June 31st, 1978.
The Mustang II racing down Interstate 35, the heat off the asphalt. the local Am station playing Life's Been Good.
James drummed the steering wheel in rhythm, Linda had her bare feet up on the dashboard, sunglasses low on her nose, singing half the words to "Life's Been Good."
James glanced sideways. "You know half the words to every song."
"I know enough," she said, "Better than you pretending to know the guitar solos."
"Excuse me..air guitar is a skill."
"Not when you almost hit the divider last time," she teased, pointing ahead.
Highway signs started flashing Dallas 45 Miles.
By the time they rolled into the city, the sky had turned into shades of red, orange and yellow. Neon signs of motels and cafes spilling light onto the pavement.
They pulled into a two-story roadside motel with a sign, Longhorn Lodge.
Inside, The clerk looked up from behind the counter. "Evenin'. Room for two?"
James hesistated and asked,"If you've got two rooms."
The man checked his register. "Sorry, full up except for one double."
James glancing toward Linda. She just crossed her arms,
"That's fine," she said before he could speak.
The clerk slid the key across the counter. "Room twelve, ground floor. Breakfast's at seven, if you're still around."
Outside, Linda took the key, smirking. "You hesitated."
"There weren't any other rooms," James said quickly.
"Uh-huh. Sure."
She nudged his arm as they walked down the corridor with a teasing look.
He shot her a look.
Inside, the room was plain but clean two beds, a small television, and air condition above. Linda tossed her denim jacket onto one of the beds and flopped down, stretching.
"This'll do," she said.
James dropped his bag beside the other bed. "We've definitely stayed in worse."
"You've stayed in worse, I have standards."
"Like anchovies on pizza?"
She pointed a finger at him. "Don't start."
Linda turned toward him, still lying back on the bed. "So what's the plan tomorrow?"
"Texxas Jam," he said. "Fair Park, Thousands of people, and at least 10 popular bands."
Linda whistled. "That's your idea of a vacation?"
"Absolutely," James said. "You'll see. The louder it gets, the better it feels."
She smiled turning her face toward the window,"Then I guess we'd better rest up."
James woke to sunlight creeping through the curtains and the faint sound of the Air condition. Linda was already up, hair tied sitting cross-legged on her bed, eating her breakfast of toast and bacon.
She looked up. "Morning, rockstar."
He rubbed his eyes. "Morning.
After tidying up james picked up the phone.
He dialed and waited through a few clicks before a familiar voice came on."Arthur Young & Co., Davis speaking."
"Davis, it's me james." James said, "Got anything for me?"
"Morning, James. We've got the third-week numbers. Friday the 13th brought in just over four-point-two million. Total domestic gross..." Davis paused and said, "...seventeen-point-two million."
James nodded glancing over at Linda. "Still holding strong."
"Paramount's happy,
Word of mouth's is spreading."
"Good," James said. "Keep tracking the numbers. Make sure their recoup sheets match ours."
"Already on it," Davis replied. "Enjoy your vacation James."
James hung up stretching. "Four-point-two. Seventeen total."
Linda blinked. "Still climbing?"
"Yup. Holding better than anyone thought."
Linda tossed him a napkin. "Then stop thinking and eat something before you starve."
They ended up at a small cafe across the street. The waitress poured coffee and left.
Linda spooned sugar into her cup, watching the crowd outside. "So, this festival thing… what's it called again?"
"Texxas Jam," James said between bites. "Biggest one this year. Aerosmith, Heart, Journey, Van Halen.
She smirked. "Sounds Fun."
"Wait till we're shoulder to shoulder with thousands of people fighting for shade."
By noon, they were part of the flood moving toward the Dallas Fair Park. The heat was brutal.
Fans waved beer cans, flags, and makeshift signs and bottled water, Half of them were naked due to heat. Some couples were shameless. Women climbing over the shoulders of her man and swirling her bikini top with exposed breast and other hand with beer.
They found a spot halfway up the bleachers as the first band kicked off the party.
The Performance came on by one...
Linda leaned close, half-shouting over the music. "Remind me again why we thought this was better than sitting in air-conditioning?"
James just laughed.
When Aerosmith took the stage, the volume went up another notch, Steven Tyler pacing around and screaming into the mic like a man possessed.
They sang the chorus loud enough to drown their own voices.
Linda was breathlessly as the next band tuned up. "Okay, you win. This beats a movie any day."
James eyes on the stage. "Told you."
By the time Aerosmith closed their set, James and Linda were sunburned, sweaty, and half-deaf and half naked, james with just his short and linda in with shorts and bikini top and their hair wet from pouring water from hose fired by some fans as it was hot throughout the day.
Linda's voice was still hoarse when she spoke. "My ears are ringing."
"I am exhausted, I need a food, bath and sleep." James offering her a bottled water he'd managed to snag.
Linda drinking that water said with exhuastion, "Me too."
They reached the car, both too tired to talk. The Mustang's engine started and headlights cutting through the night. The Road was quiet now except for the sound of the radio picking up the late-night show on KZEW.
"And that was 'Blue Bayou' by Linda Ronstadt," the DJ said, "Up next....'Always on My Mind,' Elvis Presley."
James turned the volume down a little. "No more music for today."
Linda leaned her head back against the seat. "You're acting like old guy."
He smirked. "You're three years older than me."
"I'm wiser. You're just catching up." she said, eyes still closed.
The neon lights of a roadside cafe appeared ahead, Mabel's Café.
James turned in without a word.
Inside, The waitress set down two menus. "Kitchen's closing soon. You want somethin', make it quick."
" 2 Cheeseburger and fries," James said automatically.
"Same," Linda added, "and a Coke."
The woman nodded and shuffled away.
They sat across from each other, hands wrapped around their sweating glasses of ice water. For a while,It was that kind of tired from exhuastion. They did not have energy to even talk.
When their food arrived, they ate in silence, the radio behind the counter playing
Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" through the speakers.
Linda glanced toward the radio in the corner,
"You think anyone ever danced to that?"
James looked at her, "You want to find out?"
She shaked her head. "You're out of your mind."
"Maybe,"
They left a few bills on the counter and stepped back outside. They went back to their motel.
The next two days passed in that crazy music festival of music, heat, and noise.
Every morning they'd wake up with the sound of air-conditioning, Every afternoon they'd head back to the cotton bowl, more bands, more crowds.
By the second night, Linda had swapped her jeans for shorts, a bandana tied around her wrist, hair swept back to keep it off her face. James bought a pair of aviators from a vendor after losing his somewhere in the crowd.
When the last band walked off stage, they didn't rush to leave.
People were already drifting toward the exits, but James and Linda stayed put sitting down on the grass, shoes off.
Linda pulled her knees up, resting her chin on them. "You ever wish you could just freeze a moment?"
James staring at the sky, "Yeah. But then it'd stop meaning as much."
"That's the filmmaker talking."
"You know… this road trip thing wasn't such a bad idea."
"Not bad?" he teased.
She smiled. "Pretty good."