode this season. He talked about some surprises that will be coming up in the next few episodes. He is very supportive of the show and appreciates the fans support.

CLOSE UP	SCOTT AND FAN
ON THE WAY OUT	SCOTT WITH HIS FANS

At this point Jay (his publicist) figured that we should get going with the pictures so we all lined up to do that. Jay had a pretty good idea of where he wanted everyone to line up so he spent a few minutes doing that. Since we were "newbies" we got to get near the front of the line. Amazingly I was not particularly nervous about getting to meet him face to face. I think that the only moment that I was a little nervous was when he turned to me and looked me in the eye when it was my turn. My memory is a little blank. I wanted to remember it all but even immediately after I met him, I couldn't remember a whole lot. I said something like. "Ohh, I am soo happy to meet you, I have been a fan since Quantum Leap." He smiled and said "good" or something like that. Then I added
that "I love Enterprise" and he said "great". Then he put his arm around me for the picture and as I looked at Jay, he asked if that was my camera. I think he wants to make sure he is looking at the correct camera. I said, "That is my camera and my husband!" He grinned and I think that is when Jay took the picture because the picture I got has a smile or grin on his face that isn't on anyone else's pictures. But I like it. Then we were done taking the picture he started to thank me for coming but I interrupted him and asked for a hug. I couldn't believe while I was doing it that I had the nerve to do it. But he said "sure" and I hugged him but even better was that he hugged me. The man knows how to hug. It was warm, close and real. Then he thanked me for coming and I took the camera from Jay so he could have his turn. I didn't hear most of their conversation but I did get a couple of good pictures and Jay seemed thrilled to meet him. The only thing that Jay told me was that he told Scott that he was going to give him an acting tip but his wife threatened to kill him. Scott asked what it was and Jay told him that if he wanted to cry on cue he should pull a nose hair out. Scott laughed and said he had heard that.

SCOTT AND GAIL	SCOTT AND GAIL
SCOTT SIGNING	SCOTT AND GAIL

After our moment, I stood back and just watched him meeting other people. It was hard for me to think about leaving the room. Jay went over and talked with Chelsea for a little while and I got a picture of him and her. Jay then went out to the hall and talked with the director of the show and some other people. I think he had a good time.

SCOTT AND JAY	SCOTT AND JAY
CHELSEA AND JAY	CHELSEA

I remained in the room with Scott. I just had to stay in the same room with him as long as possible. I did a lot of watching and noted that he was always aware of what was going on. He took care to make sure that everyone went away with a picture and an autograph if they wanted. He noticed that one of the photographers had put his finger over the flash and insisted that the picture be taken over again. He seemed to know that some of us were a little overwhelmed as when he got done with the picture asked a lot of people if they had anything for him to sign. Jay (the publicist) asked early on for us to limit the autographs to one each. I picked my Archer picture and Jay had Laura's picture signed. He told Scott that Laura was a big fan but wasn't able to be here. Scott would have signed more for people and did a few times but he lets Jay be the bad guy. Scott always seemed to be aware of the little things. I was impressed that he remembered some of the gals from years before even remembered their names. He always tried to sign the photos with a different note especially with the people who had been there before. I thought that was nice. One lady brought a picture of the Archer Action Figure sitting on a window ledge with her cat "stalking" it. He thought it was funny and asked her what her cats name was and she told him so he signed the picture. "To Sammy-Sam, Be Careful!! Scott Bakula" I saw the picture later so know this is what he signed.

I only saw him annoyed one time. A gal came in with a doll or action figure of some kind. I have no idea of who it was or what the story behind it was but she asked Scott if he would take a picture with the doll. She didn't want a picture with him, just the doll. I could see he was a little perplexed and maybe slightly annoyed. He posed for the picture but the look on his face was not a smile but more of an "ok, let's get it over with." He commented to no one in particular that that was his "I don't get it" look.

I was supposed to get some film of Scott and Pam so when she got up to him; I took the video up and started doing some filming. Jay S kept looking at me weird and was very anxious to get rid of Pam. He kept trying to move her along and making arm movements and commenting in a mutter that she needed to move along. Finally he got a little annoyed with me for being so close. I was a little embarassed about the whole thing. Finally I walked out into the hall and we stood there until Scott came out and as he walked by everyone he thanked us again for coming and told us to have a safe trip home. He walked out the door and we followed him to the parking lot. He got into a dark blue full sized SUV but I have no idea what it was. So that was the end of our Scott encounter, but the glow stayed for quite a while.

