Today was Missouri- and it was quite an eventful day!

We spent last night in Branson.  Our show today was just North of Branson, and although it was one of the smaller audiences, it was very well received.  This was an audience that loved magic!  We had a reasonably quick setup and were able to pack the trailer very easily.  Honestly, if all the shows went like this, I would be very happy.  Then again, if I were asked to pick out the show on this tour that hasn't gone well, I'd be hard pressed to name anything- they've truly all been great!

So, the show was great.  BUT, for the rest of our day... have you ever been to Branson?  Paula and I came here on our second anniversary.  Being that this tour was taking us right through the area, and given that the kids had never seen it, we did the same as with New York City and made sure to schedule some time to see the town.  It's very similar to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and would almost remind you of a mini Las Vegas.  Lunch was at The Great American Steak and Chicken House.  Look at this giant chicken!

That's Mr. Peck, and at 43 feet tall, he's widely regarded as being the largest chicken in the world.  Where else would you see that?

This is an entertainment town filled with theaters.  If you want to see a show, there's a lot going on here- comedian Yakov Smirnov (it's been years since we saw his show but HIGHLY recommended), two Chinese acrobat shows, tons of country music, and of course, magic!

So, with a limited time frame, we had one show that we wanted to see.  There's an illusionist in town named Taylor Reed.  As an illusionist myself, I've watched Taylor for years via the internet.  We actually have quite a bit in common- we both perform the larger illusions, we both create a lot of our own material for the show, we both build most of our own props, and we both are blessed to have our families involved with the show.  Taylor's kids were recently on national TV!

His show was amazing.  Everything he does has his own unique touch added to it.  Here we are backstage with Taylor during the intermission:

(Yeah, he's got a much nicer dressing room than we usually do)!

Here's Lydia on stage with Taylor during the show:

Taylor recognized us during the show and told the audience about our tour.  He even had us stand up so that his audience knew who we were!  How cool is that?

Overall, this was just a great show if you like magic.  And, if you don't, you're likely to change your mind after seeing this show.  You will see A LOT during the performance.  Taylor has some seriously gigantic illusions on his stage.  I have great respect for anyone who can do a show of this size and still breathe!  After the show, we visited for a while and talked magic.  Taylor is a genuinely nice guy and we really had a lot of fun.  Thanks again Taylor!

So, it was now getting late in the day and we had more than a four hour drive ahead of us.  We drove on in to Wichita, Kansas for tomorrow's show.  Just some advice, if you drive across Kansas, make sure you fill up your tank every chance you get- you really don't know when you'll pass another gas station (had the same issue with most of the states out West near the beginning of the tour).

Tomorrow's show is an event where they're going to bring in several busloads for the performance.  Should be fun- still can't believe that we're now 40 shows in!

Today was another great day.  It really doesn't seem possible that we're now 39 shows in!

After another Walmart stop, we headed out this morning from Louisiana, bound for Conway, Arkansas.  None of us had ever before visited Arkansas.  It's crazy that we've been to this many states on this tour and very soon all of us can claim all 50.  That's not to say that we've never been through some of these remaining states before- in fact for me, I only have three left to reach the mark of 50.

This was yet another short, pleasant drive.  We rolled into Conway early enough to find the stage, then had time to visit McDonald's for ice cream before setting up (this was a good thing, because it was 94 degrees and HUMID outside).  The stage, entitled the "Kris Allen Stage", was in a public square in downtown Conway.  We've been on every imaginable type of stage on this tour- mostly indoors but quite a few outdoors, big, small, high ceilings and almost no height at all, and some that weren't really a stage but more of a big space that everyone could sit around and see the show.  The Kris Allen stage was the best yet as far as outdoor stages are concerned.  It was a huge elevated concrete stage with a big awning over the entire space, complete with lights and a gigantic seating area.  Major touring acts have played here.  Pastor Derek brought in metal bleachers and set up additional seating in front.

