Cool as a cucumber? My SOA adventure...

Uh huh….suuuuurre…

Normally, when faced with the situation of meeting a celebrity, I am a pretty calm person.  While living in Florida, I dealt with meeting/seeing them on a regular basis.  Even the few times I have come across them here in SoCal, I was able to remain fairly calm; that is, until I met the cast of Sons of Anarchy.

On August 26^th, my lovely friend Amanda and I took the 2 mile trip from my home to a local diner, Route 66.  This was the starting point for the 2012 Boot Ride organized by The Boot Campaign was set to start.  Hundreds of riders would ride from Canyon Country to Hollywood to support the Wounded Warrior Project, and the ride would be led by the cast of Sons of Anarchy.  So Amanda and I ventured off to Route 66 with the hopes of catching a glimpse of one or two members of the cast.  We never expected the day to go as it did.

We plopped our butt’s on a bench for a bit, since there seemed to be little going on when we first arrived.  Then it happened…

Our first glimpse of the SOA riders arriving was Mark Boone Junior (Bobby).

Then Ron Perlman (Clay) pulled up in his car.  In his car?  What?  Eh, who cares, it’s RON F***ING PERLMAN!!! I had, just had, to get a close up picture of him.  He is a favorite of one of my bestest friends, so failing at this task was not an option.

As I was taking pictures, I looked beyond Ron and saw Kim Coates (Tig), Theo Rossi (Juice), and various other cast members…..But no Jax, no Opie…oh well, no biggie.

The cast was hustled into a fenced off area where only the people riding that day (the ones who donated to do so) were allowed in.  Totally understandable. I have a pretty good camera, so I was content to just stand at the fence and watch.  Amanda and I moved to a better position along the fence and just watched and snapped pictures.  After the cast did their meet and greet with the other riders, they ventured under the tent to escape the hot, SoCal sun for a bit.  Then I looked over and saw there were some new arrivals being greeted by their friends and fellow cast mates.  I tapped Amanda on the shoulder and muttered something that may have sounded like “OMG, LOOK, LOOK, LOOK” as I pointed out to her that her favorite, Ryan Hurst (Opie) was standing among the rest of the cast.  It was at that moment that the behemoth Hurst moved to the side, and I turned into this...

I pulled myself together and was able to snap off a few pics...

I had almost gotten over the initial shock that most of the cast was now standing about 50 feet away from me....and then it s**t got real...

Kim and Theo started walking towards *GASP* the fence.  Holy crap!  Were they actually coming over to talk to the fans????  This is when I totally lost my s**t!!! 

The pic with Kim was totally worth the double chin.  And Theo is one of the sweetest celebrities I have ever met.  I do remember thanking them over and over and over again...yes, I was a blabbering idiot.  And I remember Theo saying to me, it was his honor to spend time with the fans because the fans are what make the show (if only all TV personalities felt this way).  Sadly, their time with us little people had to end.  It was almost time for the ride to start.

Amanda and I wandered to the area where all the SOA bikes were parked and waited and waited.....and waited for the cast to emerge from the restaurant.  Then it was time....