July 14th

(Meant to be posted on Wednesday, July 15th, but I couldn't get online...I got on today but it turned the pictures I put on into a big jumble of words, so, no pictures :( ) So yesterday (Tuesday, July 14th), we left Nashville at 9:00 am and drove about 11 hours to Winchester, VA. It was a long drive, but everyone was in a good mood, so it was okay. We stopped at a Love’s (we LOVE Love’s!) and got lunch there. Some of us got the Subway (MORONS!!) that was in the Love’s, and some went to Burger King and Taco Bell that were nearby. For anyone who doesn’t know what Love’s is, it is a gas station/truck stop/store usually with a restaurant kind of deal. We were actually greeted by a very nice cashier when we came into the store…I think that’s a first. We got to the hotel (Best Western) about 8:00 and as soon as everyone got all settled in Mr. Payne called us into his room and told us that there had been some kind of mix up about when the show was. We thought it was Thursday night, but it was actually Wednesday night. So, we had to leave by 4:00 am to get there on time. It was that or cancel the show…so we went with the 4:00 leave. It was kind of funny to all show up at the van and it be dark outside. Everyone was looking around like “uhhh…I so want to be asleep right now!!”. Except Faith, who was walking around the parking lot to get some steps on her pedometer because she would just be riding in the van for most of the day. It was so weird loading the van with a big moon shining down!! We stopped for dinner at McDonald's (or Wendy’s, if you chose to walk across the parking lot). We got a Trip Mascot from Katie P’s Happy Meal…drum roll…Scratte from the new Ice Age movie!! She has a little acorn on her back that pops up and down. Aaron taped her onto the dashboard so we could all see her. I got a picture of the Tom Tom (a BIG part of the trip) and Scratte, supposedly going to be a big deal. She is currently still on the dashboard, so maybe it will last. Katie P said our motto should be “No pain, no mane”, which we have not voted on yet. I think it would work as well to say “No Payne, No Mane”, or, right now, “ No Pain, No Maine”, even though I don’t think there’s really much pain involved…It’s mostly just sweat. :p The drive was GORGEOUS!! There were a lot of lovely farms. I love to see lots of green land with a white rail fence around a rambling farmhouse and a big barn with horses or cows grazing in the field…It’s just so pretty!! There were also a good amount of mountains (that didn’t sound weird until after I wrote it…amount of mountains…hmm…). So, it was pretty boring…as boring as riding ALL DAY in a van with 9 other people can be…which is still pretty lively. Everyone was really ready to get out of the van when we got there. Katie P, Thad, Aaron and I all traded our shoes around, and I took a picture. Yeah, we were that crazy from being in the van for 11 hours!! So, after the 4:00 news we all retreated to our rooms…and I went out into the hallway to record the news on the video camera. Katie P happened to come out just then and asked me if I wanted to braid her hair so I wouldn’t have to do it in the morning, since we would be short on time all day. (several of us have French braids for the show. Some of them (Katie’s and Faith’s) go under wigs, so they don’t have to look good, meaning she could sleep on it and it wouldn’t matter) So I went with her to Aaron and Thad’s room (they were going to watch a movie…after I left, but I hear they didn’t finish it before they decided to go to sleep!) and she dried her hair and I braided it and then went back to our room. The kids were watching some show on Discovery abut the Bermuda Triangle, then we went to bed at about 11:00. I really was not sleepy (of course!) and so I stayed up a little longer reading. I really didn’t even want to go to sleep at all. Getting 2 hours of sleep and then having to get up is harder for me than to just stay up and then go to sleep in the van at 4. But, I did end up getting a little sleep, and getting up really well…I think I could have done a show right then and there…I was so awake! Then we got in the van and drove FOREVER!! We drove though 9 states in 12 hours. (Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire & Maine!!) I’ll give you all the details on today tomorrow (hopefully earlier than 2:00 am!!). For now, I’ll say that the show went well, lot of funny stuff happened (I think mostly from 2 weeks off). All the acting was pretty well there, but some of the tech went a little crazy. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow! We have 2 nights here, so I hope to update you about today at some decent time. Oh, and of course we are on Eastern time now, so it’s later here. (Yeah, that’s right…it’s only 1:00 I my house!) So, I better go now…hope this is enough info about a day pretty well totally in the van!!