Speaking of Pastor Derek- this guy was great!  He's the lead Pastor of Sold Out Church in Conway.  They're really big on using creative means to reach their community.  They have a big segment of their church that's comprised of bikers!  So... when Silas and Clay had to use the restroom and there were none anywhere near the stage, Pastor Derek volunteered to take them to the church- via Harley Davidson!  Both boys were absolutely thrilled!

We got everything set up for the show.  In our backstage area, Eli marked another first- he drank an entire bottle of apple juice, and shocked us all when he showed that he had zero problems holding his own bottle!  Here he is backstage:

The rest of us sure wish we had our own play area backstage!  Eli has also just started rolling over these last couple of days.  It's truly incredible to see how fast this little guy is growing.  Then again, all of our babies are growing way too fast.  None of them should be as big as they are- what happened?

So, the show got underway and we all had a great time.  No rain this time before, during, or after- bonus!  Here's a shot with the crowd:

We really had fun at this one.  Thanks again to Pastor Derek and everyone at Sold Out Church!

After loading up, we headed on to Missouri to be ready for tomorrow.  It now technically IS tomorrow, as I'm writing this at 3:45 A.M. at our hotel in Branson, Missouri.  Thirty nine down, eleven to go!

Today was an awesome show- folks in Louisiana are great!!

Today was also interesting in another way.  See, we arrived in Mississippi after the show on Friday and spent the night.  Saturday we performed in Mississippi, then drove closer to today's show, but ended up staying in Mississippi last night.  Upon waking this morning, that makes three days where we spent part in Mississippi.  Today was the last of the three.  However, today was also a three- state day, as we woke in Mississippi, performed in Louisiana, and we're spending the night in Arkansas.  That doesn't happen often!

We drove toward our show in Monroe, Louisiana.  We had less than three hours to drive, which was good- we're really trying to enjoy these short drives while they last.  Lunch was from Hardee's, yet another first for this trip.

I've mentioned before that one of the greatest blessings on this trip is getting to see all the big landmarks.  Well, one of the neatest things is getting to see the things you discover along the way, things that no one tells you about.  For instance, we passed a business with a big concrete gorilla.  Silas was certain that life would never be the same if we didn't stop for a photo:

We also passed the coolest sign that I've ever seen for an exterminator.  Much like the "Big Blue Bug" in Rhode Island, exterminators must really have a sense of humor:

We arrived at the church and met with Beth.  She's the kind of person who gets things done and was incredibly helpful in getting our setup underway.  We also met with Pastor Smith- he's been with this church for 40ish years, so he's doing something right!  This show was available to watch on live stream- this is only the second of the entire tour to do this, but that made it available to anyone.

Our show went great!  This was a very receptive crowd and we had lots of fun!

After the show, several folks stuck around to help with load-out.  It's truly amazing how proficient the whole family has become at setting up and tearing down.  Everyone, kids included, has a job.  Clay knows everything about the sound system, Silas sets up a lot of small intricate pieces which require attention to detail, Lydia knows her parts so well she could do her jobs in the dark, and Faith has almost taken on the role of manager, by knowing where everything goes and overseeing the load-out.  It really is funny to watch a 14 year old girl direct a group of men as to which case goes in first and how they should maneuver it into the trailer.  She's also ridiculously strong and can lift like an ox!

After the show, several church members took us to "Johnny's Pizza".  It's the local favorite.  Supposedly, if someone grows up here and then moves away, Johnny's Pizza is always on their list when they come back to visit.  One of their specialties is the "sweep the swamp" pizza- it has crawfish, shrimp, crab, and everything else from Louisiana!

We were shown incredible hospitality by the folks here in Monroe.  Yet again, I'm just amazed by the kindness and generosity of the people all over this country.  We're staying tonight in Monticello, Arkansas, and tomorrow's show is in Conway, just north of Little Rock.  This tour has been incredible- 38 shows down, 12 more to go!

Today's show was in Mississippi.  This is an incredibly beautiful area!

