I think this has been my favorite place so far! We did a show Thursday in Fairbanks and one last night in Anchorage. Yesterday was rough. We don't have the bus with us, so we flew from Fairbanks to Anchorage yesterday morning. On a 6am flight. Which meant getting up at 4. After going to bed around 1. We went to a Denny's for breakfast after we landed, then headed to the venue. We all really missed having the bus. It would have been nice to take a nice nap in there! A few of the guys fell asleep in our little backstage lounge we make every night. I closed my eyes for a while, but didn't fall completely asleep. I think we were all doing the falling asleep head bob during the show.
Now we're all staying at a resort about a half hour outside of Anchorage for a few days. It is so incredibly beautiful up here. Robin, Marnell, Jeff, Brian and his family are all staying here too. This all is basically Robin's big "thank you, job well done, enjoy yourself" gift. We saw all of them around earlier which was kinda cool. They talked to us outside for a while after they came back from a helicopter trip. I don't know if a lot of people will recognize who Jeff is or not. Probably kind of hard to place who he is when there's no puppet with him :P
We got in around 2:30 this morning. I've been in disbelief almost the whole time I've been here! The resort is surrounded by mountains. We took a sky tram thing today up to the top of one of the mountains, and that is probably the most amazing place I've ever seen. I really mean that. Tomorrow we're doing whitewater rafting again, but this time on class 5 rapids. I'm kind of anxious about that, but I don't think I should turn down the opportunity! Hopefully I'll be back to write some more about the trip here!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Columbus, OH
So we're back again, and with another crazy airport story!
We got home about 24 hours later than we were supposed to.
Yesterday we were to fly out of Billings, MT to Chicago, then from Chicago to Columbus. Our first flight was at 8:30am so we got to the airport about 7:30. Around 8 they told us we can't board until around 9 because Chicago was getting hit with some storms. Then around 9 they told us everything is Chicago had been ground stopped and they'll get another update at 10:16. Another plane had to come to our gate around that time to leave for Denver, then after that flight left they told us we missed our window to take off because the other plane was there. So they said they'd get another update in an hour. An hour later they said it'll be another half hour until they get an update. At 11:45 they told us we'd be taking off at 2:06. Then when 1:45 rolled around they told us t got pushed back again to 3:30. Oh yeah, I think it was around noon we went to the ticket desk to see if we could get another flight, but there wasn't anything else we could take. Our flight from Chicago to Columbus was supposed to leave at 1, but we figured since everything there was stopped we'd still have a chance of making that flight. But just to be sure, Marnell called about renting a van for all of us to just drive from Chicago to Columbus. After a while he found out there were no rental cars available in Chicago.
But Finally around 3pm we boarded the plane.
But there's more!
The pilot said it would be a few minutes before we were able to take off. The weather was still icky in Chicago, so after sitting on the plane for about 20 minutes, we took off. After a while the pilot came on saying we were above Rapid City, SD holding for a while. Then after that we were above Sioux Falls, SD holding again, and he came on again saying "Well I've got some bad news. They've stopped all flights to Chicago, so we're going to have to land in Sioux Falls." So we landed at the small airport of Sioux Falls and sat in the plane while the pilots figured out what was next. Finally one of the gate officers came on and said we'll be getting off the plane, but "don't go too far because if you get left behind you'll be here for days." It was a really small airport.
Dana (bus driver) was driving to Pennsylvania from Montana after he dropped us off at the airport, so Marnell called him to see where he was. And wouldn't you know he was just 50 miles away from where we were! So after about an hour or so he showed up at the airport, and that's how we got home :)
We got so lucky yet again! It turned out that we wouldn't have been able to make it to Chicago until around midnight, and the flight to Columbus wouldn't have been until 5pm today. So I could be on a plane right now if things didn't work out the way they did. And we would have been sleeping on the floor somewhere in the crowded and messy O'Hare airport instead of our bunks.
Dana said "I don't know if you guys are the unluckiest or the luckiest group of people!" I said, "I think we're pretty lucky."
We got home about 24 hours later than we were supposed to.
Yesterday we were to fly out of Billings, MT to Chicago, then from Chicago to Columbus. Our first flight was at 8:30am so we got to the airport about 7:30. Around 8 they told us we can't board until around 9 because Chicago was getting hit with some storms. Then around 9 they told us everything is Chicago had been ground stopped and they'll get another update at 10:16. Another plane had to come to our gate around that time to leave for Denver, then after that flight left they told us we missed our window to take off because the other plane was there. So they said they'd get another update in an hour. An hour later they said it'll be another half hour until they get an update. At 11:45 they told us we'd be taking off at 2:06. Then when 1:45 rolled around they told us t got pushed back again to 3:30. Oh yeah, I think it was around noon we went to the ticket desk to see if we could get another flight, but there wasn't anything else we could take. Our flight from Chicago to Columbus was supposed to leave at 1, but we figured since everything there was stopped we'd still have a chance of making that flight. But just to be sure, Marnell called about renting a van for all of us to just drive from Chicago to Columbus. After a while he found out there were no rental cars available in Chicago.
