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Our summer tour has been amazing!  Last night we wrapped up an incredible whirlwind journey around the country. We performed in Yosemite, Kentucky for Mt. Olive Christian church. This was the 31st state that we visited this summer! Every venue is different. Some have big stages, some have small stages, and some are a big open area with no stage at all. We travel with our own curtain and backdrop system so our backstage always feels like home. We have everything back there to get set for all aspects of the show.  Eli, of course, has better arrangements than the rest of us:  That must be nice! I wish I could take a nap backstage! The crowd for this show was awesome. They packed the place with folks from multiple surrounding counties:  Thanks again Yosemite! We had a great time- and you were a fun crowd to wrap up another tour! Every time we hit the road to bring the show across the nation, I love to look at the final numbers. Faith is our statistician- she keeps a notebook with records of starting and ending mileage, where we ate each day, where we stayed, and tons of other info. For this trip we logged a total of 11,216 miles over 54 days, traveling to 31 states! For most states, we were only there for one show- but this time we did multiples in Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, Indiana, and Florida. We ate at a total of 19 McDonald's, 5 Burger Kings, 8 Taco Bells, 7 Pizza Huts, 7 Subways, as well as 38 additional restaurants (most more than once). Hotels- there were 16 different hotel chains where we spent our nights. Most were awesome but there were those few where you get settled in for the night and then you discover the french fries that someone spilled behind the bed last month. Usually, though, by the time we arrive at a hotel, we're ready to get some rest- so those things aren't as big a deal as they might be otherwise. We made sure to allow time to see the sights along the way! This time we got to see the Rocky mountains, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone national park, Craters of the Moon national park, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Shoshone Falls, a baseball game in Milwaukee, an amazing reptile zoo, Appomattox in Virginia, and so much more! We visited every imaginable landscape, from the mountains of Colorado, to the giant hills of South Dakota, to the deserts of Utah, to the beaches of Florida, and the list goes on and on. I really hope the kids know how amazing this is, that we've been so blessed to have this opportunity to see every part of our country over and over. We have friends in literally every state. The kids are always asking when we're returning to different areas so they can see the friends they've made! So, last night we stayed in southern Kentucky. This morning, at an exit off of I-75, we met up with the youth group from our Cincinnati church and dropped off Faith, Clay and Silas:  They're going to a week long youth camp in South Carolina. Paula, Lydia, Eli, and I headed back down to Nashville where we'll be for a few more days. All of us will officially arrive back in Cincinnati this Saturday. We'll perform all around the city in August and September, and we have our annual month long run of shows at the Cincinnati Zoo in October. Then we'll hit the road again for our fall/winter tour for the southern USA, set to begin in November.
So, as I've said so many times before, this truly is a beautiful country we live in! I would highly encourage everyone to travel and see the amazing sights out there. Just find a way- because a short time later, the expenses will have been worked out and forgotten- but the memories will last forever. My children are growing entirely too fast, so I want to spend every moment I can with them. We really are blessed that we get to spend this time together! To those in Cincinnati- we'll be performing there in the coming weeks and months, so make sure to come say hi at a show soon. To our friends across the country- we'll be in your neck of the woods within the next year! We're booking the fall tour right now so keep an eye on the tour dates section of this site. Thanks again America for a fun filled summer tour!
