I'm proud to say that my costumes have graced the ATP homepage for most of the year, but I don't know how much longer the Godspell photo will stay up. Olympia Dukakis is directing and starring in this summer's final production, and as soon as they have photos of that production, they'll probably want to post them on the homepage. Wouldn't you?
Well, it was a whirlwind 3+ weeks of 10-16 hour workdays with no day off, but a very rewarding experience - much like last year. Well, it was sort-of like last year, except that I managed to avoid dramatic events like climbing out of bathroom windows, or experiencing close encounters with bears. The show opened on July 15th, and Bryce flew in that day, thanks to a free ticket he earned by being bumped from a flight some months ago. At $1000+ per round-trip for flights there, his visit would not have been possible otherwise. Thanks, United Airlines!
After I had finally wrapped up my costume-related duties, we had about 48 hours that we were able to treat as a mini-vacation before departing Montana. We rented a car (which turned out to be a little red Mustang convertible due to the rental company overbooking reservations - thanks, Enterprise!), and then we took day-trips into Glacier: a moderate hike over snow-covered Logan's Pass and the continental divide on the first day (complete with friendly mountain goat sightings), and a half-day whitewater rafting trip on the second day (don't be too impressed - we're whitewater-wimps, so it wasn't as daring as it sounds).
Even though it puts the environmentally-concerned outdoor adventurer in me up in arms, I have to admit this: my favorite part of the day-trips was driving up and down Glacier's jaw-dropping mountains in the convertible with the top down. There are pretty mountains, and then there are Glacier's mountains. I'm sure that I need to see a lot more mountains before awarding the grand prize, but in my mountain scorebook, Glacier Park now ranks #1. If you're looking for your next vacation adventure, I'd suggest this place. These mountains and valleys were carved by glaciers, and they are remarkable. In 1998, there were 27 glaciers remaining in the park - down from approximately 150 a century ago. It is expected that they will be almost gone by 2030. No such thing as global warming? Really? This is why I feel some guilt that much of our time in Glacier Park was spent behind the wheel of a gas-consuming, emission-producing vehicle. But gosh, it was amazing to drive the Going-to-the-Sun-Road (actual name of road) in that sporty little automobile.
Our trusty camera broke about halfway through my time in Montana, so sadly, I have no photos of the mini-vacation. But here's what I do have:
A nifty light-based art installation in one of the Chicago-O'Hare airport corridors, at the stopover en route to Montana:
A fuzzy porthole view of Glacier's snow-capped mountains, shortly before landing:
Our costume intern (and my former Rowan student) Arcadea and me at the rodeo:
Handsome (ahem, very handsome) cowboys at the rodeo:
A bullride with a scary ending:
Neither bull nor rider were injured.
Acadea and her sister Sierra sit-dancing at the rodeo:
In this extreme-close-up, the dancing is almost as scary as the bullride.
Speaking of scary, this is the perfume dispenser in the ladies' restroom at the Blue Moon, the cowboy bar conveniently located next to the rodeo.
Push in a quarter, and it spits out your choice of three awful scents. Note the labels: Obsession Like Fragrance, Jovan musk oil Like Fragrance, etc.When not taking photographs in the Blue Moon's restroom, we danced for hours to the live music of Sonny and his band.
Fireworks over Whitefish Lake after the company barbecue on the 4th of July:
Noteworthy fact: this was not a professional fireworks show. These fireworks were all purchased from roadside stands by the people who owned a nearby house on the lake. I think this is one of those funny things about laws in Montana. The funny thing being that Montanans in general don't seem too keen on laws. It's one of many things I admire about the place. It's got chutzpah.
I was saddened that so much firework-related debris was probably landing in Whitefish Lake, but I had to admit that the display was pretty impressive.
This is the last image that our camera captured before it went caput:
It's the Canadian exchange rate posted in Wal-mart. Most businesses in this part of Montana accept Canadian dollars. Strange, eh?
Other things I would show you if the camera hadn't stopped working:
-Mountain goats atop Logan pass.
-Glacier, Glacier, Glacier!
-B and me at the rodeo.
-Stuffed grizzly bears at the Blue Moon cowboy bar (because it's just that classy).
-B and me sopping wet after the rafting trip.
-The fabulous cowboy boots I bought in Kalispell.
-B and me enjoying pizza and local beer at nearly 2:00 AM in the bar of the Chicago Airport Hilton.
-Lunch and more local beer with fellow Scripps alum Devon and her husband Patrick at a fun restaurant near their condo in Chicago.
-B and me on the 96th floor of the Hancock Tower in downtown Chicago on Sunday afternoon.
Wait, did you say "in Chicago?"
This is the last image that our camera captured before it went caput:
It's the Canadian exchange rate posted in Wal-mart. Most businesses in this part of Montana accept Canadian dollars. Strange, eh?Other things I would show you if the camera hadn't stopped working:
-Mountain goats atop Logan pass.
-Glacier, Glacier, Glacier!
-B and me at the rodeo.
-Stuffed grizzly bears at the Blue Moon cowboy bar (because it's just that classy).
-B and me sopping wet after the rafting trip.
-The fabulous cowboy boots I bought in Kalispell.
-B and me enjoying pizza and local beer at nearly 2:00 AM in the bar of the Chicago Airport Hilton.
-Lunch and more local beer with fellow Scripps alum Devon and her husband Patrick at a fun restaurant near their condo in Chicago.
-B and me on the 96th floor of the Hancock Tower in downtown Chicago on Sunday afternoon.
Wait, did you say "in Chicago?"
Yes, I said in Chicago. It's a long story, but as a result of several factors (including: weather, flight delays, flight cancellations, and preferring not to cough up a large sum of money for a hotel room unless we could take a later flight so that we could sleep in that room for more than four hours), we ended up with a 24-hour layover in Chicago. We made the best of what started out as an unpleasant situation, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We got to see Devon for the first time since our undergrad graduation, we got to meet her witty and droll husband Patrick, and now we can add Chicago to the list of big cities we have visited, albeit for a few hours. It was quite the adventure. Devon has posted details and photographic proof of our visit on her blog here.
And now, I'm so happy to be home. I really missed the boys. All of them.
3 comments:
Hey Steph. It's me Aunt Debbie although I am not sure if I am identified as that or by the sorority moniker used to maintain that blog site. Just too uch crap to keep track on anymore. (Can't Bryce come up with some method to avoid having to input so many user IDs/passwords!!??). Any-hoo- I read some of your posts occasionally. Sounds like you are enjoying life with "the boys" and fulfilling adventures. XO
Oh it does show me....with my college name as well as current name. BTW when I have to wear a nametag to college alum/sorority events, I just use Corey but with spokes in the O for Wheeler :). Makes people look...sometimes ask...and often slap their foreheads.
That's too cute.
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