Denver Colorado - Week Thirty Six

Oh My God.
I thought I had started this entry already, but it is Saturday and I haven't written a damn thing. Nice Fran. Very Very Nice.

Jeez. Where to start
That picture is of the statues just outside the theater. I call them the Dancing Aliens most of the time, but apparently the name changes with my mood. Yesterday they were the Dancing Naked People. Horny anyone? giggles.

Ok
My day off on Monday completely rocked.
Roy and I headed out of town to go to Winter Park. Elaine (from the hair department) and Steve (from Props) live there and invited the whole company up to see their beautiful homes and hang together. The drive up was crazy beautiful. One of those drives where the mountains are RIGHT THERE. I think I-40 between the I-70 exchange and Winter Park has usurped rte 205 to Mt. St. Helens as my favorite scenic drive. Check out the pics below.
On our way out to the party, Roy and I stopped off in Idaho Springs to check out this bead store that Eddie had suggested (and left directions too...thanks eddie!). This is a pictre of the main street in the town. Way cute, no? This bead shop was incredible! I got the show shopping out of the way first and then hit the aisles for some treasures of my own. It would be in poor taste to tell you how much I spent in this place, but I will tell you that it was almost double what I spent for the show. Oh. It is called Ornamental Resources. They had beads I have never seen anywhere. I was like a kid in a candy store, and I have already started making lots and lots of pretties with them. You should see my hotel room. What a mess.
So after that awesome stop, Roy and I headed out to Elaine's house. She lives in my dream home. Some day, when I grow up and get a house of my own, there are a few unshakeable requirements. One - it must be on property that is covered by trees and either moss or mossy rocks, because I hate mowing the lawn. Two - it must have a big front porch so that I can sit out with a cup of tea and watch the world. Three - it must be made of wood, not brick or siding or anything else. Lastly my neighbors can be close enough so I can see their house, so if someone tries to break in and kill me I don't have too far to run, but they can't be so close that I can hear them arguing with their loved ones, or they me. Elaine's has all of those requirements except the last one. Not that the close proximity of her neighbors is her fault. She told me when she built there, she was the only on there. Now the area is crazy with houses. Some of them are enormous. There are some very very rich people in Winter Park. Her house is the perfect size.
The Party itself was great. I would say about half the company drove the hour and half to come hang. Elaine made TONS of food and drinks (my personal favorite being the mango margharita) All the Spam Fam dogs were there, and amazingly enough The Dog Whisperer was not needed to break up any fights. It was a great, relaxing, beautiful day. One of those days, where everyone gets along and pettiness is put aside. Steve was running a shuttle down the block to go see his house - The Lone Pine. His place is also a log cabin home that he actually built himself. Just an adorable sweet little place. Things started to break up as the sun started going down. As it got colder, more wood was put on the fire and those of us left huddled around it and laughed. I love that the weather is turning colder. I stayed overnight and helped Elaine clean up. It was a big job made easier by total team work (Elaine, Steve and I) Soon enough we were back on the porch stoking the fire and sitting back. More pics below.
In the morning, I got up at the crack of crack, enjoyed a cup of tea with Elaine and Taza and hit the road. I had specific goals for my Tuesday. I wanted to drive the entire circle around Rocky Mountain National Park (about 50 miles) get out and take a hike in the woods, and then drive down through Estes Park back to Denver. Well, that was cut down by the 3 feet of snow the mountain passes got. They closed the highest points of the drive, making it impossible for me to do the whole circle. Still, I drove up as far as I could right to the Road Closed sign. What a great drive. Just the radio, the mountains, and me. I fell in love with the town of Grand Lake, which is about a mile outside the entrance of the park. This very small, sweet little town at the northern most point of the lake, is surrounded by huge glorious mountains. I saw a spot for my bead store, and even a spot for my house. Of course, I was visiting in late September. You know that place gets BURIED in snow, and while I love the cold and winter, I have a feeling that is the stuff of extremes. I will need to come back in January or Feb. and see what's going on. Who knows, by the time I get a house, global warming will have made it a temperate zone.