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Two days, three shows, and three states!  Since the show in Leesburg, we had a couple of days off to enjoy Florida. We stayed for two days in a town appropriately named Treasure Island. The ocean is much calmer and clearer, and the kids were thrilled with the assortment of shells to be found. Here's Silas near the beach, feeling like the karate kid:  We moved on to Tallahassee for two shows. The first was a small show at an educational center- nothing huge but we've been there for the last six years straight! On more than one occasion, it has been our first show in Florida that year. Our second show of the day was the big show, for our friends at Celebration baptist church. We've performed there at least seven times that I can think of. Here's Faith showing what a gymnast does to warm up before the show:  This was a big crowd, and they were great! We're always happy when we find out that we'll be returning to Celebration in Tallahassee. We hope the next time comes along soon! The next day we performed in Mobile, Alabama. The venue was a huge Christian drug and alcohol rehab place called "Mission of Hope". They're very serious about what they do and they have a no nonsense policy. When we got there, they had six guys unload our trailer in record time. Ordinarily it takes a bit of time to unload (and we know what we're doing), but when you have six big guys and you can just point, it's truly a luxury that we don't have often- and we sure appreciate it when we do! So, what better place for a magic show than a strict rehab community? After all, isn't magic just for kids? Well, if you've ever seen our show, you'll know that we don't do a "kiddie" show. Sure, the kids in the audience will have a great time, but we want the entire family to have fun. In this case, we had an audience comprised entirely of adults who are dealing with some very serious addictions. Our show carries a strong message about hope that is found in Jesus, and this place is founded on the same thing- so we were able to really connect. Over all, we had a great time! This was an afternoon show, so we headed out right away to get some miles behind us before stopping for the night. On the way out, we passed something that we remembered from last time:  That's a rail car stacked atop two trailers. Ingenuity at it's finest! We drove all the way to Nashville, Tennessee and spent the night. We'll be here one more night before our show tomorrow in Kentucky. We like to stay more than one night in a spot if possible, because it's less checking in and out of hotels. Today, Eli made a friend at the pool:  Isn't it amazing how kids are just automatically friends when they meet? We could learn a thing or two! Doing what we do involves a good deal of time driving. That means lots of car meals, which Eli has mastered:  Yeah, good parenting right there . . . but you gotta do what you gotta do! Here's something else we do all the time- have you ever ordered a hot fudge sundae at McDonald's? Most people have, and most people don't eat the nuts they give you for the sundae:  Well, years ago we started hanging onto those those little packets. We drive all over the country with those sitting in the console. When we pass an area where there are ducks, the kids like to hop out and feed them. The peanuts are perfect!  These ducks happily ate nuts from Alabama and (I think) Montana. You know, we love to see all the amazing things around the country, but it's incredible how much our kids love something as simple as feeding ducks. In fact, when we performed in Las Vegas, we took some time to see the Vegas strip among all the lights- and yet the highlight for the kids was when they got to stop outside one of the mammoth hotels and feed some nearby ducks. Mark my word- one day some smart person (probably the same guy behind the adult coloring books) will create an "experience" where adults pay $59.99 to enter an "exclusive" area where they'll get to feed ducks. I thought of it first!
So, tomorrow we head on to Kentucky for the final show of this tour. It's crazy how fast these trips always fly by. It seems like just yesterday that we were laying out the route, and tomorrow, it'll be finished. Now, we'll still be heading back to Nashville for a couple of days for some private events, but that route we worked to fill with shows will be finished once again. There will be one more blog post for this tour- watch tomorrow for final mileage, state count, and all the statistics from these past two months! Last night's show was in Leesburg, Florida- and the folks there were incredible! We've done our show in front of all size audiences, from thousands of people to only a few, and usually the bigger the crowd, the louder. As for Leesburg- this wasn't the biggest show we've ever done, but they had the enthusiasm of an entire stadium! Our day began in Orlando, when Silas woke sporting a Flock of Seagulls hairstyle:  80s music all the way! This hotel was roughly the zillionth place we've stayed around the country. There's something that's always amazing to me as we travel- here we are, out on the road for a long time, nowhere near our home in Cincinnati, and yet no one is homesick, ever. Sure, you're always glad to get back to your own house, and it's great to see friends that you haven't seen in a while, but the important thing is that our family is all together- and that's all that really matters. As long as we're with each other, it's home wherever we are. Every day, Eli asks "Go our room"? Even the two year old is totally fine with our arrangements- and he's having a blast! As we headed north, it was lunch time. Now, if there's somewhere unique to the area, we usually try to go there. Today it was Mcdonald's. What's different about that? Well, in Orlando, you can visit a GIANT two level McDonald's which contains a "Dave & Buster's" style amusement place, a 22 foot tall playplace for the kids, a pizza section and dessert bar, custom made omelettes, and tons more!  If you're in the area, definitely check it out. So, it was on to Leesburg.  I still get excited every time I see that. It means we get to do our show there! Pastor Ron was incredibly helpful in getting everything unloaded. He also ran and got fried chicken for everyone- something we hadn't eaten in a while! He set us up with a backstage room, had cold water for us, and lots of other things that just really made us feel welcome. When it was showtime . . . remember when I said that these guys were enthusiastic? Well, here's part of the audience:  That's about half the crowd- certainly no record for audience size. But WOW, they were loud and fun! We certainly hope we can come back to Leesburg sometime soon. Thanks again Pastor Ron!
