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Arrival | Beach Party | P-Ranch Tour | Malibu Creek Tour

Dinner | High Tea

The Rest

Reunion Dinner at the Calamigos Ranch

My roomies and I managed to get everything done that needed to get done and we managed to do it right on time. Leaving the room at exactly 5:45pm, we locked the door and walked to the car. It wasn't easy getting up into an SUV with our gowns, but somehow we did it. The excitement could again be felt inside the car, only this time it was even stronger, knowing we were going to be mingling with the cast of Dr. Quinn tonight. To set the mood, we popped in the Dr. Quinn Soundtrack and felt such a feeling of peace as the familiar strains of music washed over us! Since it only took about 15 minutes to get to the Calamigos Ranch, we knew we would make the 6:10 time for when we would be seated. Of course, we didn't count on the entrance to the Ranch being so close off of Kanan Road on Mulholland Drive. So, yes, you guessed it. U-TURN! Luckily, the road was fairly empty, and we managed to make the turn only a few hundred feet past the entrance. Well, coming from the other direction, it was more of a 135-degree turn instead of a 90-degree. Again, it's a good thing no one was coming from the other direction, since an SUV makes wide right turns!

All right, so we're now on the road and we see the signs for the reunion. So, we take the fork in the road to the right and see a sign for Valet parking but nothing for the reunion, so we keep going. Well, a few hundred feet later, we come back out to the main road and realize that we should have turned back at the Valet parking. So, we make yet another U-TURN and go back again. Just like the turn onto this road, we made a 135-degree turn into the driveway which led to valet parking. The valet attendants opened our doors for us and handed me a ticket. We somehow managed to gracefully exit the vehicle, then squared our shoulders and walked up the pathway to the front of the building.

Feeling like bugs under a microscope as we approached, we noticed that everyone's eyes were on us, and I know I couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with our clothing, like the hems were hiked up, or there was a gaping hole in a very embarrassing location, etc. However, after seeing everyone else standing in line, I believe it was because we appeared to be slightly over-dressed for the occasion. It suited us fine, since that meant it would be an extra-special night. So, we overcame our slight feeling of discomfort and began chatting with those around us. A handful of others arrived and soon Lee and Bob Smith (without his cowboy hat; Lee had told him she'd leave him at home if he wore it) arrived, followed by Colleen Kehl. Janine and Colleen had known each other from before, so they were both delighted to see each other again.

Just a few minutes later, they began to seat us, so the line began moving forward. As we walked up the steps towards the door, Colleen and Lee remarked on our dresses and how they would love to design clothes for us. We all agreed that if Lee designed them, we'd model them for her. As we continued to move, we extended an open invitation for Colleen and Lee and Bob to join us at our table, which they willingly accepted. We figured since we were at the end of the line, we'd probably get one of the last tables, anyway.

We reached the door and had to show our IDs to be checked off the master guest list. Carolyn was assisting the Calamigos Ranch security with the names, and I jokingly told her if she needs to see my ID, she needs glasses. She remarked that she had "no idea who this trouble-maker is," then told the lady my name. Finally moving past the main entrance, we walked straight ahead and turned to the left, passing by Mary Ann and Jeff who were directing everyone towards the main room. Words can hardly describe how beautiful everything looked. There were white Christmas lights strung around vines all the way around the top walls of the main room and some free-standing trees also strung with white lights at strategic points throughout the room. The main room boasted an area by a fireplace flanked by two long sofas/couches and a chair or two, then just off the center was the main buffet table, devoid of food at the moment. Spanning the remainder of the main room was an open wooden floor that was presumably used for dancing, but since we weren't going to have that, it became a central mingle point.

Waiting for Colleen to finish talking with several others she knew, we looked around and were in complete awe of our surroundings. Lee and Bob had found another table, so we only had to wait for Colleen. Finally, she joined us and we proceeded into the next room which featured the tables. If the main room was beautiful, this one was stunning! Eighteen tables arranged in six rows of 3 (or 3 rows of 6, depending upon how you viewed the room) occupied this room, and again, the vines and trees strung with the white lights provided very soft lighting. Three of the walls were actually nothing but windows and the far wall had a waterfall running down the outside of it. What would have been the fourth wall actually ended up being a series of support poles, since the wall had been cut out in several places to allow for doorways between the two rooms.

The five of us proceeded through one of these doorways and looked around. Asking what tables were open, we were told that any of them without a reserved card on them were free for the taking. Well, since we had been at the end of the line (there really wasn't much of an order to the line outside), there wasn't much left except for the far corner table. So, we headed in that direction. After securing our places and depositing our personal items, we sort of stood there, wondering what we were supposed to be doing at that point. The schedule had said the first hour was "mingle time," but we weren't sure if that meant we were supposed to mingle or wait for the cast to arrive to come around to our tables and mingle with us. So, we sat down and chatted amongst ourselves and those at our table, Mike and Judy, Pat and Phyllis.

Since we were waiting, now's a good time to describe the table decorations. A beautiful centerpiece flower arrangement provided the perfect accent, and at each place setting, there was a delicately-crafted tatted bookmark in varying shades of pastel colors, done by Marilyn, as well as a silk bookmark ribbon detailing the date and time and event information of the dinner on it. Two perfect keepsakes for our scrapbooks. As we sat there waiting and wondering, we saw Frank Collison (Horace) and his daughter, Claire, arrive, and Helene Udy (Myra) was not far behind. I believe the Calabrese triplets (Katie) with their parents, Tami & Steve, and their brother, Stephen, were next. Shawn Toovey (Brian) and his girlfriend, Dynette, arrived a minute or two later. After that, I pretty much lost track of the order of arrivals, but I can at least give the order in which I saw and spoke to them.

