3-Day Vacay!

Oh what a wonderful week! We were headed to Boise for a 3-day sit down and on the way we went to Las Vegas for one more try...

We were all a little nervous while heading to Vegas this time because y'all know the last time we went was like herding cats. And what would a drive to Vegas be without a little setback? Of course we had to have one. This time? Our temporary bus driver got pulled over for speeding. We were only like 45 minutes away from Vegas so we were all nervous that we were sooo close but not to worry, this time we made it without trouble. We were staying a couple miles off the strip this time and actually our hotel was right next to a big set of outlet stores which was great. We did a little shopping before heading to the strip.

For our last visit to Sin City a few of us planned to go to the famous Buffet at the Bellagio Hotel and then my roomie Angelica and I went to see O, the Cirque de Soleil show at the Bellagio. I've seen a few Cirque shows but Angelica had never seen one so it was nice to see it with her! Here's some pics of our buffet experience (specifically desserts :-) ) and the Cirque lobby.

 So I'd say the Vegas definitely redeemed itself, and then we headed to Boise! It was a great town with an awesome hotel within walking distance of the hotel. It was nice because there was lots within walking distance, from the famous Boise State blue football field, to a great spa, bars, historic buildings, consignment shops and everything in between. I loved every minute!

The audiences in Boise were great, but for some reason they didn't like to clap after the overture and entracte...go figure! So highlights from my 3 days off in Boise would be 1.) Finding sweet deals at the local consignment shop, 2.) Bar hopping with friends, 3.) Late night BBQ provided by the bus drivers, 4.) Seeing the blue stadium, 5.) SLEEPING IN!

Boise was wonderful but all good things must come to an end so we eventually had to leave. We drove for 2 1/2 days through Wyoming to St. Joseph, Missouri. I think I'd like this town a lot more if we weren't here on a Sunday. It was an awesome theater though, I felt very thankful to be here!

It was kind of like performing in an Egyptian circus tent. Dig.

Tomorrow we have a *ahem* 5:30am call to go to Bowling Green, Kentucky so I'd better get to bed. I'll have more pictures and stories for you soon!

Week from Hell.

Sorry for the language but it simply was just that. It has been an incredibly trying past few days that ran the gamut from good to bad to worse to unbelievable. And I'll take you through it all! This week started with a normal trip to Idaho Falls, a lovely town with a great theatre. The architecture was beautiful and it snowed like crazy but it was worth it because it was so pretty! And we stayed at a hotel called Le Ritz so that's pretty much instant luxury.

On our way out of Idaho Falls we went through Utah and stopped in an area of Salt Lake City called Sugar House and got our picture taken by Jehiah's mom (Jehiah is one of our band members, he plays woodwinds) at a monument in the center of town.

So we're driving out of Salt Lake City and our spirits are high because we're going to Las Vegas. We had plans to see a show and we were staying at the Hooters Hotel right off of the strip so it was going to be a pretty awesome night.

About 3 hours outside of Vegas we had to pull over for a little bus trouble. Our precious Mayo was farting like it was its job so we were told our 20 minute stop was now indefinite. Mind you we were stranded at a gas station in the middle of Utah with nothing but the good Lord's nature around us. All of which was covered in about a foot of snow. We ended up staying there for and hour and a half :-/ which sucked but there was nothing we could do. Mechanics came and fixed the bus as best they could (beano?) and we were on our way ASAP. Our driver said he'd still get us to Vegas around 8:45 which was perfect because the shows we wanted to see were 9:30 shows. So we're driving along and all of a sudden a sound and feeling similar to a cannonball hits the right side of the bus and we have to skid to a stop on the side of a highway in the middle of the desertlands of Utah. Still in snow. Two hours away from Vegas. Upon investigation it was discovered that we did not just blow a tire, no no, we lost as tire. It was completely off the bus. Nowhere to be seen. Nothing but a wheel well which, mind you, was on fire. So the driver jumps off with the fire extinguisher and gets rid of the flames and it occurs to us that we are now stranded for an indefinite amount of time on the side of the road in the middle of the night. (Insert every negative feeling possible here, because we felt them all.) To add to the discomfort? There's a lovely 24-hour stomach bug ripping through our cast and several people fell ill during this trip.

So several hours later (4 or 5, we don't remember) help finally arrives. They put a good-enough tire on the bus and we find out that we will not be able to ride on it. Nor can our luggage. So a 2nd bus is being driven to us from Vegas to transport us to Vegas. Our awesome company manager got pizza delivered to our bus which occupied us for a few minutes. Then our bus arrived around midnight, at this point we had been sitting on our side-of-the-road situation for around 7 hours, and we had to take everything off of the bus including all luggage in the luggage bays (there's 4) and put it on the new bus. Still in snow. That 2nd bus took us to Vegas and we ended up getting to bed around 3am. So what was scheduled for a 10 hour travel day became 18 1/2 hours. *Deep breath*

The next day that same new 2nd bus took us a nice hour and a half to our next destination, Wickenburg, AZ. But that was as far as that bus went. So once arrived in Wickenburg we had to take every loving thing off that bus. In Wickenburg we received a 3rd bus that only sat a very tight 28 (there's 31 in our cast and band) but not until after the show in Wickenburg that night. So to get to the venue we had to be shuttled to and from via our crew bus in 2 shifts. The venue was quite beautiful and it was a high school in the middle of the desert. The green room was incredible, plenty of couches and a great spread.

After leaving Wickenburg we took our prom bus and the crew bus to Prescott, where we would get a 4th bus to be our new actual Bus. On the way to Prescott I was riding the crew bus and the bus driver smokes so he would shut the door between his driving cab and the lounge area in which we were sitting. So the door was closed and we were still smelling the smoke from his cigarette and we were very surprised. I was thinking to myself, what kind of cigarettes must he be smoking? Because it smelled more like toast than tobacco. Then another girl on the bus said, "What's THAT?" And pointed to tiny curls of smoke that were coming from underneath one of the inset lights underneath a cabinet. Here is where my friend Jeremy's sweater was on fire. He had had his carry-on bag on the counter with his pillow and sweater on top. It was smushed up against the light just right that the light was nestled in his sweater, burning a series of holes into it like swiss cheese. We started running around trying to get the fire out and eventually just threw it into the sink and dumped water on it (thank goodness they had a sink on there!). But the smoke had already filled the seating area so we rode around with the windows open for about 10 minutes, letting all the smokiness out. Sheesh!

Our next city was Prescott, which was pretty darn nice. The hotel had a casino, restaurant, coffee shop, and spa in it, all of which were open and usable while we were there! I spent the entire afternoon in the spa, having gone in for an eyebrow wax and coming out with a wax, pedicure, and massage. Woops! It was wonderful, a very much needed relaxing day. Here's the view from my hotel window.

Next we went to Chandler, AZ and we got our new bus the night before yaay! So no more awkward bus situations! We stayed in Tempe which was really nice, the hotel was right across from Arizona State University which we explored a little bit. Beautiful!

So what started out as a terrible week ended in a beautiful city and with great friends. Next we headed to Boise for a 3-day sit down/vacation. So there's no way that was gonna be bad! But this week will go down in infamy.