Tonight we're staying in Treasure Island, Florida. It's on the beach, on the gulf side. So far on this tour, we've been on the road 50 days and visited 28 states- and in Florida, we've stayed at three beaches on two coasts. Did I mention that we're incredibly blessed? Tomorrow we head toward Tallahassee for two shows there, then it's on to Alabama. We can't wait!  We've had a VERY eventful week! When we're scheduling a tour of any size, Paula tries to arrange a few days off when we're near somewhere of interest. What could be better than the beach? After performing in Jacksonville, we spent time in Daytona and Cocoa Beach before today's show in Orlando.   One thing the kids love to do at every beach is to go crab hunting at night. There are usually lots of small ghost crabs that run across the beach all night long- you simply bring a flashlight and a bucket, and see what you can catch. In Daytona, though, we didn't see any. We only found this guy who we rescued from a tangled mess of fishing line:  In Cocoa Beach, though, we found quite a few!  We also went to "Cow Day" at Chick-Fil-A in Daytona. Once per year, there's a day where you get a free sandwich by simply wearing something cow related. In Cincinnati, we go all out- but in Daytona, we had to settle for cow spots that we drew on paper:  Surely you've been to Chick-Fil-A before but if not, well . . . every time we're there, I'm amazed at the VAST difference between them and every other fast food restaurant. They understand your order, they get it right the first time, they're fast, they constantly check to ask if you need anything, they're friendly, they take your tray if they see you heading toward the garbage . . . they're just leagues above everywhere else. We also got to do something really cool in Cocoa Beach. This area is known as the space coast because this is where lots of shuttle launches happened. July 20 also happens to be the 50th anniversary of the moon landing- so on Saturday morning, there was a parade which included 13 astronauts. Here's Silas shaking hands with Rick Hauck, an astronaut who flew three space missions:  So, this morning's show was at Calvary Chapel Orlando. These folks were very accommodating during our set up. They rearranged their usual stage to make everything fit. Here are Paula and Faith backstage- doesn't everyone spend their mornings behind a curtain sitting on a giant crate?  The show was great and the folks were awesome! We had lots of fun. Orlando is definitely a place we look forward to seeing again soon! After the show, the Pastor and his family graciously invited us to their home for lunch. We ended up talking for quite a while- it's such a blessing to make new friends all over the country! Thanks again Pastor Juan! Tomorrow evening we perform in Leesburg, Florida. It's only about an hour away, which doesn't happen often. We're really looking forward to it, so if you're in central Florida, come on out and say hi!  It's been a very busy week since we performed in Delaware! We've had a combination of travel, performances in North Carolina, more travel, and a show this morning in Jacksonville, Florida. Asheville NC is a great place. We spent four days there! I had private shows on three of those days, and we got to check out the town on the fourth. Back in 2017, on our 50 shows-50 states-50 days tour, we had absolutely zero days off- which meant that we didn't have time to really see any local sights. Ordinarily, though, we try to schedule our travel so that we have a little time off. That's the case this time. We've seen so much! We also were able to reacquire Silas. He went to summer camp just before our show in Mooresville, Indiana. Paula's brother picked him up and drove him all the way to Hocking Hills, Ohio, for camp (thanks Jason!). After a week at Camp Wyandot, Jason brought him back to us in North Carolina (thanks again!). So, Silas wasn't there for shows in 4 states. We were able to make adjustments and the shows went great, but it just isn't the same with a cast member gone- not to mention the fact that we missed him a lot! We're glad he's back! After North Carolina, it was on to Jacksonville. We arrived at our hotel and . . . well, the adventure began! Now, I am not one to complain when things aren't perfect. But here's the list from last night: The hotel advertised that they accepted a certain type of payment, only to switch when we got there. The air conditioner in the hotel leaked water so bad that there was a puddle which covered a significant portion of the carpet (discovered, of course, after we were settled in). The coin laundry turned out to not accept coins (credit cards only- seriously, credit cards to run a washer and dryer?). After Paula washed a load of laundry, the dryer gave an "offline" error and wouldn't run (dryers now need to be online???). Then, when we ordered pizza for dinner, it literally took almost two hours to arrive- and when the driver got to the hotel, he called his manager (and had his phone on speaker, so we heard the manager insult us)! Again, though, I'm not one to complain. These things rarely happen, and when they do, you just have to laugh. You know that the