It only took a few minutes for Mary Ann to come around to the tables and encourage everyone to get up and mingle, asking why we were all sitting down. We explained that we weren't certain about the protocol, and whether we were supposed to wait to be approached or not. Well, no worries at all. Mingle time meant just that. Everyone in the rooms mingling with everyone else and just having a good time. You didn't have to tell us twice! We immediately rose from our seats, grabbed our cameras and headed for main room.

The first people we saw were Orson Bean (Loren) and Alley Mills (Marjorie Quinn), although she introduced herself as Alley Bean. They were celebrating their 8th anniversary, although I don't know the exact date. Claire Collison was also celebrating a birthday, and she shared hers with Mike Trest, another reason for that friendship between the families. Well, Alley's first reaction to seeing us was that she wasn't aware this was a formal affair. We laughed with her and assured her that it wasn't, that we merely wanted to dress like this. She was looking very young and vibrant and very "hip", and since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll leave the physical descriptions to the photos. Stepping back to allow someone to walk by me, I almost stepped back into Orson, who was passing behind me, but thankfully, Janine grabbed a hold of my arm and pulled me forward. Knowing my penchant for "bumping" into people, I was grateful. (grins)

After posing for pictures with Alley, she excused herself and went to mingle some more. That was when Orson returned from the bar and asked where his wife was. We pointed in the general direction she headed, and he nodded his thanks. With spiked hair and an earring in his left ear, he certainly didn't look the part of the crochety old storekeeper he portrayed! Left alone again, we looked around to see if we saw any other familiar faces, and that's when someone pointed out Jane Seymour and her husband, James Keach. So, we looked and sure enough, they were standing in the center of the room at the opposite wall from the dining room. It seemed a general consensus that no one wanted to bombard the cast. Instead, most just held back a little and waited for the cast to mingle and move in their direction.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, that wasn't going to be the case for me. On one of my glances in Jane's direction, she was looking around and caught my eye. She lifted her hand and waved me over, so I gave an apologetic smile to my roomies and headed in her direction. I believe this was when one of them remarked, "Oh, how I wish I was you right now!" but I'm not sure.

When I first approached them, I almost had to laugh at Jane's face. She was holding a wine glass in one hand and two small purses in the other. One was her small reticule and the other was a bag for her little digital camera. Well, she looked down at her hands then at me and back at her hands, indecision crossing her face as if she was trying to figure out how she was going to give me a hug with all of this stuff in her hands. I smiled to assure her that a simple "hello" was fine, and that was when we both remarked to each other about our dresses. Of course, she was stunning in a sleeveless, sequin dress that fell to just about her knees. Her hair was all down with bangs across her forehead, and she was wearing 3-inch heels. How she managed to keep those on all night, I'll never know. I would have kicked them off not long after I arrived, but then again, I'm not one to wear heels. I know she does often, since she's only 5'3". I am, too, but height doesn't really matter in what I do for a living. (grins)

So, introductions and pleasantries asides, I also greeted James, who reached out to shake my hand and tell me how nice it was to see me again, and then we chatted a bit about the web site and the popularity of her clothing line. I shared with her some of my thoughts from working behind the scenes on the site, and we agreed that we'd have to set some time to get together to talk at greater length about the site. They already knew I would be in LA until the following Friday, and promised they'd be in touch. From there, we talked about the dinner and who I thought was going to be in attendance, then we both agreed that the ambiance of everything was just stunning. At that point, someone called to Jane, so she excused herself. James did as well and headed in a different direction to talk with some others.

Now, maybe this was when my roomies approached and remarked about wishing they were me, but again, I don't remember. At any rate, we stood there for a couple minutes, then Mike and Judy turned to me and said that our two youngest members were having a case of "shyness" about approaching Jane, so I smiled and walked over to them. Jane was at this point standing in the middle of the wooden floor, talking to a couple of people around her. Becky and Kristin were hanging back, obviously nervous or uncomfortable about approaching her, and since I had just seen Shawn get called away (he was going to introduce them), I walked up and asked if they would like me to introduce them. They gratefully smiled their thanks and told me they would, so I waited for Jane to pause for air.

Before she did, a commotion by the entrance caused my head to turn, and that's when I saw William Shockley's (Hank) head above the crowd, with Joe Lando (Sully) standing a few feet away from him. It's bad enough to have Joe walk in and obviously cause a stir, but to walk in WITH William, now that's just not fair to the ladies in the room! I later found out that William introduced Joe as his "date for the night," and that pairing couldn't be any more humorous! I gritted my teeth at that moment, because I wanted to walk over there so badly and talk with them, but I had made a promise to Becky and Kristin, and I wasn't about to leave them. However, I also didn't miss the opportunity to let them know of the sacrifice I was making by this small favor. (grins) Thankfully, just a minute or two later, Jane took a breath in conversation and I touched her on her shoulder. When she turned, I said that I had an introduction to make. So, she smiled and faced Becky and Kristin. I introduced them as the youngest members of our group, and they chatted for a moment or two.

That was when Janine and Robin approached and touched my arm in excitement to tell me that William and Joe were there, and that they had just come from talking to them. I told them I knew, then explained why I wasn't over there yet. They nodded, and there was a break in the conversation with Jane, at which point she again asked if I would like a picture with her. Since she seemed to be the one who wanted one more than me (I always end up looking awful next to her), I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Why not?" So, we posed for a few pictures. Surprisingly, this one turned out somewhat decent.

