February 27, 2012

Dallas, TX to Des Moines, IA

691 miles / 12 hours

We left Dallas at 7:30 on the dot, knowing full well we wouldn't arrive in Des Moine until 7:30 p.m. It was a  long day in the car, thankfully it went smoothly. Grace was very content reading her books for a huge portion of the morning and we were back driving through Oklahoma in no time. 

This is the third time we have driven up and down the same highways, so we're pretty familiar with the sites. This is our favorite...

Who knew? All this time we've been living in New York and on the road...when what we should have been doing was attending the Big Gig School of music in Calera, Oklahoma (population 1900). Maybe we would have landed a big gig by now!

Around the time that we were checking out the Big Gig, Grace was starting her own photo shoot in the backseat with my phone. The pictures she took (and there were plenty) basically look like this one.

Then I turned the camera on her.

(This one looks like we just told her we have 6 more hours in the car!)

Missouri welcomed us just in time for lunch!

After lunch, Grace napped and then watched Dumbo, while David and I played name that Broadway show tune.  I wonder if they teach that at the Big Gig? 

We arrived in Des Moines around 7:30 p.m., just like we hoped we would, ordered pizza, unpacked, and had the best night of sleep I have had in weeks. We're back to hotel living and this bed is wonderful! 

Good Night!

February 23, 2012

Skyline Park

Dallas, Texas

February 20, 2012

Nick and Sam's

Dallas, Texas

 The definition of adult dinner is a group of twenty somethings or older enjoying a wonderful meal and then splitting the bill equally no matter what you order. You see, actors are know for being cheap. So when you are dining in a large group, which always happens when you're on tour, paying the bill can be dreadful. Inevitably, someone ends up over paying to cover for someone else whose math was off when tallying up their tab. Anyway, I digress, the point is...adult dinner is always a blast.
About ten years ago when we were touring with RENT, David, myself, and a few of our friends went out to dinner at a restaurant called "Nick and Sams" in Dallas. David and I hadn't been dating very long prior to the dinner and I was nervous. It was my first "adult dinner." I had no idea what to expect. It is a night we still talk about and remember vividly. It was the greatest meal we have ever had, absolutely delicious.
In 2005, David was touring with Wicked and the show had a sit down in Dallas. We were so excited to get to go back to Nick and Sams and it ended up being just as awesome as it was the first time.
When David booked the Bring It On tour and we saw that Dallas was on the itinerary, we were elated to have another chance to dine at Nick and Sams. We asked Michael and his fiance Liz to join us and they too were looking forward to the dinner. And once again Nick and Sam's didn't disappoint.

David's gotta have steak on their menu is the Long Bone...named the long bone for obvious reasons.

Gracie was having a pizza party with Danielle, a cast member from Bring It On, while we were out to dinner. When we dropped her off she barley had time to say good bye to us. She walked into the hotel room, asked Danielle where she should hang her coat, and was immediately ready to play.
When we arrived to pick Grace up, she was very excited to tell us about her evening. She said, "Thank you for baby sitting me Danielle. I hope you can do it again reeeeaaaaallll soon!" In the car on the way home we asked her if anyone else had stopped by to see her. She said, "Yes! The pizza guy!"

Steak or pizza, it doesn't matter, we all had a fabulous evening!

February 18, 2012

My Yogi Gracie

Dallas, TX

I have been doing Yoga for a couple months and Grace has recently joined the Yogi club. She asked the other day if she could do Yoga with me. Loving this idea, I went online and googled yoga for kids and found a few really cute videos on You Tube. I think her interest in yoga is wonderful for so many reasons, but I especially love that she's able to listen to the instructor online and follow the commands and even more so I love that she's releasing some of that 2 year old energy that can be very difficult to keep up with! 

Namaste

February 17, 2012

Texas Discovery Gardens

Dallas, Texas

If you ask Grace what is her favorite thing we have done on the tour so far, she will say the butterfly pavilion in Denver.  So, when I found out that Dallas also has a butterfly garden, I knew she would be excited to go!

The Discovery Gardens is on the Fair Park grounds and right behind the garden is the State Fair Ferris Wheel.

