The Adventures of Reynaldo

Starring: Reynaldo, Kelly, Cliff, "S", "P" and "J."

Reynaldo crosses over the Mighty Mississippi. Photo: CK1

Reynaldo was found laying on the pavement, almost dead of heat exposure, exhaustion and loneliness, in a place called Brazil, Ill. Some Rush fans apparently felt sorry for his plight, picked him up and took him under their wing. That night Reynaldo had a nice bath and slept in an air conditioned room to begin his recovery. A misfit band of traveling gypsies who made their way to shows from Nashville to Kansas City felt that Reynaldo deserved a second chance and gave it to him.

Reynaldo awoke the next day, refreshed from a wonderful night's rest and traveled to St. Louis being used as a good luck charm. After all, he was rescued by good people and hardcore Rush fans, and now the good people wanted good luck. He arrived at the UMB Bank Pavilion sometime Saturday afternoon, maybe around 1 p.m. or 2 p.m., to check for tickets for that night's show. He was being petted, taken care of and beverages were provided to him to keep him hydrated in the stifling Missouri heat and humidity. His favorite was the lemon flavored Propel.

But Reynaldo did not seem to be willing to return the favor of being rescued and pampered with good fortune. All afternoon and into evening, our anxious fans stood vigil waiting for something good to happen. Even with the help of some very nice people at the UMB Box Office, hope began to fade at about 7 p.m. Every minute passed tensely as Reynaldo guarded and observed us from atop an adjacent trash can, but luck and Time was Standing Still. Everyone held out hope until 7:52 p.m., just eight minutes before the show, but Reynaldo had not lived up to expectations and was almost left on top of the trash can as our protagonists caved in and had to buy lawn tickets to the show. "S" was particularly pissed, as they say in the UK, not drunk, but upset that Reynaldo was not a good luck charm. Instead, "S" turned on the helpless animal and abandoned him.

But Kelly, maybe one of the most kind-hearted of us all, rescued him from the trash can lid and decided that Reynaldo still deserved to join us on Alex' side, even though it seemed like we were 500 yards away from the stage in the grass. He cuddled up on our Mexican blanket with us and was occasionally fondled and played with and petted, even though now he had a reputation as being a symbol of bad luck - or simply maybe just unlucky. Sometimes the Bones come up snake eyes.

"S" came and went from the blanket on the lawn a few times and refused to even speak to Reynaldo. "S" was tired and hungry and lonely from the rigors of being on tour in a for three weeks, and he was at his last show and 1,700 miles into the first leg on a rental car. "Don't show me that bloody thing, get it away from me," he said. "It's nothing but bad luck," he exclaimed while eating some nachos and drinking a beer. "We should have left the damn thing in the parking lot where we found him."

But again, Kelly's kind heart and a little bit of Reynaldo's charm combined together and formed a little compassion. "It's not so bad being back here," Kelly said. "It gives a good overall perspective, and anyway, we have sixth row seats tomorrow night right in front of Geddy and it will make it all that much sweeter. It's not Reynaldo's fault.."

After such a kindhearted defense, Reynaldo kicked back and had a barbeque sandwich and promptly passed out for the rest of the show, exhausted from all the tension.

He was gathered up and put into a Big Red Van and traveled from Missouri back into Illinois to spend the night in Glen Carbon. A good night's rest was necessary, as now Cliff, Kelly and Reynaldo were going to traverse two states and enter a third to see the show in Kansas.

Reynaldo enjoys traveling on I-70 West and soaks up some sun. Photo: CK1

Cliff and Kelly immediately found that Reynaldo is a good traveling companion. He was a nice ornament up on the dashboard of the van, like any cat, enjoying taking in the sights and soaking up some of that down home mid-west sunshine in the air conditioned comfort of the van. Reynaldo enjoyed it when we told him we were passing places of interest...such as crossing over the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and passing through Lee's Summit and Independence. He seemed to like traveling on I-70 very much, and fell asleep for two hours and rolled over and slept upside-down on his back.

Reynaldo likes Steak and Shake and relaxes with a smoke after a long drive. Photo: CK1

Running low on human and machine fuel, it was time to take a break. We were amazed to find out how helpful Reynaldo was when he volunteered to fill up the van with gas. Cliff and Kelly thought this was a very nice gesture, even though he was broke and had no money, so he did the physical labor for us. Cliff and Kelly then treated him to Steak and Shake, where he enjoyed a refreshing, sweet and delicious banana shake for lunch. It was the best banana shake he had ever had in his life and indicated that he would like to return to this establishment on the way home. Cliff and Kelly agreed after he let them have a little taste, and were happy that Reynaldo was satisfied and well-taken care of.
Reynaldo likes banana shakes and huffs some gas fumes. Photo: CK1

Arriving without incident at the Verizon Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, KS., it was now time for Reynaldo to go to work again. It was anticipated that his good luck would be with Cliff, Kelly and the rest of the traveling crew of fans On the Road. Upon arrival Cliff, Kelly and Reynaldo went to the box office window and saw that "P" and "J" were already there, looking hot, tired and frustrated.

