(43) Lincoln, NE

Saturday, February 21^st: We had an 8am load in at the Lied Center for the Performing Arts. I turned the truck on to warm it up, it ran for a minute or so and then turned off. I turned it on again and it turned off again. The “Protect Engine” light was coming on and when it turned off the “Intake Heater” light track to replace the one that was damaged a would turn on. Finally, it turned on and I dropped it into gear and drove to the theater. The local crew was very good and we successfully got the show set up in 4 ½ hours. We had to be ready by 12:30 for our standard mic check. During load in, my contact helped me find a piece of traveler couple of venue’s ago. I took time to cut the piece, drill holes, and attach it to the truss so that it would be all ready to go for the next venue! It was very exciting to have fixed the piece so quickly. I was expecting it to take weeks to find a piece of track or have one shipped to us, but it all worked out great! We had one show and then loaded out. Our 2:00pm(69) show was part of a family fun day in Lincoln, so after the show the cast went out to the lobby to sign books and hang out with the kids. This slowed strike just a little, but it didn’t matter because we were just going back to the hotel. Once we had the costumes and started to pack the truck, we got word that Dave’s valuables were missing. During shows, the cast gives Caroline anything valuable they have with them and Caroline locks them up in the road box. All of a sudden, a huge outburst occurred to find Dave’s valuable. We had to pull the costume racks back off the truck and a number of people were looking in every nook and cranny. Finally, Caroline pulled them out of the bottom of her hamper, where she must have dropped them by accident during load out. We finished up with load out and thanked the crew. This was a very nice and very accommodating crew. When we got back to the hotel, I called Ryder and they sent out a service person who figured out that we were low on anti-freeze and ended up giving me the other half of the bottle that he didn’t use.

Sunday, February 22^nd: DAY OFF! I putsed around all morning because I could. I watched my morning news show, read and took a little nap. Just after lunch time, Caroline, Dave, Eric, Rudy and I went down to the Nebraska State Capitol building and got a tour. Did you know that Nebraska is the only state in the nation that only has a State Senate? Did you also know that Arbor Day was started in Nebraska because there were no trees there? It was a very interesting tour and our tour guide was very excited to find out that we were with a touring kids show. At the end of the tour, we went up to the 14^th floor of the tower at the center of the building. They have an observation deck there where you can see for miles around. If you also didn’t know, this part of Nebraska is REALLY flat! Later in the afternoon, Caroline, Jeffrey, Jill, Jonny, Rudy and I went out for shopping extravaganza where we hit up a number of different stores. That night, I sat around the hotel, watching the Academy Awards, trying to do my laundry and having a compy date with Michelle.

Monday, February 23^rd: I went to the post office this morning and then to Walgreens for a post card (Michelle I hope you get the package and post card before I post this!) Rudy and I hopped in the truck and drove the 237 miles(10,463 total miles) to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was a pretty simple drive and we were there by 4:30pm. I tried to do some work but no one was in their office to talk to me. Usually Caroline has her room upgraded because her name is on the card that pays for all our rooms, but this time I lucked out and got the posh room! It was like the honey moon suite! I had a living room with a TV, couch, microwave, refrigerator, table with chairs and a Jacuzzi. That’s right, I said JACUZZI, in the living room! I got dinner from the restaurant in the hotel and sat in the Jacuzzi watching the San Jose Sharks vs Dallas Stars hockey game on the TV while talking to Michelle.