V. Sattui Winery

doin' a little wine tastin'

gotta taste wine with the irish lass, she knows her stuff

there were flowers everywhere

We made it up the mountain, thanks to Patrick's driving skills...and this is a view of the valley from the Cain estate...

the life of a winemaker...

our own private wine tasting...who ARE we?

it takes a lot of grapes to make wine...

Napa, CA

Yesterday was a day that will never happen again...we will never have that day or those experiences again!!! (That's for you Patty)

We took a day trip to the beautiful Napa Valley...about an hour and a half from our Davis hotel. Shannon has friends that work for wineries; V. Sattui and Cain. We stopped at the beautiful V. Sattui first, and had a complimentary wine tasting experience there. The wine here is, needless to say, delicious. We had a lovely lunch outside...I had pesto pasta and broccolli and almond salad (thank goodness for cali food). It was a sunny 80 degrees at least, and I was very happy sitting in the sun for a while while everyone finished their lunch.

Then we all got back in the Ford and headed to Cain...it was 30 minutes up the mountain. A windy and trecherous path for a 15 passenger van full of people, but a very scenic drive as we got higher and higher into the skies of California. When we reached the top, we could overlook the whole valley, and it was glorious. Shannon's friend Stacy works at Cain and she gave us a tour of the property. This included all the equipment that stores grapes, presses grapes, stores the wine, and bottles the wine. They bottle about 23,000 cases a year (a very small amount, Stacy says, in comparison to other large wineries). Then we got a tour of the grounds, including the winemaker's house (well it's really the owners' house but they let the winemaker live there during the year...what a job!) . This estate had a pool overlooking the valley (see above pic). Then we went back to the cellar for a private wine tasting of their $150+ per bottle wines. What a treat. Thank you, Shannon!!!!

On our way back down the mountain we all began smelling some sort of burning/electrical smell (never a good sign!)..so we pulled over and popped the hood. Yep, definitely coming from the hood! So our hour and a half trip back was sans air conditioning, but positive attitudes were maintained (hey, guys, we'll never have another day like this all together like this ever again!...thanks patty... :).

Last night we ate at Remrum Burgers (redrum, redrum) and watched a movie. Today is errands day...nothing too exciting!

Tomorrow...San Fran!

this picture captures about 50% of the beauty of the sky in Utah...multiply it by 2 please!

Utah rest stops are dangerous...

This kitties were at the gas station in Battle Mountain! We are the animal tour...

The drive to cali

"Welcome to California"

Lake Tahoe

my tummy was finally happy with this good california food

so happy in water

Lake Tahoe

Battle Mountain, Nevada....and the drive to Cali

Due to lack of internet in my room last night...I'm a tad behind on the blog...sorry bout that! And I also think I lost the cord that connects my camera to my computer...but Mike Buchman saved the day and lent me one of his (thanks Mike!!!).

So...let's go back a bit...on Tuesday morning we left Wyoming and ventured on. We drove through the beautiful state of Utah to reach our destination of Battle Mountain, Nevada. I feel like a broken record, but what a stunning drive. Utah is very unique, and Salt Lake is quite beautiful. We reached our little Comfort Inn in Battle Mountain, surrounded by majestic mountains and wide open spaces. It was a quiet night in Nevada (a little guitar playing, a little phone time...)

The next morning we departed for our final destination of Davis, California. This drive was by far the best so far. As we entered California, the mountains on either side of the highway began to show signs of life...green grass, tall, regal pine trees, and water...oh, the water. Streams, brooks, creeks, all adorned with large smooth stones in every shade of gray and black. The water was alive and on a race to get back to the it's Pacific home. The highway was very windy and hilly...this wasn't the straight, flat, easy I-80 we were used to.

Our van decided to take a little 13 mile detour off I-80 and stop at Lake Tahoe for lunch. Just typing about it makes me happy! What a beautiful place. We ate sumptuous salads and sandwiches overlooking the lake. Words can't describe how content I was to finally be around water again (so let the pictures do the talking...see above) and to eat wholesome, fresh food that wasn't deep fried. After lunch we ran down to the water...I can never be that close to water and not at least put my feet in it.

Alas, we had to leave...so sad...and continue our journey. About an hour down the road we hit our first traffic jam of the tour (welcome to california) but I was driving, so I had Jack Johnson and Norah Jones' soothing voices piping through the radio via my iPod...so all was well within the world that is our van.

