Grettings!

Hello from glamorous, sunny...err...well, hello from Terre Haute, IN! This week has been work, work, work. Lots of bus nights. And many mornings waking up with no clue what state we're in! But we're into the final push...we close 2 weeks from today!! I still can't believe we're so close to being done. Thought I'd take some time to recap some the highlights (for better & for worse) from the past few months.

Danville, KY ... Not a whole lot to say about this except that we had a week off IN THE MIDDLE OF NO WHERE. I took advantage of this time to go visit the incredible Jennifer Harrison. She and her parents are some of the great people out there. The week was worth it for that visit alone!! The week also marks my first (and probably last) time on a motorcycle. Yup. Chuck loves his bike and brought it up for us to take rides on. I was only brave enough to ride it around the parking lot. But it was pretty cool. And I appreciate that Chuck wanted to share it with all of us. Thanks Chuck!

Oakley, KS ... Oakley is one of the worst and most fascinating places I've ever been. It is a TINY town in Kansas named after Annie Oakley. We stayed in a hotel we affectionately named the Bates Motel...It was old and run down. The walls were cinder blocks. The showers would make you even more dirty than you started. The beds sloped. Karen's room even came with a fly swatter! (Check out our KP & KP to get the full effect) Now the town itself...there's really no town of which to speak. It's a few storefronts. There's ONE restaurant which is diner-like. The waitress was skinny as a rail, didn't know anything on the menu, and answered her cell phone while taking our order cause it was one of her *five* kids. We definately got eyed by the few people sitting and eating cause everyone knows everyone and no one knew us...There was one clothes store which was also an antique shop AND sold the high school's swag (shirts, banners, etc). I felt like I was in some kind of time warp. To top it all off, while we were there it was hailing. We braved the elements and were battered with ice to go into "town." WAY beyond special.

Bristol, TN ... This one gets special mention simply because of location. The state line (between VA & TN) runs right down the middle of the main street. There are bronze markers that run down the street marking the state line. So if you're in the middle of the street you're in two states at one. I know, I'm a nerd, but I thought it was really cool. Plus the town itself is really cute and has a restaurant called KP Duty (kpduty.net/) and an adorable shop that has a doggie bakery in the back (BB's Barkery & Boutique - www.ishopthetri.com/marketplace/businesses/bbs-barkery/). AND it's Chuck's hometown. How can you not love it??

Daytona, FL ... This was a great stop. Our hotel was right next to the the Daytona Int'l Speedway. Now I'm not a fan of Nascar...but this place is really cool. It's massive. I had no idea just how big these racetracks were! And I have friends who DO like Nascar so I went out of my way to get pictures. What can I say, I like seeing things that are different. We had one show there (it was a matinee) and while the crew was loading out the ladies went down to the boardwalk...and Karen & I rode the Bungee Slingshot. It was absolutely terrifying. And absolutely amazing. We bought the video of us screaming our heads off. SO well worth it.

Winston-Salem, NC ... Just want to give this one a shout-out. I love this town. It's cute, has great restaurants and one of my favorite tour hotels. Plus I got to see Mikey and his dogs. Which made me very happy. And I got to hit up Brew Nerds. If you're ever there, check them out! http://www.brewnerds.com/about/

Savannah, GA ... we had a night off just outside Savannah and we took full advantage. Had gorgeous weather for walking around the waterfront. Hit up the Savannah Candy Kitchen (on of my favorite places ever). Dinner at Huey's on the waterfront where we ate fried green toamtoes, cornbread, shrip po' boys, sweet potato fires...yeah, you get the idea... We tried to hit up karaoke but it was closing as we got there. Not a whole lot happened that night except that we had a great & relaxing night out in one of my all-time favorite cities.

Palm Beach Gardens, FL ... Vacation week!!!! We had almost an entire week off in Florida. And we had the most perfect weather. It was just an awesome week. I took some time to go visit my amazing friend Marija Reiff in Ft. Myers, FL (where she's doing RING OF FIRE @ The Broadway Palm...if you're there through May, go see it!). We had a perfect romantic evening: dinner at Blu Sushi then a stroll on the beach with ice cream. Magical!! :) While in PBG I made new friends and somehow became a Marlins fan...if we had stayed one more day, I even would have been treated to a day at Marlins' stadium...oh to be back in Florida......

Atlanta, GA ... This was something else. We drove throught the night so we were taking 12 hours off the road. We pulled into our hotel...closely followed by a cop car. The cops got out and asked us what were doing there, and warned us we weren't really safe being there. Apparently they were there waiting to do ANOTHER drug & prostitution bust. We saw drug deals going on behind the next-door McDonald's. And even with the warning, we checked into the hotel...while watching prostitutes turn tricks. The final straw was when a pimp had it out with his "lady" in the hotel lobby, while her 4 year old sat there watching cartoons. Within 20 minutes, we had checked out and were back on the bus looking for a new place to spend the day. Wow...just wow...

So now the past week ... Started last Sunday in Chickasha, OK with rollerskating. Which I survived AND enjoyed. I know, shocking! Ending here, in Terre Haute, IN. We arrived yesterday morning around 5am. Tried to check into our hotel, but couldn't yet. So we tried checking in again at 7am, since we were told we had early check-in. Nope, wouldn't be able to get in until that night. So we left that hotel...except it turns out all the good hotels are full due to a dog show (seriously?!). So I am writing this blog in my smokey, somewhat grimey room in the glamorous EconoLodge.

What a tour, what a tour...I know, that was a lot. But it captures what I've been neglecting the past few months. Two weeks left to go. I actually have a number of things to look forward to, with various visitors. Final push.....as always, thanks for coming along with me on my travels!!!

Enjoy!