But Finally around 3pm we boarded the plane.
But there's more!
The pilot said it would be a few minutes before we were able to take off. The weather was still icky in Chicago, so after sitting on the plane for about 20 minutes, we took off. After a while the pilot came on saying we were above Rapid City, SD holding for a while. Then after that we were above Sioux Falls, SD holding again, and he came on again saying "Well I've got some bad news. They've stopped all flights to Chicago, so we're going to have to land in Sioux Falls." So we landed at the small airport of Sioux Falls and sat in the plane while the pilots figured out what was next. Finally one of the gate officers came on and said we'll be getting off the plane, but "don't go too far because if you get left behind you'll be here for days." It was a really small airport.
Dana (bus driver) was driving to Pennsylvania from Montana after he dropped us off at the airport, so Marnell called him to see where he was. And wouldn't you know he was just 50 miles away from where we were! So after about an hour or so he showed up at the airport, and that's how we got home :)
We got so lucky yet again! It turned out that we wouldn't have been able to make it to Chicago until around midnight, and the flight to Columbus wouldn't have been until 5pm today. So I could be on a plane right now if things didn't work out the way they did. And we would have been sleeping on the floor somewhere in the crowded and messy O'Hare airport instead of our bunks.
Dana said "I don't know if you guys are the unluckiest or the luckiest group of people!" I said, "I think we're pretty lucky."
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Great Falls, MT
Our little Canada trip was interesting. I guess Jeff said there were 3 shows in a row where there were audio problems, so people started worrying and this and that, but eventually things got worked out I guess. Sorry I can't provide more detail, but I wasn't involved in any of that. He also mentioned something about wanting to add a screen on either side of the stage as soon as possible, so we'll see what happens with that. I posted some more pictures from Canada on my Flickr page. They're really pretty :)
Speaking of pretty, Montana is also very pretty. I've decided mountains are some of the coolest things on the planet. Today we went rafting down the Missouri river, and let me tell you, it was probably one of the most beautiful places I have seen. At one point we got out of the rafts and took a little hike to see the sulfur spring. I haven't posted those pictures yet, but I probably will pretty soon. It's just one of those things that I can't describe with words really. You'll just have to see it.
Speaking of pretty, Montana is also very pretty. I've decided mountains are some of the coolest things on the planet. Today we went rafting down the Missouri river, and let me tell you, it was probably one of the most beautiful places I have seen. At one point we got out of the rafts and took a little hike to see the sulfur spring. I haven't posted those pictures yet, but I probably will pretty soon. It's just one of those things that I can't describe with words really. You'll just have to see it.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Victoria is beeeeautiful! We got here by ferry around 6:30 this evening and we're staying at a hotel tonight (this is where our show is tomorrow). We left Columbus way early this morning (5:50am flight) so that meant waking up at 3am. And I went to sleep probably around 1am. We flew to Chicago first, then got on another plane to Seattle, then drove to Vancouver on the bus and got on the ferry (the bus did too). The ferry ride was beautiful, and downtown where our hotel is also very beautiful. I took some pictures I'll post in a while.
Speaking of pictures, I'm going to try an online tour picture album to kind of go along with the blog. I'm not all caught up yet, but I'll give you the link so you can check back every now and then if you'd like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellatron5/ The individual categories are over on the right to keep things a bit organized. Enjoy!
Speaking of pictures, I'm going to try an online tour picture album to kind of go along with the blog. I'm not all caught up yet, but I'll give you the link so you can check back every now and then if you'd like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellatron5/ The individual categories are over on the right to keep things a bit organized. Enjoy!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Columbus, OH
This month I'll be home for about 10 days, and today is one of them. We flew in from St. Louis this morning after a show in Cape Girardeu, MO last night.
One of Jeff's hobbies is building and flying remote control helicopters (he also has a real helicoper pilot's license). A while back he started flying the remote controlled helicopters in the arena. He got Brian into it recently, so they'll both have their little planes and copters flying around. I'm not sure who's idea it was, but someone came up with the idea to get some Nerf guns to shoot Brian's plane. Robin and Marnell liked the idea, so yesterday Marnell had the runner get three Nerf guns. Most of the crew was sitting out at front of house (where the camera, lighting and audio control is) just watching them with the guns hidden. Then Robin gave a signal and three of the guys started firing at Brian's plane. I don't think any of them hit it, but after another try they did. Everyone got a pretty big kick out of it. Boys will be boys!
