–Friday, 2-3-2006:
Our first morning in our amazing hotel we got to sleep in, which we only kind of took advantage of… usually free breakfast will get Becca and I up before we would wake up naturally, and since this hotel was too nice for that, we, for once, did get to sleep in until we randomly roused ourselves sans alarm. Since we were in the mile-high city, and since our last stop here over the summer (my first ever performances with Diavolo back in June,) we had such trouble with the altitude and lack of oxygen, we headed to the hotel’s workout room to do some cardio. This, supposedly would get our bodies more used to the change and lessen the blow onstage.
I’m not sure if that desired effect was ever achieved, but nonetheless, I’m glad I worked out so that I can say I did everything I could to prepare myself. Plus, I really don’t ever work out, and it really did feel good to get off my ass in a way that was rather superfluous considering my job is to be active and working physically all day, everyday. It gave me some nice reading/iPod time, too, while I was on the elliptical. After working out, I got to go back to my room and my amaaaaaaaaazing waterfall shower. That was worth the 2-hour workout right there.
Then, Becca and John and I walked to Qdoba for lunch. During this trip, even though I’ve eaten there before, I noticed for the first time that Qdoba is perhaps the only word in the (expanded) english language in which a Q is not, in fact, followed by a U. Q’eer.
Lunch was amazing, save except the random crowd of drunks who were wasted at 2pm in a perhaps even more random bar inside a Qdoba. We think the timeliness of their inebriation could be due to the prices at that bar: $1 beers, $2 well drinks, and $3 call drinks. For the record, none of us yet know exactly what a “call drink” is, since none of has ever heard the term before. The working hypothesis, for now, is that it might be a well drink, but when you ask for a name brand, like ‘bacardi and coke…’
After lunch, we went back, stopped by the business center to check our email (our hotel is also too nice for free wi-fi) and after did what else, but nap (as we seem to always do in any free time, after eating, while watching TV, etc.) We woke up in time to get downstairs for a later than normal tech. We were greeting by a white stretch limo (!!!!) I thought the guy was joking when he pointed to it as our ride, but he wasn’t. This was the first in a series of limos that took us to and from the theater everyday. We had a white stretch limo, a black stretch limo, and an excursion SUV limo. Some had the stars on the ceiling and the color-changing interiors. Others had the classic lighting and moon-roofs. This was so much fun for me, because literally the only other limo I’ve ever been in was for Megan’s wedding.
Tech was long, and tiresome, because it was late and we were exhausted and not adjusted to the altitude. We found out we weren’t getting oxygen on the side of the stage like we thought… a psychological blow to a hard situation. You never really feel out of breath in these conditions, it’s just you get about three times as tired as normal and your muscles just don’t want to work.
After tech we came back to the hotel and pretty much went to bed. Denver is really chilly, and it finally felt like winter for the first time on tour, which made me really very homesick. Both the cold and how worn-out my body felt made the hotel bed seem like the absolute most inviting, comfortable thing ever.
–Saturday, 2-4-2006:
Again, no free breakfast was in sight, so Becca and I got up earlier than needed for our 10am call to the lobby and walked to The Corner Bakery with John for breakfast. I got a pretty amazing breakfast panini and a cinnamon roll for later that kept me full for most of the day. The bad news of the morning was that I am out of my per diem… meaning food from here on out is out of my pocket. Sigh.
We headed straight to the theater, limo-style, and started our tech of act II. After tech, Becca and I headed back to the Corner Bakery to get salads for lunch. We took them back to our room, ate them, and napped. (All I do is sleep, apparently… so why does it feel like I never get enough?) In the middle of my nap, I randomly decided I wanted a shower, I think it was the amazingness of the shower that called me, and less any need to actually shower. My naps never seem long enough, and soon enough we had to be back downstairs to once again head to the theater for our show.
After warm-up I hurried and put on my make up and D2R costume (I really made record time,) so that I could meet David, Garrett and Monica onstage to practice my baby-carriage fly which has been getting wonky for a number of reasons. The show went well, really well, (for me at least,) despite our obvious fatigue from lack of oxygen, up until half way through Traj. Right before my eagle fly, John fell and was unable to power the rock need to propel my fly, so I didn’t have my pop and had a hard landing.
In trying to propel myself the amount needed to make up for the lack of push from the rocker, I also pulled my right quad, pushing against a floor that never came up to meet me. I think that fact that I pulled my quad was probably catalyzed by 1) muscle fatigue and 2) the fact that I slammed that same quad earlier into the front bay on Traj when my bracing arm failed to cushion the impact of my cross. I have a huge, puffy bruise running across my thigh – the kind that hurts to move the muscle underneath it – and I think that made that leg just a little bit more of a puss for the day.