Now, I think this was when Jennifer Youngs (Ingrid) and her husband, Ronnie, as well as Jennifer's dad, John Savage, were noticed standing off to the side of the wooden dance floor, so we turned and struck up a conversation with them. We had noticed them walking in a little while ago, when we were still at our tables, but we hadn't recognized Jennifer. Well, Jennifer was just the nicest and sweetest in person, and she really latched on to us. Janine and I immediately struck up a rapport through our mutual love of horses, and Jennifer shared about how she had been riding for years and loved it. She also talked about her band and her music, and Robin's interest in the music industry was mentioned. We all posed for pictures that Ronnie took, and we handed cameras to him to get our group shot with the 4 of us and Jennifer. Nancy approached at one point and joined in with us, too, then we got some shots of Jennifer with Ronnie as well as John Savage.

We saw one of the triplets rush by us, and Janine said that Tami was sitting at the far corner table opposite where ours was, so I excused myself to go find her. As I approached the table, she was trying to settle down the girls, who were complaining of being very hungry. I spoke to her and she smiled when she saw me, thankful that we had found each other, then explained that she had been asking the girls since they had first arrived if they had met anyone named "Tiffany." They had replied in the negative, but that they remember meeting a "Penny," so Penny must have made quite an impression on them! Well, I squatted down next to Tami's chair, chatted with the girls for a few moments and caught up with Tami. We've been keeping in touch for several years since I first met her in 1997, and we would be getting together with the girls after the events, but that'll come later. I was just happy to have a few uninterrupted moments to talk with her, but the girls quickly squelched that one with their exclamations of "Ma" and "Pa" when they saw Jane and Joe. I laughed and remarked how cute that was that they still call them that and found it amazing that they remember something from when they were so little. Of course, they had gotten together since the show's cancelation, and they watched DQ with their family, so it's understandable.

Tami took this time to reprimand them and tell them to settle down, and Megan spoke up that she was hungry. This started a chorus from Lexi and McKenzie, who sat to Megan's left and right. Tami told them that they sooner they all sat down, the sooner they would eat. I tried to distract Megan by remarking that I noticed some holes in her teeth. She gave me a real big toothy grin to show me that she had lost her two front teeth and was proud of it. My distraction didn't last long, though, since Megan remarked again of her hunger. I reassured her that I was hungry, too, and without missing a beat, she looked at me with a serious face and said, "Then, go sit down." I couldn't contain my laughter, and Tami apologized, but I assured her it was fine. I had it coming. I said it was probably time for me to head back, too. From that point on, the girls remarked how it was all my fault that they weren't eating. Far be it for me to keep those girls from stuffing their tummies, so I excused myself and told Tami we'd be in touch.

I meandered my way through everyone and returned to my table, pausing to greet a few other cast and crew I recognized, then joined my roomies and the rest of the table companions. Once seated, we watched everyone else take their seats, then Pam made a welcome speech and told how dinner would proceed, the cast being served first and subsequent tables going after that. It was funny to watch how Jane orchestrated the seating arrangements at her table. It didn't take long for her to get William and Joe to flank her sides (can you honestly blame her? I sure don't!), with James seated on the other side of Joe and Shawn and then Dynette next to Joe. I couldn't see who sat between William and Dynette, but there were 2 others there. The call to the buffet line began, and those at the first table stood to enter the other room. Since we were in the far corner, we were last, so we passed the time remarking about some of the other arrivals of cast members such as Jonelle Allen (Grace) and her escort, Henry Sanders (Robert E) and his wife, Beth Sullivan (executive producer) and Jim Knobeloch (Jake) and their twins, Tess and Jack, their friend Bruce Dickinson (who stars with Jim on Ponderosa) and the rest of their entourage, which also included Beth's dad, George "Sully" Sullivan, the original "Sully" from where our Sully got his name. We were still waiting to be called when Chad Allen (Matthew) made his appearance, which was met with great enthusiasm from many members. Jane quickly stood to embrace him, then grabbed a place setting and a chair from the table behind her and scooted over to make room for him next to her.

Table by table, we watched as each one rose and came back with a plate of food. Thankfully, a waiter came around offering complimentary white and red wine. Janine and I both requested a glass, and when he returned, she asked for two more for Brandy and Robin. Good thing they didn't check ID, or Robin wouldn't have been allowed. (grins) Now, I don't know if this is a good thing to have wine while we waited or not, since the four of us were pretty much sitting there with empty stomachs. Well, if nothing else, it was sure to relax us! Good thing our turn came not long after, and we didn't have to find out if the wine would affect us. On our way to the buffet table, Robin and Janine lagged back a little and a moment later, I found out that Janine had run into one of the posts. She told me that she was walking ahead of Robin, when Robin spoke to her. So, she turned around to reply, but kept walking. When she faced forward again, the post was right in front of her, no way to avoid it. Looks like I may have some "bumping into" competition!

We made it through the line and back to our table, and Nancy came up to me to remark that I had just led a "bevy of beauties" as we returned to our seats. I jokingly remarked that if I led them, it meant I wasn't one, and she hurriedly reassured me that it wasn't what she meant, but we both laughed and shared in the joke. Finally turning our attention to our food, we exclaimed how good it was, from the pasta bar, to the fresh-cut meat and salad bar, everything was just delicious. Not long after we began eating, Mike returned to the table to announce that he and Judy had been invited to join Frank and Claire at their table, so they said their goodbyes, and we made them promise to send Frank and any other cast members over our way, which they did.

Not a few minutes later, Frank made his way over to us, and was just as charming as ever. We all posed for individual pictures with him, and the lighted trees behind us made things look like prom pictures, so Frank joked that he had 4 prom dates. It couldn't get any better! After he chatted for a bit and told us a funny story about how he was still getting recognized for his role on DQ, he excused himself to continue to mingle. Next, Henry came over. He was stopped once or twice, but he made his apologies and said he just had to get to this corner table. Wow, that made us feel really special,but it also made me wonder what Mike and Judy had told him to get him to make a beeline for us. I don't think I want to know. It was good to just chat with him and take pictures as well.

