goofball on a train

I slept poorly, as I always do before a travel day. Anticipation and anxiety.

Woke at 4:25am, managed to slap on some clothing and brush my teeth and grab my suitcase before the cab got here (he is always 10 minutes early, which I love.) We drove to the airport chatting almost the whole way; this guy has been picking me up on these early morning rides for nearly three years now! I was sorry to tell him that this would be my last ride for a while.

The first flight was just fine, the second was slightly delayed but otherwise normal. As the pilot pointed out features within the Cascade mountain range, I couldn't see jack from my aisle seat and felt annoyed with myself for not thinking to get a window for the second flight. BUT, my stomach had been upset all day, so the aisle was probably the better choice. Stupid body! Eight hours on planes today.

I split an Uber with Elen (cello) and Michael (clarinet) and we made good time to the hotel. It's a recently remodeled Best Western and the rooms are ideal for tour life. Moderately spacious; plenty of counter space; a larger-than-usual fridge; a big sink with food service-grade hot water; a microwave. I'll take all of that over ginchy decor or vintage charm any day!


I dropped everything and went to a local co-op right next to the hotel.


It was rather small and I was a bit disappointed not to find many local products. But they have a nice hot bar and serve a $5 dinner on Thursdays, which info I was quick to share with my peers.

From there I walked to the next-nearest local grocery called My Fresh Basket. To get to it you have to cross a bridge over Spokane Falls. I was not prepared for how big, how fast-moving, how awe-inspiring this waterfall would be. You could hear the roar of the rushing water from blocks away. It was amazing. Watching TONS of water rushing so violently down made me feel small indeed.
(CLICK HERE for video 1)
(CLICK HERE for video 2)

We are here for a week and I will DEFINITELY be taking more footage, but this was my first time seeing it and I was awestruck.

My Fresh Basket was lovely, and much more what I had in mind for finding interesting and local products! I tried not to go TOO insane here because there are a lot of co-ops between now and the end of tour, but I did take home these gems:


- DOMA coffee: A sample-sized 1/4 pound since it's sold in bulk, I just wanted to try it. A lovely medium roast.
- Ladder Coffee Original Black: another local coffee, canned. Sometimes I like to get a canned coffee for bus rides.
- Heart Water Pink Himalayan Salt: I thought this would taste like, idk, Pocari Sweat or something, but it was just..."soft" water. Like it tasted very neutral. Pretty good, but I can probably make it at home.
- WET Hydration Orange Mango Ginger Turmeric: A hydration booster (so kinda like Gatorade) but with zero calories because it's sweetened with monkfruit. This tasted pretty good! I would definitely try their other flavors.
- Laurel Tree Rosemary Garlic Hazelnuts: I didn't know that hazelnuts were a big Pacific Northwest thing, but apparently they are because there were bags of them everywhere in all kinds of flavors. This was the most unique flavor that I found, and hazelnuts are my favorite so looking forward to trying these :)
- Fage Greek Yogurt Stracciatella: Not local, but I've never seen these "Creamy Dreamy" dessert flavors from Fage before and had to check it out! Will get to this in the 2nd half of the week I'm sure.
- Tillamook Oregon Marionberry yogurt: Tillamook sells marionberry and huckleberry yogurts and ice cream ONLY in this part of the country; I have never seen it for sale on the east coast. A locally-exclusive flavor that I wanted to try!

And I got my usual groceries too (fruit, veggies, plain yogurt, protein, etc.)
Back at the hotel I felt VERY tired, but managed to stay awake and also not eat dinner until 4:30 Pacific Time.
Unpacked, got settled in, and did go to bed around 8pm because that's 11pm Eastern Time and at that point I'd been up for like 19 hours, and I had to get up at 6am tomorrow for court reporting training.

But damn, what a lovely first afternoon in Spokane! I hope the rest of the week is just as good.

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I was awake early, mainly due to the time zone changes but also because I had Digital Court Reporting training at 10am ET, 7am PT. It went pretty well...mostly it was just walking me through where to upload audio files and how to document things. I still need to learn how to use their dictation software, and how to notarize things, and how to use the audio equipment...I'm nervous about all of this, but also, how hard can it be? The job sounds like something I can do, let's just put it that way, and although I'm bound to make mistakes at first if I am conscientious and take notes I should get better over time. We will see what happens but for now I'm optimistic.

After that I had free hotel breakfast, which wasn't as good as I'd hoped (few protein options) but getting free food at all is very nice. I tried to relax for most of the morning because my guts were still upset over something. I don't feel nauseous or anything, just, uh, "overactive"? So it could be nerves, or that I ate something that didn't sit well.

My caramels arrived around noon! Excellent, because then I could bring them to the theatre for opening night in Spokane!


We are in this convention center theatre, which has 2,609 seats. Pretty cool!
It's a modern and new theatre, and the only bummer so far is having to climb three flights of stairs to reach the Green Room (which is where I stashed the caramels for everyone to have easy access.)


The stairwell does have open ports to the backstage area though, which is SUPER COOL.
I'm not supposed to be sharing these so PLEASE don't reshare them, leave them here. Thank you.
Points of interest: to the right you can see a lot of ropes for the fly rigging system. To the left you can see wigs lined up in front of chairs for the actors (a lot of costume changes happen directly backstage.) And of course setpieces and our road cases and all that. Reminder that all photos can be opened full-size in a new tab for easier viewing.



The pit was a normal pit. Our MD is still out because he's got a nasty cold and didn't want to be coughing/sneezing/blowing his nose throughout the show while also trying to conduct, so took a sick day and our assistant MD Michael led our sound check and later the show. The show was very well attended, and the audience was awesome! Lots of cheers, laughter, and applause. It's going to be a good week if that's what we're starting off with!

Also, the caramels got RAVE reviews :) So many people stopped me in the hall to exclaim over them, and three different people said they were the best caramels they'd ever had. High praise! I'm seriously considering entering them in a State Fair competition or something (but I'd have to be actually AROUND for that to happen haha.)
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Wednesday turned out to be very productive.

( CLICK HERE for Foodie Adventures )

After all of that I still had stuff to do, like research for court reporting and a few applications to touring companies and of course typing up this whole blog post. Jameson had his first physical therapy for his hand; it seemed to go well, and they gave him some sort of medical tape to try and help hold his inflammed vein/tendon in position while he plays(?) He has a gig on Saturday so I guess we'll find out how well that works.

And before I knew it it was time for the show.

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I decided to post this before the evening show, so hopefully it goes well haha.
Today was long and fun, and tomorrow I have an early, busy morning of court reporting things. After that I want to do some more exploring downtown (the falls and some thrift stores, a break from foodie adventures.)

Was up at 5am to apply for as many jobs as possible and eat breakfast before the bus departed at 8am.

One interesting one that I found is called Papa, it's kind of similar to Taskrabbit but the main focus is on companionship for the elderly and/or small tasks like housework, running errands, or transportation. There's no bathing, cooking, restroom assistance, dressing, administering meds, or other stuff that a certified/insured professional would do. I figure Orlando is probably a good area for such things, so will give it a try or at least have it in the back pocket to pick up side jobs (it's 1099 work.)

The bus ride was uneventful, I was very stressed because I'm about to lose my "me time" for the next four days and psychologically that's a blow to me. I hate not having control over when I get to work, especially, because no matter how much I repeat, "I need to be there by X time" the person I am forced to trust to get me there on time cannot manage it 50% of the time and I end up in a desperate rush to be warmed up and ready for the show. That means I am constantly watching traffic, watching the clock, and generally not being in the moment or fully focused when we are spending time together the closer and closer it gets to show time.

Whatever, there's nothing I can do except give myself an ulcer about it, which I am doing a great job of doing. Whether or not I am at work on time, for the next three shows, depends on other people who are not entertainers, and I'm supposed to be perfectly happy about it. Calm like a little Hindu cow.

We arrived in plenty of time to check in and unpack, but I had to be suuuuuuper careful about unpacking, because the room belongs to Raven this week, really. Tonight I'll use the desk, but after that my suitcase goes in the closet and one of the beds gets to act as my bed, desk, and wardrobe.

The one solo outing that I gave myself was to visit a local grocery co-op. It was really nice, and I would have liked to look around more, but we still had a show tonight so I went as quickly as I could and was grateful for the 30 minutes that I got.

Here is my haul:


- Eldorado Vitamin Drink, Dragonfruit: It's like a Gatorade but made locally. I was fooled into buying it because the nutrition label said it was only 50 calories…but I realized later there were three servings in a 16oz bottle. I don’t like liars, or deceptive marketing.
- TSK Blue Corn and Mulberry Granola: They had about five different flavors, all of which sounded amazing, but this was the most unique and also the lowest in fats and sugars. Won't get to eat this until I get to Orlando.
- Bluefly Tulsi-flavored Sparkling Water: They also had Lavender, Rosemary, and Peppermint. Tulsi is a type of basil, I think used in Thai cooking normally. This company is an herb farm in NM and does not ship these beverages, so you can ONLY get them in New Mexico. I tried it last night and it was very good! Kind of...minty and peppery? I don't know but I liked it so much I went back for another can later in the week. Very good stuff :)
- Local Beef Jerky: It's buried in that pile, it's just locally-made peppered beef jerky. Always a good travel food.
- Bean Stalk Vegan Protein Sticks: Made from soybeans, I haven't seen these before so got one of each flavor to try. Fairly high in protein, low in sodium and fat.
- Spelt Blueberry Coconut Scone: VERY good! They had many kinds of scone, sweet and savory, and it was difficult to choose just one. Delicious with lots of great textures. I cut it in half and ate half for breakfast, instead of oatmeal on Friday.

The sound check and show were fine. This backstage is really weird and maze-like.
On top of that...pardon me, there's a MORGUE??


We looked but did not find it. Mystery.

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Back to Friday. I slept super poorly not surprisingly, then got up very early so I could have time for coffee and half a scone before spending the day with Kayle and her family. I cleaned up the hotel room as much as possible and cornered all of my things in the closet and on the bed. Last night I left a work outfit and some snacks at the theatre in case I end up having to run to work over the next three shows, and might pick up some toiletries while we're out today in case I have to shower at the theatre too (this hotel doesn't have mini-bottles.) Isn't visiting with family during work hours FUN!

Kayle picked me up. She has a sort of station wagon thing, and with her tall husband and three small children all using car seats plus their stroller, diaper bags, etc, the only space available for a third adult is wedged between the trunk and the back of the rear seats, sideways, with your knees under your chin. We took turns wedged into that space all day, starting with Kayle's husband (who is WAY too tall to have to sit back there!) and with Kayle taking majority of the time back there, to her motion sickness detriment.

Anyway, we got to Old Town and enjoyed looking around. Here's some ABQ history for you: at some point there was a misspelling on some railway ledger or something(?) and for a while "Albuquerque" was spelled "AlbuRquerque"!


Skylar, Kayle's husband, grew up here and has lots of childhood memories, including the house that his dad built with his own hands (the family went there and took pics before they picked me up.) In Old Town we started off exploring the tourist shops, all with turquoise and silver jewelry and canned goods and clothing and such. Eventually we got to San Felipe de Neri basilica, which is a historic church founded in 1706. You can read more about it HERE if you like.


Behind the church was a sculpture garden so we checked that out too.


When lunch time rolled around we went to Mary & Tito’s Cafe, a NM institution since I think the 70s. The kids were pleased with tacos, buttered tortillas, and refried beans. I had carne adovada, which is pork slow-cooked in NM red chiles, served with both red and green chile sauces and rice and beans. It was quite spicy, I was sweating, but man it was good! Smoky and tender.


After lunch they took me to a small market called The Fruit Basket. You walk in and are hit with the pungent, spicy smell of dried peppers! This place dries their own New Mexico red chiles, and stews their own green chiles as well. They had lots of other tasty treats, like candies and dried nuts and fruits and produce and all kinds of spices.


The stewed green chiles were in Ziplock bags near the counter, still warm. The red ones were in huge bulk bags stacked in piles.


I didn't need anything but bought some lollipops for the kids and enjoyed the sights and smells :)

We drove from there to a park and nature preserve where we could walk right up to the Rio Grande. It was pretty low right now, but there were flood plains with big rows of netting to help catch debris (I didn’t take a pic of those and should have.)


