Once the show was over in Casper we had a day off;) Stacie arranged for us all to go rollerskating! We all needed to dress in 1980's clothing! We found a thrift store down the road from the hotel and managed to come up with some pretty unique outfits, lol! I got a boyfriend jacket w/leggings and Colin had the double polo w/ the popped collar working for him. I scrunched my hair like I remember doing a few decades ago and feathered Colins :) Sue had the ultimate hair-she already had a hair appt that day, so she decided to have the hairdresser create an '80s do for her, lol! It was awesome and very big, haha!!! The shuttle from the hotel dropped us off at the rink and as expected we got a few strange looks! Luckily it wasn't very crowded and when the owners found out that the cast/crew of Oliver was there they were very excited. They had us all go into the center of the rink so they could get a group picture to hang up. They also went around getting everyone's autographs(even the parents!)

Skating was a lot tougher than I remember! I had a lot of trouble just keeping myself from falling! I even had the old fashioned wheel skates, not rollerblades. After a few times around the rink I started to get the hang of it, but at that point I was exhausted and just wanted to get the skates off my feet!! All in all it was a lot of fun for all!!

Unfortunately that's where the fun ended. The next morning I woke up with a stomach bug. We're not sure if it was the flu or food poisoning, but whatever it was it was horrible. It was not a good way to start a rough week of traveling! When I got out to the bus, I found that Mikey had the same thing going and Sue started with it later in the day. John's stomach was off all day and then Quentin got sick on the bus! So much fun for all of us! Luckily, Colin never got sick :)

As if that wasn't bad enough, on our way to Great Falls MT our bus broke down about 3 hours away. We had to sit in the bus on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere(Except of course a building that was labeled "Grizzly Encounters"! We waited for 3 hours in the cold for another bus to come and pick us up. Once the bus came we had to move all of our luggage and belongings off our bus onto the other bus. Keep in mind we were still sick at this point! We finally pulled into the hotel at 4am!

I spent the next day in bed until it was time for the show. I still wasn't feeling well but was able to keep some soup and crackers down. After having a little rest in the boys dressing room lying acrossed some chairs, I managed to make it out to watch Act I of the show. I was surprised at how well the cast did after such an exhausting trip.

After the show we started our 1760 mile trip to Owensboro KY! We drove 6 hours the first night. We got into Billings MT after 4am. We slept at the hotel for about 4 hours and then had to get back on the bus. Yesterday we spent a total of 15 hours on the bus and rolled into Sioux City Iowa around 1am. Today we got up and are doing it all again!!

I can't even begin to describe these long bus rides to you. They're just exhausting! We try to sleep as much as possible, but sleeping in a double seat on a bus leaves a little to be desired! My legs are constantly cramping up and I can never seem to get comfortable. I feel so bad for a few of the really tall guys on the bus, they're about 6'5" so their legs have nowhere to go! People stretch their legs across the aisle of the bus which makes getting to the bathroom quite an obstacle course! Some people have it really mastered as they climb from seat to seat to get there! After sleeping as much as possible, we all turn to our computers and books. Once everyone's bored with those, we usually pop in a video. Last night we watched the prequel to The Little Mermaid and tonight we're watching Hocus Pocus once the kids are done with school(They are tutored on the bus for at least 3 hours a day) After the movie,people really start getting antsy. Sometimes games are played, last night it was catchphrase. We also began making bets as to what time we'll actually get to the hotel. I lost out on the pot by 2 minutes last night. Hopefully Colin or I will win tonight : )

Well I think it's time for another nap! I'm still not feeling great so I'm trying to get as much rest as possible. I want to be all better by the time we get to Binghamton so I can enjoy time with our friends and family!!!!!

I haven't been able to upload photos to the blog the last 2 days, so once I can get them to upload I'll add them. Believe me, the ones from the rollerskating party will be well worth the wait lol!

On the road again, and again, and again!!!!

Well the last few days have been pretty crazy! We've been on the bus more than we've been off. There was a peformance in Bozeman MT last Thursday, and Casper WY last Saturday. It was quite a different experience, both shows were held in an arena! We felt like were were at a sporting event,lol! The best part was the concessions stands. We had to get wristbands to purchase alcohol and in Bozeman they only sold beer! Sue hasn't had a beer in ages,so when John showed up with 3 Bud Lights she almost fell over. After taking a sip, she started to get a taste for it and then continued to down the bottle haha! It was definitely a different scenerio carrying cardboard trays with hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and beer into our seats to watch the show, lol!! Unfortunately the spaces weren't ideal for a musical production, but everyone got through it and the audiences seemed to enjoy it.
On top of everything else we were hit with a big snowstorm in both Montana and Wyoming! We were all caught off guard with the temperature change. Most of us planned on changing to our winter wardrobe over our october layoff. Luckily there was a WalMart right next door to the hotel where we could stock up on warm clothes!