First, though, the answer to a riddle from yesterday.  We arrived here in the evening after the Alabama show, with time to look around, and upon seeing the name of the town we were in, we knew we had to find a certain spot and take a certain photo.  This was the shot from yesterday's blog:

This is a reference to a song by Ray Stevens called "The Misissippi Squirrel Revival".  It's about a squirrel going berserk in a church in Pascagoula.  If you've never heard it, you need to look it up- Ray Stevens is great and this is one of his best songs.

So, here we are in Southern Mississippi, right on the ocean.  This really has to be one of the most beautiful areas I've seen concerning the outdoors.  There is literally everything here.  You've got a zillion palm trees, as you'd expect along the ocean, but also a ton of pines and northern looking trees.  We've been to a lot of areas now and most of the time, the landscape will lean heavily one way or the other.  Here, there's a heavy dose of everything.

We headed to Biloxi for today's show.  It was another outdoor venue.  This is an interesting town- Biloxi is known for its big hotels and casinos (not my thing but that's what they're known for), so I was expecting almost a mini Las Vegas.  Well, there are a few hotels that would fit perfectly in Vegas, but only a few.  They're spaced really far apart and the town is otherwise fairly empty.  In Las Vegas, you can walk the strip and there's stuff followed by more stuff.  Here, it's an interesting combination of a nice beach with a few random mammoth hotels, but really not much else.  So, having a while before the show, we found another great beach.

Eli loves the water!
Here are Mermaid Lydia and Crab Silas:

We also saw some interesting animals, like these seagulls with black heads:

As well as this frog that Paula found.  It seemed a little closer to the ocean than we thought would be appropriate for an animal who can't tolerate saltwater:

So, it was time for the show.  Here in Biloxi there really isn't much going on for the whole family.  In fact, at the Hard Rock hotel, they don't even accept hotel reservations for any guest under 21.  So, it was nice to bring a show that everyone could enjoy!  We were on an outdoor stage here which was a bit nerve-wracking, as there was a serious thunderstorm earlier today (we don't need any more wet props)!  Fortunately, these seem to be "ocean storms", which don't last very long.  The weather ended up being just right for the actual show.  The crowd had fun, and just as we were packing up, the clouds started looking ugly again- talk about perfect timing!

So, that's officially 37 shows down, with 13 more to go!  It's wild to think that in just these next few remaining days, we're going to see ocean, prairie land, corn fields, desert, mountains, and everything else!  Tomorrow is Louisiana.  If you haven't seen our road show yet, you can watch a live stream of tonight's show at 6 P.M. by going here:

http://www.mylakeshore.net/new-page-3/

Hope to see everyone at a show soon as we head West again (if you can only make it to one, I'd recommend Hawaii)!

Alabama's show was fun- and it was only the start of our day!

Our Alabama show was scheduled to start at 1 P.M.  Those early shows are rare, but they're good because we're finished sooner, and so we can drive on to the next state without having to arrive in the middle of the night.  Today's show was at a place called "Mission of Hope".  It's a Christian drug and alcohol rehab place.  Over the years, we've performed at lots of these facilities (one already on this tour) but what really struck me about this one is that they are a no-nonsense organization.  They have very strict rules and they tell it like it is.  If someone is serious about getting help, this would be the place.

When we arrived, there were several guys ready to help us load in.  Even though there were stairs to get in (yuck!), all I had to do was point at a big case and these guys took it inside the venue.  This has to be one of the easiest load-ins ever!

The show itself was awesome.  We really had fun with these folks.  They were an incredibly receptive audience and the message of the show was very well received.

After the show, the load-out was just as quick.  In fact, it took us longer to pack the props inside the cases than it took these guys to load our trailer.  Thanks again to all the help and thanks to Pastor Jim!

As we drove toward Mississippi, we saw this:

I'm fairly sure that's a rail car stacked atop two trailers.  Ingenuity at it's finest!

We drove on into Mississippi.  Along the way we passed this turtle and moved him safely off the road:

Here's Silas showing his best 'turtle neck".  Seriously, this was the luckiest turtle that has ever lived.  When we found him, he was way out onto a 65 MPH highway.  We passed over top of him, as did about twelve other cars before I could get him off the road!

