"Oh my gosh, that was Ed Asner!?!" "who?"

Yesterday was another humdinger of a day! (Yes, i did just date myself. Now you all know my secret, I'm really 87 years old.)

I really only did two things yesterday but boy, were they big:

1. The WB VIP Tour

2. Santa Monica pier/promenade

I'm going to talk about them in reverse order so prepare yourself.

Daniel and Naela took me to Santa Monica to watch the sun set over the ocean. Unfortunately, the sun had already set by the time we got there. No matter. It was still nice to look out into the darkness and hear the waves crash into the shore as the smell of salt and fish hung in the air. The pier itself was alright. Apparently, it a world famous pier. I could see that. However, it reminded too much of Navy Pier to really get excited about. I do love Navy Pier but I'm there all the time. (Seriously, though, I love it and it inspired my new love of Tall Ships earlier this year. I love the ropes and knots.)

After walking the pier, we went to the Promenade, walked around, and had dinner. It was cool to be where my Great-aunt Norma had used to hang out. It was funny to imagine a 92 year old hanging in the place filled with street performers, crocheted bicycles, and twinkling trees. Funny but easy to imagine because we were very similar. I'd love to do that at 92.

It was a fantastic Southern Californian kind of night.

Now let me tell you about my uber-fantastic Southern Californian day!!! (Hold on to your hats, people!)

I knew when I headed out here that I wanted to do a studio tour. (Let's face it, I want to move onto a studio!) What I couldn't decide is which studio to tour. Universal looked ok but it was expensive and all about their rides. I wanted a tour. I wanted a deep, dirty behind the scenes, in the studio on the sound stage kind of tour. Paramount seemed to be like Universal. I finally just decided Universal. As I started to leave, Daniel recommended WB Studios. I quickly jumped online to check prices and such. My immediate thought was "I don't want to tour Looney Tunes. I want film and television!" Let is be known, I'm an idiot sometimes. It turns out that not only does WB film film and television but they are currently filming my favorite show: CHUCK! Well, that sealed the deal. No matter the price, I was going to WB. Turns out WB gets better and better as they were tens of dollars cheaper than Universal! With tax and everything, WB was about $50. not too shabby for a 2 1/2 hour tour.

So the tour was awesome! Here are some highlights: (I want to go into great detail but I have to leave soon. :( )

- walking around the town/square from Gilmore Girls.

- driving through "Chicago" and learning they had to dirty it up because true Chicagoans knew is too clean to be real. (ha!)

- walking through a ceiling-less church that can be used both inside and out

- getting shushed and took not to take any pictures to the left because they were actually taping something.

- walking into a courthouse and walking out a fire station. gotta love empty buildings that are just used for their fronts.

- driving past the shop where they build everything

- driving past the studio gas station

- passing Sound Stage 16 and thinking of all the great water movies that have been created in that place

- walking through the props building. I could have stayed there all day. Sadly we only went on the first floor of a 4 floored building!

- hanging out on the Central Perk set from Friends. Yes, I took my picture on the couch.

- walking on a certain set** (we'll take about this a bit more in a minute)

- driving by "La Bamba" from Conan's band

- watching Ed Asner be driven by on his golf cart as I stood by dumbfounded (my tour guide didn't know who he was!)

- walking on the set of the Menalist (then coming home and watching the show...it was my first time)

- hearing people "oh" and "ah" over stuff I've always known: fake walls, no ceilings, hallways that lead to no where, elevators that don't work... ah, the magic of television

- walking through the WB Museum.

- realizing that Pushing Daisies was also filmed there and falling even more in love

- driving past the old bungalows from the stars from way back when

- seeing celebrities names on their parking spaces

- getting sorted by the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter room: Gryffindor! (as if there was any doubt)

- walking through the HP museum

- seeing Heath Ledger's nurse costume from Batman and instantly getting sad

- taking endless pictures of the WB watertower

- hearing old stories about the Warners brother and Warren Beatty and everyone else.

I LOVE TOURS! I want to be a tour guide at some point in my life! (but not a page)

** We went on the CHUCK set! AHHHHHHH!!!!! I tried really hard not to geek out. I was the only person on the tour that even knew of the show! seriously?!? omgosh...I love it!