There was a little info/activity center with fun things for the kids to do. We checked that out and signed the guestbook before leaving.
Kayle's family at the Rio Grande:


Kayle got me back to the hotel in exactly enough time to get a rushed shower, before Raven was at the door with her luggage. I got her settled in and we attempted to find dinner (near the theatre at my insistence, I am selfish like that, wanting to be able to get to work on time.) We got to the restaurant at 6pm, ordered a sandwich and salad…and 50 minutes later still did not have our food.

So I got to abandon my sister at the restaurant, run across the street to the theatre, and enjoy a dinner of stale bagels and granola bars before playing the evening show. It wasn’t Raven’s fault, but if I hadn’t put food at the theatre for myself in case of exactly this, I would’ve had to perform the show hungry. Now think if this had happened at a restaurant 20 minutes away! I would have been f*cked for getting to work on time AND for getting to eat. But when I try to explain that this is why I'm so neurotic about sticking around the theatre, or having a time buffer, it’s like I'm describing some wildly foreign concept. If there’s no time/distance buffer and something goes wrong, I could lose my job. But I guess that’s on me!!!

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Saturday, I slept barely at all. We Ubered to Frontier restaurant, another NM institution that’s been around since the 70s and is right on campus, close to the theatre. It was slam-packed in there so we queued up. It was very loud and chaotic, every time you turned around there was someone carrying full plates or drinks and there were many near-collisions happening. There was barely room to turn around, so many people in there. I could feel myself getting really anxious from sheer noise and amount of people.

The food came out quickly but I was so obviously anxious and flustered that everyone asked if I was ok and I wasn’t even sure how to answer. But I felt better when we were sitting together, because it felt less claustrophobic. I guess I hate or struggle with a feeling of being trapped in “herds” of people, and this felt like that. Similar to being packed into a tight line at airport security, or on a hot crowded jet bridge with a bunch of screaming kids.

Anyway, I got a big cinnamon bun and we cut it up to share. It was very good! Sticky gooey :)


Afterward we walked around the campus, the kids ran around and explored sculptures and stairwells and the big duck pond in the center of campus.

Eventually Kayle wanted to return to Old Town but I opted out, planning to take Raven to the food co-op because I thought she’d like it. But she wasn't feeling well and Ubered back to the hotel to lie down. After making sure she got back safely I went to the co-op myself, had a small snack, and walked to the theatre for the first show of the day.

Kayle and Elliotte came to that show (her husband stayed with the younger kids.) There was a 20-minute hold for technical issues, and since Raven texted to say she was feeling better I asked her to order us some dinner for pickup from a restaurant of her choice, to eat at the theatre. I’m sure that’s inconsiderate of me but my dinner break was now only about 1.5 hours instead of 2, and after yesterday’s experience I didn’t want to risk a sit-down dinner with “only” an hour and a half to eat and get to work.

The show went well other than the hold. Elliotte managed to stay for the whole show, and they came down to the pit afterward to say hello.


We said our goodbyes, and from there I met Raven and we ate tamales and some local chocolates at a bench on campus. This was of course a very quick dinner, so I felt guilty that I’d insisted on takeout instead of a sit-down, but the food was good and we got to enjoy fresh air and conversation anyway.

Very soon it was time for the next show, which Raven attended, and there was no hold thankfully. She had fun, and I was glad. We rode back to the hotel in one of our company rental cars with Joel (trumpet) and Victoria (flute) so Raven got to meet and chat with them.

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Sunday, Raven was up at 5:30 for her flight so of course I was up too. When her Uber was almost here we hugged and parted ways. I grabbed a coffee in the lobby and started packing back I the room, but realized Raven had left a coat behind. So now I must ship her coat to her, making sure to make room for it in my luggage since today is a Sunday. I’m sure I can throw out some of my own things to make sure my luggage is not overweight, or carry her coat on the plane.

I decided to do laundry, and it turns out the laundry is at a sister hotel behind our hotel, so I got to take a nice long early morning walk to get there. Typed most of this post up while waiting for my clothes.

After that Kayle had wanted to “hang out” at the hotel…not sure what that meant and was prepared to shut down any attempt at “hanging out” with three small children in my room with my half-packed suitcase lying tantalizingly in the middle of the floor. But it didn’t matter because 8:45 rolled around and she wasn’t here, and my friend Lauren was en route to pick me up. So, we called it off and I gave Kayle a texted goodbye.

Lauren has been my longest friend; we’ve known each other for almost 30 years. We don’t always see eye to eye but so what, who’s compatible 100% of the time?


That’s her dog Coco, eyeing our eggs Benedict (her husband made them for us.) We ate the delicious runny eggs, crispy ham, chewy English muffins, and homemade hollandaise and talked and talked about parts of each others’ lives that we’ve missed. Our mothers both died when we were young, and that has always been a strong common thread tying our relationship. We talked about how strange it is to be turning 40, to be getting close to the age that our mothers were when they passed. I think that Lauren looks a little rough, so I asked about her health but she didn’t seem to want to talk about it right now. I hope that in the coming weeks we will be able to get a little more one on one time. A few hours at breakfast isn’t really enough to hash things out on the deeply personal level that our long friendship deserves.


My voice was horse by the time we parted ways, we talked so much. She invited me to breakfast tomorrow morning, but I had to decline mostly because I am just so tired, and even though I care deeply for my friend I have a low social battery and it’s at the limit this week. We promised again to FaceTime in the near future. And she dropped me off at the theater on the campus of the University of New Mexico.

Here's a photo of us as innocent bebes in the 90s, and the selfie we took today. Not much has changed, tbh!



Our first My Fair Lady show went all right, although something is up with our conductor. I think the altitude finally got him. Not surprisingly he called out for the second show, so our assistant conductor took over for that one. I hope he is OK.

Between shows I stayed at the theater because there wasn’t really time to go back to the hotel. Drank a cup of coffee to try and stay awake, and ate the dinner I packed for myself, chatted with people. Pretty soon we'll all be going our separate ways. Hard to think about.

The evening show was just fine. We packed up quickly, and back at the hotel I packed and went to bed just as soon as I could, feeling like my brain was melting and my battery was dead. I love my family, but this was definitely not the best city for visits for many reasons including a very tight show schedule, a lot of physically demanding changes (elevation, dryness), and multiple friends and family groups visiting at once, making it difficult to make sure everyone got as much time as I could give while still doing my job to the best of my ability. I talked about how I felt with each family group, and tried to explain why I was having such anxiety over their visits this particular time. I'm not sure if I got across, but I think so, somewhat.

I just hope next time there will be a little more consideration for my work schedule, and taking into account that between shows I have to do things like get a shower, eat, warming up my instrument for the next show, etc. Additionally, maybe a little empathy for what being "at work" means for an entertainer. I am not hourly and my "free time" is NOT time off. I am literally in these cities TO WORK. I have been contracted to be in this place as part of ACTIVELY WORKING. That means that if I am called to do anything at all in the middle of the day--a last-minute rehearsal, or a covid test, or a PR event, etc--I am AT WORK and HAVE to go do it. Everything else--sightseeing, family visits, personal plans--I can do those if and when there is "free time", but I am still AT WORK and it still has to come secondary to that.

Anyway. Goodbye, Albuquerque. Hello, layoff.

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Tomorrow I'm flying to Orlando. There were no early flights, so I won't arrive until 8pm or so. It'll be good to see Jameson, cook him some meals and clean up and give him what support I can as he works through the emotional aftermath of that Disney interview.

After this layoff we'll have our last four cities: Spokane, Eugene, Yakima, and Modesto.
I'm excited because I've never been to any of these, but also sad because it signals the end of tour life once again, and a return to feeling worthless at some low-paying job. But I will do my best no matter where I am.

In closing, a photo of Kayle and I in Old Town.

We didn't leave Kalamazoo until 11am, so there was plenty of time for a lovely slow morning.

The bus ride felt incredibly long, even though it was the shortest one of the week! It's because we wanted to be in Chicago so badly! And when we could see the city in the distance suddenly everyone was talking excitedly about their plans, where to eat, what to see and do. It was refreshing. This tour got off to such a rough start, and we've had so few extended stays anywhere. We needed this.


The hotel is the Allegro Sonesta, and it's a fancy old one, formerly a Bismark hotel built in the 1920s. As homage to that the decor is Deco-themed.


As with most inner city hotels, the room is small and has limited counter space and outlets. The ironing board will do time as a table for me this week. Because of the limited counter space I was forced to do some furniture rearranging before heading off to Eataly.

Elen (cellist) came with me, although I tried to deter her by essentially being cantankerous and saying I didn't want to socialize. She said she'd walk with me and then leave me to shop, and I agreed to this. We chatted and walked, and shared our worries about what will happen when tour ends. She broke her hand partway through tour and missed several weeks and THOUSANDS of dollars of income that she was depending on :( It is terrifying to lose work, plus, it's incredibly hard to get a basic job any more. We're constantly hearing how "No one is willing to work these days," but have any of the people saying that tried getting a job lately?? I am lucky if I get one interview for every 50 applications, that is NOT an exaggeration.

Anyway, we got to Eataly and I had the pleasure of seeing Elen gape at three floors of Italian awesomeness. I gave her vague directions for where things were likely to be (it's been years since I've been there after all) and we parted ways. I started on the ground floor, where there are grab-and-go cafes with pizza, sweet breads, Italian coffee, chocolates, prepackaged cookies/crackers/biscotti, and dessert pastries.



Near the checkout they tend to keep smaller items that make good gifts for shipping, so I started there and got many nice things for my siblings and their kids, stepmom, step-grandparents, and Jameson of course. Tiny jars of Italian honey; an herbal tea blend for Kate; strawberry-flavored chocolates; a packet of fruit chews for the kids; limoncello prepackaged pastries; a chocolate pistachio "cigar" for Jameson to hopefully "celebrate" good news, haha. And a bag of mezzaluna cookies/pastries for the band :) I wanted to get more savory items like maybe some special olive oils or spices...but those are SO EXPENSIVE. There wasn't a single truffle-adjacent item under $20!! Booo.

On the second floor were the sit-down restaurants, the huge wine department, meats and cheeses, sauces, and pastas fresh and dry.



I got everyone dry pasta last time, so only got some for my stepmom (she didn't get Eataly souvenirs at all last time.) Found a cured salami to send to people, even though it's made in the US I know people wouldn't buy it for themselves. Back on the ground floor I fretted over what to get for dinner. Everything always looks amazing and I want to try all of it! Eventually I settled on a slice of mushroom and a slice of margherita pizza. I checked out and everything was around $250, ouch, but also well worth it. None of my family has ever been to Chicago, and none of us has even a drop of Italian blood, so these are rare delicacies indeed for them. I have the privilege of being here, of being able to spend time and money here. I want to share that experience any way that I can.

Some of my haul to send to family:


It was almost dinner time so I heated and ate the mushroom pizza, it was VERY good and my favorite part was that it didn't depend on loads of cheese. There was some but it was tastefully applied, the mushrooms were so flavorful and the true star. I ended up eating half the margherita later...it was disappointingly bland. Eataly's pasta has NEVER been disappointing in any way, just sayin.

Since it was still early I decided to walk to the nearest Amazon GO store.
Amazon GO is a cashierless, "frictionless checkout" store. You enter using a credit card or your palm (if you have Amazon One), then pick up the items you want, and just leave. No scanning each item, no digging in pockets for card or cash. The store itself is very basic, it looks just like an airport convenience store. But the technology involved in being able to shop like this is FASCINATING, and I wanted the experience.

Here's a video I made of what it was like. It still feels quite strange to walk out of a store without interacting with someone, scanning the items, or proccessing some sort of payment. But I love it :)
(CLICK HERE to watch)

Also, please don't whine at me about jobs being lost to this. Our economy is changing so drastically that we're going to have to reevaluate what humans will be doing for work in the very near future, across many industries. Also, being an underpaid cashier at a convenience store is NO ONE'S dream job, and it does not pay enough for one adult to survive, much less a family. It's a desperation job at best. And as mentioned in conversation with Elen on the way to Eataly, people like us are applying for actual, available, open cashier positions...and not getting them. The purpose of cashierless checkout is to increase efficiency/time savings, and I am FOR that. We all waste YEARS' worth of time standing in line.

Anyway, I got to check out some extremely cool technology that is still very much in the testing phase. If this ever goes mainstream, grocery shopping will be SO much faster! Back at the hotel it was time to fully unpack and chill out for reals. Typed this post up and chatted with Jameson and my sisters, made plans for the week. It's good to be in one place for a while.

