The Touring Veggie Stage Manager: Day 50 - 53 leaving Los Angeles into Arizona or Mountain Girl turned City Girl

Day 50 - 1/22/10 Last night after the show I drove down to Temecula to see my good buddy Monty and check out his shop. I'm super proud of him and all that he has accomplished. Here's his website if you care to take a gander: http://ch7ind.com/ I arrived at his house just before 1am and made into bed and fast asleep by 2. My alarm went off at 5:15am and I was first in the shower to start my crazy day. We left the house just before 7am, Monty on his way to Long Beach for a clothing convention and myself heading up the mountain back to my hometown. Here's a little pic of the road I was driving on:

As I made up my way up the snowy roads and passed cars that were stuck on the side of the road because the snow and ice got the best of them I thought about the past 12 years that I had been driving this mountain. I was extra careful around the curves that I know get icy and just kept moving along until I wound up at one of my favorite old jobs...Fairway Market.

I got to visit with one of my close friends Geri along with Di, Lois, Vicki, Crabby, and Matt. It was great to catch up with them. As I was leaving I ran into Cathy so there was an unexpected get together and found out that she is a Grandma!! After the fairway visit it was time to go see my Dad for breakfast at the Red Kettle. The Kettle had an awesome veggie scramble that I had made without eggs and with veggie sausage and it was too die for....or not to die for as the case may be. My Daddy-O and I had a great time catching up and watching the snow fall. After breakfast I drove up to Pine Cove to leave my car at my Dad's for the rest of tour. Before driving up my Dad had to remove all the snow that settled on my car in the past hour:

Here's a picture of the highway leading up to PC:

There were two snow plows running this morning...but it's hard to keep up I'm sure.

Once we dropped off the car in PC we made it down the hill and met up with Justin at Staters and then Justin and I were off to see the Bloom Family and their newest addition Landen. I brought them two little sleepers for the baby one that looked like a baseball outfit that said "Daddy's Allstar" and another that said "Mommy's Little Prince". Meeting Landen was a surreal experience. Shannon is one of my longest friendships I have, we have known each other since we were 10 or 11 and I can't imagine my life without her. Ever since we were little girls she had always wanted to be a mommy and after she got married to Ben (who I have also known since he was probably 6) kids were on her mind. Shannon, Ben, Landen, and Roxy (their doggy) are a sight to be seen. Very happy and well adjusted to having a wee one around the house.

Here's a picture of myself and sweet little Landen.

The thirty minute visit went by much to fast but Justin and I had to keep moving and make it to our lunch date with Rachel and little Ben. We met up at La Fogata and i had a vegetarian tostada...we ordered it without cheese and sour cream...but somehow the cheese was destined to end up on my plate. Another quick visit went by and then Justin and I were on our way back to LA so I could make it to my show call.

Justin had made us 2 CDs to listen to on our way back into the city and they were awesome!!!! The first CD had a bunch of really great songs to add to my gym mix for when I run and the second CD was full of duets for he and I to learn to belt out at each other. I LOVE IT!!!!!! One of my very favorite things to do in life is sing at the top of my lungs with Justy in our car and then bust up laughing when we totally miss the right note.

We made it to LA with a couple hours to spare so we went to dinner at Johnny Rockets and had a very yummy meal with wayyyy to many onion rings. It was worth it.

Day 51 1/23/10
One of my Jr. High School Teachers came to see the evening show and it was so great to see her! Mrs. Carratello, Patty, looked exactly the same. She had brought her sister to see the show and they loved it! We took a bunch of pictures together and talked about their favorite parts of the show. She was also very complimentary on the article that was written about me in our hometown newspaper: http://www.idyl.com/stories/story.2.20091210.html

Here's pic of Patty and I near the stage door of the Pantages:

Day 52 1/24/10
Two shows and then a load out. I love load out day. It gives me a sense of accomplishment as well as of feeling of freedom. It nice to move along to another city....sometimes it good, sometimes it's bad...but it's nice to move along none the less. After load out it was back to the hotel to have a little champagne with Ryan (just for the hell of it) then down to throw the suitcases on the luggage truck and then sleep..love it.

Day 53 1/25/10
Travel day. I was up early to make sure my hotel bill was at a zero balance and then waited outside in the sun for the bus to the airport. The trip to the airport was nice, I finished up crocheting a scarf for my Aunt. The plane ride was only an hour then less than a half hour to the hotel. The hotel is the most beautiful hotel I have ever stayed at....the grounds were well landscaped, the grass was a beautiful green, the flowers extra bright, the fountains bubbling, the birds chirping pleasantly...heaven. We are in this hotel for the next week and a half and I am loving it. Did I mention that the pools are all kept very warm and there are 8 of them!