everywhere

Well after making our video blog we got the news that we would be switching it up with another team! This meant we would be going back north to finish out our tour! We were a little apprehensive to leave the South. We were having such a great time there getting to visit so many of our friends, the weather was nice and warm when it wasn't flooding or stormy, but sure enough our Yankee roots enticed us back home to the north. (Well it could've been the major heat and humidity of Louisiana and Texas that was finally getting to us). When it's hot and humid loading and unloading the van isn't at the top of our fun list:) So anyway back north we went, and excitment definitely got the best of us when we realized we would be driving through Nashville, TN! On the way we got to add a couple more states to our CAMFEL travels list, Mississippi and Alabama. Of course getting out of the South didn't go exactly according to plan because Mother Nature had other plans for us. This involved a pit stop in Birmingham AL where we waited out yet another Severe Weather Alert. However this detour was a pleasant one, because we ended up at a beautiful Hyatt Place hotel courtesy of priceline, a $160 room for a total of $53. Our room was awesome! It had a huge flat screen High Def plasma TV that swiveled on a wall mount between the bedroom and separated living room area! The lobby had a great lounge area where you could hang out and enjoy gourmet snacks, and Starbucks Coffee! Of course we also found a Chipotle nearby and a Cheesecake Factory. So basically neither of us wanted to ever leave! After about three nights living it up in the Hyatt we figured we better get to Nashville if we wanted to see it before we were to report for duty in OH. Our two days in Nashville started out a little rough, trying to get an idea of the lay of the city. Eventually we conquered Nashville, and enjoyed our time walking the streets of Music City, checking out a nearby park which is home to the world's largest replica of the Parthenon, eating at the Hard Rock Cafe, stopping in at Legends Corner, and browsing through an old record store. Oh and of course we did stop by to see the legendary Grand Ole' Opry which much to our surprise wasn't all that grand, at least not from the outside. Anyway, we left with a new appreciation for country music and another magnet to add to our collection. We finally made it to Ohio for our first show back in the North. This was our first glimpse at rural Ohio, and man was it crazy! The country roads are full of beautiful scenery and huge farms, but the twist and turns of the roads are a whole other story. On our first day we encountered Horse Shoe Bend, which was more like a figure eight with a warning that the road was not passable to large trucks or vans, a little too late! Horse Shoe Bend led us to a road construction detour which was due to the bridge being out! So around and around the detour took us! About thirty minutes out of our way, and would you know that we ended about 10 minutes north of where we started on I-75!! We tried not to be too upset, and ended up getting quite the laugh. Well the next few weeks would be more of the same finding ourselves in rural communities like Sarahsville, West Lafayette, and even into Kentucky! The drive to Kentucky took us through the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia. Of course we listened to John Denver's Country Roads song the whole time on repeat! We stopped and purchased some beautifully hand crafted Blenko Glass at the famous Blenko factory. Eventually all roads lead to Ohio, and back again! This time Spring was in the air, and lucky for us we have a tent! We found a great KOA in Wapakoneta, OH, where we've stayed a couple of weekends now, enjoying the beautiful weather! We also explored the Ohio Caverns one afternoon, which was quite fascinating!. Our tour schedule took us to Michigan, surprisingly. We spend a couple of days working with the school's in Troy and even got to make a quick trip home to drop off some of our stuff. After our visit, we hit Indiana (catching a glimpse of the Gaither's stomping grounds) and headed back to Ohio. The last few weeks have been full of work and driving around Ohio. Where we'll be finishing out our tour. I guess that's all for now, so we can get this posted!!

video update

You can check out some more videos old and new at
www.youtube.com/evilcop123

Our So Called Crazy Life!

So as usual it's been quite some time since we've really updated the blog and of course there is no good excuse as for why...So far this semester on the road has been quite eventful. Since our near drowning in IL mother nature has yet to give us break. We've already mentioned the record lows in SD and Chicago style blizzard that left Leroy under about a foot of snow. Since then we've survived an Arkansas tornado, prairie winds, and torrential downpours. We have yet to let the weather get us down, and are pleased to inform you that the southern sunshine has finally found us here in Austin, Tx. We are currently blogging from a city park where we are one with mother earth:) as our new hippie friend Athui would say, "Thank you earth for being such a solid mother!"

PLEASE PUSH REWIND TO VIEW THIS BLOG:) REWIND REWIND REWIND.....

