THE GRAPE SODA

My husband Gil and I put some serious miles on our trucks taking the Wild West Turkey Stampede to fairs throughout the Western United States.

When people hear that we travel to fairs as performers, they often romanticize about our adventures on the open road, seeing the country, the allure of travel.

The Story of the Grape Soda truly encapsulates the adventures to be had while traveling the West as a fairgrounds attraction.

So I give to you, the Epic Story of the Grape Soda: a tale of love and forgiveness.

Firstly I would like to say that my husband Gil, who is anything but your average guy, loves super sweet sodas like orange and grape. I've really never known an adult, especially a thin one, that loves those. Now, don't get me wrong, I love sweet, syrupy stuff but it better be maple and it better be poured over a crisp Belgian waffle.

This story takes place in beautiful Salt Lake City Utah near the State Fair grounds. As much as I try to put it off, at some time during a long run, we are going to have to find a Laundromat. Now, I have nothing against Laundromats. I actually enjoy the efficiency of washing everything at once, drying everything at once, etc, etc. However, cris-crossing the country in an endless search for a Laundromat that doesn't cause one to pause can be unsettling.

Luckily, in this case, we found a fairly nice, very spacious Laundromat near the fair. Now, I don't want to say Gil and I were in a big fight that day, we weren't, but we were both just sort of "off". We had experienced horrible car trouble driving to Utah, I mean some really scary stuff with tires and fuel pumps and although we were settled in, the show was rolling along and everything was pretty great, we were still a little post-traumatic from the trip.

So, we are in the Laundromat together, but giving each other a lot of space. I wasn't happy about it and I'm sure Gil wasn't either. Yet we just couldn't seem to connect. So there I am on a little plastic, gum encrusted chair facing the spinning dryers and reading the local penny saver. Frustrated that we aren't together, I start looking around for Gil. I see him, a couple rows back and against the glass windows relaxing on an equally gum clad, yellow chair, also reading the penny saver. And as I look at him, I notice his grape soda on the chair next to him.

I looked at it and thought, of all the things in the machine, you picked a grape soda? What the? But then I just smiled to myself. That was Gil. Gil was the grape soda guy. Gil was the guy that often reached for the choice not to many others would pick. And although I consider myself adventurous, and creative, I owe much of my unusual existence to the fact that I too was picked by the grape soda guy. Maybe I wasn't the obvious choice for most but my unconventional qualities made me the perfect choice for Gil. And thinking all this I was suddenly overtaken by how much I loved him and how lucky I was to have found him.

Whatever awkwardness or squinkiness that had been between us that day, floated up and away like hot air. I put down my penny saver and moved to join Gil. In one smooth motion, I scooped up his grape soda and took a long sip, savoring its over-the-top sweetness as I sat down beside him. Gil was smiling too although he did look a little puzzled. I extended the can to him and he just shook his head. "Don't you want any more of your grape soda?" I asked lovingly.

Gil looks at me dead faced and says the most terrible thing you could ever hear after taking a drink from your loved ones can of soda... "That's not mine"

Then... Silence. Not a sound could be heard save the low tumbling drumble of the gas dryers. We just stared at each other, unable to move, disbelieving what had transpired. Somewhere, far in the distance, a dog barked.

Oh.... my ...... GOD

Pause now and imagine all the wonderful, possible "lives" of that can grape soda. Where had been,? What had it seen? Who had perhaps used it as an ashtray or maybe a spittoon?

And that, my dear ones, is a slice of the special kind of heavan that can be found traveling Americas highways and byways, performing a racing turkey show with the one you love.

Note: The turkey stampede really is a show! You can see it on our website: www.turkeystampede.com or just go to Youtube and search racing turkeys, turkey races or turkey stampede... there is some pretty funny footage! Our turkeys were also shot casual style for our Oasis Camel Dairy epsisode for this Fall's season of Dirty Jobs w/ Mike Rowe.
To find our everything new and exciting, go to www.cameldairy.com