Home Sweet Home

We made it home after a long day of driving. The longest part of the drive was the few miles from the Indiana state line to 720 W Waveland. We arrived right around rush hour and I had decided that my bladder could hold out and didn't take the opportunity for one last release at a McDonald's. That was a huge mistake. I thought I could feel my bladder actually ripping from the strain as we inched along Lake Shore Drive. I ran many options through my head including wadding up a box of tissues that Rance had in the car as a makeshift diaper, trying to maneuver myself over an empty Aquafina water bottle, or just feeling the sweet relief on the leather seats and worrying about cleaning up afterwards. In the end I was able to hold out though admittedly it was touch and go for awhile.

The best part of the drive bar far was the drive north up Main into Canada and through the Quebec province. It was breathtaking. One of the most beautiful drives I've ever encountered. Made even more charming by the signs in French. Huge sweeping valleys surrounded by picture perfect peaks. Every way we looked was surrounded by lush green fields and dotted with quaint old homes. We had the windows rolled down and the sunroof open, listening to French pop stations. For just a little while it felt like we were in Europe, I'm guessing at that, since we've never been to Europe.

Rance and I shared the driving, though I'm not sure how I ended up with both traffic jam situations. In Toronto during the evening rush hour and then again when we arrived back here in Chicago.

We stopped in Grandby, Quebec for our first night stay. We had somehow found the 82nd street (Portland)/Pulaski Ave (Chicago) of Grandby. Which is also home of the largest zoo in Quebec. Everywhere we went we were being persuaded to visit the zoo. Though the persuasion was strong we avoided that visit and just stayed the night in our hotel room that I'm sure had seen it's share of one night stands.

We went to dinner at a nice little corner restaurant/pub. Think Rock Bottom Brewery in France. We ate outside and watched couples, all smoking and drinking and laughing. Our waiter was a cutie patootie who always checked on us by walking by and giving us the "thumbs up" sign, which of course we all know is the American sign of "yeah, I'm doing good dude."

It felt strange to cross over into the Province of Ontario and instantly feel more at home with English signs and understandable clerks in stores. It was however, infinitely less charming. If Rance and I were to go back to ImprovAcadia we've already talked about going North through Canada again and taking some vacation in Montreal.

Speaking of which, if you're reading this and you're an improviser I cannot stress how great my experience was with Larrance and Jen and ImprovAcadia. I've made friends that I'll have for a lifetime, had experiences that I never would have imagined a year ago and had the opportunity to perform six nights a week!!

Looking back I realized there are several things that I haven't written about, so my next posting will be a rundown of the experiences I had that haven't yet made it to the blog.

Facing Fears

Hiking is great, it really is. Walking on sheer cliff walls in a misty rain isn't so much hiking as it is tempting death. Yesterday, I wanted to go for a hike and Rance wanted to photograph some old tombstones. So he dropped me of at the North Ridge trailhead which leads to the top of Cadillac Mountain and he went off with map in hand with several cemeteries circled.

The hike up was under a warm sun and as I climbed higher a cool breeze provided a pleasant relief. I stopped and ate wild blue berries and occasionally would turn around and enjoy the view that was the reward for climbing up the tallest point on Mt. Desert Island. I wasn't wearing the best socks for the hike and could feel the back of my heels rubbing on my shoes and causing some pretty good blisters. I kept thinking that soon I would be at the top and then the hike down would relieve that pressure as my foot would shift in my hiking shoe. If I'd only known how much they would shift.

At the top of the hill I tried to call Rance but coverage is really spotty on the island. He was somewhere where he didn't have service so I let him know that I was at the top and contemplating going down the south ridge towards Bubble Pond. Which is exactly what I did. I'd been biking around Bubble Pond before and thought it was beautiful. I even remember seeing the trailhead marker for the Bubble Pond trail and how serene it looked. So I looked forward to coming down and ending up in such a beautiful setting.

It wasn't long on the South Ridge Trail that I came across a marker for Bubble Pond and so I hooked a right and started my descent. The map at the trail head had the Pond trail listed as a moderate trail which is all I was really interested in doing. So it surprised me after about 100 yards into the hike when the trail turned into sheer rocks with a severe downward slant that I would at times traverse straight down and other times attempt to walk across. The weather had changed and I was now in a cloud bank which meant that I could only see about 50 yards ahead of me on the trail; which is a good thing, if I had known what was ahead of me I might have been frozen in fear.

