Wednesday, June 9, 2010

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 2nd 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!

7 comments:

  1. Hey Kevin!

    You had a wonderful time there. I am very much pleased that you can travel to so many beautiful places by the tour. And it is so beautiful that you meet so many members of the family and friends through this.
    The story with the extreme changing weather conditions is crazy. I haven't experienced something like that yet.
    Thanks for the great pictures! :)

    So, the countdown runs. Within 5 minutes the soccer World Cup starts in South Africa. I am already very excited and wait for the starting whistle. The time starts now again at which the world moves a piece more nearly together and celebrates together. I am pleased for Sunday of course. Our German boys play for the first time and compete with Australia. But now all eyes are turned towards South Africa and Mexico!
    It starts now. We hope for a wonderful, fair tournament - the best one may win.

    All the best, Julia

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  2. Wow, great pictures. If I ever will go near it, I will visit it too ;) Sacramento must be really great! And it is very nice that you found two more wonderful friends. And your roadtrip sounds very adventurous too, haha! Oh my god and all that in slow motion ;) I hope the strawberries tasted good!

    Lots of greetings from, in the moment, rainy Hamburg Kerstin

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  3. Hi, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the stay in my town :) Too bad we couldn't see you after the show but my son certainly enjoyed the show based on his favorite book!

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  4. @Julia - I am LOVING the World Cup! So exciting!

    @Kerstin - Yes, I do so much slow motion on stage...I don't want any slow motion in my car!!!

    @Kaoru - Thanks for coming out to the show. Maybe we can say hello next time :)

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  5. Hey Kevin--Great pictures! Sounds like you had quite the adventure before you had the skype conference with our class! Yosemite is beautiful-- we have spent time there with our family as well.

    We' re cheering for Ghana and the US up here--but it's being usurped in the news by the stories about the G20 fences in Toronto...ah well..

    All the best to you and Kara and the rest of the cast as you finish the journey--we'll be thinking of you!

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  6. Hey, Kevin! This is Rob Webster. I was Crusade staff at UNC back in the day. My wife saw you in Kansas City last night, and I had no idea a) You've been acting, or b) you were in last night's show. I hate I missed the show! Congrats to you on all your successes, bro!

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  7. @Susan: well, thanks for the support of US vs Ghana...heartbreaking, but a good match.

    @Rob: wow, what a small world! Thanks for dropping a line. Hope your wife enjoyed the show. It was the last show of our entire tour!

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