As we continued to eat, Orson Bean made his way to the corner and had a towel draped over his left arm. He bowed to the four of us and asked if he could get us anything. We just asked that he stop back by so we could get pictures with him, and he promised he would. Sadly, he never made it back to us, but he was moving around quite a bit that night. Kathryn Ford (writer) was also making her rounds to the tables, and she stopped at ours to chat for a bit, thanking us for our support and for coming and expression her appreciation for this entire event. We talked and shared with her about our favorites that she had written, and she confessed how grateful she was to be invited, not to mention flattered at hearing us compliment her work. About 15 minutes later, the announcement was made that the speeches would begin.

Now, here is where I draw a complete blank. The video coverage of this is great, since it's nearly impossible to remember what everyone said, not to mention that some of them didn't do a very good job of talking into the microphone, so at times, it was hard to hear them. Suffice it to say, that the overall consensus was that of appreciation and warmth extended to everyone. There was a definite feeling of coming "full circle" with everything, and it was obvious that everyone was willing and open to letting bygones be bygones and moving on. Like any family, there were squabbles and misunderstandings and disagreements, but there was also a lot of love and sharing and laughter and joy as well, and that was what dominated this night. The speeches were heartfelt and humorous, honest and even at times humble. Just about everyone shared a few words: Jane, William, Chad, Shawn, James, Brandon, Beth, Jim, Jennifer, Henry, Jonelle, Orson, Frank, Helene, and even Joe, although he didn't say much. Even some of the crew spoke: William Olvis (music composer) and Kathryn Ford. They tried to get John Liberti (producer) and Jeanne Davis (writer) to talk, but to no avail. There was even mention that attempts had been made to get Toni Graphia and Toni Perling (writers and producers) to attend, but that didn't pan out. Still, the speeches were just awesome!

The best part by far was just before the microphone was passed to the special surprise guest of Eve Brenner (Sam Lindsay), Pam paused and played an audio recording of the very end of the episode, Pike's Peace, where Michaela begins to read Sam's words and Sam's voice overtakes Michaela's to finish. Wow! I don't know how many dry eyes were left when that was done, but mine weren't among them. After that, Eve spoke of how amazed she was to find out she was a fan favorite and how touched she was by that loving tribute to her character.

After the speeches concluded, Pam invited the cast into the other room for a group photo. Once everyone was assembled, cameras were grabbed for an awesome photo opportunity, and an overwhelming amount of flashes went off. One thing's certain, the money paid for this event was more than worth it for this rare photo session! I think the cutest part was seeing how Jane and Joe stood next to each other with the triplets in front of them, their arms around each other and their outside arms around the girls. Awww, too sweet! If we get a third movie, those girls just *have* to play Katie, no excuses. They're too cute to not! Of course, with them being over 6, the child labor laws may intervene and allow only one, but it's certainly worth a shot!

Once the photo session was over, everyone broke up and just mingled in a very relaxed manner. This was when the majority of photos were taken and when the longer conversations took place. I don't remember who we approached first, but the four of us pretty much stayed together for the remainder of the evening, with the exception of a brief moment when Brandy left to go get some more film. If memory serves me correctly, I saw William and Helene standing together, and since we were standing just on the edge of the dining room, I made a beeline for him. As soon as I approached, he extended his hand with a look of slight recognition in his eyes, but it was obvious he couldn't place me. So, the first thing I said was, "The last time we spoke, we spent 3-1/2 hours on the phone together." At hearing that, he grasped my hand in his firm grip and was more than enthusiastic about seeing me there and talking in person.

Now, here, I feel the need to point out a little "bet" my roomies and I had going. I don't even remember how it got started, but somehow during our earlier conversations about Joe and William and how gorgeous they both were, we connected it to the line that Joey Tribiani says on the TV sitcom "Friends": "How *you* doin'?" This very soon became a focus of almost all of our conversations that involved Joe and William. Well, when William grasped my hand and asked something similar, I replied with, "I'm doing just great, William, how you doin'?" He laughed, then released my hand to put his arm around my waist and say that he couldn't complain. I was too "distracted" at the moment to notice if Janine or Robin were laughing at the fact that I had actually said what I did, but later, I realized that Brandy had heard. One thing most people learn is to never dare me to do something. I almost always will take you up on it. So, after that introduction, we talked of the interview I had conducted and the article I had written, and then Helene joined the conversation. The one most pressing thing William wanted to know what why Gypsy (his webmistress) wasn't there, and since I couldn't presume to speak for her, I just said she was unable to attend but wished she could. He was disappointed, but I have a feeling Gypsy will never hear the end of it! (grins)

After snapping a few photos there, we left, but William seemed to pop up around us for the rest of the night. At one point, we joked that he was following us, and he remarked that since his "date" was otherwise occupied, he would be foolish to not stick with the few single ladies in the group. LOL! What a big flirt he is! Certainly made us all feel a little better and more comfortable. The rest of the evening became a pretty solid blur, but I do know that we caught Brandon Douglas (Dr. Andrew Cook) on his way out with Danielle and their boys. He was more than willing to oblige for a few photos with us, and then we made our way into the other room, catching Joe, who assured us he wasn't going anywhere, just had to excuse himself for a moment. He returned a few moments later, and was immediately surrounded again, but no one really bombarded him. He usually had a small group of about 10 or so around him throughout the evening, and he seemed very comfortable. Of course, the fact that he had downed an entire glass of beer right before he headed to the floor could have had something to do with his relaxed state! (grins) Whatever the reason, we were glad he stuck around.