The trail continued in it's steepness, staggering sheer rock slides with huge boulders that would require my short limbed body to slide down on it's backside to locate firm footing. At one point I had to stop and tell myself that the size of the steps didn't matter just as long as I continued stepping.

I couldn't believe how long it was taking. The trail marker said that it was only .9 miles to Bubble Pond but by this time I had been on the trail for almost an hour, often times going straight down. I tried calling Rance a couple of times only to get his cell phone. I wanted him to meet me at the Bubble Pond trail head and also just to let him know where I was at just in case.

These thoughts went through my head: "What the "F" am I doing out here by myself?", "Who in the hell marked this trail moderate?", "I could die out here."

Rance finally called me and told me that he was at Bubble Pond and asked if I was on the West Ridge Trail. I told him no, I was on the bubble pond trail and he asked if I was sure. I couldn't possibly be on the West Ridge Trail. The West Ridge Trail is marked as a difficult trail. Why just yesterday Andrea had climbed up the West Ridge trail to the top of Cadillac Mountain and told me how strenuous and scared she was and that she had taken the North Ridge back down because she couldn't imagine descending the Mountain by that same trail.

Sure enough at the top of the mountain I had taken an early turn and had gone down West Ridge trail, even though it was clearly marked Bubble Pond. I made it down and Rance was waiting for me. He was convinced I was on another trail as well, as he had started up the West Ridge trail to come meet me and was convinced I wouldn't have been able to come down the steep rocks.

Exhausted by my .9 mile hike, I was also a little bit proud that I had made it all by myself.

Planning for Portland

I'm heading out to Portland, OR on August 4th to ride in the MS 150 with a group of friends. We're doing this ride for and with my friend Julie whose mother and brother have both been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It's a two day ride in and around the Forest Grove region of Oregon with lots of hills and valleys. It should be beautiful.

After a quick search on the old internet I found a bike shop in Portland that rents high-quality road bikes for just such adventures. This solves the problem of what will I ride? I didn't really want to ship my hybrid, heavy as hell bike out. It's great for flat Chicago; not so great for long hilly rides as I found out last year during a three day 190 mile ride.

Last night's show was rockin'. Another full house filled with laughers. I'll sure miss playing every night with people that I really like. But a day off is good too, which happens for Rance and I tonight.

Rance finished the Harry Potter book in record time, so now I'm digging in.

Almost Killed By A Moose

Last night on the way back from the theater Rance was driving Larrance and me back home. We were discussing a documentary that Larrance recommended called "Sherman's March", when seemingly out of nowhere four very long legs came into view silhouetted by an oncoming car's headlights. Thank God for Rance's quick video game playing reactions. He immediately swerved into the shoulder of the lane avoiding certain disaster. I don't think any of us saw the full animal, just the long legs and a shadow of a head with horns as it loomed over us, but we were all certain it was a bull moose. It, and or us, would have been killed if we had hit it. I'm so thankful Rance was driving I don't think my non-video game playing game would have reacted as quickly.

We bought the newest Harry Potter book in Bar Harbor on Friday at midnight. Rance, Seth and Jen are all reading their copies and trying really hard not to spoil it with book club discussions.

Oh and Rance, Seth, and I saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". If you've been reading my blog you know I have difficulty staying awake in movies. Not this one!! I really loved it and even found myself welling up with tears in the first part. Yes, I'm a sucker for emotionally manipulative movies. I thought it was wonderfully cast and beautifully done. The best part is that I still love the original just as much. In fact, I have to say I love the Oompa-Loo's from the original movies more than the digitized version from "Charlie".

Yesterday Jen and I had a girls day out. We went to a bead store where I attempted to bead a multi-strand necklace from seed beads. The tiniest little beads around. Jen designed and beaded two full necklaces by the time I had two strands done. Mine is still a work in progress. She got to wear one of hers out of the store. I told her I'd take a picture of it when mine's done in two years so she can see what my vision was all about.

