In Saco

I'm here in Saco, MT, and have not been able to check my facebook, so I'm making this rather late post. I'm headed to a school bbq this afternoon, and then we have a show tonight. Got the day off tomorrow, so we'll probably be going to glasgow, possibly to watch a movie, possibly just to get coffee and do something different! I will be home in three weeks. Woohoo!

The Fountain

This video turned out so great! I LOVE this fountain!

The Cutest Room in the World

So, this week I'm in Las Vegas, and I'm pretty sure I'm staying in the cutest little guest house known to man.
It's full of blue and white china, and this little nook contains tea cups and english toffee latte mix, as well as some cookies and a little guest book.

It has the nicest yellow walls (you'd love them mom!) and when the sun comes in, this little room glows!
Very unassuming from the outside, but so cute and cozy inside! I have a feeling it'll be a great week...

So I'm a Little Behind...

I've missed a whole week and a half here, and the time it would take to upload the pics is unbelievable. So I'm just going to make some photo albums on facebook, and if you have an account, you can look at them there! If you don't have an account, you should get one. They're really great. Then, with my extra time, I'll watch an episode of The Office. We leave tomorrow morning for the Grand Canyon, and I'll have plenty of pics. Then it's off to sunny Las Vegas! We've spent the last few days in Albuquerque with our Greek family, after a week in Deming, New Mexico. That's about 25 miles from the Mexican border, and about as far south as I want to go. Hope this finds you all well!

What's a Skunk to Do?

A video clip of the skunks in Greeley, Co. The quality isn't top notch, but they are still so cute!

Today we went to the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens. But, instead of looking at the flora and fauna, we went into the Children's Fantasy Garden and the Aquarium. Here are a few highlights from our day.

Samantha and Steve stand in awe of the dragon guarding the castle entrance...

The dragon is a docile beast, only eating when its prey is stupid enough to shake its hand...

As you walk through the maze, you look up, and just as you see it, a giant buzzing begins...

Mama (Athena) Christodoulou. She bought us this trip to fantasy land and served as our guide...

Hey, look ma! I'm helping water the garden...no, I can do it myself...no, really...

This ant was easily converted to my high-speed crotch-rocket...

Everything in the Garden is a hundred times larger than life, and helps bring the kid out in you...

I'm easily amused, and going down this log seemed like such a fun thing to do...

...unfortunately, I've grown a bit, and I don't slide as well as I used too...

Ever been inside a pumpkin? This is what it might look like.

Of course, hatching out of an egg is no easy trick, but somehow, we made it work. There are four eggs in the nest, all connected by different openings. I went in each one, just to see if I could fit through. It's tight, but I did it!

Contrary to popular belief, I did not eat my way through this carrot...

The castle walls provide shelter, while allowing us to rain arrows upon our enemies...

The dragon wasn't too pleased with our treatment of him when we first arrived, so we found it necessary to sneak behind him while he was distracted, in order to make our escape from the castle. It was touch and go...

As you can see, we did our very best to be quiet, and in the end, it payed off. We quickly made our way to the aquarium, where other dangerous, but slightly more contained, beasts lay.

This sting ray insisted on showing off his underside and blocked my view of the rest of the tank...

My favorite part of the aquarium was the big tank, with turtles and sharks and such. I have more video of feeding time, but no time to load it. Here, and at the bottom of the post, are a few clips to illustrate what I saw.








After the aquarium, we made our way through Old Town to the outside of the museum, where they have several sculptures. I made a fool of myself in public by posing with almost every one, as illustrated in these next few pictures. And everyone that knows me rolled their eyes...

This kind of illustrates our relationship with homestays, contacts, etc. I pretend we are best buds, and Steve remains unattached.

This wagon got stuck in the mud, so I threw off my coat and helped push...

...while I was pushing, a herd of wild cattle came through and upset the cart, carrying me with them. I barely escaped with my life...

...as fate would have it, I remembered a few wrestling moves I saw during the two seconds of NFR I watched one year. I took this steer to the ground, no problem.

After single-handedly vanquishing the stampede, I made sure the rest of the wagon party was safe, said goodbye to the baby, and moved on...

All that exploring and baby-saving made me hungry, so after rehearsal, Cristos Christodoulou and his two sons, Paulo and Marco, took us out to dinner at Zea's.

Paul is in eighth grade and loves everything musical. Mark is in fourth grade and is playing the part of Prince John this week. He wants to be a sports annoucer when he grows up.

