Tis been a while since I posted but we've been pretty busy as you can imagine. So here I go attempting to catch myself up. It will be condensed and covering a lot of information so I apologize! Please don't feel obligated to read this all in one go...I probably wouldn't.
The weekend of Sept 26 we had the pleasure of being hosted by Deanna and Chris, the parents of our Loretta Cow, Kyle. Kyle is originally from Ballwin, a town right outside St. Louis, MO. We had a travel day from the lovely town of Vandalia, OH to MO which took about 6 hours with a 1 hour stop for lunch. Upon arriving at Kyle's house, he jumps out of the car and gives his mom a BIG hug. It was heart warming and almost brought a tear to my tired eyes. After we performed some vehicle choreography to figure out how we were going to park the vans we were introduced to his parents and escorted inside.
Deanna soon started to cook dinner and then volunteered to do our laundry. Yes you read this correctly, she did the cast laundry!! We were in heaven. A home cooked meal, a warm and comforting house to stay in and laundry done by a maternal figure. It was as if we had stayed at our own parent's house they made us feel so welcome. For dinner we had the most delicious vegetarian chilli I have ever had...I'll admit I had two bowls at dinner and then another before I went to bed...oh well, I deserve it!
We spent the rest of the night going out to see and movie and ended up hitting the sack early because we had a fun filled tourist day ahead of us. We got up early and headed to the St. Louis Arch. I was very curious as to why the arch was built but even through the mini tour packed with historical items and voice overs, the informational video AND the actual arch itself...I was still at a loss. I soon found a gift shop that had plenty of large picture books and mini descriptions of who designed and created the arch and for what reason. In case you are equally curious as I was...here is a link to a website about the St. Louis Arch...AKA Wikipedia.
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| Click, Clack, Moo loves St. Louis! |
The rest of the day was spent visiting the St Louis zoo which was lots of fun (although the Red Panda was no where to be seen) and eating delicious frozen custard. I must say that being housed by a cast member's families is one of the real joys of touring. Not only do you fully appreciate the simple pleasures of being around a family environment but you get to see your cast member at their most relaxed and comfortable moments. I would personally like to thank Chris and Deanna for a lovely day off in your beautiful city!
After Missouri we traveled to Arkansas with a couple shows on the 29th and then off to Tulsa, OK where we had a 5 night sit down at a La Quinta hotel. We stay at a variety of hotels along the tour, some good and some bad...some horrific. There was this one time on my last tour when we stayed at a hotel with prostitutes and - well lets save that for another time. Anyway, let my tell you why La Quinta is one of the best hotels to stay in:
1) Depending on the area it is usually very cheap.
2) The rooms are always clean.
3) The decor is bright and uplifting where as some other hotels use dark colors and are a bit morose.
4) Its just plain ol' fun to say.
The shows in Tulsa went well as they usually do but this time around we had a public performance which means...more adults in the audience...hoorah! The adults get all the clever joked the kids don't get which makes performing for them all the more fun. After the public performance there was an autograph signing session where the actors got to play the movie star to the kids.
Now there was another reason we were excited to stay in Tulsa, OK for 5 nights (besides getting to perform in an awesome venue and not having to take it down for a couple nights) which was the Tulsa State Fair was happening while we were there.
