A post from mom:

I have so much trouble trying to get used to a laptop, getting on the internet and figuring out how to blog! I am technology challenged, and can you believe they have me in the sound booth for each show?? One night, the sound guy showed me the board and said, "Does this look familiar?", and I said, "Are you gonna let me touch it?" We weren't using mics that night, so after the levels were set, he said, "OK, well I'm going home." Now that's trust. Really all I have to do is push the CD button to play and pause, then advance to the next cue and give verbal cues to the sound guy to manually fade the CD, or when we are using mics, I tell him when a character comes in and when they go out. It can get a little complicated, so I'm relieved when we don't use mics, and Mr. Payne is happy not to worry with interference, etc. and the actors seem to use more energy when they have to push the voice. My other major duty is to set up and man the tables with the other mom, Raya. She mostly runs the merchandise table, and I mostly run the Food for the Hungry table. FFTH is sponsoring this tour, and we are promoting child sponsorships in third world countries. Check it out at fh.org. We have had a wonderful response to this effort everywhere we have been. People are so big-hearted and generous. I see now why this tour is not really geared for children. While it is very exciting and fun, there is a lot of work. Many days we drive to the location, unload, put the set together and set up our lobby tables, then do sound checks and walk through each scene on a new stage for a tech check, do the show, sign autographs and pose for pictures, then get out of costume, break down the set, load it back on the trailer, and get back to the hotel sometimes as late as 11 or 12. We usually eat well some time in there, provided by the host/promoter. The cast has got it down to a science. They work very well together as a unit; everyone pulls his own weight. I have been very proud of the kids for holding their own with the older members. I am meeting lots of people. So far everyone has seemed like homefolk to me. Of course we are hosted by Christians, but it is neat to feel a common bond with people so far away from home. And I meet homeschoolers everywhere that are just like us. In Anaheim, our promoters were a homeschooling family, and Julee's mom, Beverly, is the author of the website homeschooling.about.com. How cool is that? I think some of the hardest parts of the tour are past. Today and tomorrow there is no show, and mostly after this we have a day in between shows to travel. This morning we left Anaheim (near L.A.) and started driving up the west coast--ocean on one side and mountains on the other. It was quite beautiful, and we also saw miles and miles of vineyards, orchards and crops. We spotted lots of green things, including lettuce (green and purple), broccoli, spinach, and lots more dirt where something had been planted. We stopped at Santa Barbara beach and went out on a pier to eat lunch and enjoy the beautiful scenery of boats and coastal dwelling places in the hills. We'll try to get those pictures up tomorrow. Tonight we are in Salinas taking a rest, and then on to San Fransisco for some sight seeing in the morning. One thing about the weather--Where is sunny southern California? We haven't seen good sun since Phoenix (102 degrees). It is cloudy and breezy and when we arrived here it was actually cold! Some of these crazy kids jumped in the pool anyway (not mine)! I guess I should go to bed. It doesn't do any good to have a day off and stay up all night! I should say that all of us can sleep pretty well on the van, so we usually can catch up, but we don't want to miss any of the sights! Our next stops are Redding CA, Coos Bay, OR, Portland, OR, Seattle, WA (for sight-seeing only) and then Spokane, WA. Very exciting! Sorry--I can't figure out how to get the pictures on here, so I will post and let Allison do it tomorrow.