So we left the windy city for the dirty south, and to be honest we weren't sure what to expect having never really spent much time in Arkansas!
We were sure to make a stop in Bentonville, the home of the Wal-Mart corportation finding the headquarters was a task we didn't accomplish, but we did get a peek at the first wal-mart store in the downtown district. Our school tour took us to Ozark AR, where our schools were located on both Bear Paw Rd and Hillbilly Lane! The drives from the hotel to the schools put a whole new meaning to the term "dirty south." However the students that we met while doing the shows were some of the most helpful and nicest groups we've encountered thus far. Our second day in AR, brought with it torrential rains, and severe thunderstorms. The schools in AR or at least those that we visited had gyms that weren't connected to the school. So the rainy day called for some last minute rearranging and configuring of where the assemblies would be held. First we would be setting up in the "old gym" which had a connecting canopy, so once this was decided our Junior High helpers came in to help us and then the Thunderstorm storm started! It was raining so hard on the metal roof that we couldn't even hear each other talk! The storm came right over us and the boys told us with certainty that the lightening was striking the parking lot right outside the gym, and that last year the gym was struck by lightening! Melissa and I were seriously scared, but didn't let on:) Of course that wasn't the end of our problems because during the show our middle projector just up and quit on us! This of course required a pause in the show while we troubleshooted the problem. Frantically we got it to work again only to have it quit a few minutes later! With it back on once again the show ended without any further problems. Much to our surprise we opened the gym doors to a beautiful Arkansas blue sky! With the problems behind us we took a little break and then headed to Hillbilly Lane for our afternoon show. Of course the blue skies didn't last long and with the increasing clouds came the possibilities of more Storms. Once again we found the gym across the parking lot, and another concerned principal! This time the county was under a Tornado Watch which was news to us! We set up under the understanding that if the weather conditions changed or if it began raining the show would be cancelled and we'd pack it up. The gym of this school out in the Ozarks was like none other that we had seen! It had stadium seating, a megatron score board, special student seating, a practice gym, indoor track, cheerleading practice rooms, locker rooms just like the pros, and so much more! The show went on, but of course during the show it began to rain! We finished the show and the students waited out the rain before going back over to finish the day. We packed it up and began to head to Little Rock under a light drizzle. This is when our already crazy day took a turn for the worse!!! While on Interstate 40E it began to downpour like we had never experienced before this made for some slippery road conditions! In a matter of seconds we found ourselves with a front row view of an accident! Seconds after being passed by a conversion van we saw it hydroplane, slide, spin, and almost completely roll out of control from the middle median to the shoulder luckily being stopped by the guard rail which we later discovered was there because of a very big drop off! My defensive driving skills were put to the test and my adrenaline shot through the roof! The strangest thing was the whole time Melissa and I were both temporarily mute! I think it was the surreal shock of what we were experiencing. I am thankful to God to report that we are fine and so is Leroy. We were able to stop in time and pulled over to help. To cut to the chase we called 911, got soaked while checking on the man who was in the van, waited for the police, gave them a quick statement, and then off we drove to find a place to change and wait out the rain! If you thought this was the ending you'd be wrong!!! While getting our happy hour drinks from a Sonic drive in the city's tornado warning siren went off!! So we sought shelter at a McDonald's nearby:) We went into use the bathrooms to change only to find that all of the employee's were seeking shelter in the bathrooms and the kitchen was closed! So with the whole place in a buzz we calmly got online to check the weather and see what was going on. We found out that the area was under a Tornado warning and a tornado had touched down about 2 miles from where we were. With still like two more hours to go we discussed waiting out the warning and driving a little more or just getting a hotel where we were and getting up early in the morning to finish the drive. Getting a hotel won that debate, and thank God it did because as soon as we checked in and turned on the news we found out that a tornado had touched down and crossed over Interstate 40 just about where we would have been had we not witnessed the accident and had to stop to change!!! We were glued to the coverage and so thankful that God had taken control of the situation without us even knowing he had! So yes we survived the Arkansas Tornadoes which you can check out by googling them if you wish:) The next morning we woke up early and drove to Little Rock and actually got to see some of the devastation along the way. We then had a short stint in Oklahoma before we made our way to Dallas to hang out with our "ol' gang" for the weekend!







After that ordeal a weekend in Dallas was exactly what we needed! We spent the weekend with Becca touring her new digs in Ft. Worth, stayed the night with the Busch Clan and their new addition Zion, whom we met for the first time, and immediately fell in love with! We had lunch with Jed and his girlfriend, who we also met for the first time, and must say she is Erin and Melissa Approved:) ha ha. We met up with the always fun and random Rachel for a free night stay in the Candlewood Suites, Dallas. Finally finishing out the weekend with haircuts by our favorite stylist, Stephanie, and a birthday celebration dinner at Chuys for the always entertaining Rocky and his wife Lisa! It was a crazy quick trip, but fun nonetheless!