Somewhere in the days since I last wrote, Andrea and I took a much longer bike ride than originally intended. We started out heading out highway 3 but turned around to go down a back road to Sand Beach when I wussed out and didn't want to face the hills and the headwind. Yes, I know I have 150 mile bike ride coming up in three weeks. The ironic thing is we decided to go on the one way park loop road, with the original intention of riding to Otter Crest. Once we conquered the ride and the hills to Otter Crest we thought we'd ride to Blackwoods Campground and catch a free shuttle bus back into town. It looked to be only another 2 miles or so on the map. So we peddled on, and on, and on. At one point Andrea said she could smell the campground because of the "piss pots" but we had missed the turnoff. Because the road is a one way we continued on all the way to Jordan's Pond House and caught a shuttle from there to town. I guess wussing out was not really an option that day.

We did get to enjoy the delectable lemonade and popovers at Jordan Pond House. I even ventured out and had the lobster stew. Which was essentially about four pieces of lobster in a hot cream broth. It's blog worthy but nothing to write home about.

Now I can say I've touched a sea squirt. Rance and I visited the Oceanarium in SW Harbor and the highlight was the touch tank where you can hear about and touch a sea cucumber, a sea star, a horseshoe crap, a moon snail and a sea urchin. And of course a sea squirt which really just looks like a piece of poo (sorry Rebecca).

Only six nights left of our summer in Maine, then it's back on the road up through Canada to head for home. So much to do so little time.

Date Night

Never in my life have I purposefully watched both the day's sunrise and sunset until yesterday. Paddling out to the middle of Frenchmen's Bay to watch the sunset of Acadia park was breathtaking. I'd never been in a kayak before and loved every minute of the adventure. The night couldn't have been more perfect.

Well, I take that back. We were with a group that included eight kids that varied in ages from 11 to maybe 16, though they all looked young to me. They managed to take some of the romance out of the evening with their disruptive behavior and inability to row or steer their kayak. Rance and dealt with it by hanging back from the group a little bit.

We saw a bald eagle, a porpoise, jellyfish, a seal and numerous bird variations. I would love to do it again before we leave, though I don't know when we could work it into our schedules.

I got an email from my friend Paul Kampf. He's a local Chicago playwright, founder of Breadline Theater and now screenwriter/director. His first feature film "American Gothic" is about to have it's first screening for agents, and the movers and shakers in LA. And it looks like Lucas Films is going to be doing the sound mixing for the film!! I'm so excited for him. He's incredibly talented and just a super great guy.

Even more good news, another friend Rebecca Hanson just got a job as a Second City TourCo understudy. Yahooey!!!! I just love it when good things happen for good people.

Sunrise, Sunset

Today is the only night off that Rance and I will have off together while we're here performing with ImprovAcadia. Larrance and Jen surprised us with this offering now that we have six people in the cast. In the wee hours of the morning we snuck out of the house and drove into Acadia National Park to be on hand to witness the earliest sunrise anywhere in the U.S.

To know Rance at all you would appreciate this monumental occasion. He's a notorious night owl. I will admit to adapting to the actors schedule quite easily and often find myself still in bed at 10:30 or 11am, but not this morning.

After the show last night Rance brought Andrea home, I stayed in town with Pat, Seth and Larrance to play some bocci ball: Jews against Gentiles. Pat and I got our balls handed to us in a crushing lost. It was after midnight by the time I got home. I managed to sneak at least a couple of hours of sleep in, while Rance worked on some photography stuff on the computer.
We were out of the house at 3:45am and on our way to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

With very little traffic we managed to get there by 4:25am with sunrise scheduled for 5am. If we were not awake before we stepped out of the car we were snapped to attention by the chilly wind and the beauty that surrounded us. Intermittently as we awaited, fog rolled in and blocked our view of anything beyond 50 yards. Imagine our anxiety of not knowing if all of our early morning efforts would be wasted. Then as nature often does, something glorious happened. The fog cleared, and just the tiniest of a pinprick of sun appeared on the horizon. It was blanketed in soft clouds that allowed for a brilliant pink shadow to streak across the sky.

Standing on the mountain top with about 40 other people all with cameras documenting this moment in their lives. As quickly as the sun rose completely out of the shadows of the horizon the people were gone, back in their cars and tour buses on the search for another adventure they could document.

Rance and I left to search out food and found it and Jordan's Blueberry Pancake House. The only place open at 5:30 in the morning. We both eagerly anticipated our three egg omelets only to be disappointed to receive the flattest, saddest folded egg concoction with the thickest layer of white cheese imaginable. We ate it anyway, what else are you going to do that early in the morning?

