Corpus Christi and a visit from Mickey!!!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

After high tailing it through California and Nevada we were all in some serious need of some R and R!  The group was split into two and fortunately for me I was in the first group which meant that I would get to Corpus Christi first and get to see Mick sooner! We had planned on him coming to Corpus when I was first offered the gig as we had 5 days there with only 1 show.  Unfortunately we waited a little to long to get the ticket but using Priceline got a decent rate on a ticket for him from Chicago. He actually arrived a few hours before me but was able to check into the hotel and check out the area.  We flew from LAX to Dallas//Ft. Worth (we'd just been there remember!) and then connected to San Antonio where we picked up a bus and drove the 2 hours to Corpus. Pretty much everyone laid low that first night.  Mick and I ordered a pizza and watched TV....other's in our group locked themselves in their rooms and just enjoyed some peace and quite!

Corpus is a beautiful area there but the hotel somewhat over exaggerated what their location had to offer...we learned rather quickly that if we were going to have any fun or do anything we were going to have to rent a car...apparently the rest of the orchestra also had the same epiphany...we were lucky enough to snag the last car off of the car rental lot that was within walking distance of the hotel.  It was also almost in the 100's, walking to and from the car rental place (though it was only a few blocks) just about killed us!  Having a car at our disposal was one of the most liberating things we could have done.  We quickly grabbed all my friends and went to the mall, the grocery store and Target...we just walked up and down the aisles like lost puppies staring at everything.  I am sure this must sound weird but when you don't get to "shop" for a month you'll know what I mean! The girl from the car rental place recommended a place for us to eat dinner on North Padre Island.  The island sits off the bay from Corpus Christi and the beaches there are right on the sea.  Pelican Landing was suppose to be great but the food was crap...I didn't even finish all mine and the prices were high.  Shawna got food poisoning and ...well...we learned to follow our nose when it comes to restaurants (it sort of smelled funny when we walked in!).  By Wednesday I just didn't even know where the week was going.  We went back out shopping.  Before I left on tour I thought about getting some of the Bose Noise Cancelling headphones.  At Mick's insistence we went to Best Buy and got me a pair (and I can say now 2 months into the tour, I know I am WAY behind on this blog, it's probably the best investment I could have made...) That afternoon Mick's and my good friend, Sissy (aka Melissa Crews) drove down from San Antonio and visited with us for a while.  We drove back out to Padre Island and Mick went swimming in the ocean while Sissy and I caught up on each other's lives.  I have never been to a beach where you can just drive up on to it and park right where you are swimming! It was pretty cool except that our little rental Hyundai got stuck...but no worries a few pushes and we got her out...I mean we know to get out of snow berms...that night in an effort to erase the previous nights dinner debacle we just went across the street to Joe's Crab Shack.  It was decent.  I don't remember ever having crab before so it was pretty fun watching each other tear into the buckets of meat. 

Thursday was show day.  We only had one so that was nice.  I was so excited for Mick to see the show.  He met me after sound check and we toured the Star Wars "museum" we travel with and then I took him back stage to eat some dinner.  As I have mentioned before on show days we get a catered dinner.  We travel with our own catering company.  That night's meal was especially delicious because it was fresh red snapper caught by members of our orchestra! A bunch of guys went out during the week and fished.  The snapper was great and it was nice to be able to share the dinner experience with Mick.  The show was great and Mick was able to get some great shots of me and all my friends when we were up on the big screen as well as video the opening and closing numbers.  I am so excited to play when I know someone in the audience!

Friday was our last day of "vacation".  The week went by so darn quickly! We wanted to go swimming but didn't want to spend the whole day in car getting to the ocean so we decided to try a beach on the Corpus Christi Bay recommended to us by a fellow orchestra member.  Shawna and Neil (percussionist from Boston) came along for the ride.  The beach was relatively quiet and we enjoyed just sitting in the water talking.  We saw fish jumping up out of the water all around us and then Shawna said, "ow...I think something just bit me!"  I started to swim over to where she was when I felt this...substance...wash over the left side on my body...my leg...my arm and then I felt it get tangled for a second in my hair and wash over my back...a few seconds later I was in serious pain as apparently I had been stung by a jellyfish.  I think I handled it pretty well...Mick and Neil walked me back to shore where a woman on the beach who heard me cry came over...as she was telling me the usual..."you don't want to hear this but pee helps" Neil was getting ready to do the deed...there are so many things wrong with this picture on so many levels and while I absolutlely appreciate his willingness to put me out of my misery if anyone was going to do that it was going to be Mick! But alas...I just muscled through the pain...we pulled some jellyfish tentacles off both Shawna and I and decided to call it a day at the beach.  Funny enough Shawna was only stung in one place..between her ring finger and her pinky...I on the other hand was stung all over the left side of my body in one of the worst jellyfish stings some people have seen...it was an experience I will never forget that is for sure!

