The Rest of the Trip

CINCINNATI
Bus Pals—Allen B, Rufio, Karen


At the River—Nola and Carol (Sopranos)


Bowing—One Time Only—PLEASE!


Well, we got to Cincinnati and this was the first place where the cost to connect to the internet was under $10. Being a Salmon I hadn't wanted to cough up the $15-$20 beforehand (or after either). I spent my free evening in the hotel room blogging...reading e-mails from work...and just feeling like I could finally get news on Wimbledon. My roommate wasn't interested in sports and she seemed to get the remote quicker than I did!

Cincinnati was our performance with the Pops...the Cincinnati Pops. It was a great crowd, their conductor (Erich Kunzel), LOVED us and was so enthusiastic in his praise for the Choir so it wasn't hard to sing for this "new" conductor. This was also the only place where we actually bowed...yup the whole choir...and it wasn't too uniform. But Dr. Kunzel was having a blast and we did as well. It had rained a lot the morning of and even during our sound check so we had to rely a little more on the Lord as this was another outdoor venue with a lot of tickets sold for the grassy knoll beyond the amphitheatre. And He didn't disappoint. The sun came out and dried up all the rain (sound familiar?) and the grassy knoll was filled to capacity come concert time. What an appreciative crowd as well! Couldn't believe how responsive they were. One insight...Dr. Kunzel conducted Come, Come, Ye Saints and it was interesting to sing under the baton of one who doesn't know the depth of feeling this piece has for so many Latter day Saints. It was a little more difficult conveying the spirit without Craig but I think we were able to convey the message to both the audience as well as the Cincinnati Pops. We must have done something right as Dr. Kunzel announced at the end of the concert that we were staying in Cincinnati so we'd all better go out and buy a home. That brought quite a few laughs.

NASHVILLE
Carol and Georgia (Events Staff)


Camille's Friends


Canada Day


Nashville was our next stop. And it was a fairly long drive...but what am I saying...ALL the bus rides between towns were long! We got into Nashville and had about an hour before our sound check. I hadn't been keeping track of our venues so when I walked in and saw the NHL insignia on walls and doors and walked on the rubber-floored hallway, it wasn't hard to realize that it was the Nashville Predator's arena we were performing in! I was so excited! ANYTHING that has to do with hockey is FANTASTIC! So, I was in heaven knowing we'd be singing in an NHL venue. But more importantly knowing that if it got too hot, they could just jack up the coolant in the floor and we'd be happy. It was our first air conditioned venue since Toronto and boy was that a treat. It was also our first venue that had sizeable changing rooms. Most of the time we had rooms that would fit maybe 15 people instead of 150! So this was, by far, the BEST venue we ever sang in. I met some great people in Nashville. They were Events Staff who were stationed along the hallways by the changing rooms. When they realized they had a REAL fan, they tried to give me a team locker room tour but things were locked down as they were doing some renovating. Just as an aside, the ushers, events staff, security, and anyone I met who wasn't in our entourage were so wonderful and fun-spirited. It made each location so enjoyable.

After the concert (which was one block from the hotel) we headed back to our rooms. When I got into the lobby, I met some of Camille's family. She has an older brother living in Tennessee. It was great meeting them. They had brought some friends of theirs as well. A woman who was a Canadian (lots of those transplanted in Tennessee and Georgia I hear), and an older couple who had great personalities and had enjoyed the concert immensely. We had to sing the national anthem for him...the CANADIAN national anthem. It was a great!

Sunday morning (are we STILL in Nashville?) was sacrament meeting, brunch, and then we got on the buses for Memphis. And yes, it was Canada Day and no, the opening hymn for our meeting was not the national anthem. It was sad...BUT I had brought some Canadian flag stickers and my buddies from Cache Valley were only too happy to wear my flag proudly on their lapels. In fact, if I had been smart, I would have bought a huge roll of Canadian flag stickers when I was in Canada so ALL the choir could celebrate my national holiday!

MEMPHIS
Last Sound Check


The Really Cool Altos of Row 5


Last stop. Our singing voices were getting tired, but at dinner they announced that a young girl from California who was at St. Jude's having treatments for a brain tumor, was coming to the hotel and a few of the Choir had said they would sing to her. Barry (general manager) said we were all welcome to participate if we wanted, so at 7 pm everybody showed up in the lobby and on the terrace to sing to Chase. We sang 4-5 songs for her as she and her parents sat in chairs a good distance from the choir members (her white blood count was so low they couldn't chance any infections). Those twenty minutes made the back aches, the sore feet, the sweaty performances all worth it. What a wonderful opportunity we had. We didn't know that Chase's favorite primary song is A Child's Prayer...and that was the second one we sang so it really touched the family and all of us.

The next morning was free time—if you can imagine! It was great. We went down to Beale Street, the area of Memphis that was the birthplace of the blues. A lot of the choir members went out to Graceland, but since I have never loved Elvis (don't hate me for that), I was happy to wander Memphis. Hot, muggy, Memphis. We watched the ducks wander down the red carpet of the Peabody Hotel followed by Craig Jessop, the honorary duckmaster. I went to Hard Rock Cafe, didn't eat there as I couldn't bear to spend so much money for a burger! Our sound check was that afternoon and again we had a great air conditioned venue. This time it was home to the NBA's Grizzlies. Gotta love those athletic arenas. It went well. When we started the first song the whole choir started quacking in honor of Craig's honorary title. It was good for a few minutes of laughing without much singing.

FRIENDS
Peggy and Margot—the WonderWardrobe Ladies


Kirtland Temple—Ruth, Carol, Margie


Fun Second Sopranos (no joke!)—Carol and Cyndi


So the concert came, we sang our hearts out, and the audience loved us. I wasn't too sad knowing that it was my last time seeing the concert dresses bag. I wasn't even sad that it was our last concert. I was just so happy to participate in a tour where we touched so many people, where I got to know so many cool choir members (outside of the second altos), cool spouses of choir members, and enjoyed a very casual chat or two with the conductors. You gotta love tour for the opportunities a regular Thursday rehearsal does not afford. So bring 'em on...even outside of the North American continent!

I must add one more thing. We had a group of women who signed on for a Fit in 95 challenge. It started 95 days before tour and it was fun to work on various challenges to prepare for the tour. But it was even BETTER to have a support group that kept me from eating too much at the buffets, helped me want to find time to exercise, and just kept me aware of the goal to stay healthy while on tour. I had hoped to get a shot of the group while we were on tour but that was impossible.

So that's the final tour report. And now that I'm back, things probably won't be as exciting to blog but I'll see what I can do to spice up my life a bit!