Rocky Mountain National Park is flat out stunning. I only got to go about fifteen miles in, but that allowed me to get out and enjoy some of the trails. Most of the paths on this side of the park open up onto meadows just below the Rockies. Just amazing. The ranger at the entrance told me to be on the look out for elk, but I saw nary an elk. However, I did get to see some antelope hop-running up a hill at the end of the fields. Other than that, and the random chipmunk or squirrel, I didn't see any other wildlife. After a 2 small hikes, it was time to make my way back. I arrived back at my hotel in Denver with just enough time to shower, change and get to work.
By the way, work has been going swimmingly. The crew here is friendly and hard working. I have been spending some time with them and they are just the best people. Craig, who is the union steward, made me a cribbage board! There is a beetle that is killing the pine trees by the thousands. As you look out over any view, you can see the brown pines sticking out among all the green. I at first thought this was just the way the leaves turn in the Fall out here, but no, these trees are dying by the thousands. It's sad. However, Craig uses the wood for various purposes and one of the things he does is make cribbage boards. He overheard me talking cribbage with someone so he made me one! These beetles do the craziest thing to the wood of the trees. It casts this blue or red hue over the grain. So the board that he made me is a wood blue color. Very cool. We have been playing in between shows in the crew break room. Currently the score is 5-0. I am spanking him. hee hee. I told Craig I thought he must have, when he was making it, created a board that would only let me win. He has since removed the board from the break room and it only lives on my desk. LOL.
Wednesday, Francesca and I hit some of the bead and yarn stores around town. After my wallet burning bead-fest in Idaho Springs, I took it easy and hardly spent a dime. Francesca however, dropped some cash at I Love Knitting, which was the cutest lil yarn store. She is quite a talented knitter. She just finished a skirt that is way cool. Her next project is a duster for herself, which required every skein of this particular green yarn at the shop. I can't wait to see what it looks like when she's done. We had ourselves a lovely Thai lunch and then drove around a cemetery - something we both enjoy doing, but most people don't. If you remember, back in Louisville, I stumbled on the mother of all Rural Cemeteries, where the rich and famous tried to out do each other. This was not that kind of resting place, however, it was pretty and peaceful. Thanks Francesca for a lovely day. I am so mad I forgot my camera battery! grrrrrrrr.
When Thursday finally rolled around, I still had all the beads from my Monday shopping spree laid out on my table, so I literally spent the entire day making jewlery. That, and I watched Season One of West Wing. Even after all these years, that show still makes me laugh at loud and makes me think a White House with integrity is possible. Then I turn on CNN, and am snapped back to reality. I prefer West Wing. I love Josh. (sighs)
This week brought some exciting cast changes. Robert was quite sick and Matt Allen made his debut as Robin. He did a fantastic job! Then on Saturday, Patrick was out and Nigel went on as Lancelot. I was actually really surprised at how well Nigel did, and can really see how, given the opportunity, he could really grow into the role. Robert made it through most of the week, but when Sunday rolled around, he just had to call out again, so Matt went back on as Robin. I am so happy for him. With the first show done, he was able to really flesh out a little with the two show Sunday. And not for nothin, they both looked great!
I literally just heard from a friend of mine from another tour, that rumor has it the entire tech staff of this show is a bunch of drunk, drug addicts. Now, I knew this tour had a reputation for being...hmmm...politically correct word... -turbulent, but drunk drug addicts? I wanna know where those drugs are cuz I haven't seen any. Don't get me wrong, there is some drinking going on, but it is NOTHING - in fact it is Betty Ford - compared with Hairspray. So while I will be honest and say there is some serious, childish bickering going on among the crew, and certainly some down right negative elements at work, it most certainly is not a drug addled group. In fact this is the first tour I have been on in awhile where you don't see the crew at the bar every night. That would imply that everyone got along and worked well together. LOL. That's funny. What do I know? I keep to myself pretty much, so for all I know there could be all kinds of things going on. Seriously though, I haven't seen any of that. Whatev.