Reynaldo arrives in Bonner Springs, KS. Photo: CK1

"Get that thing away from me, I don't even want to see it," "P" said immediately. "That thing is nothing but bad luck!" And "P" walked back up to the box office more out of fright than anything else. Cliff and Kelly felt bad because Reynaldo had been a perfect gentleman and well-behaved his whole trip to Bonner.

"J" looked on apprehensively, maybe a little less superstitious, and backed off as well. Neither of our other fans put any faith in our protagonist.

But some time went by, and about half an hour later, the luck of Reynaldo finally struck, and struck hard. After slinking away in disappointment and in rejection, Cliff, Kelly and Reynaldo saw "P" and "J" jumping up and down and high-fiving each other and generally going quite nuts. They quickly went over to them and asked what had just happened.

Section 4, row 2, seats 1 and 2. Photo: CK1

The luck of Reynaldo rubbed off on Cliff and Kelly as well - they were able to sell two extra tickets to some nice Rush fans in the parking lot, avoiding a loss of funding that might have been used to buy him more banana milk shakes at Steak and Shake. He was so exhausted from the two ticket experiences that he said he would be waiting for us in the van and that we should go enjoy the show from our sixth row seats and not worry about him. He said he was going to guard the Big Red Van for us until we came back.

The show was excellent and everyone was happy. Unfortunately, it was sad that Cliff and Kelly had to say goodbye to "P" and "J" but it was wonderful seeing them for two shows in a row. Maybe they will come out to the West Coast and catch the Vegas show.

Cliff, Kelly and Reynaldo headed off into the night towards the MCI/Kansas City Airport to a Motel 6 room so that Cliff could get ready to go home the next day. Reynaldo then offered to guard the Big Red Van again, and spent the night there to give Cliff and Kelly some much needed privacy.

The next morning Kelly thought it would be nice to have Reynaldo in the room. So while Cliff was taking a shower, she secretly went to the Big Red Van and invited Reynaldo in to watch the Weather Channel, and he came inside with her. Kelly and Reynaldo snuggled up under the covers and both had a little nap.

Kelly was distracted when Cliff came out of the shower - and he started to sadly pack his things and get organized. After he was done with that, he too laid down in the bed for an hour-long nap before check-out time.

The van was loaded and now the mission was again food - what to eat as a last meal on the trip for Cliff? Cliff wanted some KC style barbeque, and Kelly pulled over at a nice little place called the Smoke Shack Cafe on the way to the airport. After ordering the lunch rib plates, Cliff and Kelly sat down and were talking when all of a sudden something felt wrong to Kelly. A look of despair came over her face.

"I think we left Reynaldo in the hotel room," she said.

"No we didn't," Cliff said. "He was in the van all night long. He's in the van."

"No, I took him out," Kelly said. "I brought him inside and snuggled with him while you were in the shower."

"You did what?"

"I brought him in from the van and he was under the covers with me," Kelly said.

"You snuck him into bed with us without me knowing about it?" Cliff said, obviously feeling a little inadequate at the moment.

"It isn't a big deal, Cliff," said Kelly.

"It is a big deal to me," Cliff said. "I didn't know that you guys had become so close."

"It's not like that at all," Kelly said. "He's our only child and he was lonely. So I brought him in and I know for a fact that he is still in that bed, and we have left our only child back at the Motel 6. I feel like we abandoned him and we are shitty parents."

"Go check the van, he's probably hiding in there," Cliff said. "I can't believe you had us both together in bed."

Not in the van.

So like a faithful husband, Cliff got on the cell phone and called the hotel, which sent a maid to room 118, where Reynaldo was curled up and still snuggling and purring under the covers. He was brought back to the front desk and supervised until Kelly would pass back by that way on the way home and would pick him up after dropping Cliff off at the airport. A look of relief spread across both their faces that was almost as good as the killer ribs and barbeque sauce they were having for lunch. And then they both started to laugh uncontrollably and hysterically.

It was also the second time that poor Reynaldo found himself alone at a cheap motel, abandoned.

"Don't forget to pick up Reynaldo!" Cliff said as he kissed Kelly goodbye for the last time of the trip and sadly headed towards the Southwest Airlines terminal at MCI, not happy at all to be leaving the mid-west and Kelly and Reynaldo behind.

Reynaldo is exhausted after spending hours surfing the Internet on echoesofoldapplause.com. Photo: CK1

"Don't worry, he'll be just fine!" Kelly said, as she steered the Big Red Van towards I-29 and Motel 6 to pick up their little friend. After procuring him from the front desk clerk, the two made their way back across the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and back to Reynaldo's new home in Glen Carbon, ILL., where Kelly will put him up until he catches a flight out to San Diego in a few weeks to continue the 30th Anniversary Tour by taking in a few West Coast dates.

TO BE CONTINUED...