We made a stop at a Walmart to grab some things we've seriously needed for a while now.  Have you ever been inside Walmart for more than an hour?  We were this time!  Honestly, I can't imagine how we ever lived without this place!

We also took this picture.  Does anyone understand the reference?  If so, mention it in the comments section.  Major coolness points to anyone who gets it!

We've made it a point to try and see the ocean every chance we get.  We found an incredible beach here in Pascagoula, Mississippi. 

Look at these crabs!  The edge of the coast was lined with rocks.  Everywhere you looked there were crabs scuttling across the sand.  In this one spot alone, there had to be more than 4 or 5 hundred of them.

Some were tiny.  Look at this little guy!

I know I've said it over and over but this cross country adventure is a blessing like we've never experienced before.  Here we are, on another beach, with different yet amazing scenery, the kids are having a blast playing in the sand, and we're watching animals that we don't have in Cincinnati.  This is so cool!  As we headed back to the Jeep, the sight of the moon reflecting on the ocean was quite a sight:

This truly a beautiful area of the nation.

Tonight we're staying in a Holiday Inn.  It's a VERY modern hotel.  I think our room is brand new- in fact, Paula says it smells like Home Depot.  That's fine with us!  On the way to pick up our pizza for dinner, I took this shot- doesn't it look like a photo from one of their postcards?

We perform tomorrow here in Mississippi.  This is another state that we can check off the list, both for visiting and performing.  We're still having as much fun (more, actually) as when we began!

What an awesome day in Florida!

We arrived late last night at 3 A.M.  I got a few hours sleep and woke up just after 6:15 A.M. to get ready for our early load in at Celebration Baptist Church.  We had to be there at 7:30 to get everything in place.  Thankfully, Tommy and his son Joey were there to help.

Tommy (and his wife Jo, as well as their seven children) have been friends of ours for a VERY long time.  They were members of our church for a number of years, as Tommy was the associate Pastor.  In 2001, Paula and I were honored to have Tommy as the minister who performed our wedding.  They moved on to Tennessee (where we got to visit and perform at their new church) and finally settled in Tallahassee, Florida.  We've been fortunate to bring our show there a number of times over the years.  This year, they are the Florida stop on our tour!

We got our cases unloaded and got set up in a very short time.  Even though the show wasn't until 2 P.M., we had to load in and then leave by 8:30 to head across town for another mini show.  The crazy scheduling of this tour only allows for one stop in each state, but we've made an exception for Florida.  For the third straight year, we brought a smaller show to the Creative Child Learning Center in Tallahassee.  This is a children's place but that description doesn't do it justice.  They have a HUGE facility complete with classrooms, a gigantic yard, and a small water park!  Today was a big summer celebration day complete with a taco truck and our show.  They really do things right, and while it's a smaller show (and really the only "kiddie" show of the tour), we always look forward to coming here.  Thanks again Beth and Mike!

It was back to Celebration Baptist Church to finish setting up for the 2 P.M. show.  They have an amazing setup!  Here's the stage while the illusions are waiting to be placed into their starting positions for the show:

Tommy and Jo gave us a great lunch including Domino's pizza (hadn't had Domino's yet on this trip!), sandwiches, watermelon, snacks, and a lot more!  We then finished setting a few things and the show began shortly after.  Jo got some great action shots during the show!

This was one amazing crowd!

Thanks again Tommy and Jo!  Every time we visit these folks, our kids have a great time with each other.  We have five, but they have seven- they're truly among the only people we've met who are crazier than we are!

Here's Eli visiting with Jo:

We got everything loaded up (easily, thanks to Joey's strong back!) and headed out.  We were given the traditional Hendricks send-off:

When a visitor hits the road, the entire Hendricks clan comes out and waves goodbye.  Thanks again Hendricks family and Celebration Baptist Church.  We always love to come to Tallahassee and we look forward to when we can return!