I don't know if I mentioned this earlier but I am a pescitarian...no meat besides seafood. I don't do it for moral purposes, to be truthful it started as a challenge for myself and I just happened to like it. Now I've heard about fairs in the south and I knew that there would be much eating of the corndogs and Turkey Legs so for this coming itinerary I decided to allow myself to eat meat. A few days before the fair I started to eat some chicken and turkey to get my digestive system used to the meat. A few headaches and indeestion pains later and I was golden. The first thing I eat at the fair? A JUMBO CORNDOG. Num Yummy. I later finish the day with a massive turkey leg and a margarita the size of my arm. I know that fairs aren't all food (although in my opinoun they could be), I know there are also rides. The cast went on a crazy ride called the zipper earlier in the morning that I couldn't bring myself to do. So I was stuck holding the bags, I felt like the mom watching the kids go off and play with there friends. Here are some pictures of our adventures at the Oklahoma State Fair:
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| Adventures at the Tulsa State fair...yes that is a donut burger Kyle us eating. |
After Ooooooo -K-lahoma (theatre joke...so sue me), we ventures to Dallas, TX. Let me take this time to explain to you why this was so exciting for me. I am a lover of the Travel channel. I have watched EVERY Man vs. Food, No Reservations with Anthony Bordain and Samantha Brown special that they have ever aired. I have for years enviously watched these foodies travel across the country sampling the delicious cuisine of whatever culture they happen to be immersing themselves in. So to get to sample the tangy, juicy spicy and delectable BBQ of Texas is a dream come true! BUT WAIT...there's more! Not only do I get to go to Texas, the land of the best BBQ, but the Texas State Fair is currently entertaining in full force just outside of Dallas. Did we strike Tour Gold or what on this one? Only Sarah and Kyle were up for another fair so we hopped in Sexxxy Louise and drove the confusing highways to the fair. This time we ate some pretty strange food and I am proud to say that this time I went on a crazy ride with Kyle. Here is my proof:
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| crazy ride with Kyle...can you spot us? |
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| Fried Beer |
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| Big Tex |
Of course we had our delicious day at the fair but another key point of Dallas is that our Duck, Cameron, went to college in the lovely city of Dallas. He took us to some of his favorite haunts from his collegiate years and we had the pleasure of meeting some of his friends at a bar called Snookie's....it has nothing to do with Jersey Shore so don't even go there!
After our one show in Dallas we hitched it off to Austin, TX (for those of you who read the itinerary I posted, our show in Houston was cancelled) which is where we are currently located. We started our adventures in Austin with a day off filled with exploration of SoCo (South Congress Blvd) and the strange vintage shops that litter the street. We performed two shows today in a beautiful yet odd space. The building is usually used for weddings, and you can tell why since the view from the 'bridal dressing room' is perfectly picturesque. Our stage consists of a raised 28X16 platform...this is quite snug for our cows and chickens to prance across. Luckily we were able to fit everything without having to detract from the set. The cast compensated for the tight space beautifully.
So here we are in Austin, we have another day of shows tomorrow and then yet ANOTHER day off in this lovely city. The music festival Austin City Limits is currently taking place so we thought we'd profit from this happy coincidence and catch Blues Traveller on Sunday evening. After that its another travel day off to Artesia, NM. Yet another state checked off the list.
I leave you with our latest itinerary and also a map of the long and winding roads we have traveled.
Oct 15 10:00 / 1:00 Artesia Arts Council Artesia, NM
Oct 16 TRAVEL TO Albuquerque, NM
Oct 17 DAY OFF in Albuquerque, NM
Oct 18 10:15 / 12:15 University of NM Albuquerque, NM
Oct 19 TRAVEL TO Phoenix, AZ
Oct 20 10:00 Celebrity Theatre Pheonix, AZ
Oct 21 9:30 North Ridge Elementary Moreno Valley, CA
Oct 22 10:00 / 12:00 Pepperdine University Malibu, CA
Oct 23 11:00 / 1:00 Pepperdine University Malibu, CA
Oct 24 DAY OFF in Las Vegas, NV
Oct 25 10:00 Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall Las Vega, NV
Oct 26 TRAVEL TO Lemon Grove, CA
Oct 27 10:00 Spreckels Theatre San Diego, CA
Oct 28 10:00 Wilshire Ebell Theatre Los Angeles, CA
Oct 29 10:00 La Mirada Theatre for Performing Arts La Mirada, CA
Oct 30 2:00 Sana Clarita Community College Santa Clarita, CA
Oct 31 DAY OFF in Lemon Grove, CA HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Nov 1 9:15 / 11:30 Dingeman Elementary School San Diego, CA
Nov 2 10:00 / 12:00 Beckman Auditorium Pasadena, CA
Nov 3 10:00 Marsee Auditorium Torrance, CA
Nov 4 10:00 Gabriel Mission Playhouse San Gabriel, CA
Nov 5 DAY OFF in Glendora, CA
Nov 6 1:30 / 3:30 Citrus Community College Glendora, CA
*^*7:00PM special fund raiser performance Pasadena, CA*^*
Nov 7 3:00 Cal Poly Arts San Luis Obispo, CA
Nov 8 11:00 Cal Poly Arts San Luis Obispo, CA
Nov 9 10:00 Haugh Performing Arts Center Glendora, CA
Nov 10 10:00 Tower Theatre Fresno, CA
Nov 11 DAY OFF in Oakland, CA
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