We arrived at Davis, received our free cocktail coupons (we get two free drinks per day between 5 and 7...say what?) and settled in. We will be here for 6 whole days! Quite a luxury...Last night we ventured out a little into this college town, found an interesting bar, made a few new friends, and retired for the evening. Today we are off to Napa for some wine tastings! Shannon has a couple of friends that have the hook up with the vineyards...I believe one even owns his own...? I'll clarify in the next entry once I've experienced it all today. I've never done wine tasting before, so this should be wonderful.

Greetings from California, I think I've found my state.

Is it bad that I took this picture while driving?

Laramie, Wyoming

My new boots!

East Coast cowgirls.

East Coast cowboys...

The following pictures are of crazy hotel room fun...proceed at your own risk.

serenading patrick.

i love my gee-tar

patrick's walmart loafers

wyoming

wyoming

wyoming

Rock Springs, Wyoming

This morning a bunch of us met in the lobby of our western style Nebraskan Holiday Inn at 7:25am to take a trip "downtown" to the local fitness center that has an contract with the hotel. This "fitness center" consisted of two small rooms with a total of two treadmills, a set of weights, and a few other cardio machines. Hey, it was a definite improvement from the gym fitness rooms we had been using...at least there were weights!

We headed back to the hotel to shower and pack up before hitting the road for Wyoming. I drove the first leg of the trip. I-80 through Wyoming was wide and empty, the farmland of Nebraska turned into coarse tan colored grass and there were more horses and cattle roaming the land. The scenery also started to become more elevated, the roads curved, and there were mountains in the distant horizon. We stopped in Laramie, Wyoming for lunch, and then Ashley took over the driving. We arrived in Rock Springs, Wyoming at around 5:30. Jordan, Caitlin, Santi, Patick, Ashley and I took a walk to the local Western Wear store where I bought myself a pair of long awaited boots!!! I've been waiting to find a pair of "authentic" western boots...not the Steve Madden variety that are so stiff and painful and don't fit over my calves. They were the most comfortable boots I had ever tried on, and I was an easy sell. Jordan bought a belt buckle that says "Rodeo", and Patrick bought a belt as well.

Then we headed to...the local Walmart!!! Man, it's nice to have a constant in our travels (okay there's a little sarcasm there).

Other than that, it's been a slow night in Wyoming. While I type this blog, Jordan, Patrick, and I are playing Rummi on my bed (just for the record, I'm kicking their butts :)..but it has yet to be seen who will reach 500 first.) The pictures above are evidence to what happens when we are bored and have only a guitar, a computer, and a camera to keep us entertained.

Tomorrow...Nevada.

Clark Kent, I mean Phillip, me, and Brad

Now that's love.

me and AJ (crazy kid)

Fall is on the way...feeling a little chilly in Ogallala (it's very fun to say...OOOOOgallala, ogAlala, Ogalalalalala)

A whole aisle devoted to various types of jerky. Need I say more?

Really, you may think this sign is a bit much...but after some of the bathrooms we've seen on I-80, we understand why this Shell station would want to brag about their (cl)assy bathrooms! (that reference was for you, Santi!)

Figures

Due to technical difficulties with the Ryder truck that transports all of our sets, we were forced to stay in Des Moines for an extra day rather than heading to Nebraska Saturday morning as planned.

We all met downstairs Saturday morning at 10am to take a trip over to Ryder to transfer the set from the old busted truck to the brand spankin' new 2005 truck (Mike is very happy!). This only took about an hour, and we were back home by around 12.

Days off are lazy days, and I napped and watched TV and played guitar...and napped some more.

Due to some very good fortune (and a little help from the JJP--thanks Jordan) I met some wonderful guys last night. And due to some even GREATER fortune, I was able to stick around one more night to hang out with them again! One, in particular, agreed to take me out for a night on the town in Des Moines (I swear I didn't even have to twist his arm!). Phillip was my escort for the evening, and what a wonderful evening it was. We went to Spaghetti Works for dinner (the large building displaying the SPAGHETTI WORKS sign is a fixture on downtown Des Moines' Court Avenue). I decided to go with the house specialty: spaghetti! The sauce was especially delicious...

Then we went to a great place called Gray's Lake Park, which Phillip had never even been to himself. It was so nice to be by water, and we even had a chance to swing on the swingset a little...it was a beautiful, cool evening in Iowa.

