So my biggest problem with this place? There's way too much to do! We made it out to the Arbor Day Farm, where we went for a hike to this huge tree house that provides you with a nice view of the canopy level of the forest. We also got to compare weights and textures of blocks made of different kids of woods and try to match them up with our eyes closed (note: I failed, but only slightly). Probably the coolest part of the whole thing though was "Nature's Classroom" an exhibit that was blatantly designed for children where Sam and I had a jam session on the wooden vibes, both got very frustrated as we attempted to float pine cones down the little man-made river, and I made a beautiful recreation of our set out of wooden blocks- complete with tree stumps! (look for the photos, coming soon) Sam's favorite fact: the Aspen tree sap contains some natural chemical that has similar pain-killing effects to those found in asprin. (She's been telling everyone that since we found out) Well after our little Tree House Adventure, we went for Mexican food and Margaritas with Jo Dee and her best friend Pat, who was our substitute contact on Monday when Jo Dee was away. It was fun and delicious, as Mexican food usually is.
Well Thursday we explored the famous Kimmel orchard a bit and had some nice, cold, cloudy apple cider. I was sad that they didn't have any cider donuts, but it's not REALLY apple season yet. Besides, they kind of go better with cold weather and hot cider. I wanted to try the apple wine, but I didn't want to spend $5 on a wine tasting. I got too spoiled in CO where it was all free.
Then we went downtown to check out the western wear store. Sam bought these really cute little bootie mocasins, and had they had them in my size (of course, they did not) I would have bought some too. Well we had been planning on trying out the Chinese place in town, but we got side-tracked by the farmer's market. Turns out a bunch of the little girls in our cast have parents/aunts and uncles who are vendors and they swarmed us! It was incredible to see how excited these girls were to see us! They would not leave us alone, and followed us around, persuading us to buy things, constantly asking us if we wanted/needed anything, introducing us to everyone, and re-enacting all of their favorite parts of the show for us. It was adorable. So we ended up buying ribs for dinner from one of the girls dad's with this outrageously delicious homemade barbeque sauce, and the little girls managed to get us some free lemonade to go with the deal. It was so funny to be treated like such a celebrity! The best part was that we caught the attention of this guy who is apparently trying to open up a new bar here in town, but is currently an independent news blogger who doesn't always have the nicest things to say about the town and its government. Well we told him that Jo Dee brings us in and how she's just wonderful to us and he was so impressed, that he took our pictures and interviewed us. The article should be online right now...plus he quoted one of our raccoons, who happens to be the daughter of some people who own a really cute restaurant here in town.
p.s. Wednesday morning we did a radio interview and when we went to do our laundry that day, we were talking to the woman working in the laundromat and she told us she'd heard us that morning!
One thing I forgot to mention about Thursday, that's really only going to make sense to other tour teams. One of our base plates broke. The piece that is welded on so those pegs can screw in just plain fell off. Good thing Little Lovable Wolf's Grandfather is a welder and fixed it for us!
Moving on to today (convoluted, I know). Well rehearsal was fine. Again, really smart, talented group. Energy? Not so much. I feel like I am beating my head against a stone wall. But at the least the show looks pretty clean...I am hoping an audience is going to make a big difference to these kids. The really exciting part about the day was, besides discovering exactly what and how many of every costume piece we are missing, Jo Dee invited us to go to a fundraiser down in Omaha with she and her husband. One of the city council members up here has a nephew with Lukemia, and he was having a fundraiser at his friend's bar down there. So Jo Dee and her husband took us to dinner at this really funk, hippie/organic restaurant that was absolutely delicious! It was apparently in a magazine listing "great places to ear" and I can totally see why! Then we explored the cute, cobble-stoned downtown market and took us to her favorite store.
Well the store is also a little hippie place with all this natural fiber clothing and jewelry and incense burning. Of course, it's not exactly cheap. Well here's the thing: she bought us the things we wanted. She always gives the tour team a nice chunk of extra cash at the end of their residency and she could see that Sam and I wanted things in the store, but were hesitant about spending money. So instead of giving us the money tomorrow, she bought us gifts this evening. I now have a huge, floppy hemp beret, a hemp t-shirt with an Eye of Horus on it, and a sweet new floppy canvas handbag. Then we went to the fundraiser and Jo Dee's husband bought us whatever beer we wanted. I have a new favorite: Boulevard, a light and tangy Kansas City wheat beer. Sam was totally jealous of it.
So there ya go. That's why my life is awesome. This week has been the best of all possible worlds. Lots of fun natural/historical things to do (I've taken to going for walks at 7:45 in the morning before rehearsal). Fun and unique shopping experiences. A beautiful, beautiful hotel. And the best contact ever, who is just one of the most delightful, hospitable, and hilariously, though tactfully open people I have ever met. These are the kinds on residencies a tour actor lives for. And this is the first place I have been in a while that I am really dying to come back to.
I can't stop thinking about how much my dad would love it here. If anyone ever finds themselves in the state of Nebraska make all efforts to detour to Nebraska City. It's a really lovely place to be.
(p.s. About a million more awesome/fun/interesting things happened over the past couple of days, but I am just so overwhelmed at the incredible generosity of my contact right now that I can't think of what they are)
(p.p.s. An eight year old in the wolfgang has two girlfriends. And they don't about the others' existence. Yikes.)
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