Right now we're on the road to Mobile, Alabama.  We've got a 10:30 A.M. load in so thankfully the drive isn't too long.  So far, our tour has begun in Alaska and the extreme Northwest of Washington state, and zigzagged across the entire upper half of the United States.  We hit Maine and came down through the New England states all the way to Florida.  We're officially heading West again for the lower half of the country, to conclude in Hawaii (we know we're getting back into the west because we just crossed into a new time zone, so we gain an hour).  It's been one amazing journey so far.  We only hope that the rest is just as amazing.  We've been blessed to take our family on the adventure of a lifetime!

Another three state day- we woke in one, performed our show in another, and slept in a third!

At our hotel in South Carolina, we woke abruptly in the morning when Paula heard someone literally open our door and peek into our room!  What?  Upon packing up and checking out, we confirmed that it was a member of the housekeeping staff who had made a mistake.  Still, kind of a startling way to begin the day!

We left for Georgia.  Faith is acting as our statistician by keeping a running list of every place we've eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, as well as a total of how many for each place, etc.  On this tour we've seen some great areas as well as the occasional spot where you don't really want to stop for gas.  One place we hadn't visited yet was Hardees.  So, we stopped at one, but elected to continue on when we saw this:

Very few things say "unfriendly area" like a massive chain and padlock preventing toilet paper theft!

Fortunately, on down the road there was a McDonald's that was good.  Right now we're up to 13 McDonald's meals, 8 Taco Bell, 4 Papa John's pizza, and a very long list of local favorite places (not to mention at least 13 hotel breakfasts).  We're back down South now and we're seeing a lot of familiar places!

Speaking of familiarity, the last leg of our journey to Macon was on I-75.  That's the interstate that runs from Canada all the way down to Miami.  It cuts right through Cincinnati and we drive parts of it all the time.  When driving directly from Cincinnati to Florida, we take I-75 all the way.  So, this little section would be a road we've driven many times in the past- we just never had to literally circle the entire nation to get there!

We arrived and set up at Pine Forest Baptist Church for show #34.  This place had an enormous stage!  Pastor Morgan said that in 24 years, he had never worked with an illusionist.  Nothing like a little pressure!  Honestly, though, we've done the show enough times over the years (and non-stop over this tour) that we're now working on the tiny things, such as "What if I pause for one second longer right there" or "Would it make a difference if we move this prop six inches closer to the front".  And, while I'm out front performing, the rest of the cast in our backstage area is packing up each prop as soon as it's finished.  So, once the show concludes, all of the small props are packed and ready to go.  We still have a lot of loading out to do with the big illusions but it really makes a huge difference.

The crowd here was great!

There were several volunteers who stuck around to help load out the heavy cases.  Right now, with my rib feeling the way it does, this is a HUGE blessing.  The Pastor did a great job setting everything up!

After the show, we were treated to a great dinner at a Mexican restaurant (our family loves Mexican food- thanks again Pastor Morgan!).  We then hit the road for another four hour drive to Tallahassee, Florida, because we have to set up early in the morning.  We finally arrived at our hotel in Florida at 3 A.M.  We have just a little while to sleep, as we have to be at the Tallahassee venue in just a few hours to load in at 7:30 A.M.  We're looking forward to this one- it's at our favorite place in Florida (actually, I already know what happened, because this is the first chance I've had to post about Georgia- it's actually 9:30 on Thursday as I write this, and we're heading to Alabama.  Stay tuned for the Florida entry to be posted in a few moments)!

Happy Birthday America!

The 4th of July is always a fun time for everyone.  What other day can you eat hot dogs, swim, and blow things up?  Our show today was the big July 4th fireworks festival, presented by the City of Easley, South Carolina.

The day began with a TV appearance on "Your Carolina with Jack and Megan".  We were invited to be a special guest on the show.  Now, television airtime is precious, so they don't waste one second- and yet we got TWO live segments!

Silas is a true professional- here he is in the greenroom before we went on air:

Here are the links to the segments:

http://wspa.com/2017/07/05/illusionist-phil-dalton-performs-on-your-carolina-part-1/

http://wspa.com/2017/07/05/illusionist-phil-dalton-performs-on-your-carolina-part-2/

Thanks again Megan and Jamarcus, and WSPA TV- we had a great time!