Snow Day!

We got an opportunity to head back to the Chicago area after Indiana. This time we were excited that we would be able to see our friend Dave who happens to work for the Coast Guard and is stationed in Downer's Grove. We did a few shows in the area and then headed further north for a day. On our way back to Dave's apartment, we experienced both Chicago rush hour and blizzard like conditions. You can imagine the two don't mix well! It took us 3 hours to get back when it only took 50 minutes to get there! We spent the evening after the drive feeling like school kids again hoping and wishing that school would be cancelled the next day. We woke up the next morning to the delightful news that not only would we have no school, but Dave would not have to go to work as well. So we began making snow day plans. We started off at Panera for lunch with a side of email. We then had the best idea ever...Painting Pottery at a Potter Studio, go to the mall, and then go to a Movie Grill Dinner Theatre! Our plans took a nosedive when we discovered that the pottery was not a one day deal, but that you would have to return in one week for your finished products. Bummed over our once a in lifetime bright idea we set plan B into motion...Bowling/Arcade. We unfortunately discovered upon arrival that every other snowed in kid had the same idea causing the bowling alley to be over run with kids bowling there hearts out and mom's watching Day's Of Our Lives on the "alley TVs" We then ventured down to the Arcade to discover it was CLOSED! Plan B...bowled over. Plan C...go to the mall BLAHHHH! So since the mall is always open we made our way there and wandered for a while. The evening was then spent chilling at the apartment in anticipation for Dinner and a Movie! As all things went on this particular snow day our movie didn't go as planned either. Upon arrival we found out that Cloverfield was sold out and that we would have to watch it at 10pm! So instead of Dinner at the theatre we went for some always delicious Giordano's Deep Dish Pizza. So after stuffing ourselves on stuffed pizza we went back to the theatre for our much anticipated viewing of Cloverfield, which we heard was the best movie of the year hands down! Hands down Cloverfield was the dumbest movie of the year, and I would not advise even my worse enemy to see this movie. No plot, Blair Witch style camera angles, bad acting, and the monster wasn't even scary are all reasons for this to be on the DO NOT WATCH list! To cap this day off Melissa and Dave both got motion sick during the movie, and I was in jeopardy of being thrown up on! After saying goodbye on Sat. afternoon we headed off to the dirty south!

south dakota

The 9 hour drive to South Dakota was for the most part uneventful. The highlight of our journey was when we made a pit stop at the World's Largest Truck Stop in Walcott Iowa. We were greeted in Yankton South Dakota by frigid sub zero temps. We're talking history making lows. Wind chill considered, the temp was -38 degrees! This was pretty much the standard the few days that we were there cold, cold, cold, and some more cold. Of course I can't forget to mention that one of our shows was in a town called Gayville! Our time in South Dakota was short-lived and before we knew it we were back on the road for our 12 hour trip to Waterloo Indiana. We stretched the trip out over our weekend, which made the hours in the van much more bearable. We did manage to stop back at the World's Largest Truck Stop, we snagged a great Microtel Hotel in Iowa that had just opened, and then made it to Merilliville IN just in time to watch the Miss America Pageant! To our Surprise and delight Miss Michigan won the title! We bummed around on Sunday window shopping at the mall, and catching a matinee at the movie theater.