next day will be better. Today certainly was! We arrived to set up for our show in Jacksonville. It was a morning show at University church. Pastor Jake met us and showed us the stage- it was perfect! They also had double doors with no divider, and a straight shot into the performance area- again, perfect! We had plenty of space for this one, with a nice backstage:  The audience was great! We later found out that many folks today were visitors from another country, and spoke very little English. This proves what I've always said- the great thing about magic is that it's visual, so it'll be fun even if you don't speak the same language! After the show, Pastor Mark offered to take our family out for lunch. As we were leaving the parking lot of the church, we were reminded of a place we saw years ago when we were last here. Now, before I show you this picture, understand that all I'm doing is showing you a picture. No comment from me- just showing you an image of a restaurant in Jacksonville. The food here is probably amazing.  Ever seen a business name like that? We sure hadn't. I don't know the story, but I do know that the place has been there for more than 30 years. Looks like the owner has a sense of humor- and is perhaps a brilliant businessman, because he gets everyone talking! We didn't eat there, though. When in Florida, we always try to hit "Whataburger". It's a restaurant that we don't have in Ohio. It's funny- when you ask the average kid what their favorite restaurant is, they'll usually tell you someplace local to them. But with our kids, they'll say "Well, in Chattanooga, I like _____, and in Seattle, it's _____- but in Honolulu, I like _____". There are also the places that we used to have in Cincinnati, but are now gone- such as Friendly's. We know where in the country to find those and always try to do so when we're there. So, we have a few days until our show in Orlando. We're in Daytona Beach tonight:  I'll say it again- we are incredibly blessed to get to do what we do! We've been on the road less than two months, and we've been able to visit 26 states so far. We're going to enjoy a few days here before our Orlando show, after which we head to Leesburg (a new city for us). The kids always look forward to Florida shows- and so do we!
Have I mentioned how much we love to see the fun things all over the country? On this leg of the tour, we got to cross off two of the items on the list of "gotta see that sometime"! This blog is actually delayed one day because we got to our hotel after 2 AM last night. We began our day in New Jersey and only had a short drive to get to Delaware. The route had us passing through Pennsylvania as well- right through Philadelphia. What have we always wanted to see in Philly? Well, do you recognize this famous scene?  That's from the classic footage where Rocky runs up the steps of the Philadelphia art museum. Look very carefully at his surroundings- then look at this:  That's Faith, Clay, and Lydia in the exact same spot! They say that these steps are the second most famous filming location in the world. Judging by the number of people there, I believe it. Everyone knows that classic scene, so if you're ever in Philadelphia, you have to run the Rocky steps! There's also a famous Rocky statue nearby:  That statue appears in the films. Sylvester Stallone donated it to the city. So, after that pit stop, we were back on the road to Delaware. Our show was at Bible Fellowship Church in Newark:  The church sure did a great job letting everyone know about the show! They know how to pack the house!  Pastor Bill (and everyone else!) made us feel very welcome. They cleared off their stage, gave us dinner, and just so many other things that they didn't have to do. They are great people. After the show, we spoke to a number of folks who had seen us in Delaware in previous years. We're so grateful that not only do people come out to see what we're up to, but they actually come back! I'll say it again- we are truly blessed. Thanks Delaware! We had a blast! We packed up and drove on. Sometimes we stay near the show, but often we have to be somewhere far away the next day- so we drive for a few hours at night. That was the case last night. Now, in this case we had an extra day to travel, but we wanted to get down the road because there was another item we wanted to see along the way. This one was a lot more historical than a movie location. We wanted to see Appomattox, the Civil war city in Virginia. Appomattox is where General Lee finally surrendered to General Grant. It's really neat to see! They have tons of artifacts on display. You can walk through Appomattox village and go through the buildings from the 1800s, including the McLean house- it's where the actual surrender took place:   It's always amazing to see history up close!
So, tonight we're in Asheville, North Carolina. We do a series of shows for downtown Asheville over the days surrounding July 4th, then it's on to sunny Florida. It's wild to think that in less than two months, we've visited 24 states, with several more to come. We've had a great time so far! |
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