In honor of that very rumor I give you the second Shot Nite hosted by Wardrobe. (oh Man that is funny) Our first one, in Dallas, was such a success, that we felt some pressure to deliver the goods. I personally am opposed to putting out any kind of shitty product, be it earrings, costume or, in this case, alcoholic beverage. Wayne did some research online and found a summery Watermelon concoction. So we got the ingredients and had a practice night in my room. We followed the instructions to the letter and I am so sorry, but it did not taste like watermelon AT ALL. So we fiddled and futzed with it, and came up with our own yummy variation, which I named Summer's End. I was apprehensive going into the evening, but everyone loved it! Last time we made waaaaaay too much, this time we ran out and had to improvise. I can honestly say that the last round everyone had, was not the original, but we figured all their taste buds were dead by then anyway so....
It is Sunday. Wonderful delicious end of the week Sunday. This morning I got up early and went in search of my Aunt Erin's (pronounced Ear-in not Eh-ren) gravesite. Those of you close to me know the story of her so just skip down a bit. For those of you who do not know of her, she is my mother's mother's sister. She was one of the first female Colonels in the US Army, serving in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. I never had the chance to meet her, but my mom always told me I reminded her so much of Erin. We seem to have the same sort of independent spirit. She never got married by choice, had lots of male companionship (or lov-ahs, as I like to say) and she spent the last of her years with her phenomenal family of friends. This is very much who I am. I actually have no intention of getting married before I am 50 if ever, and anyone who knows me knows how important my friends are to me. So I have always felt this kinship with her. We are women who don't do the things traditionally expected, and living the life we want to live. She, of course, was far more of a maverick. Without women like her, women like me would be confined to a conventional home life. Some people are truly happy being wives and mothers. Just the idea makes me feel like I am choking to death. Anyway, since I arrived here I have been trying to find her spot. My mom can't remember her birthdate or death date even, so I was on my own. After days and days of searching the internet, with zero success I was starting to get really bummed and frustrated. I actually said out loud "Help me find you damn it all."
Two days later I not only had the cemetery, but the exact location. Thanks Aunt Erin! So I got her some flowers, wrote her a lil note and went out this morning. When I got to Fort Logan National Cemetery, I was a little overwhelmed. Being a military cemetery all the gravestones look exactly the same. You could easily get lost in a place like this. So I had some trouble finding her at first. Then I realized that on the back of each head stone is the number of the site. This made the search much easier and within minutes I saw her. You can imagine my shock when I saw that her birthday was the day before mine! (46 years earlier of course, but still...) I was hoping to find evidence that someone else had been there - old flowers or something, but there wasn't. I sat down in the grass, after searching out the regulation, sitck in the ground, green vases - put my flowers and note up and hung out for about an hour. The vase fiasco was my own funny moment, as I struggled to not steal one from somewhere, and stumbled across loads of them readily available to the public. You just had to look. That moment was so me - struggling with my own wants against my moral feelings, when really - there was no need to even bother. LOL. It was gorgeous day, with lots of other people visiting family as well. Now anytime a show brings me to Denver, I will go stop by and say hello to her, and leave her some flowers. I think I am going to go back next week before I leave. Just one last time.

It was a good week.
Love you guys.

The Extra Pics:

Elaine and Mitchell at the party. I love this picture of them. In fact, I think when this tour is over, this may very well be one that I will keep to always remember it by.




Just the best picture of a true laugh. Chris Gurr having a damn good time while peeling peppers for Elaine.




Mitch and Steve cookin' up some burgers.




Some of the Spam fam enjoying the party. Julie, Andrew and Piper




Jeff Dumas, Francesca, and Ryan as the party was winding down




After everyone had gone, we cleaned up and then Steve made the fire fanstical again





C'mooooooon. The drive on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park.



My new home town. Grand Lake, Colorado.




One of my hikes.




Same hike, it opened up into a field that just happened to have the "Never Summer" mountain range framing it.




bummer.




Amy, Suzanne, and Amy's Mom enjoying a little Summer's End. I love that her mom knocked back not one but 2 shots.




Francesca, just a little embarrassed that she was on her third shot. What can I say? They were very tasty.




Chris Gurr enjoying his second short adult beverage




Bye Bye Aunt Erin. I will see you next time. Until then, keep looking out for me...