We headed on to our show in Easley.  Along the way, we stopped for lunch- and as we ate, we watched the skies quickly turn ugly.  Not a good thing for the 4th of July!  A sudden rain moved in and within about 3 seconds, it began to rain harder than I've seen in a very long time.  Today's show was to be in an outdoor amphitheatre, so ???

We went on over to the venue.  Thankfully, the rain did subside.  We were able to get the trailer unloaded and get everything set up.  This was a huge place with a great stage:

There was a packed crowd as well!  Here are some of the folks waiting for the show:

We were introduced, the show began, and everything was going perfect.  Then, 3 illusions in, we felt a single drop of rain... and again, within a few seconds, the entire place was getting absolutely HAMMERED with a serious thunderstorm!  We had to stop the show and quickly move everything under the awning, as the massive crowd scattered and ran for cover.  Everything we have was getting drenched- props, giant cloth drapes, our sound system (yikes!), and us!  Apparently, in South Carolina, the thunder storms don't give much warning and when they hit, they hit hard!

Fortunately, they also don't seem to last very long.  The storm passed with 20 minutes.  We were able to dry everything off as much as possible, then they made another announcement and we went back on stage to finish the show.  In all these years, I don't remember the last time we've had to literally divide a show in half due to rain.  But, that's the nature of outdoor shows.  We were fairly certain with a tour this long, that we would run into this at some point.  We've had hard rain during several of our load-ins, but never during an outdoor show.  No matter though- we had fun, the show went very well, and the crowd was great!

The city of Easley does a huge fireworks display every July 4th.  We spoke with some of the locals who told us that main street is the best viewing spot.  They were right!

We did find it humorous that there's a train track that runs right alongside main street, and right in the middle of the fieworks show, a train came down the tracks (and probably made the view a bit difficult for some of the folks who were right there).  It passed well before the grand finale, though.  Overall, it was a great display.  Thanks Easley for everything!

So, tonight we're using quite a few quarters in the hotel's dryers to get our big drapes ready for tomorrow's show.  Macon, Georgia is our destination, and while we're hoping for a big crowd, it's an indoor venue, so at the very least, we'll be dry!  Should be fun!

What a busy and eventful day!

Today was the type of day we hoped there would be plenty of on this tour- we had a great show, but we got to see and do so much in addition to that!  Last night, we decided to surprise the kids.  One of our favorite places IN THE WORLD is Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  We take a trip there virtually every year.  This summer, with us being on the road non-stop, we had to skip the Gatlinburg visit.  Well, last night's show was Johnson City, Tennessee, and today was Cherokee, North Carolina, so we decided to drive on in and spend the night in Sevierville, Tennessee.  That would allow us to see Gatlinburg for a bit before the North Carolina show.

We arrived late to the hotel when everybody was asleep, so no one had any clue where we were (the phrase "We're staying somewhere tonight in the middle of 'insert state here'" has become quiet common).  This morning, we got up extra early and started the remaining 10 miles to Gatlinburg,  It was so much fun to watch the kids' faces as they slowly realized that the area seemed familiar.  Clay finally asked "Hey- are we where I think we are?" and they were thrilled!

Gatlinburg is a town filled with lots of things you don't see every day:

There are also a zillion shops on the main strip.  This was a new one:

Only in Gatlinburg is there an entire store of fidget spinners!  Guessing it won't be there next year...

Here's a long-time fixture in the town.  There's a "Ripley's Believe it or not" museum (and it's really cool, definitely worth seeing), and out front as a crowd draw, there's this thing.  It's a giant granite ball that weighs more than 12,000 lbs., yet it's suspended by a tiny flowing layer of water, and can easily be spun in any direction:

We also saw some of the devastation from the recent wildfires:

There were quite a few spots that had burned up completely.  Despite that, the area looks like it's bouncing back quite well.  Here's an area in the Little Pigeon river, where the kids love "rock hopping" on the huge boulders:

It really was nice to be able to spend part of a day just relaxing in a city that's almost like a second home.  We'll certainly be returning to Gatlinburg soon.