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I slept better than expected and enjoyed coffee, oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit in my hotel room.
Worked on some Foodie Finds, looked at and bookmarked some jobs. Worried about how I'm gonna get laundry done this week.

And walked to Russian Tea Time for lunch.

(2nd photo courtesy VOX)

It was slow, and I was seated immediately. This was a moderately upscale place, and even though I'd dressed nicely I felt worried about how...AUSTERE the vibe was. It made me worry about my table manners! But the servers were friendly and helpful with decision-making, which made things feel less stuffy and more friendly. I wanted to try their house-infused vodka but couldn't decide on a flavor. The server said she liked the horseradish one the best, so I was about to get that but she said the smallest pour you could get was 2oz. And a flight of THREE flavors was 3oz. So I mean...!

Beet, horseradish, and coriander. (On the menu the middle shot is tea, but they were happy to switch in the horseradish.)


From spending time with Russians in the circus, I know that you're not supposed to SIP vodka served this way. So I started with the coriander shot; smelled it and threw it back. "Будем здоровы!"
I was surprised at how smooth it was, no booze face at all, and the pickle was a great chaser. The beet shot smelled very good, so I DID sip that and was glad I did. It was sweet and earthy, complex, and it would have been a waste not to savor it.

I waited a solid 15 minutes to do the horseradish shot, hoping they'd bring my food out. I killed time texting pictures of the experience to Jameson, his parents, my siblings, etc, and chatting with them about how their day(s) were going. But in my peripheral vision I could see the servers hovering, like, waiting for me to finish so they could bring out my entree. Fine then: I smelled the shot (powerful horseradish smell!) and down the hatch. IT WAS SO GOOD. Spicy of course, but so flavorful and clean. Obviously would be excellent in a Bloody Mary, but also with charcuterie, or pumpernickel bread, lox, capers, olives...I was seriously impressed, and not just because I had a great buzz going :p

The minute I set the shot glass down my food came out (uh huh, that's what I thought.)
Grilled wild quail, mashed potatoes, polenta, arugula, stewed prunes, and raisins in a Madeira-wine berry sauce.


My goodness. I was worried about how to eat the quail but luckily a gentleman across the room had ordered the same thing, and I saw him picking up the leg and wing bones and eating them as you would wings, so I did that too. I've never had quail before today; it's very good, maybe like deeply marinated chicken thigh meat. Very flavorful. Everything else was fantastic too, with most things being savory and smoky and the sauce bringing a beautiful sweetness. And the portions were perfect.

They sell their infused vodkas in 375ml or 750ml bottles. I decided that Jameson NEEDED the horseradish vodka. He loves Bloody Marys, and nothing would be more perfect for that. I'll ship it with his Eataly and Chinatown treats.


On the way back to the hotel I stopped at Target for a few small things and to kill time and because the weather was shockingly nice (mid-60s, in Chicago, in early March!! Global warming indeed!) Then hydrated and relaxed until sound check at the Nederlander Theatre. Which is gorgeous. It was, of course, formerly a 1920s movie palace. (CLICK HERE to see my view from the pit)

Our cellist showed up with food poisoning, and had to call out (she was shaking it was so bad and kept having to leave to puke) so we got an emergency cellist named Mark. Poor guy had to sightread the book, but he did an absolutely excellent job! And Elen is ok, she hydrated and rested and last I heard was feeling much better, having gotten whatever-it-was out of her system.

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Wednesday we had two matinees and they were earlier than usual (1pm and 7pm) so there was not time for adventures. I booked a laundry service and they said they'd pick up by 1pm, but they weren't there by 12:30 so I had to leave my dirty clothes at the front desk (eew, sorry guys) and get to the theatre for a day of work.


First of all our cellist was feeling much better, having barfed out all of whatever made her sick. Yay! (And now you know why I almost always do my foodie adventures for LUNCH lol. No seriously that is why.) Also, at each of our spots in the pit was a surprise: a bag of Garrett Popcorn from our conductor, DAR. The "Chicago Mix" of cheddar cheese popcorn and caramel corn, of course.
I love this popcorn but have to eat it with Lactaid due to the powdered milk and cream (which I did, immediately. So good.)


The show went well and it was a good audience that laughed a lot. Afterward we saw several of our tour's head honchos checking in at the hotel where we're staying; two Crossroads shows are in town playing simultaneously, so this is a good time for corporate to visit. Gosh, I'll have to behave myself (far too late for that :p )

During the break I did nothing special, just ate dinner and showered and made plans with two of my sisters who are coming to Albuquerque to see the show next week. The evening show was good, it sounded like a full house out there and it was a very responsive crowd.

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On Thursday I'm walking back to Eataly because a local trombonist very generously gave me a gift card! To get something nice for the band. It is convenient because the bag of mezzaluna that I bought for them only has six cookies in it (I didn't realize until I got home) so I will buy more cookies and also some fruit gummies.

In the afternoon I get to enjoy an omakase experience at Jinsei Motto, thanks to a gift card from my sister Raven!
And in the evening we'll have a show and a meet-and-greet with the cast of Pretty Woman (and corporate.)

Weekend Chicago plans include a whole day in Chinatown on Friday; shipping souvenirs to family; two shows on Saturday and one on Sunday; and a Golden Day on Monday whence I hope to try Japanese omurice and visit the art museum!

Here's a mini-DITL for you.

I got up at 7am, got dressed and packed remaining toiletries and such.

Here is breakfast. I made overnight oats mixed with half a Koia protein shake, and brewed a cup of coffee in advance (it's in the Koia bottle which I washed for this purpose.) I prefer hot coffee in the morning but will sometimes brew it overnight to avoid cleanup (or to avoid drinking from nasty hotel coffee pots with months of used grounds, mineral deposits, and dust caking the parts, no thanks.)


I get dressed and pack everything but computer and toothbrush, so that I can enjoy the morning without worrying about leaving time for finishing up. I put all of the used towels into a pile for housekeeping, and all remaining trash into one bag too. I also wash the soap dish and wipe the sink area, and put anything that I've moved back to it's original spot. Hotel cleaning ladies have a limited time to clean each room, especially after a large group like ours leaves, so I try to leave things as clean as possible for them.

(I could not get that ironing board to fold back down for the life of me! Tried all week :/)

Onto the bus and off we went.


Jameson had his interview, and it went well. He has been invited to the second round, which was supposed to be scheduled this week but has now been pushed to next Friday. He was given a salary estimate and an approximate start date (mid-April which is perfect as it coincides with finishing his Master's program.) I'm very, very excited for him! I wanted to cheer, but it was quiet hours on our bus, lol.

A bathroom break at a Flying J, then onward to a Target for lunch.


As predicted I got hungry way before the 2pm lunch stop and ate a rosemary biscuit, peanut butter, and apple. At Target I found my preferred yogurt and a few pieces of fruit, and walked to Halal Guys for a chicken sandwich to bring along for dinner. Back on the bus, another bathroom break around 4:30 (which is when I ate my sandwich) and another hour and a half to reach the hotel fairly on time. I'd hoped to take a walk and stretch my legs but the weather was cold, wet, and windy, and then the sink in my room was clogged and it took maintenance a solid 30 minutes to unclog it...so forget it. I made a new batch of overnight oats and relaxed until bedtime.

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Early EARLY morning on Tuesday, with a call time of 7am. I got up at 5:30 to have the "me time" and coffee that I need to keep my soul in my body. This hotel has free breakfast but not until 6am, and (**TMI, WARNING, here comes a TMI**) I prefer to eat more than an hour ahead of travel because that usually triggers a bowel movement while we're still at the hotel, as opposed to on a moving bus full of people. The things you learn after YEARS of traveling.

The bus ride was largely uneventful, with a rest stop at a plaza with a Walmart and a County Market. There was a China Buffet next to the grocery with good reviews, so I decided to treat myself to that for lunch.


Popped into the County Market and it's awesome! Lots of locally-produced goodies.
And this leek as long as my arm!!!


I enjoyed looking at lots of things and only getting a few things...I still will need meal options for upcoming one-nighters, but don't want to end up with an overage of stuff in my luggage either. I got a "honey water" from a local apiary; a "lemonade apple" which I've learned is a new apple variant out of New Zealand; a sample pack of Bourbon Vanilla Cream coffee from a local coffee roaster; and this absolute UNIT of an English muffin from the bakery section.


We arrived annoyingly late because our bus driver is incompetent (I'm sorry but she is. She had to call the other driver to ask how to put the bus in drive yesterday. And then today did not refuel until the time when we should have been leaving.) The hotel did not have any stairwells leading from the lobby to the rooms, so we all had to wait for the ONE working elevator, meaning it took 20 minutes to get to our rooms on top of being late already. Still, because I'm in the band my call time is not until 5pm, so I had time to (quickly) unpack and get a shower, and even call maintenance when I realized my fridge was broken (this is the second time this has happened on this short tour...is god laughing at me?)

Sound check was easy. This theatre is VERY small, so we sound very loud in it. And SO many props and setpieces had to be cut to fit on stage! Pretty much all of the tree props, and a lot of wagons and barrels and such too. The evening show went well, the audience was frugal with their general applause throughout the show but did give us a standing O, and we heard several nice comments as people were leaving, so maybe that's just the vibe here.


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Wednesday, we were all THRILLED to have a full day to enjoy in Wausau!!
We still had a show at night, but the day belonged to us :)

I woke fairly early and got some free hotel breakfast, then off to check out Downtown Grocery. It's a cute little mini-organic grocer downtown, and while it had a lot of nice things I exercised restraint and didn't buy anything (there was nothing that I "needed".)

Next I walked a mile to Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum a free museum "only a mile away."
( CLICK HERE for Museum )

Walking back down the hill was significantly easier than walking up :P
I went to Lemongrass, a restaurant close to the hotel, and got some basic spring rolls and some hot sake.
The spring rolls where whatever, nothing special. The steaming, fragrant sake hit the spot after my chilly hill climb :)


With a nice buzz going I took a short nap, then got up to work on Foodie Finds for Kalamazoo before going back out to another County Market nearby. This one wasn't as nicely stocked as the one at our lunch stop, but I still found what I needed (more proteins as usual.)

The evening show was good...this audience was VERY responsive, laughing at a lot of unusual parts, and even after the show as we were packing up people were coming to the pit to ask where we were from, where we'd be going next, do we get to see the country, etc. I mean, this kind of thing happens in a lot of cities with one or two people, but this was like 20-30 people ringing the pit and watching us pack up. We can't often engage as much as we'd like while loading out of a city, but it was very cool to see how interested people were here, and see them smiling after the show :)

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Next we have a load-and-go in Green Bay, WI, then Saturday is a travel day with no show to Kalamazoo, MI, and a show the evening after that. And then...Chicago.

I have been waiting excitedly for Chicago this entire tour! We are there for an entire week, AND it's St. Patrick's Day, AND we have a Golden Day on Monday! (Golden Day = day of both no shows AND no travel, a real day off!)

And Chicago is a foodie HEAVEN. There are so many options, it'll be impossible to do everything I'd like! But here are my foodie hopes and dreams for the week:

- Eataly: One meal + at least one hour of shopping
- 88 Marketplace, Chinatown: At least one hour of shopping
- Visit the Amazon GO no-checkout grocery store
- MCCB restaurant, Chinatown: Whole grilled Szechuan tilapia
- Chiu Quon, Chinatown: Steamed buns or cookies
- Russian Tea Time: Whole roasted quail and a shot of house-infused vodka
- Jinsei Motto: Omakase lunch experience + cup of rare sake (thanks to a gift card from my sister Raven)
- [If time allows]: Kyuramen: Omurice!!

It seems like a lot, but considering we're here for 7.5 days and 22-ish meals, eating five of them out plus snacks and groceries is pretty reasonable. And with this tour ending in a month, this could be my last chance. I might never see Chicago again after this. YOLO!

A bus to the airport, and there was time to hang out before my flight so I snacked, read my book, and trolled for Delta pilots to extort trading cards from them :D

I saw many pilots but most were busy, either heading somewhere with purpose or on their phones. But one pilot actually walked through his passengers to say hello. I thought, someone so personable must have trading cards! And so he did!


Now, I already have an A220 card, but this one is a different year and so the design is different. Cool!