Grace once again loved seeing all the butterflies and she wanted to ride the ferris wheel so badly. We told her maybe someday we'd  bring her back so we could all go to the state fair. I mean who doesn't want to try fried bubblegum, deep fried butter, and fried beer (I'm not even sure how that's possible, but they've made it). We've gotta come back to Dallas!

February 16, 2012

Harry Moss Park

Dallas, Houston

February 14, 2012

Our Valentine's Day

Dallas Texas

  

My Funny Valentine

Sweet Comic Valentine

You Make Me Smile With My Heart

Stay Little Valentine

Each Day Is Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our family and friends. 

Love and Miss You!

February 13, 2012

Fayetteville, Arkansas to Dallas, Texas

US 75 South

324 miles / 5.5 hours

Yay!!! Finally a short drive!! 5.5 hours! That's nothing for the Pepin family! However, the weather folks were predicting a horrible snow, sleet, and ice storm and it was scheduled to hit around 2 a.m. However, we had a few things in our favor. If we can't make it through the storm, neither can the cast or the trucks with the set and we were pretty sure the storm was only going to affect the first hour or so of our drive. 

We left Fayetteville around 9 a.m. and as we predicted the first hour was slick and slow going, but shortly after that, the snow turned to rain and we cruised right along.

Shortly after we passed this sign...


We passed this sign...

Who knew we'd be passing through Carrie Underwood's home town of Checotah, Oklahoma (population 3335). Carrie Underwood won American Idol in 2005 and apparently her home town is proud of her, proud enough to put up a highway sign.

About a half hour past Carrie Underwood's house, we stopped at Chili's for lunch. And a few hours later we were unpacking the car and moving into our new home in Dallas.

February 8, 2012

Fayetteville, Arkansas

This week Grace did a lot of this...

The pool was surprisingly chilly for an indoor pool, but Grace didn't care. 

She stayed in the pool till her lips turned purple.

We also took a trip to the theatre to check out Dave's piano and see the cheerleaders.

We were only in Fayetteville for a week, which was just long enough. It was very cold (15 degrees) and David was busy with rehearsals during the week days. Grace and I did a lot of running up and down the hotel halls, playing in the pool, and art projects. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and move on to Dallas! 

February 6, 2012

Houston, Texas to Fayetteville, Arkansas

I-45 North

572 miles / 9.5 hours

I was sad to say goodbye to Houston...well not the city, but that gorgeous house. We had so much fun playing in the yard and at Herman park, cooking in that fabulous kitchen, Grace loved living with her new buddy Michael, and I loved sleeping in that king size bed. But as we have said a million and one times, saying good bye to one city means we are closer to the end of the tour and being back in New York! 

Anyway, we packed up our things and headed to Fayetteville. We headed north and stopped in Dallas for lunch at one of our favorite lunch spots, Jason's Deli. They have the best salad bar and soups, not to mention ice cream comes with your meal. An hour or so after lunch we were back driving through the lovely state of Oklahoma.

It was a fairly uneventful ride. At one point I said to David, "I hope we see something interesting sooner or later or else I have no idea what I'll post on the blog." We did see a beautiful reservoir named the Eufaula Reservoir and a hand full of casinos. And of course we saw a lot of cows. We always see a lot of cows.

We arrived in Fayetteville around 7:00 p.m. and checked into our home for the week, Staybridge Suites. We were looking forward to staying in a hotel for a week and enjoying the hotel amenities: free breakfast, free laundry, and an indoor pool. 

Our new home away from home

February 4, 2012

Bring It On

Houston, Texas

Backstage in the theatre world, a lot of times you'll find something like this...

Touring companies will paint their show's logo on a wall and then the cast will sign it. David wanted to show Gracie the All Shook Up painting to find Mommy's and Daddy's names. Then a few paintings down we found this...

And while David and I were talking to someone walking past, Gracie added her "name."

It's the little scribble mark on the circle second row up from the bottom, second circle in from the left. We think years from now that little scribble will be worth something.

She may be destined to be the worlds greatest conductor. 

On the way home, I asked Grace what her favorite part of going to Daddy's work was, "Playing the piano!" I have to admit, I was tearing up when she was sitting up there on the podium. She looked so grown up and was loving playing the piano and singing, just like her Mommy and Daddy!!!!