winter wonderland

we've driven across the entire country this last week, and i'm pretty sure the whole continental US was having a cold front/blizzard. this is just perfect because the one thing that I happened to forget to bring on this tour was a coat! i've been making due with my Uggs (ugly but they sure are warm), a (fake) fur lined vest and a sweatshirt type jacket. on our way from richmond, Va to Colorado Springs we got stuck in Selena, Kansas in the middle of a blizzard. we stopped at a truck stop (our bus and trailer is the size of an 18-wheeler so we are always at Flying J's. I'm starting to feel a connection to all the truck drivers, like i understand their life or something) and since the next exit with gas stations and food wasn't for another 100 miles we decided to call it a day. so we got a hotel room and tried to stay warm.






across the street was an IHOP (the eating kind) and so we walked there for dinner. it was a short but brutal walk

this was the street in the middle of an intersection

our neighbors

thank goodness for the warmth of uggs

we got to stop for a day and night at the IHOP in Kansas City (the praying kind), which was so amazing. it felt so refreshing to sit in the house of prayer all day, and that night we got to go to a revival meeting (a revival has been going on there for a few weeks). i got to worship some, but little man was all over the place so i took him to the nursery to play. they had a great room filled with toys and 1-2 year olds. i couldn't leave him because it was too cute to watch him interact. i realized how much he's grown. he played with the kids and the toys so nicely, and sat in a chair during storytime while he munched on a graham cracker. he crawled up the back of a plastic slide and slid down all by himself, squealing. it was so much fun! 

the beauty of the drive through colorado and utah blew me away, and i've gotten to experience below 0 temperatures for the first time in my life. at least now i know how to prepare for a month in canada this january!

end of tour

after boston we headed to my fav- nyc. one of the perks of my new life of traveling is that i get to go to nyc all the time now. it makes it so much more fun because i don't have to stress about seeing a whole lot (i have quite a few 'favorite' spots) when i'm there. i can pick one area to stick to and just relax and soak it all in because i know i'll be right back soon. this trip i decided to focus on my little man. the bus was parked in gramercy park, so the other wife and i walked the kids up Park Ave and 5th all the way to central park, where we spent almost the entire day in FAO Schwartz with the kids! it was really fun. so fun in fact that we went back the next day too with music man, haha. and guess what--little man is 11 months and walking!

my hubs had to work so much that he really didn't get to enjoy the city with us much:( all we really did was walk to FAO Schwartz and eat dinner, he was so exhausted. but i got to meet up with Michelle, one of my best friends from middle school and high school. i haven't seen her since graduation, and in fact she is the one person that i regret not keeping in touch with. she lives in nashville, but i randomly saw on her facebook that she was in the city, so i contacted her. it was great to reunite with her, and very surreal that it has actually been 8 years since graduation!

next we went to Baltimore, which sits pretty on the water. little man and i walked around the waterfront before heading back to the bus at sundown. natalie drove in and i got to meet her Evan. stephanie and cem (turkish...pronounced jim) also can after the show to spend some time with us:)

next we went to philadelphia. i was thankful it was sunny this time. i walked my man around the old historic part of town. philadelphia is a beautiful city.
on our way to atlanta, we stopped overnight in Durham and had a 'family' thanksgiving with the main band. we used a conference room in our hotel, and the kithenettes in our suites to have a huge dinner. i think i got more stuffed that night than on the real thanksgiving!







and finally, atlanta. how fun to see so many friends and family all in one night! ok, so it was a little overwhelming, but still good, and i did my best not to get stressed out. my mom and stepdad, my dad and stepmom, my 80 year old grandmother....plus a whole schlew of friends. it was great