My flight was fine, I watched Kubo and the Two Strings which was a "just ok" story with an interesting animation style.
At the Orlando airport I found another random pilot kind of strolling around, who gave me this card:


Also a duplicate of a plane I already have, but different year and different design.
Here's a side-by-side: the card on the left is from 2016 and the one on the right was released in 2022.


The backs. Notice how the same model of plane has changed over the years.


Jameson came to get me and take me home, and we talked the whole way back, mostly about him finishing his grad program and waiting with intense anxiety for a response from Disney about the corporate job he applied for. It's the hardest thing in the world, to wait.

At home I felt overwhelmed with all the cleaning and packing that I felt needed to be done right NOW. But we were going to see our friend Lea perform, so I held back and only wiped down the kitchen counters, cringed at the guest bathroom (there was mold ON the seat, gag) and did a load of laundry. And opened all of my mail! There was quite a lot because I'd ordered an extra pair of black pants, some supplies for our Mexico vacation...and this HUGE sandwich cookie pillow!


It came all the way from an Etsy seller in Ukraine, beautifully packaged in purple crepe paper stamped with the seller's logo.


You can buy something like this on Amazon as well, from (probably) a Chinese seller, but I like to support small business and it was clear from her photos that the quality would be good. It's fluffy and wonderful to hold, and my favorite part is that the cookies and the cream have two different densities of stuffing, so that the cookies feel stiff while the cream is soft and "fluffy." Cannot wait to curl up and watch TV with this!!

After dinner we drove downtown to The Ren theater to watch Lea perform in "Highlights from RENT", part of a "Musical Mondays" series.


We had a drink each and enjoyed hearing top hits from the popular Broadway show. Lea did a fantastic job, she was one of the top two who performed imo (she was playing as Maureen.) After the show and some socializing we left to get a good sleep, for the next day would be quite busy.

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Tuesday, I woke up moderately early and had breakfast, then when Jameson got up to hit the gym I cleaned both bathrooms, vacuumed, and mopped the tile floors. I wanted to do more cleaning but there really wouldn't be enough time, so the rest would have to wait. When Jameson got back I did some packing for Mexico, while simultaneously re-packing for tour...but only partially because some of the stuff that I use for tour I'm bringing to Mexico. You know?

After lunch we went grocery shopping together, picking up Eat Fresco meals for an easy dishes-free dinner and loading up on medications, tolietries, and other things we thought we might need. I got some hydration multipliers and granola bars "just in case," Jameson got travel Tylenol and Pepto for the same reason. We have a lot of stuff that we probably won't need (a travel towel each, waterproof passport bags, etc) but better safe than sorry.

Back home Jameson finished up work while I finished packing and did little things around the house like take out the trash and recycling, change some air filters, and water the plants. We had our prepped meals for dinner and chilled out...and that was that.

Tomorrow...Mexico.

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We got up early for our flight, I was excited and nervous!

I’ve never flown Frontier before, and thank god. What a chaotic mess compared to regular airlines. I’d had the wherewithal to buy Jameson and I seats and carry-on luggage (yes, you need to buy those separately) so at least we weren’t among the poor saps trying to scramble for the last seats. But apparently in addition, a digital boarding pass is not enough, you NEED a physical, printed pass. Not knowing this, we waited in the boarding line and then had to step out of line to get the pass, then back to the back of the queue. It turned out that this had to do with a new biometric scanning system that they pushed us through/tested on us, which perhaps can't accept QR codes?

At the jet bridge I asked the flight attendant about trading cards, because Frontier does their own version of that though it’s really for kids. It highlights the animals on the planes’ tails, rather than info about the planes. This stewardess was really enthusiastic and gave me quite a lot of cards, including a holiday-special polar bear and a vacation-special grizzly!


The flight was smooth and shorter than I expected, and I loved looking out the window at the clear turquoise waters as we landed. Customs was equally easy, just a biometric scan and a sniff from a narcotics pup.

Then we were in Mexico! We found our assigned shuttle and boarded it, and were at our hotel in just about 40 minutes. Had a drink in our hands just three minutes after that. A piña colada.


Our room was fine…nothing special imo, but if you don’t stay in hotels often it would feel swank I’m sure.


We unpacked and had a snack (the buffet was closed but they do put out nachos and hot dogs and such between meals) and then just wandered. We found the batting cages, and saw iguanas and coati!


When my siblings arrived (Kate, Raven, my brother Jonah, and his girlfriend Danielle) we met up with them and made plans for dinner. Before that we all walked over to the beach together to check it out.


Photo op, of course. This is the first time I've been with ALL of my bio-siblings in years.


And Jameson and I got one together as well. I have a stupid face on but he looks cute anyway :)


Dinner was...an experience. We went to the Italian restaurant, and it was clear that something wasn't right: we only saw two servers for the whole restaurant, and either because of that or additional issues in the kitchen, everything was coming out soooooooo slowly. We had to wait 30 minutes to be seated, then didn't get our appetizers until an HOUR later!! Not exaggerating. The food was "ok" but they messed up several orders and forgot some dishes (since it's all-inclusive we didn't deeply care but, c'mon.) By the time we escaped we'd been in there for nearly three hours with very little to show for it.

Still, we got to have drinks and catch up with each other, so it wasn't a total waste.

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Thursday, Jameson and I went to the breakfast buffet. It was awesome! A great selection of Mexican traditional breakfast foods like chilaquiles, burritos, plantains, ripe guava, sweet breads, and so much more. We discovered these lovely little red plums only slightly larger than cherries, which I hope to find stateside. They had stewed fruit as well seasoned in anise and other spices, and of course fresh cut fruit. It turns out Mexican cottage cheese is not nearly as salty as the American kind, and I enjoyed it immensely. And don't get me started on the sweetbreads. mini conchas, croissants, churro twists, guava-filled brioche rolls...it was heaven.


After breakfast we met up with my siblings and we all hit the beach.


The water was somewhat cold, so we mostly relaxed with drinks and books, taking occasional dips to cool off. Jameson, Kate, Raven, and Danielle got burnt pretty badly; Jonah and I (despite being the palest by far) did not. Though there weren't many shells, there were interesting things to find like large chunks of coral (we kept bruising our feet on these in the water) and this stripey, spiky caterpillar.


For lunch we voted to hit a nearby taco stand rather than the hotel buffet, and DAMN were those tacos good! Homemade corn tortillas, roasted on a griddle, are the bomb-diggety. I got a pollo taco with veg, cactus strips, misc veg, and salsa verde. The others got burritos or tacos in misc flavors, and everyone raved over their food. Way better than the Italian catastrophe we'd had for dinner!

Eventually we moved to the pool, which was also nice and where we discovered they pour somewhat stronger drinks! They made their mango margaritas with Tajin on the rim and Jameson was SOLD on that; they also add Tajin to their Bloody Mary drinks so now I expect Jameson will go out and buy Tajin first thing when we return home, he was so enamored :p We also discovered that people who brought their own cups/thermoses were treated to HUGE pours of liquor before the rest of the beverage was poured in. Note to self for next time!

For dinner we went with a teppanyaki option (because we could SEE the food being prepared in front of us and would know how long it would take, lol) and it was not only fast but quite good! I had the snapper and salmon combo. The chef was extremely skillful and put on a great show for us; rice went flying everywhere as everyone at the table got a chance to catch a little rice ball in their mouths (about 50% success rate!)

Before our meal we were served a sushi "small plate" that was both delicious and beautiful.


And whether you wanted drinks or not, as soon as your glass was half empty someone would come refill it. All-inclusive indeed!
Nicely buzzed and full of food, we wandered over to the "main square" where it was "Mexican night!"


There were fun little games set up, like a skee-ball sort of thing with marbles, a ring-a-peg, and a ridiculous "horse racing" game that we all tried and lost! Here are Kate, myself, and Jameson losing (CLICK HERE to watch)

We stuck around for a mariachi performance (my video was not very good so it is not here, sorry) and then called it a night, because half our group was doing a caving expedition tomorrow!

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Friday Jameson and I were up bright and early to enjoy the breakfast buffet again, before meeting Raven and Kate in the lobby. We rode a shuttle to Rio Secreto, a nature reserve and underground river about two miles from our hotel.

I do not have many pictures of this excursion because we had to stow all of our belongings in lockers, and the only photos allowed were by a professional photographer selling them at $30 EACH. We all agreed early on that this would be a trip for our memories.

When we arrived we were assigned a tour guide who spoke English, along with another group of four ladies from the UK. We were given an opportunity to use restrooms or have a snack for about 10 minutes, then we were hustled onto a large bus with lots of other people, which then took us on a VERY bumpy and wild ride through the jungle for about 15 minutes. This was tough on me because the bus was airborne often and that dropping sensation is what triggers my motion sickness, so I had to put my head down. But it was even worse for Raven, who for some unknown reason had bought a scalding hot cup of coffee at the snack stand and had not gotten a lid, but had boarded the bus with it anyway. After a frantic search of my bag (during which time Raven was desperately trying to keep her hands from being burnt by hot flying coffee) I came up with a small ziplock and some napkins, so she was able to survive the journey with just mild leakage and burns. But WHY, Raven, omg.

At the entrance to Rio Secreto we were all given water shoes, a helmet with a headlight, a wetsuit, a life jacket, and a key to a locker to stow our belongings. Before donning the suits we had to take an ice-cold shower, because they do not want sunscreen or bug repellent or whatnot in their underground river. The wetsuits were damp and uncomfortable, but once they were on and we were marching through the jungle we quickly forgot how squelchy they were.

Before entering the cave system, a Mayan shaman performed a ceremony to "allow us passage through the underworld." It was nice, perhaps a little touristy/hokey but a good reminder that we are VISITORS here, who should observe respectfully and not try to take, touch, or tamper with anything.

Then we turned around and were face to face with the entrance to the "underworld." A gash in the earth, a black gaping maw that was pitch black inside. It was intimidating...but on we went, down a steep wooden staircase and into the cool dark cave.

It was dead silent, the water was clearer than clear, and the space was absolutely massive, like a cathedral full of stalactites and stalagmites and ancient rock and coral formations. As we made our way single file, sometimes on dry ground and sometimes up to our waists in water, our guide described how the mineral-laden water had dripped slowly to create the delicate formations that we were seeing. She told us that each stalactite was hollow and made of limestone (illustrated by putting her flashlight up to a stalactite so we could see how transparent it was) and showed us the structure of the coral that made up much of the cave's ground.

Some stock images from the Rio Secreto site and the 'net:



Because we had opted out of the Tulum ruins excursion, we were the first group to enter the cave and thus there were some creatures around who had not yet been disturbed. Our guide pointed out catfish, who had eyes and were black-pigmented; and we also saw a blind white fish sitting in a still pool of clear water. There were large cave crickets with vestigial eyes and antennae three times as long as their bodies, and tiny sand-grain-sized shrimp which our guide said were the only source of nutrients for many of the creatures living in the caves. There were bats of course, but we didn't see any.

At one point our guide asked us to turn off our headlamps and also turned off her flashlight. We closed our eyes and waited about 30 seconds, for our eyes to adjust. Then we opened our eyes...to blackness. Could not see our hands in front of our faces. The darkness in the cave is so absolute, there is nothing like it on the surface. That was really cool to experience!

Partway through the tour we entered an area where we'd be swimming for several minutes. The water felt cold at first, but I let a little into my wetsuit to create a layer of warm water from my body heat, and that helped immensely. We paddled through an area where the stalactites and ceiling were very close to touching our heads, with the water up to our chests, but you could still see for yards and yards between the stalactites coming down to meet the clear water, and the effect was magical and not at all claustrophobic.

We came to a large pool where our guide instructed us to form a circle and hold hands. Then we leaned back in the water, all lights off, and "meditated" for probably about five minutes in the total dark and silence. It was simultaneously freaky and peaceful. Jameson later said he'd love to have a room just like that, to get the best sleep of his life :) If the water had not been so cold I could have relaxed more, but as it was it was an unforgettable experience.

We swam a bit more, and our guide pointed out interesting rock formations, especially one that looked like a massive fat crocodile looming from the shadows of a cave offshoot. We speculated about the first people to explore this cave...how they probably only had candles or dim lanterns, and what a formation like that must have seemed like with limited light from a flickering flame. How brave those first explorers were!

Soon we were back on dry land and exiting the "underworld" through a beautiful cenote, the sunlight streaming through the natural sinkhole and thick tree roots like ropes trailing down into the darkness of the cave.