Cristos is an electrical engineer and teaches at the local college. He and I both had the salmon, and he told jokes while we (at least, I) laughed. "So this preacher, priest, and rabbi all find this bag of gold. The preacher thinks it should be returned to its owner or given to the church. The priest think a circle should be drawn, and the gold thrown down. Whatever land in the circle is god's. The stuff on the outside, they should keep. The rabbi says, "No. Just throw it all in the air. Whatever doesn't come down is what God wants to keep, and whatever falls to the ground is ours!" (Hahahahaha) Paul decides he want to help. "There are three elephants that fall from the sky. Two fall on land, the third in water. Ba-dum, chhhhh". Only drummers, or serious musicians get that joke.

These videos are just some more samples of the marine life at the aquarium.

I don't know what kind of jellyfish this is...

But I know these are moon jellies...

And these are the kind that live well below the surface...I think...

The Show

A still shot of Robin. The guy who played Robin this week was the funniest one so far...

Well, if this video ever loads, it will just be a small sample of what our show looks and sounds like. Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham are having a little trouble finding Robin Hood, and the Guards don't really know what they're doing, but they try their hardest. Which isn't saying much. This was our theater group in Greeley, CO. Great group of kids, we really had a good time.

More of the zoo...

This little monkey only stood about a foot tall, and wasn't afraid of anything. He came right up to the window, put both paws out to touch my hands, and stuck his tongue out at me. He is called a Goeldi's Monkey.

This is my favorite video. The penguin makes me laugh every time. "And now, for the first event in the penguin olympics...professional hopping!"

Lego Land

This post is especially for Josh. Here you see Ron and Hermione, completely made of legos.

See how big they are?!

A close up of Hagrid's face...

He's a giant compared to me! Can you believe how big this is?! Amazing!

Here is a few pics of the zoo experience. I have about 300 more, but the internet is not fast enough. I also have some awesome video, but it won't load...so when I get home...

These are elephants...duh...

This emu was in the pen with the kangaroos, and we had no idea where he was...until we looked right below us. He was hiding next to the wall.

This is one of the two lions on Predator Ridge. Lazy fellows, basking in the sun.

I'll get more posted as soon as I can!

Greeley, Co Take Two

This has been the coffee shop of choice this week in Greeley. They not only have coffee and internet, but a wide selection of cards, books, and little knick knacks.

This poster is hanging in the green room at the Union Colony Civic Center.

Our set on the giant stage....

Oh, that's right! I have my name posted on a dressing room! Like a real actor or something...

A shot of our lovely dressing room, complete w/it's own bathroom and shower.

This is located in the park between Woody's and the Civic Center.

It looks almost like one of those ancient burial mounds for kings of old, but it's really the remnents of an artesian well. Be cooler if it was...

Greeley, Colorado, Take One

This is our first day on the big stage, after auditioning 178. We kept the main characters afterwards and had our first official meeting.

As you can see, the house, and the stage, are huge. This house seats around 1,900 audience members.

My bedroom this week has a very comfy bed w/a cute quilt, children's illustrated bibles, and a nicely tuned upright piano. I haven't played it much yet.

Our main living quarters are in the basement, and has a pool table, couch in front of a gas fireplace, mini fridge, and cable! Ah, the life of a tour actor is so tough...

The late, the great, Buffalo Bill Cody

On our way out of Golden, we stopped at the graveside of Buffalo Bill Cody.

The view from the parking lot was fantastic, quite the panorama of mountains, with the city of Golden laid out below.
The view from our house for the last week was a little nicer to look at...

Supposedly there is a good sized buffalo herd at the bottom of the hill, but we never had time to take a look.

Bill Cody was a master mason in the Masonic Lodges of Colorado...

Colonel William Frederick Cody was born February 26, 1846, died January 10, 1917, and was buried on Lookout Mountain above the town of Golden, CO on June 3, 1917.

He was a member of the Elks Club...

His wife, Louisa Frederici (1843-1921), is buried right next to him...(apparently he unsuccesfully tried to divorce her a couple of times, and even in death couldn't get her to leave his side...)

As you can see, he really is buried on top of a hill. It's just a bit of a walk to the top, and the grave is all fenced in and surrounded by a grove of pine trees.

The grave is littered with coins, mostly pennies and nickels. You can read for yourself what the money is used for...

There is a few signs hanging outside the trading post, mementos of Buffalo Bill's glory days.

And here is the famous Annie Oakley! Didn't know I was such a good shot, did you?

I'm beginning to feel more and more like a woman of the west...

We were too cheap to actually go inside, but the grave was interesting enough. I'm finally accomplishing one of my life long goals....learning more about my country!