At this point, Brandy had disappeared, but we weren't going to miss an opportunity to talk to Joe, so we approached, and as soon as it was clear, Janine gave me nice shove in Joe's direction. I stumbled and almost fell into him, and he reached out his arm to steady me. I murmured my thanks, and as I looked up at him, a small light of recognition appeared in his eyes. I inwardly cringed, not really wanted to remind him of our previous "encounters," so I didn't say anything. After a brief pause, he shrugged it off, but he kept glancing at me as if trying to place me. I said a few things to him and posed with him for my "squeeze" pic, and remarked that I certainly didn't mind when Janine turned the camera to get a long shot of us. Joe just smiled and gave my waist a little squeeze. No, I didn't mind one bit!

From there, we just mingled around the room, running into Jonelle and Chad and getting pictures, talking with Eve Brenner, who had been talking with Jane and Jennifer, going up to Shawn and Dynette for some photos, followed by Jim and Beth and even Kathryn Ford. I believe that about covers everyone, and I apologize if I've left out any names. As you can imagine, there were a lot of names to remember, and since it all passed so fast, it's hard to keep track of everything from my own faulty memory.

Since we had pretty much covered all of our bases, and somehow I had been separated from my roomies, I turned to find Janine waving frantically for me to join them again. When I did, they nodded over their shoulder at the corner near where we were now standing, and I nonchalantly glanced to find Jim, William, Joe, Chad and Shawn standing there talking to each other. Wow! Talk about the heat coming from that corner of the room! We may have been a bit chilly before, but we were just fine, now! So, for a while we stood there and chatted, once in a while glancing over and exchanging smiles with some of the men. Not too much later, many others recognized the great photo opportunity this gathering presented, so that's when the flashes went off. The five men posed and smiled, looking back and forth from camera to camera. Jane even ran over and snapped a few with her digital camera. After a few moment, Joe announced that pictures were done, and Jane remarked, "I don't think so!" then tossed her camera to James and ran over in the middle of the men. Again, can you blame her? I know of a lot of women who wanted to do the same thing! We just didn't have the guts! Well, at least we can just put ourselves in Jane's shoes and imagine.

Once that little session was done, most of them split up and many began heading out to go home. It was nearing 11pm, although that was hard to believe, since we had been having so much fun. It hardly seemed like any time had passed at all, but it was getting late. Just before Jane and James left, Jane and Joe posed together for some photos, and again flashes went off. We all just loved seeing Jane and Joe together again and got got some great shots of the two of them. Once they broke apart, Jane and James said their goodbyes, thanking everyone as they headed out the door. They sought me out once more and said they'd be in touch, then left the dinner.

At this point, things really started to wind down. Joe and William were the last to leave, and since they were each other's "dates", they left together, making mention of heading out to a bar or something like that to catch up on old times. Reluctantly, the four of us realized it was time to go, so we made certain we had all of our belongings and headed for the door. Robin and I had lost our tatted bookmarks, since someone else must have taken them from the table after we left. We knew it wasn't the waiters, since they said they were given strict instructions to leave the tatted bookmarks and the silk ones, so they did. Oh well, the good thing was that Marilyn had others, so we later were able to get some from her.

Once we stepped outside, the cold air hit us, so we hurried down the walk towards the parking area, handed our ticket to the valet attendants and waited for our car. As we did, Jim and Beth's car was brought around, and Brandy exclaimed at the fact that it was a '62 T-Bird, fully restored with original parts. For anyone who knows cars, this is an amazing sight! So, she ran over and spoke with Jim about it and snapped some pictures. I believe Brandy also has the same make and model car of her own that she's restoring, but again, she can tell more details, since I am definitely *not* a car person.

We watched them wave goodbye and drive away, then our car was brought around. Again, trying to gracefully climb up into the car, we closed the doors, started the car and left the Calamigos Ranch to the sounds of the Dr. Quinn soundtrack again filling the car. The drive back wasn't done as fast as the drive there, and we just reveled in the joy and excitement of the evening, exclaiming that we were looking forward to, but at the same time dreading, seeing how our pictures turned out.

Finally, we pulled into the GNI and got out, walking back to our room with an odd mixture of euphoria and excitement. Did it really happen? Had we just really been there? Was it all just a dream? No, it was real, and we had just lived a night that would live on in our memories for a long time to come. Thank you, Pam, and the DQ Times staff for organizing things. An extra big thanks and hearty appreciation to the cast and crew and their families for an absolutely wonderful night!

Back to the Top

High Tea at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and a Jaunt in Hollywood

For many, this day was the final day of the reunion events. For me, it was just day 4, since Brandy and I would be staying for another 6 days after this. So, since we really didn't have to be up for any particular reason, we all pretty much laid around for a while, finally dragging our lazy bones out of bed around 9:00am. After last night, and the fantastic evening we all had, we realized that we all couldn't have had the same dream, so the reality of it continued to permeate our minds and surround us with such a feeling of excitement and joy, we weren't willing to see any of it end.

After the day we had yesterday, with barely enough time to grab a bite to eat in between getting to and from events and getting ready for the events, it seemed odd to be able to take our time. By unanimous decision, once we were ready (and this was after conversation floated between all of us, recapping last night and focusing on our line of the week, "How *you* doin'?"), we decided to head back to the P-Ranch so we could take some pictures of the sign at the entrance. Somehow, we managed to miss that yesterday when we went for the tours, but I figure it was because we were all so excited to be there, we didn't think to stop on the way in. On the way out, we were so pressed for time to get to Malibu Creek for the second tour, we again couldn't stop.