(photo courtesy colemanconcierge)

From here we had to do a bit of walking in the jungle, which was a bummer because mosquitoes and our extremities were unprotected (I got a bite directly in the middle of my forehead) but I'll be the summer months are significantly worse. A short walk took us back to the locker area, where we peeled off our wetsuits and turned everything back in, showered once more, got dressed, and rode a shuttle to the gift shop and restaurant. We were each given a small shot of xtabentun, a honey-anise liqueur that is a specialty of the Yucatan and is believed to have Mayan origins. It was QUITE good.

We were given the option to buy photos that had been taken by the professional photographer, and we looked through them and enjoyed them, but at THIRTY DOLLARS EACH it was just way, way too much, even to justify one photo.

For lunch we had a simple buffet of stewed chicken or pork, steamed vegetables, cactus, lime soup, refreshing hibiscus tea, and rice pudding. There were also tortillas being made fresh in front of us, and those were FANTASTIC.


There was a small lagoon with water lilies and a very protective (yet very small) alligator.


We enjoyed our meal and a little rest before getting a shuttle back to our hotel.
What an awesome, magical experience! I'm so glad that Raven pushed for us to do an excursion, it was well worth it.

We all went our separate ways and napped or chilled until dinnertime...our final meal together in Mexico.
We decided to try Aroma, the "upscale" restaurant.


The food was the best we'd had for the entire stay.
I had beef tatake cubes with chili and passion fruit drizzle,
duck confit with dried fig sauce and sweet potato maple syrup hash,
and a small chocolate-and-gelee cake with peach puree.
The last picture is of Kate's tuna medallions (not sure what the side is for that.)



Everyone very much enjoyed their food. The highlights were a three-corn soup in a lobster-based broth (it was incredibly flavorful!) and Kate's perfectly seared tuna medallions, which she let us all try. We talked about so much: family stuff, our individual journeys, how our lives are going now. We got to know Jonah's girlfriend (none of us had met her until now) and hear Jameson talk about his hopes for the future. We had a really lovely time together. After dinner we went to the bar next door to listen to a jazz band and have drinks, and took these photos.

What a fricking wonderful family I have. What an amazing group of human beings.


Then it was time to say goodbye. Kate, Raven, Jonah, and Danielle had an early flight, so we knew we might not see them the next morning. Hugs all around, then off to bed.

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Saturday, Jameson and I got to enjoy the breakfast buffet one last time. We packed our things and checked out, leaving an overall glowing review (the one "bad thing" that we had to mention was the service at the Italian restaurant) then hopped the shuttle to the airport. MX airport is CRAZY, and if it's like that in February I can't imagine what it's like during peak season. We had a lot of time before our flight so had a nice sit-down meal at Wolfgang Puck's: here is my mahi-mahi with rice, plantain chips, and salsa verde.


Before boarding we had a passport check. Jameson and I were in an exit row and had lots of lovely leg room. But we had a bunch of screaming children on our flight, plus four adults who seemed to share one brain cell between them and just WOULD NOT SIT DOWN, we actually got delayed to take off because they kept getting up to stand in the aisle and chat!! WTF!!

But finally we were on our way, and soon enough we were landing at MCO.
I've never been through international customs before, but it was very easy. We followed signage to a sort of security area where we were directed to an agent, who looked at our documents and asked if we had anything to declare. I declared my snacks, confirming that I had no produce or meats...and that was it. They didn't even search my stuff (a dog did have a good sniff.) We found Jameson's car and rode home through the awful I-4 traffic, stopping at Target along the way for small items and dinner.

At home I had a present waiting for me: a box from my sister Kayle and her kids! Full of Asian treats :)
I am especially excited for the coffee candies, which are supposed to act as replacements for actual coffee when you're in a bind.


I did a load of laundry and did some packing, but was too tired for much else. We went to bed early, exhausted but happy and fulfilled from our wonderful little adventure. I really, really hope that we get to do something like this again, maybe as an annual thing.

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I'll write about Sunday as part of the next post, since it was mostly just packing and prep to go back on tour (geez, no time at all at home!)
Next up, Tulsa Oklahoma.

Here it is, the hectic final week before our second layoff!

Two shows in Johnson City, a one-nighter in Blacksburg VA, a long travel day to Worcester involving both buses and planes, and then a weekend of matinees. Goodness.

I've booked myself a massage in Worcester, because even though I hate being touched I need to find the source of this weird twinging in my side, and since I carry a lot of tension in my back and neck let's get it loosened up first. Then I've made an appointment with our tour's traveling physical therapy specialist. They're usually booked solid (I mean, people are DANCING up there, obviously they need PT first and foremost) but I managed to squeeze in on the coming Saturday.

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On Monday we loaded the bus and got going. It was a typical ride, but I was excited.
Our lunch stop was at some mall, which I could care less about...but next to the mall was Prostor Market, an Eastern European supermarket! As soon as we arrived I sped through the mall (they parked on the opposite side that I needed, go figure, but hey I got some steps in) and dashed across the parking lot in the rain.

( CLICK HERE for European Market! )

We rode the bus the rest of the way to the hotel and arrived with no time to do anything but throw our luggage in the room, get changed, and rush to the theatre for sound check. The theater has a very deep pit so we can't see the audience at all, and I can only see the ceiling which is bland and beige. Oh well, we're only here for two nights.

The show went well except that we had to stop and hold in the middle of the show again, I'm not sure what for but this is the third time it's happened this week. Now I suspect that something is actually broken, and they're trying to make it to the layoff with the broken part?

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Tuesday I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. Johnson City is a bit higher in altitude so that's certainly part of it, but also just doing a lot of shows and then cramming onto a bus every other day will take its toll. I typed up this post and had breakfast, making sure to hydrate EXTRA, then Ubered off to do laundry. That went smoothly, so from there walking to Earth Fare for some travel groceries.

On the way I had some long texts with Jameson, who got some bad news about his hand (he injured it while playing keyboard several months ago, and it has not gotten better and is painful for him every day.) The doctor says there is little to nothing that they can do for him, and that his best bet is to wait and see if it improves or changes. Not what he'd been hoping to hear. Being in pain when you wake up, all day, and when you go to bed...and then being told "Just wait and see"...yeah. Not ideal.

I want to believe that it will get better, and he'll be ok. But mostly, I'm worried about what this will do to his mental health.
Right now there's not much I can do except express that I'm here for him, for anything.

At the grocery it felt like I was doing math, trying to calculate what I could or could not buy, what I'd eat before the flight on Thursday, what could survive 3 hours on a bus, etc. But I think I did a pretty good job of not overdoing it. They had lemon plums which I'd seen before but never tried; now's the time! Don't they look weird?


Once I got it home I found out that they're not ripe until the whole fruit is the reddish color of the tip. So I'll have to wait, and/or this Weird Nipple Plum is coming with me on a plane. Emotional Support Plum. Lol.

I did a partial luggage packing and ate lunch, then continued mathing out my meals in MyFitnessPal. Partly for nutrition like I always do, and partly to see how long my food will last and what is likely to end up in my luggage instead of being consumed in the next 48 hours. It's a pain in the butt but I don't like to waste food, and looking ahead helps to prevent that.

In the late afternoon our drummer Laura arranged for a cute Galentine's meet up at the hotel pool, with all the ladies of the orchestra! She made us strawberry cream Baileys shots, and brought us cupcakes iced to look like roses. So thoughtful of her! It was my first Galentine's celebration ever :) I didn't stay long, but it was nice to have a moment with the ladies.

After that I had to call maintenance to my room because my cheap aquarium thermometer let me know that the fridge was not getting below 50°F (10°C) which is NOT safe for food storage. It was a brand new fridge too, there were still pieces of packaging stuck to it. The maintenance guy confirmed that I was NOT crazy, it was too warm and it must have a bad compressor. Switched it out and the new fridge is fine, but I didn't feel safe about my turkey wrap I'd gotten for the bus ride (also the warm fridge had leaked condensation into the container and now it was soggy :/) so I did end up throwing that out. Everything else was unopened yogurt and protein and fruit though, so I felt it was still in the "ok" range.

The joys of minifridges. Glad that I started carrying cheap thermometers with me exactly for this reason!!


The evening show was mostly good, but we had ANOTHER hold that interrupted the show.
We are now up to FOUR of these and it's unprofessional and ridiculous. I do not know the details about what is causing these show interruptions, but it has to be some sort of issue with moving large setpieces or with a recurring safety concern, I don't think anything else would stop our shows four times in a row like this. We still have six shows to go before the layoff, I really hope they get it worked out because it's been very disruptive, and not what people are paying to see. I can't be the only one annoyed about this.

After the show there was a wall tag to sign (on canvas, which means the theatre will be able to move it! See that marlinkhylacat ?) but the lighting backstage at this theatre is all ultraviolet blue for some reason, so there was NO way to get a decent pic :/ Signed it and loaded onto the bus back to the hotel.

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Wednesday (Valentine's Day!) was weird because we didn't leave our hotel until 11:30am. That's pretty late, but it's because Blacksburg VA is only about 2.5 hours away, and if we get there before 3pm we won't be able to check in. So I got to enjoy a slow morning and taking my time packing before we loaded onto the bus. Which one of our cast members decorated for Valentine's Day!


We rode our romantic charter bus through the mountains, and arrived with enough time to ACTUALLY unpack and get ready for the show for once. I was fortunate to get the handicap-accessible room, with a wide-open floor plan and a whole living room setup. Too bad we're only here for a few hours.


The Moss Center for the Arts, on the campus of Virginia Tech, is a beautiful building inside and out.


I snuck out to the lobby to have a peek, having seen these hexagonal windows on the ride in. Very beautiful.


The show was sold out, and FOR ONCE we didn't have a hold! Thank god!
But during "Just You Wait" some diphthongs rained down on me. What strange weather they have here in Virginia ;)


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Now it's late and I have to get to bed, because we have a heck of a travel day tomorrow.
First a 3-hour bus ride to Raleigh International (WHY, omg) then a flight to Boston, then another bus from Boston to Worcester during rush hour. Sigh. This layoff can't come soon enough.

Almost forgot: the handwashing signs backstage at this theatre had, instead of the standard "Effective Hand Washing" sign, this one that incorporated Lady MacBeth's monologue, in which she is attempting to wash a spot of blood from her hands in a dream.
Gave me a good laugh!

The usual loading up the bus and riding to the airport on Monday.

We arrived with about an hour to wait, and many people used the time to get breakfast and whatnot.
I walked the airport for a bit to get some steps in and to window shop. At a Rite Aid I found these "church eggs," which are a nostalgic treat to me. Members of our church in PA used to make these confections and sell them at Easter. They're super delicious, with the standard fillings being peanut butter cream, butter cream (similar to Cadbury Egg filling but less sugary), or coconut cream. Prepackaged eggs will never be as good as homemade, but these are made by a small candy shop in a small town outside Pittsburgh, so this is the closest I'm likely to get to my childhood Easter memories. It felt indulgent to get one of each flavor, but how could I not!


After that I sat to read my book for a while. There were some sparrows flying around inside. I guess birds sometimes accidentally fly in, through loading docks and jet bridges and such. I decided to try an interaction and here was the result.
(CLICK HERE for TikTok video)

Having volunteered at multiple aviaries, I do know how to catch birds...in an aviary. When the birds have plenty of energy, and plenty of space to fly away, yer not gonna catch 'em. Any time I moved toward the birds they quickly reacted. Hopefully a little water was helpful for keeping them healthy a while longer.

The flight was fine and normal; I was a bit anxious but not too bad. After the flight I asked the pilot about Delta trading cards, and he gave me one! Not for the plane that we'd flown on, he didn't have any for our model. Still, it's a new card to me!


We retrieved our luggage and went outside to wait for the charter bus, which just so happened to be coming to the Delta employee pickup area. There I found a female pilot sitting on a bench looking at her phone. When she looked up for a bit I walked over and politely asked if she participated in the trading card program, and she said, "Yes of course!" and brought out hers, two different planes, one of which I hadn't collected yet. And the card is an older print from 2016!

It was interesting to read that this plane was (is still?) operated with a joystick!


I feel like such a nerd but this is a really fun activity when flying Delta! And not once has a pilot seemed annoyed or put out by my asking, and every one of them has had the cards easily on hand. So cool! How many unique cards will l be able to collect before the end of this tour?

