Hello my talented and intelligent readers (yes, I'm talking about you!)
I haven't written a while- I know. BUT there was that awesome guest post by Clayton Howe so if you haven't read you should go read it now and I'll wait for you to come back.
Ok now that that is taken care of, I can tell you that I have officially finished my internship at STC and made my way across the country to my next gig. On my journey I took some journal entries, many photos, and even a few Instagram Lives (#LivefromtheDrive). I figured since this is also a travel blog and driving across country is a lot of traveling, I should share my adventures here as well.
And if you are only here for the theatre part of the blog, then feel free to skip to the end. (But tbh this trip was a TRIP so I'd recommend reading all of it. But hey that's just me 🤷🏼♀️)
Sunday, May 20th 2018. Day 1.
Cross country road trip starts today! (Oh how young and naive I was to be excited) Sad to leave Sacramento -who would of thought.
11:53 AM Saw some parachuters a little earlier- never would I ever jump out of a plane. I'm sure it might be fun and beautiful after the initial jump.
*Rob Thomas-Pieces*
But why, or rather how on earth does one make the jump? (Here I get all philosophical and deep and connect it to real life). How have I made all of these huge "jumps" in my life (i.e. moving to California)? Time and time again? And I realized while I do tend to have many, many conversations with anyone who will listen- eventually I just do it and hope I don't come out to scratched up on the other end. But a
method I have found works best for me is:
Dont' wait for three, jump on two.
*Kelly Clarkson- It's Quiet Uptown.
*Marshmello & Anne-Marie -Friends.
*Niall Horan- On the Loose.
1:33 PM Oprah's Supersoul Conversation w/ Jimmy Kimmel
(Things that stuck out to me)
What is this here to teach you?
What has this year taught you?
Pick your battles, use entertainment/power to voice things
The closer something is to you, the more you feel it
Nobody knows (or rather cares) that the devastation continues
It is uncomfortable
They have nothing to gain by saying these mean things about me.
On which truths would you stake your life on?
"I am because you are."
Feeding people you love feeds your soul.
He didn't leave a job for one with higher $. He was loyal.
Sometimes you think it's the right time, but you are not ready yet.
You don't know as much as you think you do.
Diplomacy.
5:37 PM 5 Trillion windmills. (Shoutout to La Mancha) Sleepy. Ate at a Taco Bell for the first time in YEARS after getting gas. Sketchy town. Little kid in Taco Bell REALLY wanted to go to Target. He kept going Target, targetttttt.
Little kid, I get it.
(Wow I was so into documentation via written word on this first day, I wish I could say the same for the rest of the week)
Monday, May 21st 2018. Day 2.
Left from Blastow, CA.
11:41 AM Lots and lots of mountains. Ears are popping a lot right now. These views are gOrgeoUs (wow I can't spell). I hope we don't go through any bad weather and the weather in Indiana is good. Currently in AZ. Trying to convince Nana to stop in Vegas but it isn't going well. STAY TUNED. Oh I also drove on the highway for the first time for like an hour so GO ME!
**I believe this is the day we also got pulled over for speeding (#wasntme) in a speed trap (Changed really fast over a hill). Don't worry we didn't get a ticket because we are good people and had out of state plates.
Stopped in Flagstaff, AZ for Lunch at Red Curry which was a cute vegan cafe. They had so many adorable shops -including a bookstore with a real cute hipster employee. This was definitely one of my favorite stops on the trip.
Ended the night in Gallup, New Mexico.
Tuesday, May 22nd 2018. Day 3.
We didn't get very far today because we stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico for a few hours. But honestly this was great news because we stopped at the Apple Store and were able to get my battery replaced for a mere $29.99. For those who don't know for the past month or so my phone has been dying on 90 percent. So I was that girl in Low Brau trying to charge my phone at the bar. So finally going to get it fixed was an accomplishment. My phone does have a slight crack on the top though so Max (our very handsome, very helpful tech support guy) said we should replace the screen or risk potentially getting it cracked more when they went in to replace the battery. We risked it to get the biscuit (and by biscuit I mean to save $199) and we won! So a few hours and a burnt California Pizza later and we were off with a very happy Chels!
PS. I didn't find Troy Bolton.
We stopped in Amarillo, TX for the evening where my nana insisted we eat at the Big Texan. I ordered ribs, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and a raspberry wheat beer (me a beer I know crazy). There was an eating contest where if you could eat a 72 oz steak, a baked potato, and a salad in 60 minutes you could get it for free. I was more stressed out for this kid because everyone was staring at him and taking photos while he ate on the stage then concerned about him vomitting tbh. I could also feel in the air that I was surrounded by conservatives and that also stressed me out.
Wednesday, May 23rd. Day 4.
Currently in Oklahoma!
We stopped for lunch a Chick-fil-A and we ended up driving 30 minutes in the wrong direction when we left.
Thursday, May 24th. Day 5.
Arrived in Evansville, Indiana. My new home for the next three-ish months.
So clearly as the days went on, I got less interested in writing everything down (which I should have because it was difficult writing this when all the days blurred together). I also had one day where I didn't write anything down because I was very grumpy from not getting any sleep the night before and slept literally the entire drive that day.
*Here is where you skip to if you want to just read about theatre*.
So I have made it through most of pre-production week here at New Harmony and I love it already! Our rooms are MASSIVE compared to my room in Sacramento and it feels nice to just spread out / not be walking on egg shells all of the time.
I've already learned so many new things- like who knew you could use a pool noodle to get mop water from the sink to the mop bucket. It literally BLEW. MY.MIND.
I've also been doing so much better at menu planning/cooking (as well as eating healthier and drinking more water) which is helping me save so much money that I blew eating out almost every day my last 3 weeks in California.
I am really looking forward to the rest of the summer here! We start Born Yesterday rehearsals on Tuesday so stay tuned!
I can't wait to continue to share my theatre/travel/drinking journey with you all. If you ever have any post requests or want to write a post please do not hesitate to reach out. This blog is meant to be a resource for all the stage managers/theatre technicians /designers etc. so I want to be sure to not only write what I like, but what you all want to see! Thank you all so much for reading thus far and for watching all the shenanigans via social media (I know those Live from the Drives were getting excessive those last couple of days in the car)!
Much love always and can't wait to keep growing and thriving with you all!
Chelsea 💜