So, off we went, grabbing our cameras and loading all of our photo albums and scrapbook paraphernalia for the High Tea into the back of the car. We drove the few miles to the P-Ranch, turned down the short entrance road, did a U-TURN at the bottom and came back to park on the other side, so we could take pictures of the sign that adorned the entrance. Since my camera wasn't exactly high-quality, I had to climb over the fence and walk closer to avoid getting a lot of the background in the picture. I wasn't fortunate enough to have a zoom lens, like the other ladies.

Mindful of unwanted visitors who may be hiding in the grass and weeds, I stepped loudly and carefully and made my way closer to the sign, waited for a car to pass, then snapped a photo. I glanced over and saw Brandy walking along the footpath and grimaced. Sure, she would find the easy way *after* I had trudged through the weeds. (sigh) Oh well, serves me right for not looking around first before walking. Since she had decided to join me, we each took turns posing with the sign, then made our way back to the car. When we returned, Robin mentioned that she had to stop the CD player, because the song we were playing for everyone would have played while we were gone. Once we were back in, Robin inserted the CD and skipped to track # 7 on an album entitled, "Shiver" by Jamie O'Neal. For those who don't know her, she's a country artist, and a lot of her songs on this album are just *perfect* for describing various stages of Mike and Sully's relationship.

We were heading once more away from the P-Ranch, and we decided to head on down Kanan Road again towards PCH, taking that into Santa Monica, since we wanted to stop and take a walk on Rodeo Drive before heading to Hollywood Boulevard. However, we had one more stop to make before we made it there.

You recall that I made mention of my mistake in pointing out Jane's house to my traveling companions earlier. Well, as we drove down PCH towards Santa Monica, I realized that the house where we had stopped the other times wasn't Jane's house after all. The surroundings became very familiar, and the one landmark returned to memory with blinding clarity. As we came upon them, I remarked, "Guys, you're gonna kill me....but, that house we saw wasn't Jane's house, after all. It's up here." I carefully watched the numbers on the houses as we passed and when we approached where I knew the driveway was, I pulled over to the shoulder and put on my flashers as I slowed the car to a stop directly in front of her mailbox. Thankfully, they weren't upset, just happy that we had finally found the right one. So, the windows went down and the cameras came out. This time, I knew we were at the right place, and they all took turns taking a couple of pictures of the opening to the driveway and the front gate that was closed in front of the short lane which led down to her house.

A moment later, I slowly pulled forward, and they all looked behind us to see if they could catch a glimpse of the home from the other angle. However, all we saw was the next door neighbor's house and guest house. So, we continued down PCH towards Santa Monica, taking the same exit we did Thursday night when we went to dinner at Border Grill. Now, here is where the fun begins. Since none of us had the foresight to purchase a map of L.A., we were going on internal compasses and instinct for where Rodeo Drive would be. Since it had been 3 years since either Janine or I had been here, our memories weren't exactly very helpful. So, we just turned onto Lincoln and drove until we passed a familiar street. We entered Beverly Hills after driving for about fifteen minutes, so we knew we were close, but it took us several wrong turns before we finally happened on Rodeo Drive, by complete accident!

No matter, though. We were here. Luckily, we found a parking space right on Rodeo Drive, so I pulled in and parked, and we all got out. We put money in the parking meter for 1 hour, since we knew we had to make it to the Tea by 3:30, and it was already 1:45pm. That driving around in circles, plus the stop at the P-Ranch and Jane's house had taken a chunk out of what we had originally thought was plenty of time to take a leisurely drive. So, we stroll up and down Rodeo Drive, come to one end of it and cross to go down the other side. Since we hadn't really eaten anything all day, we stopped at a little café in this nook area of shops. After drooling over the delectable delights for desserts, we ordered 2 pieces of ham & cheese quiche and 2 salads to split between 3 of us, and Brandy ordered a deli sandwich. Janine and Robin ordered dessert after we were done, but Brandy and I were too full.

Once lunch done, we set out again and completed our walk, crossing back to walk up again to our car, reaching it just two minutes before the time expired on the meter. With just 40 minutes to spare, we got in and made a guess on how to get from there to Hollywood Boulevard. You could almost accuse us of being men the way we took it upon ourselves to find our way without stopping to ask for directions! (grins) Well, I knew the general direction we needed to head, but we continued to run into dead-ends, one-way streets or turns in the streets that took us in the wrong direction. I lost track of how many times we made turns, hoping the next one would be a familiar street. At least we didn't have to make any U-TURNS while in LA. Then again, there's no place to even make them. Instead, we just made a lot of turns and took a very unplanned scenic tour of LA, including areas you most likely don't want to be in once the sun goes down. They were questionable even in broad daylight!

Well, finally, we came upon a gas station and pulled in to ask for directions. As it turned out, we were only a few blocks away from the Hollywood Freeway (101), so we hopped on that and arrived at Hollywood Boulevard in no time at all. We enjoyed the sites and billboards as we drove, even stopping at the light in front of the newly built Kodak Theatre, which was the location for this year's Academy Awards. Wow, how things have changed in 3 years! What used to be an empty lot was now a bustling center of activity. By the time we had reached the Kodak Center, we saw the end of the Hollywood Roosevelt sign peeking out on top of the hotel, so I got into the turn lane and turned left just before the hotel, so we could park in Valet parking. The attendants opened our doors for us and one handed me a ticket. We walked around back and took out our albums and scrapbooks and other items, then proceeded to enter the hotel.