All in all Corpus was fun but only because Mick was there.  It's hard to be away but I think it's harder for all of our spouses/signifiacnt others to be at home alone.  We've made friends here and there is almost always something to do or someone to talk to...for better or worse. 

That far south we found "Mexican" Coca Cola...made with real sugar.

Tim mimicking a statue who is hunched over

Tim and Shawna at Joe's Crab Shack

Joe's Crab Shack

Let's get CRACKIN'!!!

Tim and Shawna...and a HUGE piece of chocolate cake.

Darth....

Me and C3PO

Red Snapper, caught by members of the orchestra!

Me on the big screen! Taken by Mick from the audience.

Mick meeting his idol.

Executive Surf Club.

My arm after the jellyfish incident.

Shows to date: 16

Number of hotels stayed to date: 15

Best hotel to date: Omni Hotel, Ft. Worth TX (though the Embassy Suites in SD Bay had the best view!)

Miles traveled to date: 7,019

San Diego - Vegas - Ontario (5 shows in 72 hours..)

 Sororo Cactus

The next leg of our trip took us from Tucson to San Diego, we were fortunate enough to have a nice hotel (Embassy Suites) right off of the port and we got to stay for TWO nights in a row! Being able to pull things out of your bag and not have to think about repacking it the next morning is an amazing feeling. My room had a balcony that looked out into the port and *sigh* I just love Southern California…I really felt like I was in heaven…I think it even smells good out there! We pulled in around 4 and we had the night off so our regular group of criminals headed out to the hip part of town known as the Gas Lamp District. It’s a lot like “Boys Town” or “Wrigleyville” in Chicago. Great shopping and food eateries. After walking around a bit we decided to have a nice dinner outside at the Urban Kitchen. I had pasta with Shrimp and Artichokes..it was like to die for…we all took pictures with our food. It was a bit of a splurge but sitting down to a nice, relaxing dinner had it’s regenerative qualities as well…it’s definitely good for the traveling soul! After dinner we headed to Ghirardelli’s Chocolate where Shay imbibed on a Sundae and Tim and I got some hot chocolate…from there we hopped across the street to a Mexican place where Shay and Tim tried Tequilas and young Chris (21) and I choose the “Purple Haze” Margaritas. I got mine on the rocks (the only way) and Chris got his blended…mine was definitely the better of the two ;) We took our time meandering back to the hotel and I just took in all the sights and smells…as I mentioned before I love So Cal…for me there is something sooo relaxing about it. The next day we had a show in the evening but we had the morning free so Shay, Shawna and I headed out to do some shopping at “Old Town” a Tijuana like place in San Diego, where you can get Mexican wares and shop. After we mailed some of Shawna’s stuff back home (she was getting over weight on her baggage) we hit up the train/trolley to get to Old Town. It was pretty cool…the best shop in my opinion was a tin shop. Where they made all sorts of things out of tin, the best was the HUGE chandelier that hung in the doorway…I think they said it was about $250. If I could have fit it in my bag I would have left with it! An old BU friend of Shay’s (He was a freshman I think when we were seniors at Bu), Gregg, met up with us at Old Town and Graciously offered to drive us over to Balboa park. This place was huge and Gregg told us that the San Diego Symphony (of which he is Principal Percussion) plays some of their summer season out there. We just missed seeing the largest our door organ, but we did get to see the Coy pond and the famous rose gardens. After we left the park we went searching for food. Gregg suggested a Mexican place (Pokeeze) near where the orchestra rehearses…It was interesting…Shawna and I both had to use the restroom and to get to it you had to walk thru the actual kitchen…putting our worries aside about the cleaniness of the place we ordered and to our delight is was pretty delicious. I do think however that Amigo Chinos near our house in Chicago is the best..cheapest too…but..I digress. After lunch Gregg dropped us off near the hotel at San Diego’s “Seaside Village”. There was a walkway along the port and we grabbed some ice cream and strolled along the walk. It’s pretty touristy but the views were spectacular and people in the distance were flying these giant kites. There was this cool place too where someone had stacked rocks up and they sat there perfectly still…with no glue…I don’t know why but it fascinated me! The show that night was one of the best. The audience was full and loud…just the way we like it. After the show there was a bit of drama…you see every night while we are playing the second half of the show we get the next day’s day sheet. This sheet has all the information and times for the next day. Often there are also notes and reminders at the bottom…in San Diego we all returned to the dressing rooms to find out that we were going to have to put on of our bags (we were allowed two) on the truck in Vegas and we wouldn’t see it again until at the concert in Corpus Christi. This sucked for several reasons…first of all our contract states we can have two checked bags, secondly, we weren’t going to have access to these bags for almost a week and thirdly we didn’t find out until less than 24hours before we were going to have to hand it over…I was pretty tired from the first couple of weeks and now I knew I would really have to do my laundry ….in addition an old friend from Elementary School lived in the area and through the magic of face book we were able to set up a time to meet for a drink…needless to say it was a long night. I have known Lisa since I was a 5th grader at Gladys Wood Elementary and the last time we saw each other was at our high school graduation from AJ Dimond High School in 1995...She drove over to the hotel after the concert and we had a drink in the restaurant…before we knew it it was after midnight and she had to get up early the next morning (she’s a surgeon) and I still had to do my laundry and pack my second bag that I wouldn’t see for a week…all in all San Diego was good to us…I wanted to see as much as possible so sleep was not a top priority…something that would come to bite me in the but by the next week.

