An Explanation

So I was going to come on and do my FINAL entry of the three-part-series I promised earlier. BUT today, somewhere in the middle of Illinois or Indiana...I decided that I had a PRETTY good explanation I could put up to explain WHY I wasn't doing that entry tonight. It is a PICTURE EXPLANATION...and it's an explanation that started on Saturday morning, December 16th at 10:00am PST. It's also an explanation that isn't going to END until tomorrow, Thursday evening, December 21st around 4pm EST or so. So yeah...it's a PRETTY long explanation. But I think once you see it, you'll understand. And you'll wait patiently for the REST of the story when it shows up.

Here is the key:

A. Leave Kirkland (Seattle), WA on Saturday @10am. Arrive Mountain Home, ID.

B. Leave Moutain Home, ID on Sunday, December 17th. Arrive Rock Springs, WY.

C. Leave Rock Springs, WY on Monday, December 18th. Arrive Kearney, NE.

D. Leave Kearney, NE on Tuesday, December 19th. Arrive Moline, IL.

E. Leave Moline, IL on Wednesday, December 20th. Arrive Statesboro, OH.

F. Leave Statesboro, OH on Thursday, December 21st. Arrive WASHINGTON DC!

G. WONKA OPENS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23rd @ THE KENNEDY CENTER!

Thanks for understanding....and HAPPY HOLIDAYS from GoGloop!

G

Washington Is For Friends

Our actual SHOW SCHEDULE in Washington is a complete BLUR to me. Once I was back from Vancouver, we jumped into shows in Bellingham (2 shows), and then Everett (8 shows) and then a drive across the state to Pullman (1 show) and then a drive clear BACK to the Eastern side of the state for 5 more shows in Kirkland! Bellingham, Everett and Pullman all had their own little experiences...and Kirkland is a story for another day.
The real fun of being in the Everett area was when my good friend, Josh Campbell, came to visit from Boise. Josh is currently a big star on Holland America Cruise ships - singing in the shows on board a number of their different ships. But luckily, our schedules KIND of crossed and KIND of put us in the same area of the country...so he hopped over to Seattle and we got to spend some time together catching up. Josh and I have been friends since we did this quirky little musical in Boise back in 1998 or something like that. We INITALLY had our differences, mainly because he hated me, but we got over it and became fast friends. It was great to have Josh in Seattle and I'm glad he got to see Wonka...3 TIMES! It was so funny hanging out with you, it made me think that we should PROBABLY write movies...just because we're so funny.
When we weren't at the theater for Wonka, we were kicking around the greater Seattle area, eating, sight-seeing, shopping and having fun! Josh spends a lot of time in port in the Seattle area, so he had a chance to show us some of his favorite areas. We had Roe, Rachel and Eric along for the fun - and we did a mad-dash through the Seattle area seeing the highlights and laughing a lot. We did the Space Needle, Unversity Place Shopping Center, Pacific Place Mall, Capitol Hill District, a drive by of Pikes Market (closed after 5pm on Sundays), and ate a lot of delicious food all along the way!
In the end, I have to give a HUGE shout-out to Josh. Thanks for coming - thanks for dealing with the zaniness of Wonka - and thanks for the INTENSE amounts of laughter. I mean HONESTLY...it was a blast. You're welcome anytime you want - and next time, if you plan it RIGHT, we can probably get YOU in a costume and have you go on as Violet, should the need arise. You've got the skill...and I'm pretty sure the 'magic' blueberry would fit!
Best of luck on the new ship, JOSH! BON VOYAGE!
Word.
G

Not quite sure why I took a picture of the venue in Bellingham and no where else...BUT...I did. And here it is.

Bellingham, WA is a city of REALLY strange murals. This one, if you make it large, is a multi-color block painting of the last supper. Just in a random parking lot across from the theater. Weird.

Thanks to Sound Man Mike, I found THIS mural....claiming that Bellingham is, you read that right, the 'City of Subdued Excitement.' HAHAHAHA. I'm moving there IMMEDIATELY!

Um, I think this is a museum or city hall or something. But to me, for some reason, when I see it, the theme song of The Office starts to play in my mind for some reason.

So Josh gets to town...and why NOT have his hair colored in my hotel room by Roe? Everett is JUST that exciting!

Josh gets an art shot at the Apple Store in Seattle.

Mean while, Rachel and Roe turn the CANDYMAN! video on in the store, set the volume to HIGH, and then high-tail it out of the store. A good time was had by all, as we walked off and heard the music blaring. WE GOT YOU, APPLE STORE!

L: Roe, Rachel and Eric when we arrived at the Space Needle. R: My art shot of the Space Needle. (I LOVE this picture!)

L: Josh and I show off our Space Needle tickets. LOOK at that excitement! R: Wonkerers waiting for the elevator UP!

Seattle from the TOP!

FRIENDS AT THE TOP! We've arrived!

We got stuck in some PRETTY brutal traffic, so to pass the time, everyone sang along to something on the radio or iPod...or in our heads. Regardless, we found ways to pass the time.

Rachel and Roe, going STIR CRAZY in the back seat.

And then, MY LIFE CHANGED. Thanks to my friend Brandon Christensen, I was led to the magical Mocha Cafe in Capitol Hill called Dilettante. And while there, I was served up the most amazing cup of hot chocolate I've ever had. It's called ephemere hot chocolate - and TRUST ME, it has the ability to change lives. Just be warned.