Next, we decided to meet up with the guys at a bar called Drink. Phillip said it was a pretty popular place in Des Moines, and he was right...when we walked in, the place was full of young people, loud voices and music, several bachelorette parties, and as I walked through the crowd I saw some familiar friendly faces from Oktoberfest the night before. There were AJ, Chris, and Jeremy...and Phillip's housemate Brad, and a few new guys. When Phillip ordered us two drinks at the bar and it came to $7.50 I was shocked...that's definitely the price of one drink, if you're lucky, in DC. Another point for Iowa! Drink was VERY fun (see, I told you I would like it...)

I feel so lucky to have experienced a night on the town with a true local (and I could definitely get used to the midwestern chivalry)...this East Coast girl had a ball. All I can say is..."goodness gracious", I love Iowa :). If this experience with such warm hospitality and generosity is a sign for things to come on this tour...I'm a very lucky girl.

We got on the van this morning and departed Des Moines at 10am en route to Nebraska. We drove clear across the corn-filled state (that is NOT just a stereotype...we're talking a lot of corn here) to nearly the state border...we are currently in a little town called Ogallala. The name Ogallala comes from the Dakota Sioux Indian tribe "Oglala" which means "to scatter one's own". This is a brief visit, and tomorrow we hit the road for Wyoming.

By the way, it's getting a little chilly all of a sudden. (See above pic of the hoodie crew). Hopefully in Cali it will be a little warmer...

I have to go tuck in Gilbert, Bertha, Mortimer, and Cleetus...

We adheared to the Oktoberfest credo.

Moria, me, Joe and Caitlin

Swing dancing with Shannon.

Great outfit.

Iowa Gentlemen. Back Row: Carl, Kurt, and Pete, Front Row: Randy, Chris, me, and Phillip

"I'm the best thing about Iowa!" --Carl (local community theatre actor extraordinaire)

Oktoberfest

I woke up yesterday to find a strange symbol on my cell phone, and it would neither turn on, nor get rid of this symbol...which is never a good sign. It had been acting funny for a while, and I knew this day would come. Thank goodness it was our day off and many of us decided to take a trip to the local mall for shopping and movie partaking.

I have now procured a new camera phone (to the tune of $270), but it is so much better than my old phone :). Make lemonade out of those lemons! I also bought a spiffy new watch (I realized when my phone died, that I should probably have another way to tell time other than my cell phone), and the crew and I caught a matinee of Tim Burton's CORPSE BRIDE. It was enjoyable, but a lot of the bits seemed to be stolen from Burton's earlier movie THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (one of my FAVORITES) and the music wasn't very good or consistant throughout...was it a musical? or did it just have a few songs? I was expecting more from Elfman, since his music and singing were amazing in NIGHTMARE. The best part of the movie, for me, was the previews...Harry Potter looks SOOOOO good, as does the new Wallace and Grommit movie! I've been watching Wallace and Grommit for years, and finally they have a feature film! Very exciting.

The best part of yesterday was Oktoberfest, an annual celebration in Des Moines. When we arrived at the main entrance, we could hear the distant sounds of a polka band being piped through the speakers. I quickly bought a beer ticket and skipped towards the "oom pa pa" coming from a near-by tent. I grabbed Patrick, and we spun around the dance floor with the other polka lovers (one man even had an Iowa Polka Club black satin jacket--Patrick was jealous). After our dance, I ventured through the crowd with Jordan to scope out the Iowans. We were taking a little survey for the blog: What do you like about Iowa? What is so great about it? We got a couple interesting answers...the prettiest women in the country, the nicest people, lots of corn...we met a group of wonderfully friendly Iowans (see pic above) who we stuck with the rest of the night. Thanks, guys...for a really fun night. Hope you get to check this!

When it was finally time to break the seal I headed indoors for the restroom to find (suprise, suprise) a very long line. My escort, Randy, was in and out, and I was still waiting in line. Another gentleman coming out of the men's room suggested, "why don't you use a Kybo? they're all empty." "Ky-what?" "She's not from Iowa is she..." Kybo is another name for a port-a-potty. I did use one, which was much preferable to waiting in line for 30 minutes. No one could tell me, however, where the name came from. I found this definition on Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia:

A kybo is a small building around a pit that is used as a toilet. Synonyms include outhouse, pit toilet, and privy. The word is popular within the Scout Movement in Canada and parts of the United States. The word is believed to have originated as an acronym for "Keep Your Bowels Open".
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kybo"

You learn something new everyday.

