Well hello, Ida!

Load-out during Tropical Storm Ida. Newport News, VA

I went home for a blissful 1.75 days. I rested, saw some good friends, went shopping with Mom, and acquired a Snuggie (leopard print. I regret not bringing it back on the road with me. I miss it dearly. Keep all smart cracks to yourself.). It was just enough time to loose the momentum and seriously wonder how I'd ever get myself back on the road again.

Not like I had any choice in the matter. Myself and three other locals waited an extra 3/4th of a day and took a castmate's private car to meet the group in Newport News, VA. During Tropical Storm Ida. Hello nausea, say, hello nausea...

We drive four hours in the pouring rain. We arrive in the pouring rain. Guess what? The next morning at 6:45am it is still pouring and 60mph winds and the shows that day are cancelled. A few hours later the next days' shows are cancelled in anticipation of more nasty weather, so we threw in the towel. Time to load-out.

[Load-in is when the crew takes all the set, equipment, and other stuff off of the truck and sets it up in a venue. Load-out is when we take all the stuff out, pack it up, and put it back on the truck. This process can take anywhere from 2-5 hours depending on how much help they have.]

Well it was raining and I was already up and expecting shows that day, so I went to Load-out. This was only my second load-out, because the cast is not always required to help. It was fun, I got to pretend like I was lifting heavy stuff like all of the men.

And that was Newport News! What was supposed to be a 7 show week turned into a 3 show week! Thanks, Ida!