Luggage retrieval and a 1.5-hour bus ride to the hotel. Because the hotel is far from the theatre and there's not much around, our company management arranged for a grocery run using a charter bus. This brought back memories of the circus because the circus bus was often the ONLY way we could get groceries back to the train yard. We went to a Kroger and tried to get all we need for two days, and maybe a little extra for the bus rides to the cities to come.

Back at the hotel I ate grocery store sushi and drank tea and water (I still have a sore throat and sinuses, it feels like another virus coming on) and for once, chilled out. I wanted to do laundry but there was a queue so figured I'd try again in the morning.

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Tuesday morning, I had fallen asleep around 10:30 and slept on and off until 7:30, which is great. I want to give myself time to kick whatever-this-virus-is in the pants.

Joined the laundry queue (there's only one washer and dryer for all 60 of us plus other hotel guests) and was able to get my washing done by 9am, then had the free hotel breakfast. I took it very easy all morning. Am I going to feel under the weather for this whole dang tour? I hope not. It's annoying.

In the afternoon I went to a gas station to look for something to help me feel better, and found Propel Immune Boost water. Not something I'd normally want, but it had vitamin C, potassium, zinc, B and E vitamins, etc. And I was surprised to feel noticeably better after downing one! Went back and got two more later on. And that was my only outing of the day, despite the lovely mid-60s weather. Sometimes you just need a day to crash.

Rode the bus to the theatre for the show. For some reason the show time was changed to 7pm instead of 7:30pm (it's been 7:30 since we first got the schedules back in summer 2023) but no one complained; how nice to finish a show earlier than expected and still have some time in your evening!

(Image courtesy Gogue PAC facebook)

This is the Gogue Center, a nice new facility, spacious pit. There were little snacks and drinks for us in the Green Room as well which were much appreciated. The show went well although our MD is going through something personal right now, and was struggling emotionally. I don't know what's going on but I very much wanted to give him a hug :(

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Wednesday...didn't we JUST get here? After breakfast I started my partial packing routine. Luckily because of the time change I'm waking up at 7 instead of 8 and still getting a full night's sleep, which is excellent for being productive. Worked on Foodie Finds and misc paperwork for upcoming appointments, then took an Uber downtown to meet my step-aunt and step-grandpa for lunch. They weren't arriving for another hour and the weather was lovely, I wanted to get out and see the downtown a bit before they arrived (and not make them detour to pick me up.)

The downtown is cute...pretty much your all-American college town, with the sprawling campus and rows of shops and restaurants that only exist because of the economy generated by the school (my hometown is like that too, but smaller.) I saw the big stadium from a distance, but didn't get all that close. The campus was nice, shiny red and white brick buildings everywhere and students hustling between classes.

Most of the campus was clean, but at the part near the main intersection/town I noticed a lot of trash on the walkway and especially around the little gaggle of trees near the University sign.

It took me a moment to realize that those trees must be "The" oaks, which I guess are a historic part of sportsball victory celebrations having to do with toilet paper? But the original trees were poisoned by some idiot so now they've been cut down? And in their place are some small oaks that look super normal, except that they're now essentially living trash cans. Old dissolving toilet paper, gum, wrappers, and bottles stuck to the branches and blowing around the bases.

I'm gonna be honest: I do understand "school spirit" and all that, but there's "school spirit" and then there's "an excuse for piggish behavior." Taking a game so seriously that you decide the right reaction is to poison trees over who won/lost, or to trash a part of campus, seems to me like dumb animal behavior. But if you're an alum of this school, I'm guessing there must be some heartwarming or nostalgic connection in all this that as an outsider, I am not understanding. People used to burn couches in the street at my school when their favorite teams won or lost, and I thought that was idiotic too. Maybe the tradition here in Auburn was different, when the original oaks were there. And besides being trash-riddled the new trees looked like they're doing all right.

Toomer's Drugs was diagonal across the street.


I popped in to look around. It smelled so strongly of lemonade! They had many flavors and also sold it in bottles. I was tempted but decided to pass and just enjoyed looking at all the tiger mascot merch.

Soon it was time for lunch so I got to The Hound, a nice restaurant off the main drag. My aunt and grandpa showed up and got situated, and we asked our server to help with a photo to send to family who couldn't join us.


We got caught up, and as usual it was me who talked too much and answered questions about myself, which makes me feel blabby and self-absorbed though I know people have a lot of curiosity about what I do. I did get to ask after my grandpa's health and my grandma's cats, and everyone's doing "ok" which is all one can expect after a certain age. We talked about age too, since I've just turned 40. What a joy lol.

I had a cup of the gumbo: white rice, andouille sausage, alligator, shrimp, chicken, tasso ham. It was saltier than I'd usually choose but VERY good.


And their grain bowl, which was farro, sweet potato, fennel, cranberries, pistachio, goat cheese, and balsamic. I'm a sucker for hearty grains like farro and REALLY enjoyed this, saving half of it to eat later.


Both my aunt and grandpa got a hot sandwich with turkey, bacon, avocado, brie, mustard, and a few other yummy fillings, that they both enjoyed. Having limited time sucked, but we at least got a few hours together. They took me back to the hotel where we hugged goodbye, and they pushed a birthday card with "a little something-something" in it, which they REALLY shouldn't have. As usual I was spoiled when I do not deserve to be. I hate for people to treat me to things because rarely do I get to pay anyone back; I'm always the taker and never the giver :(

Anyway. From there I chilled for a bit, did more paperwork that had cropped up (taxes), and went for a short walk at a nearby softball field just to get some sun and fresh air.

Soon it was showtime. Bus to the theatre, do the show, pack it up.
We had a wall tag to sign too (I was early to it so not many signatures yet.)


Auburn was good, I got to do more than expected for just a two day stay.

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Tomorrow morning we have a long bus ride to North Charleston, SC.
I have a bag of nonperishables to get me through snacks and lunch.
We won't arrive until evening. We'll have three days there, two of which are matinee days, so all I have on the docket are a doctor's appointment on Friday and some foodie finds to visit.

The bus ride to Lafayette was uneventful and long. Unfortunately on this already-tight travel schedule, a few people who have awful time management (or no consideration for others?) took their sweet time. We had to wait an extra ten minutes for stragglers before departing first the hotel, and another ten later at the lunch stop for the same reason.

As a result we were 30 minutes late to Lafayette (10 more minutes for traffic.) I don't have load in responsibilities, and was grateful to have enough time to throw dinner items in a bag, get a shower and get dressed before hopping back on the bus to get the 4 miles to the theatre. But I felt very bad for our drummer, who has loads of work to do and didn't get to eat until hours later after sound check :( Lots of people had to "load-and-go" this time. I hope that doesn't happen again.

Like many people I had bought something to eat for dinner while we were stopped for lunch (prepackaged cut veggies with hummus, a tuna pouch, granola.) The show was good, it was an uninsulated pit with cement floors so there was a lot of reverb and the acoustics felt weird, but I thought we all did a really great job anyway. The audience was wonderful and laughed a lot :)

Friday morning I got up early for “me time”, coffee and breakfast, before we loaded onto the bus. It was a LONG travel day, 8am to 5pm with two bathroom stops and a lunch stop at a mall in Houston. I thought I'd resent all the stopping but actually it broke the trip up nicely. And at the mall I had enough time to try on some black shirts, and found one (now I don't have to wear the stinky, ill-fitting thrift store one any more!)

We got to San Antonio on time. The hotel staff were waiting with goodie bags for us! How nice! A bottle of water and some snack foods. As we were queuing for the elevator some folks all in black with Teamster logos here and there pushed past us, shouting that they only had a two hour break so could we please let them go ahead of us. We were all like "Yeah no problem...wait...who are you?!" Turns out it was some crew from the Tina Turner tour! They're staying at the same hotel! Even cooler, we may get a chance to see their show on Sunday since we only have a matinee that day! We'll see if that works out or not, but it's awesome that we're here in San Antonio at the same time.

As soon as I stepped into my hotel room I was flooded with deja vu and memories. It's the same room-layout that I had while here with Tootsie. So many enjoyable things happened, like visiting the Alamo and getting an incredible cream-filled croissant from La Panaderia. And getting my hair dyed red, the first time I ever colored my hair! And let's not forget the part where I got a false positive covid test and had to get a sub for one night, then dramatically returned to work the next night after my PCR came back clean.


Nostalgia aside, the rooms themselves are really nice. A full kitchen on tour is a GODSEND. Too bad we're only here for two days.


Instead of unpacking I bundled up and went back out, walking a little over a mile to Best Quality Daughter. Raven (my sister) generously and thoughtfully got me a gift card to this restaurant, and since we have a lot of shows I figured tonight was my best chance to try it out!


Inside the restaurant was cozy and Asian-hipster, with pink-and-teal floral wallpaper and Asian influenced lighting and decor. I don't have a good picture because it was quite dim in there. I had to turn the brightness up on my phone to get just "meh" photos of the food. The drink was Violette Delights: Charanda (sugarcane rum), Baijiu (sorghum liquor), crème de violette, coconut syrup, plum bitters, absinthe, lemon juice. I found the first sip kind of medicinal, but the coconut came through from then on and softened everything up nicely.


I ordered the Curry Guisada Dan Dan: Peeler Farms Wagyu beef guisada, heirloom tomatoes, fermented black beans, salsa verde cremosa, cilantro. It's not the most photogenic thing, but there were a lot of amazing and complex flavors here!


Surprisingly, the fermented black beans were my favorite part of the meal. They were tangy, earthy and just GOOD. The noodles were perfect and chewy, and the beef was exceptional, I know nothing about guisada but it sure is delicious. Almost reminded me of a mole. If I had one complaint, I would have wished for more beef, but this was locally-sourced wagyu steak chunks and therefore adding more would probably have upped the price of the dish.

Before leaving I saw a display with enamel pins. Must-have, to add to my collection!


Even with getting an expensive cocktail, the most expensive meal on the menu, a souvenir pin, and leaving a big tip, there was still $30 left on the card! I was probably supposed to take someone with me to eat here. Oops. That means I'll have to come back before we leave...probably either Sunday after my haircut if time allows, or Sunday night after we load out. What a wonderful and special treat this was, especially after being on a bus and eating gas station food pretty much all this week :)

I Ubered to an H-E-B because it was a bit far to walk from the restaurant, but after I finished shopping I did walk back to the hotel because that part was only a mile. I put my things away and unpacked, and had time to do laundry! This is way more than I expected to accomplish for one evening and I was very pleased over it :p

Before bed I saw that someone had put up a special compilation video to celebrate the 50th performance (this leg of the tour) of My Fair Lady. We celebrated by saying "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" 50 times! I'm Number Four :)
(CLICK HERE to watch)

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Saturday, I'd set an alarm for 7:15 and was groaning when it went off. Not ready for today!

This hotel has breakfast so I got some coffee and oatmeal to have with the Greek yogurt and fruit I'd brought.
Then prepping for the day by packing intermission snacks, getting dressed, etc...and walking to La Panaderia for "el favorito", a round croissant sandwich with ham, cheese, eggs, and avocado-should-you-choose-to-accept-it (I didn't today, will add my own veggies instead.)


There was a line to get into the restaurant--there is ALWAYS a line, they are super popular--but I had preordered thank goodness so had time to throw the sandwich in the fridge for later before heading off to sound check.


As with the hotel, I have many fond memories of this theater. It's modern, spacious, and comfortable.
Sound check went well and then back to the hotel for lunch before the 2pm show.
My stomach was giving me heck all morning, not sure if it's from stress or the travel or the food/drink last night.
But by the first show of the day it had calmed down so it was probably stress + the alcoholic drink. Idk about you all but the older I get, the more alcohol does WEIRD stuff to me. But I enjoy alcohol so TOO BAD.

Everyone seemed out of sorts, honestly. I think because we were snowed in in Jackson ( a full day of inactivity) and then had several long bus rides in a row this week, perhaps we are tired in ways beyond the physical. We will recover, it'll just take a little time.

I had my lovely croissant sandwich for dinner and it was so dang good.
The evening show was fine, though I made weirdo mistakes because I was so tired and unfocused, and I think our bassist almost fell asleep standing up.

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Sunday I got up early again...I certainly didn't want to but I DID want that haircut!

Walked to the place, and everything mostly went fine except that

A) It took TWO HOURS. To take maybe an inch off my hair. By the 1.5 hour mark I was fidgeting and glancing at my phone, worried I wouldn't have time for lunch before the afternoon show. No idea why it was such a process.