Chi-town

After we drowned in Illinois we made our to Indiana where the rain still fell, but it didn't get us down. We of course worked, and by doing so we met some amazing faculty and students. One thing about Indiana schools that we noticed was the gymnasiums! Seriously some of the nicest school gyms we've ever seen, some schools even had two! We found out that in Indiana they take sports very seriously! We were able to meet up with a familiar face while in the Indianapolis area. We've only briefly seen our friend April once or twice in the past ten years, so we spent the weekend at her place catching up on old times, and making new memories by touring the "circle city!" Our theme for this tour we've found is DRIVE! so again we packed up ol' Leroy and made our way back to Illinois this time to the wide open plains! We found roads and routes that I think the most seasoned townies had no idea existed! One of the students that helped us out put it nicely by saying, "yeah, the only exciting thing to see in this town is my Dad's grain silo's," pretty much sums up our heartland experience:) The serenity of the wide open heartland soon gave way to the hustle and bustle of Hwy 55 as we headed into the Chicago suburbs! We've been wanting to go to Chicago for quite some time now, but before Camfel life, work and the timing of it seemed to make it pretty much impossible! So as all things Camfel go we decided to take advantage of this opportunity, and get the full Chicago experience. We began researching things to do in the city, taking into consideration that it's winter. We began trying to figure out the train routes, and if we'd have to use the "L". So with our lodging booked for our "almost" week stay in Bolingbrook, IL. We called our old college buddy, Sofia, who happens to live on the southeast side of the city. She quickly agreed to be our tour guide! The one thing that we didn't take into consideration was the cold snap coming our way. Being from Michigan when we hear COLD it's a relative thing. We're for the most part used to it. However no matter how many winters you've spent in Michigan or even the Arctic for that matter, nothing would prepare us for the FREEZING temps that we woke up to on Saturday! So cold that they put our sightseeing plans on hold! Instead we opted for the joys of the suburbs, by eating at our favorite restaurants, shopping some sales, and taking in a movie! Sunday proved to be a touch warmer, so we made our way to Chicago via the train, and met Sofia and her family for some real authentic Mexican food! The food, the restaurant, the atmosphere, and more importantly the fellowship was awesome! We had a blast stuffing ourselves like pinatas, and getting the Chicago tour from true Chicago natives, especially since it happened from the warmth of their van:) Finally on Monday with the temps moving from below zero to the 20's we made our way downtown with Sofia and her brother for our "walking tour of the city". We went to Shedd's aquarium, Millenium Park where we got an upclose view of "the bean", we strolled the Magnificent Mile, ate famous Chi-town hotdogs at Portillos, followed up by a Sundae at the Giradelli's Soda Fountain shop near the Water Tower Place. When it was all said and done Sofia mapped out our walk and with our sore bodies the next day it wasn't hard to believe that it totaled 8 miles! It was a cold day, but a fun one that we won't forget! Our stay in the suburbs officially ended on Wednesday when we began our 9 hour drive for South Dakota.

(fun fact...sofia told us that Chicago gets it nickname "the windy city," not because of the actual wind, but because it is known for it's "windy" politicians back in the day.)

PONTIAC IL

It rained the entire 8 hours to Illinois. When we woke up the next morning, it was still raining. As we drove to our school, it rained some more. Despite the rain, it was unusually warm for the beginning of January. Unfortunately for many of the people in Pontiac, the river flooded and hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes. We decided we should probably get on the road and head to our next destination. As we were leaving, we got a good look at some of the flooding. We pulled up to a street that was actually called Water street. It was pretty funny, Water street was literally "water street," it was completely flooded. You could have gone swimming down it. We were rerouted a few times on our way to Indiana because of high water on the roads and flooded intersections. It made for a long wet week.

Maine

Wow, sorry it's been awhile since we've updated our blog. We'll try to briefly hit some of the highlights since Capecod, so we can get caught up to date. Just before we headed home for Christmas, we got the privilege of visiting Maine for a week. Despite the bitter cold and the blizzard, there was still something about Maine that I couldn't help but love. Maybe it was the abundance of tall sturdy trees, or the smell of a coastal city in Portland, it may have been the beauty of a place that seemed to be mostly untouched by man. As we drove past endless fields and forests, I couldn't help but wonder what was just beyond the edge of the trees. It made me wonder what a simpler life would look like. Life without materialistic or monetary worries. without the stress of a schedule, without the pressure of so called "success." What really is important in life? What could we live with or without? Maine's state slogan is "Maine...the way life should be." They just might be on to something there. While in Maine, we took a lighthouse tour in Portland. The air was frigid, and it definitely wasn't the most ideal day to visit the ocean, but the sky was clear, the sun was shining and we had plenty of clothes to bundle up. By the end of our tour, we visited a total of 6 lighthouses including the infamous Port Head Lighthouse (the most photographed LH in the US). On our way out of town we stopped for some award winning claim chowder at a local chowder house and some "lobstah" to take home for Christmas. Hopefully some day we'll be back when it's warmer and we can take advantage of everything Maine has to offer. (next time we better see a moose!)

Just before we were able to head home, we had one last show scheduled in Seymour CT. It got added at the last minute due to a snow cancellation. We made our way to Danbury CT which ironically happened to be just about where we started our tour. We even managed to snag the oh so classy "Wellesly" hotel. The 14 hour drive from CT to MI was a long one, but filled with anticipation and excitement. We were more than ready to have a little break and to see our friends and family over the holidays. Erin got a chance to go back to slinging coffee, we got to spend time with our extended family on Christmas Eve with the "Fairbanks Family Christmas" and on Christmas day with Aunt Jacquie, Uncle Hal and the crew. Christmas break wouldn't be complete without "Mexican Night" at the Best house and this year was no exception. January 5th marked a monumental day in history...our good friend Alton got married! It was great to be able to spend time with several friends who were in town either for the holidays or for the wedding. On the 8th, we reloaded the van and hit the road toward Pontiac IL.