The coffee was cold, but the toast was delicious. Galesburg, IN.

Brooklyn, IA

Where are you supposed to swipe your credit card?

Des Moines, IA

We left Indianapolis 10am and hit the road for our trip to Des Moines, IA.

The trip was smooth, cows and farms as far as the eye could see...and around 2pm we finally decided to stop for lunch. We pulled off of 74 West into Galesburg, Iowa. After passing a Subway, McDonald's, and KFC, we decided to explore down the street a little and found a lovely ma and pa place, Four Star Family Restaurant. Jordan, Ashley, Caitlin and I enjoyed a homecooked lunch in this small town diner. The middle-aged waitress was jovial and smily, and when a tall, lean, wrinkled gentlemen entered shortly after we did, no words were exchanged as she walked up to his table, flipped over his mug and poured him a cup of his regular coffee. The decour included over-sized wooden forks and frosted mirrors hanging on the wall, and mauve and tan floral wall-paper. The "non-smoking" booths were located directly next to the smoking booths...and everyone else in the diner (all 5 of them) were indeed enjoying a smoke with their coffees.

After closing our small tabs, we hit the road again. A little later we stopped for gas in Brooklyn. Iowa, that is. "Brooklyn 80" made me smile (See pic above). I felt like I was at a museum, rather than a gas station, and shouldn't be allowed to touch the pump that looked as if it was older then me. I'm marveled by these new sights. Is this my own country? I feel like a foreigner exploring a distant land.

I am sitting in a Hampton Inn just outside Des Moines. There is an Oktoberfest going on in the city tomorrow, our day off...adventure awaits!

George gave us all a goodbye kiss. Yuck! And Double Yuck!!!! (As Alexander would say :) )

The best looking and most talented "Alexander" cast the KC has ever seen!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Nick Olcott, our sweet faced and kind hearted director.

Goodbye, Indianapolis!

We finished teching today at 4, and said goodbye to our lovely production members...Nick and George. They have been wonderful throughout this whole proccess...flexible, accepting, professional, insightful, caring, precise...all the things you would wish for in a director and music director. We came back to the hotel where I did my first load of laundry and spoke on the phone with special friends. Two things that make me feel renewed.

Then a couple of us met up for a Walmart trip (is this getting redundant? Seriously, Walmart has everything you need...I bought a "brunettes have more fun" t-shirt. A definite necessity.) And then the entire cast went out for dinner at Max and Erma's. I really enjoy these people's company. And it's a good thing, too.

10 out of 12

Actors speak about rehearsals in a specific type of jargon: 7 out of 8, straight 5, and the infamous 10 out of 12. This means we are working for 7 hours of an 8 hour day (with an hour break) and so on...the 10 out of 12 is reserved for "tech week". This is when we add all the technical elements like lights, sound (microphones), and move into a theater space as opposed to the rehearsal room that might have been used for rehearsals. We had our 10 out of 12 today, and it went super smoothly! Since this is the third remounting of this production, all the lighting cues had been set already, so we just had to run the show starting and stopping when we hit a place that needed fixing. Typically, there will be something called a "cue to cue" which is where you go through the show and run each individual lighting cue with the line right before it to make sure the people calling the show have everything squared away and the lights look good, are focused, are lighting the right parts of the stage, etc, etc. That is usually the tedious part of teching a show, but since our lighting cues were already perfected...today was pretty darn easy!

It was exhausting, however...as being on your feet and acting like a 6 year old for 10 hours can be. And we did a run of the show at 8:30pm...woo! After tech, Ashley, Patrick, and I went to the local Walmart (we're the hyper/adventurous types...Walmart here we come!) And when we presented our IDs to the cashier (someone actually checks IDs with credit cards? Weird midwestern custom...) we got the response "Oh, you're from Virginia? Hokies, ain't it? Bucaneers? Cavaliers?" I had to inform our cashier, Danny, that we were neither Hokies or Cavaliers, but actors from DC. We were punchy and slap happy, so we were entertaining to Danny apparently...He was excited to hear his picture would be published on the internet tonight in my blog (although he had no idea what a blog was) As we left his checkout line, he said with a large grin "People from Virginia are cool!"

We are the good will ambassadors of the east coast. Indianapolis: our job here is done.

Our van is crossword obsessed...and it's very convenient when we both have the same paper: "What do you have for 39 across?"

Joe knows (how to match). Stylish.

Our new friend...a Boston Terrier puppy we met in Trader Joe's.