B) I didn't get the cut I asked for, again, as usual. I give up, you guys. I brought TEN damn pictures, plus pictures of the haircut I'd gotten from this same salon previously and liked...and walked out with nothing resembling any of them. No amount of visuals or verbal descriptions seem to actually get anyone to cut my hair the way I want it cut. When you're paying $80-$100 per cut, you don't want to walk out with something you didn't ask for but here I am doing it yet again.

C) She couldn't style my hair!! The right side flips out naturally instead of curling under. She was using a large roller brush (way too large for the problem) and kept dumping a ton of product in my hair on that side, and couldn't figure out why my hair wouldn't curl under. I told her that I usually use a much smaller brush, or an iron if necessary. I literally showed her what to do to fix it. And she just shrugged and said, "Oh well, it's flipping out so I guess that's that." So not only did I not get the cut I asked for, but we also couldn't be bothered to style it correctly either.

I always say "I'm done with this!" after haircuts, because I'm so sick of walking out feeling ugly and like I just got ripped off. And yet I keep going back because my hair hits that certain point, where if you don't get it at least trimmed you'll have a weird mullet or messy layers for months until you get past that "ugly spot." At some point I've GOT to just let it happen, for an entire year so my hair can grow out. THEN get it trimmed and be done with it until it's down to my ass. I am seriously so sick of getting excited for haircuts, getting my hopes up, and always being let down. A haircut is not something that I get to enjoy anymore, it's become just another racket to avoid.

Anyway I had to power-walk back to the hotel, eat lunch very quickly, restyle my hair (it took 30 SECONDS to get it to curl under with a plain hairbrush and a dryer) before hoofing it to the theatre. And no, no one noticed that I'd gotten a haircut.

The show went well, we had a really responsive audience and a lot of people who came up to the pit to check us out before the show and during intermission. I botched my solo and was mad about it, plus mad about the haircut, so was in kind of a foul mood for the first half. Chatting with my peers at intermission was helpful. After the show I packed up for load out and ubered over to Best Quality Daughter again to use up the rest of the gift card from my generous sister.

This is the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken with white pepper salt and basil ranch dipping sauce, and the "Charge It To The Room," gin with pear liqueur, pear shrub (a vinegar-based soda), and aquafaba (which is used the same way as egg whites would be in a drink.)


It was incredible. The chicken was so flavorful, the batter was seasoned in addition to the white pepper salt, and the meat was really dry and almost jerky-like which is my absolute favorite type of fried chicken! There was something a little bit sweet in the chicken seasoning mix, which connected it to the pear cocktail...which itself was slightly spicy probably due to ginger. I chose this combo based only on what I liked, but they went together so perfectly! What a great way to say goodbye to San Antonio.

I decided to walk back to the hotel and logged 1.5 miles doing so, then showered and finished packing and went to bed early.

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On Monday we have a flight to Charlotte NC, and from there it's a 1.5 hour bus ride to Columbia, SC.
We're only there for three days but it'll be busy for me. I have a doctor appointment, my first-ever masterclass, and a few foodie finds that I hope to hit.

*Posting early because so much happened that it requires it's own post.*

TRIGGER WARNING: BAD FLIGHT EXPERIENCE / FEAR OF FLYING

I woke up before my alarm to use the bathroom, and although my fever had receded for the moment I had somehow managed to pull a back muscle during the night. It was very painful to bend forward...you know, the movement I'll need to complete ALL DAY today while lifting my 50lb suitcase, 35lb backpack, and 20lb trombone case into Ubers and onto scales. Great! On top of having to travel with a virus. What a joy.

There was nothing that I could do about it, so called an Uber and off I went to the airport.
Checking in and security and all that went smoothly, but at the gate although our plane was there it was delayed because it had been struck by lighting on the way in! Crews were going over the whole plane with cherry pickers and misc equipment. I should have taken a picture. The gate agent said that it was actually considered "routine" for planes to be struck by lightning, but when it happens there are safety processes that need to be completed, which I was absolutely glad to wait for.

The delay ended up being about 3 hours, so I rebooked my connection and called Jim (our company management) to be sure he knew what was going on.

Right here I want to note: this was the first time that I mentioned the possibility of getting a rental car...before the travel day got EVEN WORSE. I suggested offhand that it might be a good option if my SECOND flight was delayed or cancelled due to the INCOMING STORM that had been forecast 72 HOURS AGO and that we could all see was probably going to interfere with flights for the day.

"There's still plenty of time!" said Jim.
I didn't feel confident but didn't say anything, because so far everything was going "moderately ok."

Eventually we started boarding. This was an unusually large model of plane, one of those with a big row of 3 in the middle and rows of two on either side. It occurred to me that I should ask about the Delta pilot trading cards I'd heard about on TikTok (HERE is a link to the video I saw) I asked a random flight attendant...and she knew exactly what I was talking about! She said it was really unusual for this model of plane to be flying domestically (they're usually for international flights) and before I knew it she had popped up to the cockpit and grabbed me a trading card! My first one! They're real!!


These have been around for at least a decade believe it or not, but you have to specifically ask for them. The trading cards were an initiative started by Delta employees who wanted to share their passion for flying with passengers. The designs of the cards are updated every year. I think this is just THE COOLEST. I don't even care about aviation that much but this certainly has me interested to try and collect as many cards as I can!

The flight was unfortunately turbulent due to the storms all over the US, so there were no services offered and we had to stay in our seats. Luckily it was just a short flight to Atlanta. We landed at the farthest possible point from my next gate, so I had to choose: pee, eat, or refill water bottle? I chose "pee,", then rode the ATL airport tram all the way to gate A and got there just as my group was boarding. At the gangway I again remembered to ask the flight attendant about the trading cards, and because we were right next to the cockpit I got to watch as she asked the pilots and one whipped out a trading card right away and handed it to her! I yelled him a thank you which I'm not sure he heard, but other flight attendants exclaimed over the card...several of them had never heard about them either!

Here is the card for my second flight, a 737-900ER.


Feeling good vibes and like the day was off to a decent start, I settled into my seat and got ready for a turbulent but short flight to New Orleans. Little did I know the day was about to get a lot longer, and a lot worse.

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Travel Day From Heck: Part 1

The flight was uncomfortable due to turbulence, plus I hadn't had time to get food or refill my water. I rationed my water and ate a lot of my travel snacks, feeling bad that I didn't have enough to share with my seat-mates. We got all the way to New Orleans...then suddenly everyone's flight monitors updated showing a route to TALLAHASSEE. We got rerouted because NOLA airport had closed due to a nasty incoming storm system (too warm to snow there but tornadoes forming, and hurricane-force winds.)

We were allowed to BRIEFLY deplane in Tallahassee, where I found eight other My Fair Lady folks who were on the same flight! We only had a few minutes so everyone was scrambling to get food and water and pee (I managed all three).

PLEASE NOTE: At this point I texted Jim (company management) and directly asked for a rental car.
"Aren't they going to send you out again?" was his response. At this point I should have listened to my instincts. I should have taken my own safety and wellbeing into my own hands. But other people from my company were waiting for instruction without complaint, and I didn't want to be the squeaky wheel and the outlier who caused an inconvenience.

A few minutes later we reboarded for a second attempt at flying into NOLA. I am a nervous flyer, I get motion sick very easily, so I was worried but figured it was such a short flight, and perhaps the storm system was mostly past and that's why they thought it was worth trying again.

It was very turbulent again...even more turbulent. Frighteningly so.
And then we got to NOLA, and the plane was PITCHING, dipping, lurching. It was nighttime and dark out, no horizon line plus it was absolutely storming out there, and even if there had been a horizon line it would have been dipping crazily everywhere as the plane was pushed around like a toy. We found out later that we had been trying to land in 70mph headwinds (what the actual FUCK.)

I had my eyes squeezed tightly shut and was forcing myself to "go somewhere else" so that I wouldn't go into an absolute meltdown panic attack, or faint. The people around me were not doing much better; the man to my left was doubled over in his seat and the woman to my right clutched the seat in front of her as though her life depended on it.

As the landing gear came out I experienced the absolute worst turbulence I have ever felt on a flight. My entire sense of equilibrium was off, I couldn't tell up from down. G-forces were pulling me up toward the ceiling, then sideways or back down into my seat. It was at this point that I heard people starting to retch and gag. Although it was hard to release my white-knuckle grip that I'd had on my own wrists, I did it and put my hands over my ears to reduce sensory input overall...and to avoid hearing the sounds of people vomiting. Fortunately (I guess), because I was sick with this cold/flu I couldn't really smell any of what was happening, and/or people had been able to grab their barf bags in time.

At this point the plane dipped suddenly and violently, then there was an extreme, crushing amount of G-force that smashed us all into our seats, and the plane seemed to be pulling up almost completely vertical like a space rocket. Some people wailed or screamed. I think that was our first failed attempt at landing, and the pilot pulling back up into the sky where we bounced around again. Then the same thing happened AGAIN, a plunging-toward-the-ground sensation, a second round of intense G-force followed by the sharp vertical pull-up. To me it seemed like we were about to slam directly into the ground, but the pilot got onto the com and lackadaisically suggested that we open up our air vents if we were feeling motion sick, to help get air moving. He sounded not only calm but mildly amused. Good lord.

After that second attempt we went back into moderate turbulence, and the flight path again showed a route to Tallahassee. A flight attendant came through to collect trash/vomit bags, but after that they all had to sit down again because it was still way too turbulent.

You guys. I have NO IDEA how I didn't either pass out from terror, or vomit. I wonder if being sick actually helped somewhat, because my brain was too fuzzy to go into the complete panic that I'd usually feel in such a situation. Or maybe my inner ear was already messed up, making me less nauseous than I would have normally been. Or maybe because I'd scarfed down a big sandwich right before we left, my stomach didn't fill with sloshing acid. Whatever had protected me for this horrific experience, I was grateful beyond words. First of all to be ALIVE, and second of all not to have vomited or fainted. I was shaking like a leaf and sweating, but I think nearly everyone was at that point.

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Travel Day From Heck: Part 2

We landed again in Tallahassee. I was so, so, so grateful to be on the ground. At this point it was late at night (10pm I think?) and Tallahassee is a small airport, so we had to wait while gate agents and crew were gathered so we could get off the plane. Then they told us that if we got off the plane we would not be allowed back on, PLUS our luggage would not be returned to us that night. It was clear that there would be no more attempts tonight, anyway, which thank F*CK.

Our My Fair Lady group gathered on the gangway, and decided to leave the plane with our carry-ons hoping that our company management could figure something out. At this point I'm ashamed to say that I was one of the least-calm people in our group. I have intense flight anxiety on a NORMAL travel day, and now the entire day had been turbulence and terror, and a one-hour flight had turned into a 15-hour ordeal with no end in sight, plus my trombone was in the checked luggage! How was I supposed to do a show without a trombone?! So when Jim (company management) told us to "give it the old college try" on the rescheduled flight the next day...I LOST IT. I could not believe that the expectation was for all of us to be perfectly ok and peachy-keen with flying again after that. And I voiced that, borderline hysterical, to my peers, who listened and to their credit stayed a lot more calm and gave me more deference than I deserved. I apologized for flipping out of course, and they all said they understood that it wasn't directed at them, but I was still letting my anxiety leak out at people who had had just as terrible a day as I'd had, and that wasn't right. I still feel bad about it.

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Travel Day From Heck Part 3 (no, it isn't over, there's EVEN MORE.)

We waited at the airport for at least an hour while the poor gate agent, who was all alone, tried to distribute electronic hotel and food vouchers one-by-one for hundreds of passengers. I never got any vouchers myself, but most of our group did. We were told that the flight was rescheduled for tomorrow at 10:30am. I checked the weather and this is what I saw:


In other words, the same storm system that we had encountered in NOLA was moving east and would be in Tallahassee right when our flight was scheduled to take off. And everyone else was ok with this. I looked around at my peers and could not believe they were nodding and agreeing with this itinerary.

Our company management texted to say they'd gotten us booked at a hotel nearby, so off we went to the luggage carousel downstairs (a crew had been found to take our luggage off the plane after all.) I was thrilled at this because if I had all of my belongings, I was no longer beholden in any way to these crazy company-booked itineraries involving flying into goddamned tornadoes.

But after all of the suitcases had been unloaded, and everyone had their luggage and had called their Ubers to the hotel...my trombone was nowhere to be seen.