Not only did we go on one of the sets (without camera :( ) in one sound stage. But we went to 2 of the 3 Chuck sound stages. I walked around the apartment complex that Chuck, Sara, Casey, Ellie, and Awesome live in. I got to explore Chuck's apartment. I love how nerdy it is, even more so than you see on tv. (see, I love props) Then after all excitement. She took us to the Buy More sound stage. The Buy More, of course, looks like a Best Buy. It's funny to see how product placement is out of control at the Buy More.

Okay, so that was clearly the best 20 minutes of the tour. The guide was cool and realized I loved it and even played it up more. sweet. She wouldn't tell me what show was shot in the stage until we got there because she didn't want to ruin the surprise. I love that! haha.

Seriously, it's sick how at home I feel around all of that. I love every aspect. The backdrop creators. The makeup artists. The editors. The set designers. The costume designers. All of it. I would happily do any or all of it... obviously acting is still my first choice. foley is my second. and anything else is my third. :)

So that was super fun but now I'm off to Vegas. uh oh... ;)

-the nomas

The road to no where

I'm tired. exhausted really. The phrase "road weary" finally has meaning in my life.

I've been on the road for 12 days. (technically there is a few hours more but Mom says I'm not supposed to count those...) I still have another 13ish.

So far, I've:

hit an animal in Wisconsin,

admired wind turbines in Minnesota,

slept in a super sweet mom and pop motel in South Dakota,

watched bison walk in front of my car in Wyoming,

driven over mountains in the dark in Montana,

been amazed at the beauty of Idaho,

left my heart in Washington,

conquered Pike's Place in under 2 hours in Seattle,

got VD in Portland (voodoo donuts),

heard seals in Northern California,

stood in trees in the Redwood Forrest,

ridden world famous coastal curves in Central California,

and walked the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.

Currently I'm in a writing lab in Santa Monica, CA. This is the first silence I've had in weeks. I'm enjoying every bit of it. I'm also, unexpectedly, getting a lot of work done while typing this blog. Batteries are charging, thank you notes are being written, pictures are being uploaded, and breathing is happening. hooray!

Oh, I should mention Catie and Kelly are at LAX waiting for their flights. It was good having them with me. I'm glad they were able to come. We had quite a few laughs, most of which over meals (sorry about that, Kelly!). We had really only one major fight and only a couple scuffles. not too bad, if you ask me. I have decided though, adding people adds stress. I'm glad it's just Leann when she joins me in 4 days.

During this journey, laden with adventure, I have still not forgotten my goal. I am constantly straining to hear God's voice through all of this. I'm seeking wisdom everywhere I turn. I'm asking questions and listening to the answers. However, I must admit, at this halfway point. I'm more confused than ever. I fear other things have become distractions in my mind.

There are three things I need: housing, job, and healthy, healing church. I have discovered this:

Chicago - job

Cincinnati - housing

Kokomo - church

hmm... so maybe not any of those options...well, then things really get hairy.

New Zealand? I tried not to think it's "God's will" every time I hear an accent or see a NZ t-shirt (there have been a surprising amount).

Deer Park? oh, I'd love too but I feel this one is out of my hands.

LA? no thanks. I've been here 20 hours and I'm done.

Where else? I don't know...

I know what the answer is. The answer is pick somewhere, anywhere. Plant yourself and do God's work. The rest will work itself out. I know that's the answer. It has to be. That is what everyone says. Besides doesn't God call us to just be content?

I picked up the Bible and opened it as we were speeding down the coast yesterday (it seemed fast, it took over 10 hours!). I decided to let the Bible fall where it fell. It fell open in Job. It was one of the passages where his friend is telling him to give up. After reading that, I skipped ahead to God's response. I just kept thinking two things over and over. 1: "I love God's sarcasm. This guys cracks me up." 2: "I know I'm not wise. I know nothing. So what now?" I still don't have that answer.

Do you?

--the nomad

3 sisters + 2 days of straight driving = 1 crazy adventure

Hello again friends,

I'm writing to you from the backseat of my faithful Ford Focus. She's a beaut, she is! (I like to refer to her like she's a boat. Also, sometimes I refer to "her" as a "him", never, ever an "it".) I began the driving today around 9 am and, aside from Catie's hour drive in the Redwood Forest and the hour of my life I'll never get back thanks to Subway, finally traded drivers about 30 minutes ago. It's currently quarter to 6 pm. That, my friends, is a long day!

The day has been a good one. I was able to cross off and thing or two off of my bucket list. We awoke in Cresent City, CA and started down the coast.

I'll let you guess if we spent the night in a tent.

Here are some hints.

1: It was raining last night and this morning.