Different scenery as seen from the bus, enroute to San Diego

Wind Farms

My pasta dish from the Urban Kitchen...delish!

Tim bought Shawna a rose...too bad she's already taken ;)

Young Christopher with his dish.

Shay and Shawna on the San Diego transit train.

Church in the middle of old town market.

Old Town Market.

I love stuff like this!

Me and elementary school friend Lisa.

Fajitas from Pokez.

Early…and I mean early the next morning we left for Vegas. The drive was pleasant though since it was Memorial Day weekend traffic was heavy. I have wanted to go to Vegas for as long as I can remember. Mick was a little worried about me going seeing as I have a weird love for the slot machines. I love the action of pulling the handle down. Lucky for us both most machines are all electronic and therefore were not as interesting to me as I would have hoped. We stayed and played at the New Orleans Hotel, a creole - Louisiana style hotel just across the highway from the strip. Other than the main “strip” there is not much to Vegas and the to be honest there is a depressing air about the whole town. After we played our show, even though we were dog tired, the usual suspects grabbed a shuttle to the end of the strip…I mean I couldn’t come all that way and NOT see it or throw a few bucks into the slots… I am glad I did this, because I now have absolutely no desire to ever return. Memorial weekend is the busiest weekend for Vegas…It took us over an hour to walk up half of the strip. We did see the Bellagio and caught part of their famous waterfall show…that was pretty cool…another old Alaska friend, Kevin, now lives and works as a musician/bartender on the strip so we met up with him at the Monte Carlo (he works at the Excalibur). While others in our group headed back to the hotel, Kevin, Shawna and I went to a club to catch part of a show of a friend of Kevin’s and then we gambled a bit. We saw Star Wars themed slots so we had to take our picture in front of them…lost some money in the slots…and called it a night. Vegas sure is glitzy, but I can’t imagine spending any more time there than I did…but hey, I can legitimately say I’ve played Vegas…that’s something ;)

Lunch stop in the Mohave Desert I think...a lizard ran across my feet at this stop!

New York New York.

Me in front of the Bellagio.

Me and Kevin inside the Monte Carlo!

Me and Shawna playing the R2D2 slots.