Tonight we'll cap our day off with a sunset kayak cruise in Frenchmen's Bay. Could it be anymore idyllic? Yes, you read it right, both a sunrise and a sunset adventure.

Weird Coincidence?

We just got back from watching the movie Bewitched. At one point Jack(Will Ferrell) is put under a spell to fall madly in love with Isabelle (Nicole Kidman).

Uhm, I don't know if Tom Cruise got an early screening of this movie or what. But the way the character Jack goes nutso over Isabelle is pretty darn close to Tom's real life flipouts over Katie Holmes. Jack's excuse is he's under a spell and oh yeah, it's a movie.

My friend Orin sent me this link: www.tomcruiseisnuts.com

Creepy.

Ride in the Rain

The fact that I'm going to do a 150 mile bike ride in less than a month is freaking me out a bit. I've been riding, but not nearly enough. So yesterday I showed Andrea the wonders of the Carriage paths in Acadia Park. The weather has turned to cool and rainy which had both good and bad effects on the ride. It felt great to be riding in a cool mist, but the head wind we encountered as we climbed to the top of one of the steeper climbs was a biotch!

Andrea is an inspiration, she has one of those long lean bodies that is to die for and I'll admit to being enamored by her legs. Her gams are one of the best pair that I've seen on a real live body. Yesterday after one of our shows someone in the audience told her that she looked like Nicole Kidman. I'd agree, only without the botox. Oh and did I mention she has competed in triathalons? Anyway, while our body types are at opposite ends of the spectrum we actually have quite a few things in common. We're both from Oregon, we both competed in gymnastics as youngsters and we both have mothers with cats.

I've finally registered for my HS reunion. Part of the deal is filling out a memory page that will be compiled into a book with everyone else's memories. How in the hell do they think we can get any good memories or life highlights in with under 250 characters including spaces? I had some good stuff ready to go only to realize I was topping out around 760 characters. So I basically had to chop it down to a laundry list. Not that I've got that many great memories or highlights but sometimes a little flowery language can go a long way.

Last night was our first two show Wednesday. The first show was packed and we were clicking like a well oiled machine. The second show was about half full and we clicked a little less efficiently but still kept the machine going.

Rance and I are going to see Bewitched today, that is if I ever get out of my PJ's.

Another Round of Pirates

As a cast we bought some flowers and a thank you card for Steve and Susan. Andrea and I took them over to their house before the show and coincidently ran into them on the way to their house. They were just stepping out for a bite to eat. So we got a chance to talk to them in person and tell them again how great it was to be at their house on the 4th.

Afterwards we saw that it was low tide and the bar between Bar Harbor and Bar Island was showing. I didn't have the best shoes on to be traversing the gravel and muscle beds but I also didn't want to miss this opportunity. Andrea and I took our time walking across the bar, talking and looking at tide pools. It wasn't until we got over to Bar Island that Andrea first spotted the tide quickly coming back in. Halfway across the bar the water was coming in fast and we had to hustle back. I made a failed attempt to leap across the stream of water that had cut the bar in half. What the hell, sandals dry.

It was Andrea's first show, she was great, the house was packed and it was a rockin' good time. It feels as a cast we're clicking and the shows are only getting better. The one odd moment was during the dream. I was hosting and I got a woman volunteer, who all of a sudden just freaked out and didn't want to be up on stage anymore. About the only part of her day that she did talk about was the fact that she "freaked" out because she and her husband had driven to the top of Cadillac Mountain. Yes, she was terrified to be driving in a car up a hill. I think she had been drinking and felt a moment of bravery when she raised her hand to volunteer, and then under the lights and with the questioning she just completely froze and all of her fears rushed back. The cast was great though, and created a whole life for her based on the fact that she didn't want to talk about anything. It made her look good, and saved a very awkward moment.

After the show we all went to Pirates Cove for a rousing round of putt-putt golf. We went on Blackbeard's Challenge which seemed a tad bit more difficult that the original course. Rance found out he was a better putter with one hand in his pocket and we all found we were a meaty buffet for the mosquito's.

SIDE NOTE TO MIKE AND DUNCAN: You two quit your fighting right now or I'm going to give you both a what for. I'll be home soon, until then play nice together.