What memories this brought back! This is where most of us stayed during Star Week, and this walk was the exact same walk I had made when I had first arrived 3 years ago. Contrary to the changes on the Boulevard, nothing inside the hotel had changed, and as I entered the lobby, I could almost picture the group sitting on the sofas and chairs at all hours of the day and night, talking and sharing albums and just having a good time. Ahhh, memories! Speaking of those and getting back to the present, we were significantly late (it was a couple of minutes after 4pm and the Tea began at 3:30), so we made our way upstairs (I took the stairs and the other 3 ladies took the elevator) and proceeded down the hall towards the room. The room for the Tea was the room where we had held Video Night and "chat session" during Star Week. We had wanted the room where the Jane Breakfast had been held, as it was the room that had windows which overlooked Jane's Star, but it was in the process of being turned into a restaurant. Oh well, we would get out there after the Tea.

Once we entered, everything was in full swing, and all but one table was full with everyone chatting and sampling the food and tea that was offered. I agree with what everyone had to say about not getting our money's worth here, but the atmosphere and location and sharing time with friends more than made up for it. Hoping that we could unobtrusively slip in without really being noticed, we took our seats at the empty table. Another latecomer joined us, and the waiters quickly brought in the trays of finger foods and fruits, filling our tea cups with hot water so we could make the tea of our choice. For a little while, we sat there and talked amongst ourselves as we munched, thankful we had stopped for lunch, or we would have been starving. Lee turned around in her seat and saw us, then exclaimed that she was happy we could make it. I told her about our "unplanned scenic tour" and she laughed, saying she was glad we didn't get too lost.

After that, we noticed that many people were showing their pictures from the events so far, and I heard some exclaim over the wonderful photos Colleen Kehl had taken (she photographed a lot when Dr. Quinn was in production), so I got up and walked over to take a look. They were awesome, that's for certain! She's been in touch with me to get me some for the DQ site and Jane's site, so stay tuned. I decided to return to my table at that point, and found Lee sitting in my chair, talking to Sue. I shifted around to the other side, and that was when the waiters came and cleared the empty settings across from us, so we decided that now might be a good time to set out our scrapbooks and albums for display, in case anyone wanted to flip through them. Many also used this time to try to find rides to the airport the next day to make their flights, and a moment or two later, Pam announced the sale of some photos and other special items to go towards the DQ Times to recover a small deficit from the dinner the night before.

That effectively started most people walking around, looking at photos, taking a look at the items being offered, talking to others at the tables, etc. I set out some things I was offering (mainly leftover Dr. Quinn and Jane calendars from 2002, the rest of which sold on eBay), as well as some extra photos I had that I was giving away to anyone who wanted them. With that set out, I walked up to check out the items at the front of the room and decided to purchase 2 photographs. Brandy came up and said she wanted one, and since they were 3/$25, we put ours together. Brandy also picked up some other unique items to add to her collection which included one of Jane's Korbel bottles.

With that done, the tea was coming to a close. It was a little after 6pm, and many either had early flights or other plans for the evening. I walked back to the table and supervised the sale of several calendars, exchanged one calendar for copies of some extra photos, then spoke briefly with Monique and Montse again before they had to say goodbye. Those final moments passed fairly quickly, and many of us exchanged hugs, expressing the joy and fun we had this weekend, while also wishing it didn't have to end. Lee and Bob approached on their way out, and I hugged them both, assuring them I would call so we could get together for lunch later.

We were the last to leave, which was appropriate since we were the last to arrive, and packed our things to head back to the car. Knowing we were going to be walking on Hollywood Boulevard, we just stopped by our car to put our things in it, then left the key with the valet and headed around the hotel to our first stop: Jane's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

I admit that I honestly had visions of a disgusting and filthy star that had been trampled just as much as the rest of them, but to my surprise, it still looked really good, and it was still obvious that it was newer than the others around it. We all posed for pictures with Jane's star, together as a group and individually, with Sue offering taking a group shot for us before she left with two of her friends to do their own thing. We were having fun drawing the attention of many people walking by, and at one point Robin and I both remarked out loud, "We helped pay for this Star. We're going to get our money's worth by getting our pictures with it!" Well, that got even more stares, only this time, they were wondering who we were! LOL! What a hoot!

With that done, we decided to walk across the street and get a picture of Christopher Reeve's star, but we ended up stopping in a souvenir shop and looking at postcards and celebrity photos, among all of the other interesting items that were for sale. Since Brandy and Janine both knew how much I love Kate Jackson (more on that later), they pointed out a studio photo of her, and I just had to get it. We all found some postcards to purchase, then meandered around the rest of the store. Janine was looking at Buffy memorabilia, and I was looking for Jane, Kate, DQ or other familiar items. After spending about 20 minutes in the store, we went to the register to pay for our purchases. Just before that, Janine pointed out that she had found a Hollywood map of the stars' homes as well as a map of the Walk of Fame stars, so I picked that up along with a map of LA (a little late, I know) and we paid for our things, then headed back outside.

A few feet down, we found Christopher Reeve's star, then opened the map and located where Barbara Eden and Lucille Ball's stars were. Since Robin was leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow, we made that walk a walk for her so she could get her pictures with the stars she wanted. After finding Barbara Eden's, we walked a little further and stopped in at Mann's Chinese Theatre, where the famous hand-and-feetprints of many celebrites can be found. We spent a little bit of time here, and I had Brandy take my picture with Julie Andrews' as well as Judy Garland's. I tried to find John Wayne's for my dad, but there were people standing on it, and they didn't look like they had any plans to move anytime soon, so I skipped it.

Well, now we continue on our quest to find Lucille Ball's. We walked for several blocks, stopping when we saw a familiar name that we wanted, or just reading the names out loud as we passed. The sun had gone down and the temperature had dropped, so Brandy and Janine were getting very cold. I knew this was Robin's only chance to do this, so we picked up our pace and found Lucy's star. Robin posed with it, and we made a fast walk back to the hotel. It was about 8pm, and you don't exactly want to be on Hollywood Boulevard once the sun sets. Thankfully, we made it back to the hotel without a problem, paid a final farewell tribute to Jane's star and headed inside to say goodbye to the Roosevelt before going back outside to get our car.

