Worth the Wait?

Thursday marked the official beginning on CMA Fest despite all of the activities earlier in the week. One of the activities that people look forward to is getting to meet their favorite artists at the convention center. People spend all night in line in order to make a mad dash toward the ticket line of whomever they want to meet...then they must wait until the designated time to meet their favorite. I hoped that I could get to get my picture taken with Carrie and also meet Caitlin and Will who won "Can You Duet" last summer. I think you stand in line more at CMA Fest than you do at Disney World! The doors of the convention center opened at 10:00. I succeeded in getting a ticket, amongst chaos, to see Carrie at 1:00. As soon as I got my ticket, I made my way over to meet Caitlin and Will...they were very nice! If you haven't checked out their music, go listen on ITunes!

Here I am with Caitlin and Will


After I met them, I had time to kill so we checked out the other things in the convention center since it was pouring rain. I saw this mechanical bull...that you could ride for free no less...so I thought Id give it a try. What fun!



Of course I got thrown off after a short ride!


I got back in the "waiting to meet Carrie" line around 12:00. I must say...all these lines are definitely worth the wait. It's fun to meet the others in line who are as excited as you are! My turn came, we had a quick, but engaging conversation, and I got my picture made with her. I will tell you that she is truly happy. Happiness exudes from her, and it's infectious when you are in her presence. Everyone who walked away from that booth was pretty happy and excited!

I am thankful to my new friend Shayla for capturing a couple of pictures of our brief conversation.


Don't we look engaged in conversation!


The picture I had been waiting for


Doesn't she just look happy to you?


After all the excitement of the morning, I picked my sister up, and we went to LP Field for the nightly concert. We, of course, waited in another line to get in because Reba was doing a sound check.

The show opened with Brooks and Dunn


Reba came out to sing "Cowgirls Don't Cry" with them.


Reba did a small set after Brooks and Dunn finished.


After Reba performed 3 songs, management came on stage to tell us that we would have to leave the field because the weather was supposed to get bad. They told us to wait in the concourse under the seats. So we waited....for 2 hours...for the weather to start and then end. Celia and I were definitely entertained by a couple of people I had met waiting in line to meet Carrie. I laughed to my sides hurt at them! At midnight, they pulled us back into the stadium to finish the concert.

Daruis Rucker welcomed us back with his 3 hits along with "Family Tradition"


Darius was followed by Dierks Bentley


Rascal Flatts and Juliane Hough skipped out on us; however Brad Paisley closed the show. We didn't leave the stadium until after 2 AM. Waiting was the name of the game Thursday, but Im not sure if it could get any better than this...I'm having a blast!