Tootsie Yr2: Springfield IL

Woke up at 7am hoping to get some data entry done, but the wifi in OKC was as horrible as it had been all week.

So, breakfast and coffee and anime.
Boarding a bus at 9am, to the airport, on a flight to Denver where we landed around 12:30.
The layover was just long enough to grab a bite to eat, then off again to St. Louis (landed around 4:30) and a 1.5 hour bus ride to Springfield.

Somewhere in there Bill (trumpet) caught me doing the Asian squat again.
Listen, I just don't like chairs, ok? :p


I think it has to do with having a long torso...I always feel uncomfortable in chairs.
Even at home I only sit when I have to do work. When practicing I stand, when relaxing I lie on the floor.

Anyway, when we got to the hotel it was about 7:30.
There are no grocery stores close, and only chain restaurants around.
I walked to Big Lots, which while not a grocery store still has a lot of grocery items.
Got some bottled water and replenished some of the nonperishables I'd shared on the plane.
Also picked up a Panera salad for tomorrow's lunch or dinner. Back at the hotel, unpack and chill.

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Tuesday, not surprisingly woke up with a blazing headache.
This happens after a day of flying, I assume from sinus pain and/or dehydration.
Drank much coffee, tea, and water, and felt better.

Did a small load of laundry exclusively because I wanted my Reptar pants, and because I don't want to do laundry in Tysons where Thanksgiving will hit + there will be a lot to do and a limited time to do it.


This hotel has good wifi, so I was finally able to finish my data entry project and start a new one.
For lunch I walked to Red Lobster for broiled flounder, side salad, and a cheddar biscuit.
This is perhaps the second time in my life I've had the famous Red Lobster cheddar biscuit.
They are so fluffy! But also so OILY. I might try to replicate them at home. Suspect the air fryer would do a good job at these.

The rest of my day was rather lazy because there's not much around the hotel.
Christmas shopping, data entry, anime, resting, snacks.

There was a charter to take us to the theater, which is on a college campus.
I had done a lot of research and warned everyone in my foodie group that there was essentially no food around the theater, and some people actually read the words and then used the information, bringing food with them from around the hotel.
Other people did NOT read the words or didn't process them, so they were surprised to find no food options, and had to either Uber to food miles away or pick over the scraps doughnuts, toast, and leftover veggies/fruit that had been laid out for load in crew in the early afternoon.

I am thinking that for this week I probably should have said something in the main group about there not being food around.
That's information that benefits everyone, not to be withheld by membership in a chat.
Lesson for next time.

Our one show went pretty well. There were a few audio issues, and one castmember got unexpectedly sick, but otherwise it was good.

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Wednesday was an early day, I got up at 6:30 to have breakfast and do some work before a 1.5 hour bus ride to St. Louis airport.
Thankfully we had a direct flight to DC and from there a fairly quick charter to the hotel in Tysons Corner.

But it was still Thanksgiving, and the airport in DC was chaos.
Absolutely packed, and 99% of people not wearing masks either.
Whatever, all I can say is that I was glad for mine.

After getting to the hotel I realized that all of the distances on my foodie list were wrong.
There are TWO Marriott hotels here, and I had used the WRONG address.

The good news is that everything is much closer than I'd thought!
After redoing the links, I walked to Whole Foods for a very few groceries.
We are only here for four days, plus we are getting fed for Thanksgiving, PLUS there are a lot of great restaurants in this area that I want to visit. This will probably be my final foodie fling before the holiday layoff.

I just got some yogurt, fruit, eggs, oatmeal, protein powder, and pitas.

And also replenished some nonperishables that are almost exclusively sold at Whole Foods, and which fit my macros really well.


Nutrition labels for one of each.


The protein powder is 25g of plant protein, low in sugar and fat.
The Mezcla bars have a good balance of healthy carbs and plant protein, and are far lower in calories and sugars than, say, a Clif bar.

The nut butter bars are a new thing that I'm trying, but I like them because they are high in fiber and have added protein.
They are also far easier to travel with than single-serve pouches of nut butter, and offer better nutrition than a snack bag of nuts from a gas station (even though that's always my cheaper go-to for healthy fats).
And they are easy to cut in half if you don't want to eat 260 calories in one go. Loose nuts can be a little more difficult to measure out.

Anyway, the bag-o-snacks that I take on the plane is supposed to be for emergencies.
For when we get stuck on the tarmac for hours unexpectedly; or when the layover is too short to find food; or when we're on a 15-hour bus ride that will only be stopping at gas stations.

So although these snacks are expensive, they are also going to travel with me for MONTHS before getting eaten.
From experience, I think emergency nutrition like this is worth having.

After shopping I unpacked, set up my cooking and coffee stations for the week, and got to sleep.

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It's Thanksgiving!!
I woke up just in time to turn on the parade. Fun and nostalgic to watch!

Breakfast was oatmeal in the Itaki, raspberries, Greek yogurt, and half a protein shake.
In a bit I'll go for a walk to find the theater, it's almost two miles away but the weather is nice and I want to ensure that it's safely walkable.
Late afternoon we will have a company-provided Thanksgiving dinner with an open bar. Woohoo!