Josh tries to figure out the "street art" in Capitol Hill...and dance a jig in the process.

Strike a pose if you had fun in SEATTLE with JOSH!

O Canada....

So after our time with George and Laura wrapped up, we were jetted back to the West Coast for our last 2 weeks of the Fall portion of our tour. And our last stop was Washington State! Since we were in Washington and I had a couple of days off, I took some free time to head NORTH to Canada...Vancouver, to be precise...to check the city out, hang out with my friend Darren, AND prepare myself for the 2010 Winter Games that will be held in Vancouver. (You can NEVER be TOO prepared for something like that....) I had heard a lot of great things about Vancouver, but it really takes a trip there to realize how great a city it is! And aside from the crazy money, the flashing green lights (I mean, WHAT is up with that?), and very few people ending sentences with the phrase, 'EH?', it was exactly like I thought it was going to be.

With both days I spent in Vancouver, I was able to just take in the highlights...in a mad dash around the city to see it all! I got to eat some amazing food...i.e. Vancouver has some crazy good Korean food...and check out the city and it's buildings and areas...and see where they are building the Olympic Village (hoping I'll be there with the 2010 US Curling Team....) and a ton of other things that make Vancouver worth visiting. (Do NOT miss the penny press machine at the IMAX Theater! Amazing.) It was also very fun to see Vancouver put on it's holiday best...and see the city full of holiday spirit.

In the end, it was a great couple of days away from the group...and to hang out with Darren. A HUGE thanks to him for being the tour guide while I was there. (I like to call him Tour Guide to the Children's Theater Star....but I don't think anyone besides me found it funny.) A huge thanks to Canada...for being up there and letting me back and forth across the border so easily. And finally, thanks to the gelatto store in Vancouver with 218 flavors...yes, 218! I didn't NEED to know what pear gorgonzola bleu cheese gelatto tastes like...but because of you, I do and always will.

I'll be seeing you again, True North...strong and free....

G

A couple of shots of the mountains around Vancouver. Pretty, eh?

After MUCH talk about the Mounties, and wondering if I'd ever see one, and being told probably not, I turned the corner and THERE he stood! Right in front of the Mountie Store!

This is a really cool statue I saw downtown Vancouver. It's in front of the train station...commemorating the people who built the Canadian railroad system. I think it's a beautiful statue...and I loved just standing, staring at the details of it.

I'm pretty sure Darren had never seen the statue...

Some of the sights of the city: Top L: The Steam Clock in the Gas Lamp Disctrict. (Gas Light? Hmmm...can't remember...) Top R: Just a cool building. Bottom: The peaks on the Cruise Ship Terminal in Vancouver.

Vancouver City Hall. To 2 flags on the ground, with no wind to show them, are Olympic flags! The one on the left was the Vancouver Games flag...and the one on the right was the flag with the Olympic Rings. Maybe the most excited i got the whole trip.

The magical Gelatto Shop with 218 flavors! I enjoyed a scoop of Pumpkin and a scoop of Praline. Darren enjoyed...um....something I don't remember.

This one is for Katie McManus. We went to a place in Vancouver called Death By Chocolate and they had a dessert that made me think of Katie called 'The Dessert Formerly Known As Prince." Pretty funny right? I didn't order the dessert...but I did get one of the chocolate Prince symbols they put on the dessert...to take these pictures for Katie. And then Mike, our sound guy, ate the symbol. Meanwhile, Darren happily approved of his chocolate dessert...that i don't remember what it was.

I, on the other hand, went to Death By Chocolate and got cheesecake that had NOTHING to do with chocolate. I got a piece of Maui-Wowee Cheesecake...and it was pretty delicious. There was a shortbread crust, a layer of cheesecake, a layer of coconut, pineapple and whipped cream and it all worked together pretty well. I would end up giving it a high 7 on the MASE. My only real problem was that it was the end of the day, and it kind of had that 'been out all day' dryness to it. But I ate it anyway. HA.

I walked by a bakery that gave me an idea for Eric's birthday cake...so i had to snap a quick picture.

OK...not that we ate the ENTIRE time I was in Vancouver...but...close. This was a little cupcake shop somewhere in Vancouver called CUPCAKE - and they have 16 kinds of amazing cupcakes. So i bought a dozen and brought them back South of the Border for the cast and crew! And they were a HUGE hit.

So. check out this little car I saw parked on the street.

So yeah...check out the lights on a hospital right downtown Vancouver. And the pictures don't even tell the FULL story of it all. I mean LOTS of lights.

THE FOLLOWING SECTION MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR SOME READERS....

So PEOPLE...riddle me THIS! What do THESE 3 window box displays have to do with an OPTOMETRISTS OFFICE? Yeah - you heard me right....walking by an Optometrists Office, I glance to my right, and what do I see but these 3 'WINDOW STORIES'. And the ONLY way you'd know it was an optometrists office at first is the RANDOM pairs of glasses in the individual scenes. I mean....WOW. and double WOW!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming....

So one night, Darren decided to bust out his tree and get it up - and I sat and watched TV and coached on the placing of various ornaments and lights. I'm best when I'm supervising, or as I like to call it, 'coaching.'

The finished product...albeit blurry. But finished....

Various ART SHOTS of 'The Tree'.

My B&W Panoramic of Vancouver.