It was time to head on to our show in North Carolina.  Along the drive through the mountains, we saw a huge Elk!

We were also able to see an INCREDIBLE waterfall.  It's called Saco falls and it's in Cherokee, North Carolina.  You don't have to walk far at all to get from the parking spot to the falls.  And, since it's on the Indian reservation, there aren't a whole lot of restrictions- you can go right up to the falls if you'd like!

Today's show was on an outdoor stage on the edge of Cherokee.  We shared the stage with "Hoss" and "Wild Horse", two Cherokee dancers.  The crowd was VERY receptive.  We had a great time!  This is yet another of the great things on this tour- having the opportunity to perform in so many different settings.  No other job comes with fun things like this!

This was truly one of the busiest days we've had yet, but also one of the most fun.  Tomorrow, we go to Easley, South Carolina for a show at the big July 4th city fireworks festival.  We'll also be appearing on a Greenville, South Carolina morning show called "Your Carolina with Jack and Megan".  Should be an amazing day!

*By the way, sometimes you come up with things to do on the road that you wouldn't think of otherwise.  Silas, because of his spot in the Jeep, is often the guy who has to hop out and toss some trash in the trash can.  So, Faith and Clay came up with an idea- they secretly saved every plastic bottle for more than an entire week until they had collected a huge pillow case full.  Yesterday, when Silas made his usual trash run, they waited until he got back in, and then surprised him from behind by completely burying him in a huge load of plastic bottles.

This is real entertainment for professionals!

OK, so this blog is late in getting out.  That's not good because Johnson City was amazing and I want to tell everyone!  It's late because yesterday was late as well, which made this one late, and there's one entry still to come after this one.  But have no fear- as soon as this blog entry is finished, the other one will come, and everything will be caught up by tomorrow morning!

I'll say it again- Johnson City, Tennessee, was incredible.  First, though, we had to get there from Hazard, Kentucky, and we saw some interesting sights.  First was the "Goose House", a bed-and-breakfast that looks like a goose.  It's a local landmark!

We began traveling toward Tennessee and we saw this sign at a Long John Silvers:

Now, I understand that the sign is probably saying that they offer a discount to all medical personnel on Mondays.  Still, if I owned a restaurant, I'm not sure that I'd use the phrase "Medical Monday" in connection with my eatery!

Next was this tire shop.  In Cincinnati, we have the number of tire shops you'd expect, but none of them sell tires like this:

So- off to Johnson City.  Pastor Greg and his staff really outdid themselves.  For the past several weeks they've been running radio and newspaper ads.  A newspaper reporter also took notice, and ran a two page article about the show.  There really was no doubt that this one would be packed.  They also had an ARMY of volunteers there to help load in.  Pastor Greg had heard about my rib injury and had instructed the volunteers not to let me lift anything.  So, we got everything inside quickly, but I sure felt lazy!

Just before the show, one of our volunteers showed his support for the show.  How's this for dedication?

For those who don't know, my beard is purple as well (can't really tell it in this photo, but it's a lot brighter in person).  The process is to bleach it first so that the dye shows up as bright as possible.  Well, in this photo, I have quite a bit of brown growing back in, so the purple isn't as neon bright as it could be.  This guy, though, used purple hairspray over a snow white beard.  Quite the bright results!  This is a reminder that I need to redo mine.

The show was completely packed tonight.  This crowd was loads of fun!

After the show, all of the previous volunteers (and a few extras) stuck around to help load up.  It went fast!  Pastor Greg then treated our entire family to a wonderful dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Our families stayed and talked for a long time- it was well after midnight when we finally headed out again.  Thanks again Pastor Greg and staff, for all your hard work in getting the word out about tonight and for everything you did to make us feel so welcome!

So, tomorrow, it's off to North Carolina.  It's nice to be back down South.  We love this area of the country and can't wait to bring some magic to the 19 states we have left!