Jeff also recorded some more e-card greetings for Father's Day last night. He had Achmed with him and they're pretty funny. Go to jeffdunham.com in a couple of days to check them out!
We didn't have to leave the venue right away after the show last night since we were flying out this morning, so we had a little cookout outside of the bus. We tried doing that before, but it got colder than expected so they just cooked outside and we ate inside. Last night was nice enough for us to sit outside for most of the time. Not everyone sat outside, but I did. It was nice getting to hang out outside with a hot dog and a beer.
Next up is a run of 5 shows in Canada. I may not have phone and internet access up there because of all the extra charges. After that we're staying a couple of days in Montana. One of the days we're doing some white water rafting! Then we have two shows in Montana, then back to Columbus, then to Alaska, and we're done for a while! I think there are about 4 shows we'll go do in July, one in August, and none in September. Then October it goes into full swing again!
One of Jeff's hobbies is building and flying remote control helicopters (he also has a real helicoper pilot's license). A while back he started flying the remote controlled helicopters in the arena. He got Brian into it recently, so they'll both have their little planes and copters flying around. I'm not sure who's idea it was, but someone came up with the idea to get some Nerf guns to shoot Brian's plane. Robin and Marnell liked the idea, so yesterday Marnell had the runner get three Nerf guns. Most of the crew was sitting out at front of house (where the camera, lighting and audio control is) just watching them with the guns hidden. Then Robin gave a signal and three of the guys started firing at Brian's plane. I don't think any of them hit it, but after another try they did. Everyone got a pretty big kick out of it. Boys will be boys!
Jeff also recorded some more e-card greetings for Father's Day last night. He had Achmed with him and they're pretty funny. Go to jeffdunham.com in a couple of days to check them out!
We didn't have to leave the venue right away after the show last night since we were flying out this morning, so we had a little cookout outside of the bus. We tried doing that before, but it got colder than expected so they just cooked outside and we ate inside. Last night was nice enough for us to sit outside for most of the time. Not everyone sat outside, but I did. It was nice getting to hang out outside with a hot dog and a beer.
Next up is a run of 5 shows in Canada. I may not have phone and internet access up there because of all the extra charges. After that we're staying a couple of days in Montana. One of the days we're doing some white water rafting! Then we have two shows in Montana, then back to Columbus, then to Alaska, and we're done for a while! I think there are about 4 shows we'll go do in July, one in August, and none in September. Then October it goes into full swing again!
Monday, June 1, 2009
St. Louis, MO
I guess I have quite a bit of catching up to do! Sorry it's been a while. Part of it is laziness, and another part is slow internet on the bus. But anyway, right now I'm at the Chase Park Plaza hotel in St. Louis, MO. We got here around 12:30 last night from Evansville, IN. It's another very nice hotel that I can't believe I'm in! I walk in to these places and just get so filled with excitement and disbelief. I know I'm very lucky. Tonight Robin (tour promoter) want to take us to a wings place. He lived here for about 20 years, so he knows what's good! After I'm done on the computer here I'm gonna go out and see what there is to see around here. There's a really nice park across the street and some stores I'll probably check out. There are movie theaters in the hotel too, and some of us were talking about going to see "Up" tomorrow.
Jeff is in this month's issue of Time magazine. It's a full one page article I read a couple of days ago that, again, made me realize just how big a deal he is! If you get the opportunity you should check it out. It was also the official announcement of his upcoming new Comedy Central series that starts this fall. Yesterday afternoon I was backstage doing some organizing and he was walking from the stage to catering with Brian and his girlfriend. Brian said hi, then Jeff said "Hey Kelly." It kinda took me by surprise because that was the first time I've heard him use my name. He's said hi and talked to me a bit before, but it was just one of those "Holy crap he knows my name" star struck moments :) Everyone asks me what he's like in person. All I can really say is he's a good guy, but he tends to keep to himself and a few other people. A couple of days ago in passing he said "another day, another ten bucks!" Then I said, "something like that" and he laughed.
May 15th was the show in Dayton, and I got tickets for quite a few people. First Lauren and Trevor got there, so I met them up in the concourse area. We talked for a bit then walked to their seats which were in the center floor about 13 rows from the stage. I don't know where people's tickets are, so I was happy to see they got really good ones! Then I got a call from someone I work with at Live and he said "I can see you!" His seats were up a little higher, so I went to talk to him and his family for a bit. Then Aunt Nora called me so I met up with her and Uncle Don. They got me a cute little gift bag with snacks and cool toys :) I talked with them for a bit while they waited in the long concession line, then headed back down to the floor. I went back down to see Lauren again, then just as I was about to head backstage, my friend Chelsea and her boyfriend sat down. Almost everyone I got tickets for were sitting in the same row, so that was cool. I got to come back to talk to Chels at intermission, so that was good.