Promotion is everything ;)

The next day we headed back to California to play a show in Ontario. I don’t remember much of these shows…by this point we were all looking forward to a week “off” in Corpus Christi, TX…in the past four days we had  played 5 shows and traveled almost 1000 miles. I will mention that I was suppose to meet up with Rich a trumpet player and friend from BU at the hotel after the concert but for whatever reason he stood me up…which didn’t make me happy seeing as how we had to get up at 4 am to catch the bus to the airport…I was not a happy camper…good thing my “vacation” was only a few more hours away…

Shows to date: 15
Number of hotels stayed to date: 14
Best hotel to date: Omni Hotel, Ft. Worth TX (though the Embassy Suites in SD Bay had the best view!)
Miles traveled to date: 5,521

El Paso (Juarez) and Tucson

Statue outside the art museum (I think) in downtown El Paso, TX

I was so excited to go to El Paso.  I actually have several friends in Chicago who grew up there and as chance would have it my Uber friend, Anna, was going to be in town the same day we were!  The day we arrived we didn’t have any time to explore.  We barely had to time to shower, and get back downstairs to ride the bus to the venue.  To date this was the BEST crowd we have had.  The arena was a little smaller than others that we have been in and the floor seats were much closer.  As a performer, who is tired…it is AMAZING to feel the energy from an inspired crowd.  They  went nuts for Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) as well!  After the concert Anna came to the El Camino Real (our hotel) to join us for a drink.  It was so weird to see her there and I am sure a little weirder for her to see ME there! That hotel is where she had her prom, parties, weddings, etc.  She explained that the Tiffany Glass ceiling in the bar is the “famous” glass that Poncho Vita shot a bullet through.  While at the bar a few Star Wars in Concert groupies arrived.  They were in the choir in El Paso and wanted to take us all out to another bar that they were going to have opened “special” for us.  Us ladies declined though a few of the guys took them up on the offer…the next day we were to head for Tucson but I really wanted to explore El Paso and walk to the border.  El Paso sits on the US/Mexican border.  Shawna and I got up early to deposit our first checks from the tour and grab a bite.  I was warned by Anna that Juarez is very unstable right now, they have the highest murder rate in the world right now.  I guess they are dealing with gangster like shootings…so we did not venture past the border.  The actual fence and check point was about 5 blocks from our hotel.  Shawna and I walked all through the border area and to be honest did get a little weirded out.  Within two blocks from the hotel it felt like we were already in Mexico (we are headed there later in the tour).  There were various stands and shops…and very little English! Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much of El Paso.  Downtown seemed to be shut down and there was very little within actual walking distance.

On the way to the border...all the stores put their pants on display with the butt out...

Time to head out! Shawna and Mikey.

Tiffany ceiling that was shot at.

All three of our buses we traveled with on the first part of the tour.

Judy (our resident Mom) found these at the Walgreen's...well duh we HAD to get them!!

On the way to Tuscon we stopped in the middle of nowhere to refuel and grab lunch.  Tired of Subway I followed some friends into a small bbq place.  I always feel like when we stop at these places we leave a trail of destruction…and money…our perdiem is given to us in $50 bills…so when we hit places like this it’s eat or be eaten when it comes to getting in line first so you can get change! This place was nice, pretty decent food and clean.

The border.  We drove along it all the way to California.  There were several random check point we had to go through.

Angel...breaking the BBQ owner's kids' toys...can't take him anywhere ;)

 We didn’t have much time in Tucson either! It was really really hot there…probably the hottest area to date.  I had an awesome view of the mountains (haven’t seen any of those in a while, though they pale in comparison to home) and a wonderful view of brightly colored houses.  The hotel was not the best…I am not sure my towels were clean.  The concert was okay.  I think we were all pretty tired by the time we hit Tucson.  Most of us hit the bar right after the concert and I was already looking forward to getting to San Diego…where we would be in the same hotel for TWO consecutive nights…the last time that happened was when we were in Orlando.

View from my Tucson hotel room.  Love the colors of the apartments!

