I got up early on Wednesday (I know Jerome, 8 AM is early for me). It took a bit for the final bits to be finished. Packing the van, laundry, etc. I took some time to activate my 23 hour fitness membership. Now I am guaranteed a place to take a shower. I stopped by Jonnalyhn’s work to get a good buy hug and headed out.

My route through Mt. Rainer National Park. (Google Location History)

I decided to go the scenic route and took Highway 410. In case you don’t know, it is a two  lane highway that goes through the northern part of Mt. Rainer National Park. In other words, gorgeous as hell. Unfortunately, it was raining and cloudy so the views weren’t as good as they should have been.

As I was driving along, I suddenly had to stop. There was an elk standing in the road in front of me. It took off before I could grab my camera. Google then took me down Washington 123 and then to Highway 12. I then joined to I-82. Google then took me off I-82 at Prosser and down Highway 221 and Highway 14 to rejoin I-82 at the Washington/Oregon boarder. I then followed I-84 to Boise and stopped for the night at a rest area.

Day one on the way to Denver. I know it doesn’t show all they way to Boise but that didn’t happen until about 1 AM. (Google Location History)

My first night in the van went OK. I had made window cover of some material and stick on magnets. Unfortunately the magnets don’t stick well… to the material OR metal. I replaced them yesterday with black out curtains using sliders from Ikea. Works much better.

Day two of the trip. (Google Location History)

I was back on the road the Thursday morning at 7:30. The day went uneventful, lots of freeway, a few trucks, the amazing scenery. Until Wyoming, that is.

Just about sunset there was a big thunder storm ahead of me. The lighting was impressive. It got closer and closer, until I was driving under it. Then the hail started. Imagine a hard winter storm but freeze it. The sound was deafening. The hail was piled on the ground like snow. At least 4 inches deep. The traffic slowed to a crawl. The hale broke several holes in the roof vent I had installed and smashed a hole in the drivers side head light.

The hail storm put several holes in my new roof vent.

After I got out of the storm I stopped to fix the damage (God bless whoever invented duct tape). Google then took me off the Interstate and down Highway 287 from Laramie to Ft Collins, then I-25 to Denver. Driving remote highways with only one headlight is rough. I found a Walmart in Lakeside, CO (just NW of Denver) and spent the night there.

The lens was already cracked but the hale put a hole in it.

I was up early Friday morning so I could get in to work. The big top itself is very like the one used for Amaluna. The big difference is how the bleacher are set up. They build new ones for this show. There are three big differences. There are blocks under the seats to keep stuff from falling under the bleachers. YEA!! and they have a row S. The really big difference is the entry at door 3 and 4.

Amaluna had stares that went up to the top row so everyone had to go that way. I have seen other Cirque shows that had a ramp going to row H and then you had stars up and down from there. This layout is a hybrid. It is broken into three sections. The sides have stares that go to row S and the center section is a ramp up to row H. No more having all the wheelchairs going to door 7 or 8.

My badge for the new show.

A nice benefit to the ramps is that the chair racks can be wheeled into the big top. So setup took much less time. After the chars were laid out (another team was setting them up) we helped get lighting setup in the merch tent. I went out to dinner with the Amaluna followers. We had a good time catching up. The a quick run to the gym for a workout and a (much needed) shower. I then found myself a place to park the van on a nice side street and went to sleep.

Saturday and Sunday I spent a lot of time at home depot making tweaks to my van and buying a new headlight. They had to order it. It comes next week. Saturday night I went to a pub and had some food and beer while listening to a very good 80s band from Idaho. Sunday I went to Ikea, had meatballs, and bought some curtain tracks. I installed them that afternoon. I spent that night at Golden, Co. so I could get a replacement for my vent cover. Apparently they have had a several hale storms here and were out of the model I needed. They are going to get some more in soon.

Today, I went to a DIY car repair place. Unfortunately, they are closed on Mondays. I will try again tomorrow.

Tonight is training. They are doing it on Monday because it is the only time that the artist won’t be practicing.

I think I am going to get some lunch and take a nap.