Then the 28th was the show in Cleveland where a lot of other family came. Every show we do, the four front center seats don't get sold. If we don't have anyone special we want to put up there, we'll go out (well, a couple of guys go) into the house and pick people in far away seats. Typically it's "hot chicks." It gives Brian someone to jokingly hit on, and also they typically are not hecklers. So for this show I claimed the 4 tickets to give to my parents, Aunt Deb and Uncle Rick because it was Deb's 50th birthday. Unfortunately they got there late, so Brian couldn't hit on her. He was ready too, because I told him about her. He actually ended up picking on my mom, but for something different. After he sings his first song he looks down and says, "Are you okay ma'am? She's going, 'What kind of a show did you bring me to? You said there were going to be puppets!'" Mom got a kick out of that. I told him the next day that he was talking to my mom and he said he wished he would have known! (probably so he could pick on her more).
I also got to see Aunt Regina, Uncle Rob, cousin Jessica and her boyfiend, all of the Moores and their significant others, Grandma Walsh (who gave me a box of very tasty Rice Crispy treats!), Ben and a friend, and some family friends the Yetzers. It was kinda crazy before the show trying to get to see everybody, but it was fun. Everyone said they enjoyed it, and I enjoyed seeing everyone, even if it was brief! I'm glad everyone had a good time!
Well that should about do it for now. This entry is pretty long, and I should get go so I have time to do something before dinner. I'll try to keep updating!
Jeff is in this month's issue of Time magazine. It's a full one page article I read a couple of days ago that, again, made me realize just how big a deal he is! If you get the opportunity you should check it out. It was also the official announcement of his upcoming new Comedy Central series that starts this fall. Yesterday afternoon I was backstage doing some organizing and he was walking from the stage to catering with Brian and his girlfriend. Brian said hi, then Jeff said "Hey Kelly." It kinda took me by surprise because that was the first time I've heard him use my name. He's said hi and talked to me a bit before, but it was just one of those "Holy crap he knows my name" star struck moments :) Everyone asks me what he's like in person. All I can really say is he's a good guy, but he tends to keep to himself and a few other people. A couple of days ago in passing he said "another day, another ten bucks!" Then I said, "something like that" and he laughed.
May 15th was the show in Dayton, and I got tickets for quite a few people. First Lauren and Trevor got there, so I met them up in the concourse area. We talked for a bit then walked to their seats which were in the center floor about 13 rows from the stage. I don't know where people's tickets are, so I was happy to see they got really good ones! Then I got a call from someone I work with at Live and he said "I can see you!" His seats were up a little higher, so I went to talk to him and his family for a bit. Then Aunt Nora called me so I met up with her and Uncle Don. They got me a cute little gift bag with snacks and cool toys :) I talked with them for a bit while they waited in the long concession line, then headed back down to the floor. I went back down to see Lauren again, then just as I was about to head backstage, my friend Chelsea and her boyfriend sat down. Almost everyone I got tickets for were sitting in the same row, so that was cool. I got to come back to talk to Chels at intermission, so that was good.
Then the 28th was the show in Cleveland where a lot of other family came. Every show we do, the four front center seats don't get sold. If we don't have anyone special we want to put up there, we'll go out (well, a couple of guys go) into the house and pick people in far away seats. Typically it's "hot chicks." It gives Brian someone to jokingly hit on, and also they typically are not hecklers. So for this show I claimed the 4 tickets to give to my parents, Aunt Deb and Uncle Rick because it was Deb's 50th birthday. Unfortunately they got there late, so Brian couldn't hit on her. He was ready too, because I told him about her. He actually ended up picking on my mom, but for something different. After he sings his first song he looks down and says, "Are you okay ma'am? She's going, 'What kind of a show did you bring me to? You said there were going to be puppets!'" Mom got a kick out of that. I told him the next day that he was talking to my mom and he said he wished he would have known! (probably so he could pick on her more).
I also got to see Aunt Regina, Uncle Rob, cousin Jessica and her boyfiend, all of the Moores and their significant others, Grandma Walsh (who gave me a box of very tasty Rice Crispy treats!), Ben and a friend, and some family friends the Yetzers. It was kinda crazy before the show trying to get to see everybody, but it was fun. Everyone said they enjoyed it, and I enjoyed seeing everyone, even if it was brief! I'm glad everyone had a good time!
Well that should about do it for now. This entry is pretty long, and I should get go so I have time to do something before dinner. I'll try to keep updating!
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