On the Road Again...

Well it's been awhile since I've written a blog, but I've been at home in the city, free to be home and lazy when I'm not working. Actually, I've been enjoying time with my husband and puppy! But alas, the road has called to me again, and we're on the road tomorrow through Tuesday. Not very long, and actually, I'm glad to be away if that means the 6am calls will STOP! I've been getting up at 4:45am every morning but one this week, and it has NOT been fun. The subways have caused me to be late twice and have not worked normally ONCE this week (you can tell by my use of CAPS that I am irritated, right? haha).
We're going near Boston tomorrow and then to Vermont on Sunday. I'll update with blog with my adventures so stay tuned!

Long Days

We've traveled 7 hours out of our way for 1 show in Iowa City, IA. We're staying in Cedar Rapids, which is about an hour away, I have no idea why we're here, I can't imagine that they're making any money off of this 1 show.

Then, after our show we begin our 700+ mile drive to Buffalo, NY for 2 shows. Then we're finally going home for a little while! So it's a 500+ mile drive from Buffalo to NYC. Sheesh. It's going to be a long 4 days ahead of us, but we're all dying to go home!

Chris gets home tomorrow, lucky dog. Speaking of which, I miss my dog!!!
So as you can tell, I'm just plain homesick and plain sick of traveling. Staying at the Econo Lodge doesn't help the situation.

Well now I'm done whining, I hope you're happy. It's our day off, and we're going to go to the mall and see a movie, because that's all there is to do around here. But I have to say I am excited about seeing Niagara Falls for the first time!

Below is a picture that made the front of the local paper in Springfield, IL! This was at Lincoln's home and the historic area where he lived before he was President. We took a free tour of his home and saw the tomb where he was buried.

Halloween

You're never too old to Trick-or-Treat, that's what I say!
My tour roomies and I went around the nice neighborhoods of Mt. Vernon, IL and treasure hunted for candy! Trick-or-Treating here is only from 6-8pm, but we came out with a pillowcase full of candy! Then we proceeded to go to the local Haunted House presented by the Mt. Vernon Jaycees, and let me tell you, it was fantastic!

The only problem with being in Mt. Vernon is that we have to be here for2 more days, and there's NOTHING to do! When we called the front desk at our hotel, she open admitted that the it was "...kinda dead around here..." haha!

The weather is nice at least, so I'll take a walk, read my book, and hey, I'll never complain about being PAID to do nothing!

Milwaukee, WI

It's been fun here in Milwaukee, I've never been here before (of course I've never been to most of the places we're going to). I saw Lake Michigan, went to the Milwaukee Art Museum, walked around downtown, ate some great food, and even went to a Haunted House!

Today we had two performances, unfortunately my voice was barely at 50% because of some congestion issues I'm trying to get over. It's mostly the weather changes and it's getting colder which means it's getting dryer.

Tomorrow we have a 7 hour drive back to Ohio...yep...AGAIN. I'm thrilled.

Still hoping to get to a cheese store before I leave. I did have cheese curds for the first time, they are a lot better tasting than they sound, I swear. But let's be serious. I really just want a CheeseHead.

Dayton, Ohio

Well, we're back in Ohio, and we will be back again soon I'm sure. Somehow, where ever we go on tour, we always end up in Ohio after a few days.

We finished our last 2 performances before 3 days off! We're hanging out in Dayton today, going to a town called Yellow Springs, which is a town they say never left the 60's, so that should be interesting.

I was reminded also of how embarrased I am sometimes, when I'm trying to show others how being a Christian doesn't mean you're a crazy religious person or an over-the-top, TBN kind of Christian. But sometimes, it's tough to defend your beliefs when you see the BIGGEST JESUS SCULPTURE IN AMERICA while you're driving down the highway. What do you say? I was speechless. There was nothing I could say to defend that sculpture. Especially when nicknames like, "Drowning Jesus" and "Touchdown Jesus" are involved. See picture below:














So tomorrow we're driving to Milwaukee, WI for 3 days off!

Kentucky to Ohio

We're in Circleville, OH now. Had dinner at the Ponderosa Steakhouse, which was just another typical buffet, similar to Sizzler. Brought back the childhood memories of going to these buffets when I was a kid with my grandparents from North Carolina, and thinking they were so incredible. What perspective I have now as an adult.

Today we played at a beautiful theatre that was built in 1931, that seated 1400 people. 1500 attended because it was so over sold-out, it was pretty incredible. The second show (same venue) was about half as full but that is still significant.

Tomorrow's show is much different. At a gymcafetorium, which basically you're average multi-purpose room at a school (gym, cafeteria, and auditorium in one). Should be interesting.

Grayson, KY

We found out last night that we are staying in a "dry" county, which means there's NO booze here whatsoever. We were feeling like we deserved a glass of wine or a beer after a long week of traveling and children's shows, so we drove 40 minutes to the nearest liquor store. My drink of choice? Peach Sweet Tea flavored Vodka of course!!! Totally worth the drive.

Today is our day off, and we tried desperately to find something to do, but everything semi-interesting is at least a 3 hour drive away. So we went to Wal-Mart. It's the equivalent of an amusement park in this part of the country anyway!

This week is going to be exhausting. Lots of driving long-distances and getting up early for morning shows. Looking forward to the next day off.