Deep in the heart of TEXAS

I think I ate my weight in barbecue during our 5 weeks here.  That's right, between 3 cities (Houston, Dallas & Ft Worth), we spent 5 weeks of the spring in one of the biggest states in America.  And everyone in Texas tells you where the "best BBQ in town" is....and it's NEVER the same place :)  I probably went to 5 different places that all claimed top prize.  But one of the spots was actually in-between shows in Houston when the local crew brought in their own meat, grill and sauce to feed us right in back of the theater.

It was HUMID down there....wow.  I remember dreaming about warm weather when we were freezing in Toronto earlier this year.  But a couple days here almost made you pine for the frigid north.  And it wasn't even the dog days of summer yet!

Houston also gave us an opportunity to get a private tour of the NASA Space Center.  This was probably one of THE BEST field trips we made on tour.

Above is the HUGE pool where the submerge mock-ups of the space station and practice space walks with astronauts preparing for a trip to do the real thing.  A pool is as close to weightlessness as we can get.  Below is a picture of the trainees coming back up from the practice.

We got a chance to talk to one seasoned astronaut that had done 9 different space walks!  He was so cool, actually asking us questions about our show.  We got him to tell a story about one of his space walks where he almost lost his life.  All of our jaws were dropped as he was telling the details.  This was no movie...this was the REAL DEAL! WOW!  The also let us in Mission Control (the very one that  was used in the Apollo 13 mission and many others. Below is probably how I would have reacted to the dire situation.....

Ft. Worth had a fantastic new performing arts house that looks like an old opera house.  Plus, we got a chance to go down the the stockyards and saw many more boots than bulls.  Check it out!

Sorry it's not rotated...I can't figure out how to do that on my blog!  

Gold Rush: SACRAMENTO

Ah California, we finally made it to the ocean…well, almost.  We sit down in Sacramento for 2 weeks, a perfect amount of time to get to know a city that size.  The Govenator’s Office, the CA State Capital, is right down the street from our hotel.  I don’t think we’ll be seeing him this week, though he has MUCH to attend to with the economic troubles in CA.  However, those troubles didn’t seem to keep people from coming and enjoying LHOP.  They were some of our most responsive audiences to date!  Thank you Sacramento J

The highlight of this stop was seeing my sister who currently lives in Berkeley.  Kara and I took that first Monday of travel and drove down to the Bay Area to see my sis, her friends, and throw some serious Frisbee!  I also showed Kara around some of my hold haunts near the Berkeley campus where I used to live when I taught summer school to middle-schoolers when I was in college.  What a great, eclectic town! 

The 2^nd Monday we had there, we made a trip out to Yosemite National Park.  If you are EVER near this amazing place, you must take the time to explore.  The mountains, sheer rock cliffs, majestic waterfalls, wildlife, and up close hiking trails can take your breath away at every turn. 

We also met a wonderful couple from London at our B&B the next morning over breakfast.  It turned out that they were on a trip around the world because she won a contest for boucoups of free nights at any Hyatt in the world and tons of airline miles.  Wow, I guess people actually DO win those sorts of prizes. Kara and I managed to convince the two of them to come down to Sacramento and see our show since there was a Hyatt conveniently located right next to the theater J  Two more wonderful friends to add our lives!  However…as we were gabbing over breakfast, snow started to fall..and I’m talking huge flakes of white fluff.  I wasn’t too worried because it was at least 60 degrees the day before. But low and behold, the snow was sticking.  So instead of a couple more hours in the park, Kara and I decided to head back to make it in time for our performance that night.  It wasn’t 30 miles into our return journey that we got stuck behind a slow car attempting to go up a hill….sliding off the road.  So, I pull pass them on the left, trying to keep momentum.  But we were too slow already, and I ended up sliding off myself.  AHHH!  It all happened in slow motion, literally!  I was probably going 3 miles an hour.  After about 40 minutes, a plow came by to clear the road a bit.  We were able to back out and be on our way.  Not a couple hundred fee down the road, the snow was merely rain.  AHHHH!  So crazy.  

We saw a huge field of strawberries on the way back and scored 8 cartons of huge, juicy deliciousness for $10.  I definitely think we got the fat end of the stick on that one!

Thanks Sacramento for your great audiences, fresh produce, delicious downtown eats, and reliable snow plows.  Until next time!