I waited and waited, and finally the belt stopped moving. Everyone had left without me. The Delta luggage assistance desk was closed. I circled the airport and asked everyone I could find--security, an American Airlines agent, a TSA agent--where I could look, what I could do. I asked company management for help and they said, "Have you tried asking around?"

Finally I realized that there was nothing I could do, no further recourse I could take that night. It was after midnight and I was so exhausted and stressed to the point of near-hysterics, and could barely think. It was clear that no one was going to help me, except myself. So I fucking did just that. The car rental counter was minutes from closing. I walked up and rented myself one of their last available cars, a minivan, for $150. I threw my suitcase in the back and drove it to the hotel, where I had to wait TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES to check in because there was someone making a scene at the front desk. During that time I texted Abi (company management) to inform her that I'd be DRIVING to New Orleans, so don't make the group wait for me in the morning, etc. Shortly after that Jim called to ask why I was driving, and finally, after all that had happened, I broke down. Through tears, I explained to him that the same storm system that was in New Orleans today was moving east and was supposed to be in Tallahassee tomorrow, right when our rescheduled flight was supposed to take off. Did he REALLY expect me to get back on a plane in the middle of the same storm? REALLY???? He said that he understood and left it at that. At this point I don't really care how needy, emotional, weak, or demanding I sounded. Everyone else seemed perfectly happy to get back on the same plane tomorrow in the middle of a storm. Good for them! Big back-pats and medals all around for being "troopers" and "giving it the old college try" I'm sure. But I had had MORE than enough of putting my safety and wellbeing into the hands of others, and reaping the "rewards" of that today. I was DONE.

I finally got to check in after 1am. Got to my room and was so stressed and tense that it took me another hour to fall asleep.

Right as my eyes were closing, my phone pinged. It was Jim, in New Orleans...holding my trombone.


This is the biggest mystery of the day.
How did my trombone get to New Orleans that night??
My luggage tracker says that it was loaded onto the same plane that I was on, the one that never landed in New Orleans. The last timestamp that I had for it was at 4pm, which was in Tallahassee when we were reboarding for the second attempt at reaching NOLA.


We were only in Tallahassee that first time for about 30 minutes, and we reboarded right at 4pm. So somewhere in there, JUST MY TROMBONE, no other luggage, was pulled off and put on another flight? Or an angel came and spirited it away as we were plunging toward the tarmac in New Orleans? I couldn't believe it, and was awed and grateful.

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Travel Day From Heck Part 4

I woke up around 5:45am, repacked everything, and checked out.

Outside the wind was already high, around 25-35 mph. I checked the weather and saw that there were already tornadoes on the ground along my route. I hesitated, but you know what? I'd rather die on the ground, with my life in my own hands, with some small modicum of dignity, instead of in a tin can in the sky covered in vomit and plummeting toward the ground with my head between my knees. I had let others control my safety all day yesterday, and we can see how that went. Ultimately, I wanted to be treated like a human being and not an inanimate object being moved around on a game board at the convenience of a corporation. And if that's what I wanted, I had to give it to myself, because at this point it was clear that no one else was going to attribute any value to me, except myself.

So off I went while my coworkers slept.


It was scary.


Driving through tornado warnings is not a joke, and it is really no safer than huddling in a hotel or on a plane. But on the ground, you can pull over. You can seek shelter. You have phone service and can call for help. You can pee and eat and drink water when you need to. And most of all, you can avoid an inevitable flight delay. Plus, I am actually a VERY good driver and have a lot of experience driving through severe weather, believe it or not. So I was scared...but I believed in myself, and I trusted myself to pull over if I needed to.
(CLICK HERE for footage of what I drove through.)

I almost pulled over twice, both times when passing through actual tornado warnings. A "Tornado Watch" means tornadoes are possible; a Tornado Warning means there is actually a tornado on the ground somewhere nearby. And oh there definitely was. I couldn't see it, but I had never seen such intense lightning, and the wind was incredible. I was on an interstate so there was enough lighting to see whether debris was on the road. And I stuck close to a line of truckers, keeping a safe distance from them but always keeping their tail lights in my view. When they put their 4-ways on, so did I. And we plodded forward against hurricane-force winds, and we did not see any tornadoes. But I almost pulled over twice because the rain was so hard at those times that my wipers couldn't keep up. That intensity didn't last, so I was able to keep moving forward, somehow.

There were lots of breaks in the weather, as this system was made up of bands, so I stopped several times for coffee or snacks or to pee or stretch my legs.

MEANWHILE, my coworkers who had all stayed behind got up to find out their flight had been delayed, and as the day progressed, the tornado warnings (yep tornadoes still ON THE GROUND) reached Tallahassee, so the entire airport went into lockdown and everyone was herded into the airport stairwells.


As I was nearing the end of my drive around noon, the tornado warnings were lifted and the airport was reopened...but the stairwells had been outside security, so the entire airport had to go back through security screening.


Look at all the fun I missed out on by driving, you guys!
I could have been herded into a cold cement stairwell for an hour, like cattle in a pen!
And made to do TSA security screenings TWICE!
Plus sitting in an airport for three hours while someone else decided how my day would go!
And then having to FLY, again, after all of that!

They did manage to take off around 2pm, and landed in NOLA around 3pm.
By that time I had gone to the grocery store, checked in to the hotel, returned the rental car, and was dead asleep.
So, I don't care that it "worked out in the end."
It is clear to me that I have little value to society, and that overall I'm just another dumb animal, a little cog in a wheel or a plastic game piece to be moved around on a board by people who expect me to "deal with" whatever they decide is "the best option", ultimately, for THEM. But it is MY body, and MY soul, and it has value to ME even if no one else gives two fucks.

Today my employer chose to value the almighty dollar. And I chose to value myself.
And look at that, it paid off.


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After all of that we still had a show to do. I'll probably save that for my usual Thursday post.
Suffice to say that the nap I got before the sound check and show was not nearly enough, but it was better than nothing.

I have been touring for nearly a decade.
I have lived on a moving train for five years, and on a cruise ship for four months, and I have flown hundreds of times.
This was, by far, the worst travel day that I've ever had in my forty years of living.

As I told my sister later on: it was like a real-life nightmare.
Like a frightening dream about the worst flight turbulence; and then not being able to find an important item that you need; and asking people for help but they all just smile and shrug or walk away; and then being chased by a tornado. It was all so over-the-top and bizarre that it felt unreal, a nightmare come to life or like I'd died and been sent to hell.

I hope to never experience a day like that again.

I was up early to have breakfast and finish packing before the charter buses arrived.
I tried the hawthorn Oreos, since it's not like they'd be BAD. Not sure about you, but I've never had a bad Oreo in my life!


These are Oreo Thins, and this is a limited seasonal flavor.
Hawthorn berries are popular in Asia for their antioxidants, documented health benefits, and tart flavor (they taste very similar to cranberries.) I've had hawthorn in many forms, mostly as candies and sweets, most memorably in a freeze-dried form while suffering with Covid in Las Vegas.

These cookies were very good! Just like a regular Oreo Thin but with a fruity tart flavor, and little pieces of dried hawthorn in the cream too. Very lovely and nice; they didn't taste artificial at all (looking at you, Lemon Oreos!) I'd definitely get these again if I saw them in the store.


Anyway, the buses loaded up and left about 10 minutes late. Typical.
I dozed but couldn't sleep, and at some point we stopped for a bathroom break at a Pilot.
Onward for another two hours or so until we hit a Target, where we had an hour for lunch.
I had packed a lunch of Travel Bagel, cashews, tuna, and veggies, so used Target to get Christmas shopping ideas and stretch my legs.

Back on the bus, late again because it's a statistical requisite that at least one actor has to have terrible time management. Then on for another two or three hours, watching the flat Iowa landscape roll by, speckled with cows and farms, wind turbines looming above all.


I also saw a herd of bison, presumably farmed, but didn't have time to catch a picture.

Eventually we made it, 20 minutes late. I was annoyed but tried hard not to be. Mostly I was irritated that we got in after the sun had set and it was 24°F with windchill, so I was forced to get an Uber to the grocery instead of walking when I'd already been on my a$$ all day. Whatever, I got some nice food for the week and unpacked and had maintenance over to unclog my shower drain (gross), then slept.

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Tuesday I got up at the usual time and had breakfast, and before lunch decided to hit an Asian grocery I'd discovered nearby. I don't need anything but love to look, and of course you always find a FEW things to try!

( CLICK HERE for Asian Grocery Adventures )

In the evening, off to the theatre for sound check.
This is an Orpheum, and like most 1920s "palaces" it is ornate and extravagant.

(photo courtesy Operaomaha.com)

The sound check went well, I ate a packed dinner and was glad for it because the sound check had been long and everyone else had to go running around in the cold to find food, or order delivery. No thanks!

The show went well. It is so interesting to play this show without in-ears, and have to adjust your hearing and how you play so drastically for each venue based on how things are sounding. That's probably a good skill but eh, you do what you gotta do!

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Wednesday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, so I resolved to take myself to the Omaha Zoo!
But first, since I'd be doing a lot of walking, I wanted to have a good lunch.
So I went to Kinaara because they're the top-rated Indian restaurant in Omaha, and they offer a sampler platter on Wednesdays and Thursdays!

This is called Thali. It's a traditional sort of "sampler plate", and in this case it contains seven small dishes with three proteins, two vegetables, one dal, and one dessert.


Do I know what everything was? Nope.
Was it all flavorful, delicious, and fun to eat? Yes!

I recognized tandoori chicken, butter chicken, and naan and basmati rice of course. There was also what seemed to be fried okra (found out later that this is called bhindi masala) and a sweet yellow curried chicken of some sort that were both my favorites of the day. There was a kidney bean dish that was good but I couldn't eat a lot of it because it was intensely spicy, and I DO have to play a show tonight lol. And the white stuff was dessert, a rice pudding that was super thin (I guess that's how it's done in India) but very good, I could definitely taste cardamom strongly and loved it very much.

The smaller dishes held a green relish/chutney that was tangy and refreshing, and a yogurt dip.
The crispy chips were good, I was surprised by the shell-shaped chip as it had a briny fishy taste!

Everything was incredible. I ate about half and packed the rest up for another day (YES awesome leftovers!!) then dropped it off at the hotel and headed to the Omaha Zoo!

TL;DR, here's a compilation of videos that doesn't include any of the photos that I took (CLICK HERE to watch)

The dome, which dominates the zoo landscape:


This is one of the top rated zoos in the country. Their exhibits are unlike anything I've ever seen!
The big dome is a desert habitat on top, with a nocturnal habitat and full-on swamp on the bottom levels.

Some desert animals:



On the lower level, here are the cave and swamp habitats. Incredible, and huge.


There were LOTS of bats! So cool to see! So awful to smell! Lol (see video above)
I kind of zipped through the swamp portion because it was mostly alligators and turtles, which I can see just about any time in Florida :p Next was the African area, and I didn't expect much because even 50° is cold for African mammals, but to my surprise you could still view most of the animals indoors too! So I popped in and out to catch as many as I could! (See video above the cut for the elephants and rhino)


It was incredibly empty, so I enjoyed not having to mask and watching the animals go about their business in peace, without kids banging on the glass or shrieking. This time of year must be a pleasant break for the zoo. And for me, it just felt...special.

All of the walkways were decorated for Christmas, and I could tell that at night it must be a lot of fun to see everything all lit up! I didn't take a lot of pics of the decor, but here's a news segment on the "Zoolightful" event (new this year.)


Please see the compilation video to see flying fox bats, elephants, and some REALLY great gorilla footage!
I didn't get to see the big cats (they likely weren't out anyway) or the insect building (because there WERE school groups in there) but covered a lot of ground and definitely had a very fun day of animal-watching!

Back at the hotel I rested a bit and worked out some kinks with my sub trombonist's hotel room, then got dressed and went to the theatre for work. The show went just fine.

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On Thursday I will likely mostly rest, do a little holiday planning and shopping, and go for a walk at some point if the weather is nice. Friday I'll have to do laundry, and will explore more as I can and as energy allows.

Once my sub gets here, things will be a bit stressful for me until I'm sure he'll be all right and everyone's happy with him.

A last thought to throw in: as my 40th birthday approaches, I kind of look back on all of the crazy, beautiful, stressful, expensive things that I get to do, and am amazed. Who gets to have a day, like I had today? And then look forward to MORE?

Honestly. Sometimes...it makes me feel both smaller and larger at the same time.