Shows to date: 10

Number of hotels stayed to date: 11

Best hotel to date: Omni Hotel, Fort Worth TX

Miles traveled to date:4,557 miles

Ft. Worth and Midland

After we left Wichita we headed for El Paso, via Fort. Worth and Midland Texas. What I love about this tour is that I am getting paid to visit places I would never have chosen to visit on my own. It’s great because I get to discover awesome places and make a mental list of cool vacay spots for Mick and me! I also get to visit places I’ve wanted to go to for years and sometimes once I’m there I realize I wouldn’t want to go back!! We arrived in Ft. Worth at the Omni Hotel in the afternoon and a friend of mine from Chicago who has since moved to Ft. Worth met me at the hotel. Mark graciously picked me and three of my girlfriends on the tour up and took us to the “Stockyards” for some southern sightseeing. The Stockyard is a tourist trap but a pretty cool one. We got there just before shops started to close but we did manage to get to a hat place and buy some cool cowgirl hats! When we were looking at hats I saw a mechanical bull and I instantly wanted to try to ride it…fortunately for me my friends were wise enough to convince me now was not the time…if I had hit my face it could have been bad!!!! So we instead opted to try and see bull riding…we were directed to Billy Bob’s Honky-tonk Bar…I guess it’s famous. It’s supposed to be the largest honky-tonk bar in the country, maybe even the world…when you enter their walls are covered with concrete imprints of various musical artist hands and feet…think the Mann’s Chinese Theater only it’s on the walls. The main part of the bar hosted dance lessons. In lieu of a disco ball there was a bedazzled saddle. We all grabbed a beer and started to explore. There was an area where you could take your picture on a fake bucking bull. I REALLY wanted to get on a picture with a bull and had the other girls at one point convinced that $30 split 4 ways was a good deal for a picture with this stuffed beast…but we did end up passing on it…we found the actual bull riding ring where a passerby offered to take all 5 of our picture and I ran into an old friend from Alaska, a stuffed grizzly bear. Once the awe of the world’s largest honky-tonk bar wore off we were pretty hungry so we ventured back out to the stock yards to find a place to eat. On our way to the car we saw a man with a LIVE bull in the street and low jumped at the opportunity to take our pictures with it! Both Colleen and Shawna borrowed my new hat to take some “glamour” cowgirl shots, then all four of us gathered around the Longhorn while Mark and the bulls owner snapped shots of us…it was so awesome and almost everyone whoa has seen the photos asks…this wasn’t real was it? So cool! Mark ended up taking us back downtown where we ate at a Cajun place called Razoos…I had shrimp but two of the girls got Alligator…it was decent. We ended the night walking through Ft. Worth and even walked by their concert hall which is adorned beautifully with large…I mean LARGE heralding trumpeting angel relief’s. It was a great day in Ft. Worth and I would def go back. That night was so pleasant. The Omni hotel was amazing, and I actually was able to get a conference room to practice in. It was so refreshing to play with out a mute and with out a million people around. I find a good practice session on the road does as much for my mental attitude and outlook as a clean hotel room and a good nights sleep. 

Mark trying out some camo cowbiy hats..

Didn't take long for me to find the jail...

So cool! This guys was just throwing this rope around.  

Shawna, Colleen, Mark, Me, and Shay.

Some love for a fellow Alaskan...

I lassoed my own pony...really..I had to muscle this machine around so I could sit on the white horse!

The next morning we were all milling around getting ready to check out when Joe H. (who always knows where all the cool shit is) told me about the famous, Ft. Worth water park and that it was right across the street from the hotel. Shay and I decided to grab a quick bite and then head to the park for a look before the busses took off. The park was AMAZING!!! It’s made for you to loose your self , almost in a Zen like state in various water states. There was a “mountain” a “river”…etc…I got so caught up in taking my own photo that I almost died when I started to walk off the stair the wrong way. There are no safety rails and I heard that a few years ago several children died when one fell in and others jumped in to try and save them.

I almost died after taking this photo because I wasn't paying attention...typical Jo.

Me and Shay on our way down.

Shay at the Water Park.

Driving to Midland was interesting. I felt like I was in the Grapes of Wrath at one point. There were shacks as houses outside of Midland. It just looked really run down and low income…but a different kind of low income living compared to what I see in Chicago. There was pretty much nothing to do in Midland, especially since we were leaving early the next morning to get to El Paso

Shows to date: 8

Number of hotels stayed to date:11

Best hotel to date: Omni Hotel, Ft. Worth TX

Miles traveled to date: 4,257 miles