Small Town Celebrations

First of all...Happy Birthday Tony (Rance's Dad) !! We love you.

Most of the past few days have involved the creation process of ImprovAcadia banners for the 4th of July parade. Jen and Larrance wanted smaller banners that individuals could carry that would be lighter and not so burdensome. Rance took up the creative design helm and fashioned an idea using PVC piping and strips of muslin fabric. He then transferred the ImprovAcadia logo onto the raw banners and the rest of us spent time painting. In the end they turned out great.

Friday night we had another Community Well show with two local performers named Ben and Caleb. They played guitar and sang in a bluegrassy twang that was sometime only understandable in their own heads but made for a good time by everyone in the audience.

Saturday night was our first three show night with two normal shows and then a midnight jam. With only word of mouth advertisement for the jam we weren't sure if there was going to be any turnout. Especially since there's an ordinance here that doesn't allow teenagers to be out in a public place past 11pm without a guardian of some sort. But as soon as the door opened people started pouring in and we had a very successful jam with about 35 people in attendance.

Andrea Swanson arrived into town on Sunday. Jen and Larrance began their three week stint with Summer Festival of the Arts so they asked if Rance and I would pick her up from Bangor. She's so darn athletic she's sure to have a great time here in Maine and take full advantage of everything that's here.

Sunday night we had a full house, it almost feels like a night off because we go back down to only one show that night. A note of interest here: There's a young guy of about 17 years old who plugs his keyboard in the courtyard of the little complex that the theater is located in and plays and sings for hours. The only problem is he has a repatoire of about 10 songs and keeps repeating "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Hey Jude" endlessly. I think I might get him a new songbook this week.

Yesterday was the parade day. We had to be in Bar Harbor around 9am, which seems ungodly an hour nowadays. We packed up our banners and took separate cars just in case there were different plans as the day wore on. I've never been to a small town parade before, but it was so much fun. It's pretty much a Halloween like affair for the kids as they shouted for and received candy from people in the parade. My most recent parade experience has been the Rose Festival in Portland which is the 2nd largest all floral parade in the country to Pasadena's affair. So Bar Harbor's parade was more reminiscent of my High School homecoming parade; mostly flatbed trucks for floats and groups of people that everyone on the sideline new and would run out and hug. One of Jen and Larrance's high school interns was known by pretty much every local kid on the route, he's a good kid and it had to be great for him to hear his name shouted on every street.

After the parade we had a little bit of time to kill before heading over to a barbecue. So we walked down to the rocky shore of Frenchmen's Bay and watched Pat, Seth, Rance and Declan throw rocks into the water. It was such a beautiful day, warm and sunny, a more perfect 4th of July day I've never experienced. After a stroll on the shore path we all headed off to Steve and Susan Raab's, locals who had invited the cast over for a barbecue to their beautiful historical home.

Steve is the historian we had a couple of weeks back in the Community Well. So we got to see some of his finds including a letter from Abraham Lincoln and a receipt for pay to Merriweather Lewis for his Oregon Trail excursion. Such gracious hosts they were!! We all felt truly spoiled to be in their historic home, eating the glorious, and I do mean glorious feast they prepared. The topper was the dessert that Susan made. At one time she was a specialty baker in Philadelphia and she brought out a lemon mousse, and a chocolate mousse pie that were to die for! She hadn't baked in over a year and made these labors of love for all of us. They were simply remarkable.

If you're a historian buff you can go to Steve and Susan's website to find out more about what they do at www.raabcollection.com

After socializing with the Raab's Jen and Larrance headed home to enjoy Larrance's one and only night off for the entire summer. Pat, Seth and Andrea headed over to Echo Lake in to try and get a swim in, and Rance and I headed up to Cadillac Mountain to enjoy the view from the highest point on Mt. Desert Island. It was breathtaking to be at the top and be able to see Frenchmen's Bay and the entire island. It was also a bit chilly so after enjoying some time sitting on warm rocks enjoying the view we headed out for a drive along the NE Harbor side of the island and then went home. I had seen fireworks in late May at Navy Pier with Linda, Julie and Cristi and was really okay with avoiding the traffic jam off the island after the show in Bar Harbor.

Tonight we have a rehearsal to get Andrea up to speed on the show format and from the news we will also be enjoying our last sunny day for awhile.

I can't believe we have less than three weeks left.