Whatever, I landed the fly safe, and that’s all that matters. After the show, we ate the food the theater provides for us, packed our truck bags and did our load-out duties before heading back to the hotel for, once again, sleep.
–(Super Bowl) Sunday, 2-5-2006:
Another travel day. I didn’t really even unpack much in Denver, so packing back up was smooth and quick. I had a leisurely time getting ready while Becca was at breakfast with her mom. I took one last ultima-shower, got ready, and checked my email from the business center before heading downstairs to meet everyone. We once again go to take a limo bus, and had a nice, luxury ride to the airport.
Lugging around all my shit was more of a challenge than normal due to the gimp status of my right leg. I am thankful, however, because my leg feels better than I thought possible considering how it felt the night before – which isn’t to say it feels ok – but just not the worst case scenario I had anticipated.
We got to the Delta counter, only to be nonchalantly told our flight had been canceled. They booked us on a United flight that was scheduled to leave two hours later, so we all grumbled our way over to the United counter to check in there. This was no small trek since the Denver airport is not-so-convieniently set up in East and West terminals, the walk in between which is about 5-7 crowded minutes. When we got to United, the easily-overwhelmed counter lady informed us we were merely on standby for the flight, (this was news to us,) so, while we – with no other options – started to check our bags on that flight and start the standby boarding process, John headed back to Delta to raise a fuss and get it fixed so we were *booked* and all together.
When he got back, with a guarantee we were booked, the United computers still showed no such thing, and another round of frustration ensued, cumulating in me hobbling my slow-ass back to the Delta desk solo. Luckily I met up with a wonderfully nice lady who fixed everything, got us names of people to blame if not, and cleared up the whole situation. In the middle of this, some people had been able to check in okay, others were not (depending on the ease of the counter person they got over at United,) and people started one by one wandering off – a less than desirable action since we needed to all make sure we were all cared for. In the process of my fixing the whole thing, I had to walk back and fourth between terminals a bunch, and the whole mess made me rather ornery.
Thankfully, once I had my boarding pass, there was a Taco Bell to cheer me up. John and I ate, and then went through security. We had the pleasure of being in the extra-checked line, which we knew ahead of time… we’ve learned to see where on the boarding passes they write they fact they’ve flagged you for extra screening – we think we got the honor because of our one-way tickets.
We got to the gate in time for me to make some phone calls and for the majority of us to play a game of Catch Phrase. The flight from Denver to Salt Lake was really turbulent, which I think is because we took off over one mountain bowl and landed in another. Once we got into Salt Lake, which is a freezing, majestic and gorgeous city, we had a one and a half hour shuttle ride to Logan.
By the time we got into the Shuttle, the Super Bowl was about to start, so we listened to it on the ride. About half way through the ride, we hit an area where the radio wouldn’t receive signal, so we had Super Bowl blackout. This, by the way, should give an indication of just how out in the middle of nowhere Logan is… it was a beautiful drive, and this whole area is amazing… but Logan is about as small town as it gets while still being relatively modern. It looks like a typical mid-60’s little town, with a main drag, only updated a bit. Our hotel is within walking distance of nothing, and we’re quite concerned about where our meals will come from… except breakfast, which is included with the hotel. So is wireless internet, so it’s not all bad.
Logan is great, don’t get me wrong, it just makes me ponder exactly where enough patrons will come from to support, not one, but two shows here.
Once we got to the hotel and checked in, priority one was to find a pub to go to to watch the remainder of the game and to get some dinner. The shuttle driver dropped us off at the local place, which was rustic, adorable, and perfect for a small-town Super Bowl watching time. We ordered pizzas and nachos, and settled in to watch just as the Rolling Stones were starting their half-time show.
David, Crystal and Ed walked me through and reminded me of the ins and outs of football I’ve become less familiar with with time, and we hooted and hollered up until the bitter end. Most of the company converted to Seahawks fans for the game out of loyalty to me, and we were all sad to see the Hawks go down, mostly due to some truly biased and shitty refereeing. Even the people in the company who knew NOTHING about the game AND the commentators saw how bad the calls were. Eff you, you effing effed up refs. Booooo.
After the game we taxied back to the hotel and congregated in Garrett’s room to watch the video of the last show and get notes. Then, it was back to my room for some quality TV and computer time. Now, bed.
P.S.- Today is Monica’s birthday… Happy Birthday, Monica!!