Again, the attendant's opened all of our doors and closed them after us, and we pulled out. Since I knew 101 was closer than anything, we headed that direction and took that all the way back to Calabasas. However, instead of getting off at the exit for our hotel, we drove past and decided to head to Hamburger Hamlet for a bite to eat. We really hadn't eaten much that day, and it seemed a fitting way to end our time together. Robin and Janine would leave tomorrow, so it wouldn't be the same. As it turned out, we weren't the only ones who had this idea. We turned off Kanan Road and drove around to Agoura, then turned into the little plaza and parked. Once we entered, we turned to our left and saw two tables of very familiar faces. I don't remember everyone who was there, but I'll do my best: Mary Ann, Carolyn, Paula, Pam, Marilyn, Jeff and Mary, Colleen, Almarinda, Jeanne, Penny and Paul, Linda and Nancy. We also saw Barb and Terry with Paola and Conce sitting in the first booth we passed as we were seated (having requested a booth directly across from the long table and booth where everyone else sat).

Our waiter came, and we ordered drinks, then as we perused our menus, we chatted across the aisle with Carolyn and Mary Ann. Once we had placed our orders, Janine remarked that we could get Carolyn back for snapping our picture at the Tea earlier that day without us expecting it, so Robin said she had a camera and handed it across the table to me. Janine said she would call her, and I could get the camera ready. So, I did. Janine called, Carolyn looked, and I snapped the picture. She grinned and laughed, and then proceeded to tell me that she had a great shot of my back while talking to Jane at the dinner the night before. I didn't believe her, so she sorted through her pictures to find it. I got up and walked over, leaned on the half-wall next to their set of tables and began sorting through her pictures. Sure enough, there was the picture. How embarrassing! Good thing she let me keep the photo! Not that you can even tell it's me, but I know!

A little bit later, our food arrived, so I went back to the booth and we all enjoyed our meals, chatting about the day and the events and lots of things, again making mention of our coined phrase, "How *you* doin'?" whenever we referred to William or Joe, or Joe and Jane, or even William and Jane. (grins) After our meals were done, I immediately got up and went over to the wall again to look at more pictures. That was when Mary Ann pulled out her digital camera and flipped through the images she had captured. Brandy and Janine and Robin joined me and were looking through Carolyn's pictures, and since she had doubles, we were able to take copies with the promise that when we got ours developed, we'd reciprocate. All of us who went promised to do just that!

Somehow the conversation led to mention of more of Colleen's pics, and since she was there, I walked down to sit with her and chat for a bit. I flipped through her photos, and she shared them with others at the table, and I even selected a handful that I wanted as copies. So, she made a note of the ones I wanted, and I paid her for the copies. We then all got involved in a conversation, and Brandy came up to me to tell me they were paying the bill, so I handed her my money and went back to chatting. I lost track of time, but it wasn't much later when everyone else started settling their bills, and talk of heading out began to filter through the conversations.

I returned to our booth, everything wrapped up, and we all headed out. I talked to Barb and Terry (who were also taking Becky) to see if they could take Robin to the airport. They agreed, since they were leaving at the same time, and I was pleased I had prevented Robin from having to take the shuttle, especially that early in the morning. When we got back to the hotel, Robin made quick work of packing her things. So did Janine, since she was also leaving tomorrow, just a little later. Robin mentioned again about wishing she had one of Marilyn's tatted bookmarks, so I left to go find her one. I also had to stop in Pam's room for a moment, and I ended up chatting there for a little, then running into the two Jim's who run Chad Allen's web site. On my way back around, I saw Almarinda, and asked if she knew where Marilyn's room was. She said she did but Marilyn wasn't there. I asked if she knew where Marilyn was, and she said she wasn't going to tell me, then laughed and told me to follow her.

When we got upstairs, we went to Paula's room, and Marilyn was inside. I mentioned the missing tatted bookmarks, and she said Pam had found some extras at the dinner, and I was welcome to them. So, I happily selected two and held them. Almarinda and Jeanne were in the room as well, and it didn't take long for Jeff and Mary to arrive, as well as Pam from Australia, Paola, Conce, Mary Ann, the two Jim's, and eventually Becky. Jeanne was showing her photos, and as she mentioned several days ago, she had an awesome panoramic one of the cast, with a great focus on Jane and Joe and a wonderful look on both of their faces. We all remarked she'd better make copies for everyone, since that one was quite a treasure! Four rolls later, and seeing the sets of photos passed around the room, some doubles permitted to be taken (3 of which I took), Jeanne promised she would make that one photos available for anyone who wanted it.

We were really having a great time just sharing laughter and some really great stories and memories. As it neared midnight, though, we heard a pounding on the wall and realized we didn't want to get Paula evicted, so we quieted down. Many began to leave, having early flights the next day, and I excused myself around 12:30am, leaving about half of who had been there in the room. I exchanged a lot of hugs with everyone, and we all expressed again what a fantastic time we shared, wishing it wasn't the end. By the time I got down to my room, everyone was asleep, so I was as quiet as I could be getting ready for bed. I knew Robin was getting up in 3-1/2 hours, so I knew I should try to get some sleep. It didn't take long, and in a very rare occurrence, I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. Since I'm a light sleeper, that never happens unless I'm completely exhausted.

So, now, I've come to end of day 4, and that pretty much closes the book on the highlights of the events. I'll continue to share about the rest of my visit, since there's still many relevant moments. Hope y'all have been enjoying so far. A little more to come yet and thank you for sticking with me!

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