I ran into a couple of people from one of my Enterprise lists. I recognized her by the picture that she had Scott sign. It was a picture that they took with her Archer and Trip action figures in the Captains chair on the set of Enterprise. They had bid on and won a tour of the set and met with John, Anthony, Dominic, Connor and Scott. So I talked with her for a while. It was fun. Wish I could have more time but everyone in the car I was in was anxious to get back to the hotel. So off we went back to the hotel. We got her back with out any problems at all. We are such good navigators!!

Getting back to the hotel, we wandered into the lounge to get something to drink. People kept showing up from the show and we all gathered around a table and were talking. Jay went back to the room and I stayed. After a while the party moved to Helene and Barb's room. We all sat around and Barb got the video camera out and went around the room with everyone describing their encounter with Scott. In between there was lots of chat and laughing. It was just fun to be in that group. We discussed what he had said about Enterprise and UPN and other things. He had asked at the beginning of the meeting,
"How is the hotel?" It was odd because a lot of people were having problems and he seemed to know that. I had the thought that he had met with Helene and Barb earlier which seemed the logical explanation. So it came out that the two of them had spent the afternoon on the set of Enterprise while they were filming. They brought NY bagels for everyone and got to meet Connor and Jolene who were filming with Scott. They had their pictures taken in the captain's chair and also with Scott in his Star Fleet uniform. I thought I would be falling down jealous but I am not. I think because even though I didn't get to spend that kind of time with him, they have known him for years and probably deserve it. They did a good job of getting things organized and made me feel at home. And I had my own couple of little Scott moments.

I got back to the room at 4 and had to download my pictures off the camera. I needed to see what they looked like regular size. They came out great and the pictures of Scott and I were wonderful as well as the ones with Jay and Scott. I also wrote a long email to Laura about the events of the night and then crawled into bed at 4:30.

I was up at 8 and back online to send pictures to Rena, Eileen and Marie. Jay came back with coffee and I put on the Quantum Leap marathon on SciFi. One of the best episodes was on. Shock Theater so watched that while I finished up online.

We got dressed and packed and at 10:30 we called the car company to be sure they would be there at 11. I stopped by Pam's room to see if Linda wanted to ride to the airport with us since she had to be there at the same time as we did. She accepted and went up to pay for her Enterprise shirt. I couldn't handle being in there any longer and as soon as she got back, I made my excuses and left. I told her I would meet her in the lobby at 11. to the lobby where Jay had checked out. He was sitting outside on the benches. Apparently we got soaked again for "long distance" from our room…, which was odd because it was a same area code number and the computer did not dial the area code. Not sure if we will end up paying for it but it was a shock. Seems the whole of southern California was out to rip us off.

Linda arrived as well as Fran. After hugs for Fran we got into our car and off we went to the airport.

It appeared to be time for another rip-off. We got halfway to the airport and the driver said it wasn't $15 but $15 a piece!! We dropped Linda off at Southwest and we went on to United where we did pay the guy. Great lesson learned. I am very irritated though. I just don't like to be thought of as stupid.

We got thru check in and security with no problems at all. The flight was on time and we got to Denver where it was raining and snowing and windy. We ran into the Calderwood family there and talked with them for a little while. Interesting to run into someone from Casselton in Denver. The flight to Fargo was on time for the most part. There was a little delay because of the weather.

I was very tired on both flights and very happy to be home. But the glow lives on. Hopefully with this account and the pictures, I will remember this weekend for a long time. At least until the next time I get to meet him.

Impressions:

People had told me that Scott makes you free comfortable and that he was a nice person. I believed that. I had been told that Gary and John Berry and I certainly found that to be true. But I was not expecting what I found with Scott. He is a warm and caring person who is in tune with his fans. Little things that I noticed were very different than what I have seen with John or Gary. When Scott is talking with you, his whole attention is focused on you and I could tell he wasn't far away in his mind. I noticed that fans that he he remembers the names of people that he has met before. He tries to make sure that your visit with him is perfect. He watches to make sure the pictures are good and will retake a picture. He tries to write different things on photos. It isn't always just best wishes ect. He connects with a touch. The warmth and humanity that is Sam Beckett and Jon Archer is Scott. Archer touches, a hand on the arm, a touch on the shoulder in comfort, friendship or sympathy. That is Scott. He is quiet, down to earth and gentle. He is not shy but is respectful and even when he is annoyed (at UPN), he vocal but quiet about it. I was impressed with the man and the warmth and caring that he portrays. I noticed when he looks at Chelsea there is a deep love there. That was very nice to see. A nice human being and I hope that I can meet him again, but right now I am going to carry these memories and pictures with me for a long time.

end

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