Hi Kids

We are now in our final week of traveling. Not the final week of the tour mind you, the final performance is on May 29th. It's the last week on the bus, and people are already getting very antsy knowing the end is in sight, combine that with that fact that we do some major miles in this last week and you get a lot of very stir crazy people. As I write this, we are on the second day of a 1300 mile trip from Washington to New Mexico and each day we'll have spent on average about 12 hours a day on the bus. AAAHHH!

As much as I still love the experience and all... (Seattle and the Pacific Northwest scenery? ...amazing!), I am looking forward to not living out of a suitcase and jumping on this bus every morning. You can tell that people's tolerance for this rolling insane asylum is wearing a little thin. For example, in the afternoons we have the option of watching movies, and most times we will, though sometimes the vote will be for no movie. Well, during one of our recent long treks, I think it was Lindsay who said, "If you don't vote to watch something I'm going to effing shoot myself !!"...gives you some idea of how ready we are to be done with the bus rides.

But most of these feelings, I believe, come from knowing we're almost at the end. You see the quotes on Facebook like, "One month left", "Three weeks to go" or "One more week on the bus!" and there's the overriding sense of weariness and exhaustion in people's comments and conversation. Not to say that it's all doom and gloom and everyone walks around with a black cloud over their heads, not at all. This is still a group of highly motivated, fun-loving and energetic people, I don't think that has changed, just the overall tone is a bit different lately. It's the knowing you will be on to other things shortly and this has begun to be something we have done as opposed to something we are doing...forgive me for sticking my toe in the deep end of the pool.

It hasn't helped that we've been doing some backtracking as well, from Idaho to Oregon, down to California, back up to Washington, down through Idaho again. Now we're heading to New Mexico and will end up back in New Mexico about a week later. Wheee! Slaves to scheduling. But we've seen some wonderful country lately, can't say enough about that. I'll get the pictures up as soon as I buy another connecting cord for my camera. Must've have left it at a hotel somewhere. But if that and a few pairs of socks are the only causualties then I guess I'm doing pretty well.

The theaters have been interesting too. Salem OR has the Elsinore Theatre, built to look like a medieval castle, complete with arches and stained glass windows and two huge paintings on either end of the lobby. Though one of them was a painting of the three witches from Mac...um...the Scottish play...one must never speak the name of the Scottish play. Did they actually think about what they were doing when they put that up? As my good friend Chuck pointed out.

San Luis Opisbo had an amazing theater located on the campus of Cal Poly, fairly new and modern looking. It didn't have more 2500 seats I think, but it looked huge! Three levels and an outdoor patio overlooking the valley. And it had the illusion that it was round, though it really isn't, but from the stage it appears that way. A gorgeous campus and very nice weather greeted us after being in the cool Pacific Northwest. Hope those college kids realize just how good they have it here. I always think college should be like it is in the Northeast, cold, damp, you know, depressing. Nothing like a little cabin fever to make those long winter months just fly by!

Bremerton WA is located right across the sound from Seattle and is home to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard located right near our hotel. The Admiral Theater was a bit different in a couple of ways. One, was the obligitory "Under the Sea" motif, with the porpoises and mermaids and seaweed, actually it was quite fun. Second, was they had turned it into a dinner theater. Oh they still had the balcony, but the orchestra section was taken out, the floor leveled and tables and chairs put in. Some of the cast has had experience with dinner theater but I found it somewhat disconcerting to look out in the audience and see the glow of table candles everywhere, just a bit weird for me.

Well, I think I've just about recovered from my legs being asleep for 13 hours. Tomorrow won't be quite as bad, but there are still a couple of days of Road Warrior hell to get through before this is over.
Livin' the dream baby!!

Be back soon

Glenn