2: We heard seals from our sleeping quarters.

3: It was cold and dark.

4: I didn't care.

5: We did not camp in a tent.

The coast was breathtaking. Yesterday was a day filled with the Oregon's trees and coastlines. I'm fairly certain we squealed the first time we saw the ocean. We learned yesterday 3 reasons why no one would ever leave Oregon.

1. It's gorgeous!

2. They pump your gas and it still costs less!!

3. No state taxes!!!

Sadly, even though we learned these things, we still left. (Fear not, we didn't leave before we took Catie to 3 different stores to find an Oregon keychain. ugh. Everyone ask to see it, please.) Leaving Oregon was rewarded by entering California. I'd love to say it was all sunshine and rainbows but yesterday was a day of dark rain clouds. The Oregon coast was lovely but gray. And once we hit California the clouds outside did been replaced my own grey clouds. What can I say? I like my space. Actually I can say more. Please humor me...

This paragraph can be skipped because it doesn't deal directly with the trip but more me as a person. Feel free, I won't be upset...ok? .... .... Okay, that was your warning: So I have a problem. I can admit it (at least most of the time). I'm a performer. constantly. a constant performer. This means sadly that even with my family and close friends I often feel like I have to be "on". Truthfully, while this is second nature (first nature?), it is exhausting. And when I get exhausted, I get snappy. And when I'm exhausted and hungry, I get extra snappy. This happened last night. We didn't eat dinner until about 9 pm after being in a car cracking jokes and throwing silly dance parties for/with 2 people for 8 hours. Needless to say, it was a lethal mix. I got quite mean over the fact that I no longer have conditioner on this trip because someone else had used mine and my big, beautiful, Costoc-sized Dove shampoo and conditioner got left behind in Seattle. sigh. It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. It'snotabigdeal. I just wanted craved alone time. Thankfully (?) my sisters didn't listen and drug me to dinner. (Though honestly, at that point I don't know if they really wanted me to come along or just my debit card.)

After dinner at The Apple Peddler, where I had the waitress rolling, thankyouverymuch (especially when I compared Catie's head to a goldfish bowl that could hold 3 goldfish), we went to our hotel. It was a lovely hotel. We were given the bay side and could, in fact, hear the seals from right outside our door. Not bad for $70. The weirdest thing was the television that would automatically turn itself on and automatically switch channels. Oddly enough the remote would change channels but not turn the stupid thing off. ugh. Needless to say, I fell asleep with the tv on but the volume way, way down. Who wants to get out of bed at a hotel?

Oh, I should include here that I'm slightly freaked out at the idea of bed bugs. I don't care if they bite me and I'm not "afraid" of them. I just don't want them in my stuff. It can cost tens of thousands to get them removed. I don't have tens of thousands. This issue is so big that I've included it on the list of questions that I ask potential hotels (along with "Do you have any taxidermy", of course). Last night, I stopped and asked a hotel clerk if they had any. He basically laughed at me and told me they were a made up things that parents used to scare children. I corrected him on this matter post haste. He then told me I was welcome to look in the rooms and show him any if they had some so he'd know what they'd look like for the future. Needless to say, we stayed in a different hotel. That's not to say I didn't dream about bedbugs last night. yuck!

This morning, once we got on the road, we continued our drive down the 101. (We discussed the 1 and all decided we'd rather a shorter trip with redwoods, then a long trip with beach...we'll beach it later.) I'm so glad we spent the night in Crescent City last night. Everything was more beautiful this morning. The sun was actually out. We were able to see the beach and rocks and trees.

For the sake of time, I will skip ahead to the Redwood Forrest. I love trees. When I was 6 years old I convinced myself that my best friend was the tree in my front yard that I stood by/talked to everyday while waiting for my little first grade bus. I cried the day it was cut down. Ask my mom. It still pains me to see a tree get preened. And, yes, I have been called a tree hugger more than once in life. All that is to say, those redwoods are amazing. I wanted to hug every one. Honestly, reflecting back, I don't think I hugged one. I did, however, hug a bear made out of a single tree. I also took numerous pictures with trees, by trees, on trees, and even in trees. I want tress back in my life. There aren't really trees in Chicago.

I drove halfway through the Redwood Forrest and then Catie took over. She was a rockstar. This was her first time driving on the trip and she could handle those wooded curves with ease. The thing that really, truly makes her a rockstar though is the fact that she (the only one of us!) drove through a tree! She is my hero.