Yesterday we rode to Alto NM for one night. After getting there we were all wishing we were staying longer. The hotel had nice big rooms and was located right in a little quaint town lined with shops and little restaurants. Colin had an interview with the Courier Journal and thought it was quite funny that the reporter actually wanted to speak with me too! The article should be in next Wednesday's paper if you live in Macedon and want to pick up a copy. Luckily we had some time before the show to explore a bit in town and really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful crisp autumn day. The mountains around us were snow capped!

When we got to the Spencer Theater we were amazed. First of all it was located right in the middle of nowhere. From outside the theater all you could see were beautiful mountains all along the horizon. The theater itself had a very unique shape (check out the photos). Inside were beautiful glass sculptures hand blown by artist Dale Chihuly. The theater staff were incredibly accomodating. They put out a delicious spread for the cast and crew which was really appreciated.

After the show we were invited to Rhiannon and Melissa's room for a wine and cheese party. They found a wonderful wine shop in town and stumbled on some yummy wine that they wanted to share with us. It was nice to hang out with some of the cast and just relax and chat. Colin chose to stay in our room, he was in need of some alone time which we all need now and then!

We got up early this morning and started our 10 hour trek at 7am. We will be driving to Fort Collins CO to spend the night and then get up in the morning and drive straight to Bozeman MT. It's going to be a long couple of days!!!

~Missy

After Farmington, we were all thrilled once we got to Albuquerque! The hotel is fantastic. We all have suites which have a large bedroom, living room, and kitchen area. There's both an outdoor pool and indoor pool and hot tub, which we were able to enjoy when we first got there.
The theater is very nice as are the people who work there. We three parents were invited into the VIP room to talk with the guests and tell all about our kids. We also were given complimentary wine and hors d'ouvres. Given that, we were willing to tell them almost anything, lol!
We were so excited to find that we were in Albuquerque during their big and famous balloon festival. People bring their balloons from all over the US along with many different countries. The balloons have all different shapes and sizes. There was a Darth Vader balloon, a wells fargo wagon balloon, a Smokey the Bear, and many others. There were approximately 700 balloons that were launched yesterday! So after a late show Friday night, we all agreed that it would be well worth getting up at 5:30am to witness this. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. We were told that a bus stopped right in front of the hotel at 6:05 and would bring us directly to the place to pick up the shuttle to the festival. After waiting a half hour we called the bus company to find that we received the wrong info and no buses were coming. Colin was extremely disappointed, he was really excited about going:( We thought about calling a cab, but at that point it was just too late. So we opted to go in, have breakfast and watch the balloons on the news. John went to the theater with the boys for the Saturday matinee, while Sue and I stayed behind to do laundry. After realizing there was only 1 working washing machine in the hotel, we realized if we ever wanted to get all of our laundry done we better find a laundromat. So for all of you who think we are leading the glamorous life, just picture Sue and I getting in a taxi cab with a bag of laundry and detergents. We hung out in a less than desirable area while the laundry was going. People seemed to think it was kind of strange for me to be hanging out at a laundromat with a laptop. We got even more strange looks we hopped into a taxi with our laundry bags. I guess we're not the normal people they see at the laundromat! LOL!
The rest of the cast invited us to a toga party in one of the rooms last night after the show. The plan was to bring the kids for a half hour. Well, we all were having so much fun we stayed a lot longer. Watching everyone come in in all of their handmade togas was priceless. Some were much better than others at toga tying! lol!


The shows have been going extremely well. The cast is doing a phenomenal job. Its so exciting to watch Colin up on stage. It seems that he grows more and more into his character at each performance. I am just so proud of him!!

I'll try to be a little better about writing more often. Hope all is well with everyone back home. We're counting down the days til we get to come home on break!!
Missy

Hi everyone!
Sorry I haven't written in a bit, but internet connections have been in and out while we've been in the mountains. We've had a lot of great times since my last post.
After Bakersfield we headed to Colorado Springs. It was absolutely beautiful there. The mountains were everywhere we looked! Our best experience by far was our trip to the Garden of the Gods. The natural rock formations were breathless. The kids were able to use this as a field trip and learned all sorts of wonderful facts about the rocks and plants we encountered. Colin received a gift from the Gods while on top of a mountain. He found a $10 bill right on the rock! After spending a couple of hours hiking through the trails, we headed to the town of Manitou Springs and did some more sightseeing and souvenir shopping.
From Colorado, we headed to Farmington NM. Lets just say I was taught that if I had nothing good to say about something, don't say anything at all. So there you have it, lol! At least it was only one night!