I feel I need to quickly clear up some Redwood confusion.

Are they big? yes!

Are they tall? yes!

Can you drive a car through them? barely.

The opening for your car is only 7 ft wide and 7 ft high! Catie, like an expert, guided my car through the tree. It fit like a glove. She will always be the-girl-who-drove-my-car-through-a-tree to me. And I will always be proud!

We left the Forrest and headed for the first exit we saw. (I'll skip a major sister fight here. Kelly was smart and just went inside as Catie and I duked it out.) Little did I know as I entered that Subway/gas station that this was about to be the most adventurous hour of today's trip.

So...to set the scene: Catie and I aren't talking to each other, Kelly is trying to stay out of it, there is one guy working at the counter, and a group of people all ordering footlong subs. As I get into line this is the first thing I hear:

"No, sorry we are out of meatballs"

"They're out of meatballs!" "Oh man, I wanted meatballs. Okay, how about Ham and Swiss"

"Uh...sorry we're out of swiss" Then someone in the back room calls out, "We're out of steak too!" The sandwich maker adds on "oh, and we don't have a toaster."

Already I can tell this is going to be awesome. By "swiss" Catie and I had apparently made up because we were snickering at each other. It just keeps getting better and better as 4-5 different people keep coming in and out with this order, all passing down the same, "they don't have ____" information. Seriously, this went on a long time. So long, in fact, that I took out my Droid and begin yelping for other places around Garberville, CA. Unfortunately, neither "Nacho Mama" nor "Getti Up" held any appeal of any of us. So we waited...for about 25 minutes.

Finally it's our turn. Kelly's up first. By this time, two workers come out. Still no idea why only one guy was making all of the footlongs. She orders a tuna sandwich. "We don't have tuna." He quickly adds, "but we could make some." Off goes guy number one to make Kelly's tuna fish salad.

Catie is up next. Oven Roasted Chicken with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Hers gets put together nice and easily. Some may even say "fast."

By this time, the first guy is back with Kelly's tuna. The second guy is finishing Catie's. And third guy is finally ringing out the big order.

My turn has come. After staring at the board for the past 30 minutes, I'd realized that the club was cheaper was turkey. "What's on the club?" I asked when my turn finally came.

"Turkey, Roast Beef, and Ham"

"Can I get it with no Ham. I don't eat eat pork."

"Sure," and then, no lie, he whispers "are you a Jew?"

"No. I just stopped eating pork in 5th grade. It's gross."

"Okay, because, I mean, it would be ok"

"Well, sometimes I tell people I'm a Jew but I'm not really..."

This conversation continues as I tell him, in my ridiculous, public, effervescent way, that I want all of the toppings except the hot ones, like peppers. So he was chatting about the fat cucumbers that had been hand sliced so they were too big, and I was making stupid jokes about it being redwood country so every thing's bigger, when he asked me what sauces I wanted. "Light mayo and spicy mustard."

As he lifted the mayo, I could see a dead fly on the bottom on the bottle. ugh. Before I could even say anything, he squirted it on the sandwich...dead fly and all! blech! I froze. Kelly yelled out, "hey, there's a fly!"

He looked down, "Where? I don't see it."

Seriously? It was easily one of the biggest flies I've ever seen. I'm not accustom to seeing flies in mayo on my sandwich so perhaps I'm exaggerating on the size a bit. But it was a HUGE horsefly. ugh. yuck. yuck. yuck!

Thankfully, he quickly made me a new sandwich as he apologized and apologized. Apparently, he was legally blinded and didn't like to wear his glasses. uh...what?!? At any rate, I got a free sandwich, which I barely had the stomach to eat (but I did because it was well into the 2 o'clock hour and I had been waiting for it for 45 minutes!).

And that, friends, is the perfect way to get over a family fight. After a disgusting adventure like that to bond other who can even remember who started what about what? no one. We are just all happy to get out alive. Oh, and I almost forgot about the creepy guy who was telling Catie he was going to go get drunk for the first time in 12 years because he was tired of getting high. He even showed her the 12 proof substance he was going to use. Oh, northern California...

So after the Subway fiasco, I continued driving toward Oakland, CA. We are spending the night with a college friend's best friend. I will let you know all about San Fran next time we meet here in the cyber world.

- the nomad

PS> At the insistence of others, I added ads. What do you think? I'm I now a sellout? Can you be a sellout if you've only really been a blog writer for two weeks?

PPS> Happy 10.10.10