Part 5 of 5: Statues,Tess,Glee Live and Driving Home

I get the feeling people don't read blogs as much during the summer. Either that or people are in fact reading them, but are too sun-stricken to muster the strength to comment.

With that, I will now proceed to sum up our last full day of vacation. It seems like forever ago.

We decided we'd had enough of the hotel breakfast, so on this special morning we sprung for the IHOP across the street, which was a welcome change.

After we stuffed ourselves silly, we went back to the hotel to finally lounge by the pretty pool. I guess I didn't get a picture of the pool itself. We didn't end up getting in because the water was "not fine", and the weather was still not warm enough to make us want to swim. We did sit on the edge and let our feet dangle in the water.

I wandered around taking pictures of statues...


And foliage...


I was jealous of this stone woman's posing skills.

This is probably the whitest statue I saw. Just look at that beautifully chiseled... bench.


We eventually returned to the hotel room to get ready for Glee Live!

On our way out of the parking lot, Megan and I jumped out of the car to take pictures of us riding the lion statues. We'd been meaning to all week, and we were about out of opportunities, so we had to get it done.


Whoever arranged these lions could have at least bothered to make sure they weren't facing the fence! How weird!


We arrived in plenty of time to get in line outside the very large Honda Center in Anaheim.

I had to take pictures of the lovely flowers along the sidewalks.


I just loved these!


Getting eager to go inside!


We had "special" Ultimate VIP tickets, so we got to meet two of the cast members. We had no clue who it would be. It was like our very own Glee grab bag! And we actually did kind of get to grab them. Well, they both offered friendly hugs.

We were pretty excited to meet Kevin McHale (Artie) and Darren Criss (Blaine)! They seemed very gracious and personable. I should note that Darren was wearing man capris. And he gets away with it!

After the meet&greet, we were led upstairs by an I Love All Access staff member. Then we were "handed off" to our next guide who would show us where to go from there. I could not believe who our guide was!!! Right there in front of me was TESS MERCER FROM "SMALLVILLE"!!! I don't know very many people who watch the show, but I did, and enjoyed all 10 seasons of it! I guess since the show ended, she's working wherever she can.

Anyway, I wish I could have gotten a video of my reaction to seeing her. (Erin said it was cute.) It took me maybe half a second to register who she was, then my eyes got huge and my mouth fell open, and I doubt I've ever looked more shocked than right then. And Tess (Cassidy Freeman) saw me while I was in the process of noticing her. My sisters and I were at the front of the group already, so, without even thinking, I just stepped up and asked if I could get a picture with her. She said "sure!"

I told her I loved her on "Smallville", and she smiled and said, "thank you." It was so strange to see her out of character, and dressed so casually. Let's just say she didn't have the friendliest role on the show...

After I rushed her, some other gal in the crowd came up to get a picture. Inside the party, "Tess" was just a normal person, offering to take pictures of groups with their cameras in front of the "Glee" backdrop. I kept looking at her to see what she was doing. =)


A little while later it was time to go find our seats for the show! We were escorted to a section right by the stage.

See that rail right next to Erin? That's a staircase that many of the cast members ended up using to get on and off stage between numbers.

This is us with our new buddy, the security guard. He looked emotionless throughout the show, but I think he must have had a tough time holding back the tears when they sang Queen's "Somebody To Love". That, and I bet he was secretly bummed (though his eyes showed no regret) that he didn't get to administer a headlock on anybody.

What a fun event!


A blurred view of the arena. Big, huh...


The opening act was LXD (Legion of Extraordinary Dancers) again. They are amazing!

Then the Glee cast came out singing "Don't Stop Believing". And the crowd went wild.

This is without zoom, but they were pretty far back on the stage. We really were close to the action! Believe me.



Aren't they all just so cute?


I wonder how they truly feel about the white vests...





I won't caption all the photos. They can speak for themselves.. Plus, I can't remember which songs are being performed in all the photos, and I'm not sure anybody really cares anyway. Erin, I'm sorry they're probably not in chronological order.





Pretty sure these few are "Born This Way", by Lady Gaga.





Rachel singing Katy Perry's "Firework".


She sings with such fervor!



I liked how colorful everyone looked together.


The one pitfall to having such close seats was that the stage basically encircled us, so a lot of the time we were behind the action. Not that I'm complaining about anyone's "behind"... ;)

I think this was one of their original songs, "Loser Like Me". At the end of the song they threw "slushies"(cups filled with confetti) at the audience.


Mike and Brittany. They have such fancy footwork!



Gotta love the salmon colored slacks!



They sang "Friday", that awful YouTube "sensation". But I like the Glee version! Puck sounds adorable singing, "partyin', partyin', partyin', partyin'... fun, fun, fun, fun...". I think it's his accent or something. And I can't tell for sure, but I think he sings the song with a slight sarcastic edge. =) You should listen to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey-VNes5YQs

Finn at the drums





They had a stage set that looked like their classroom on the TV show.



Check out Kurt's cool boots! Here he is singing "I Want To Hold Your Hand". It was very touching.


I loved his outfit! I kind of want that blue floral shirt for myself... =)




The Warblers' backs! We love their peppy performances!


The Warbler we met.


"Somebody To Love". A real show-stopper! Unfortunately, it literally stopped the show. It was their last number. =( The concert went by too fast!







What a fantastic show! We loved it, and that alone was worth our drive to California. The other things we got to do during the week were just bonuses.


We went out for fro-yo afterward. This place was so cute and cheery. I loved the way it looked, plus the yogurt was delicious!


Mine's on the left and I think that's Megan's on the right. It's been over a month, give me a break!

We also picked up a pizza because we were hungry! We took it back to the hotel with us, ate, and began the dreadful task of packing up to go home the next morning.
While I was tucking my things back into the suitcase, I unzipped a compartment I hadn't used, just to see if anything was in it.

Much to my surprise, I found this note and three chocolate bunnies inside from Cora. It was so sweet, and so unexpected. The night I left on the trip was the very sad day when Cora's hamster died. She didn't want me to leave. But still, sometime during the evening, while I was gathering stuff to pack, she took the time to plant a little note for me to find. It meant a lot.

The next morning we slept in, then got the rest of everything together so we could begin the long, long drive home.

We didn't get off to a very good start, thanks to some "slow as molasses in January" traffic.
Other than that delay, we had a fun drive home. I always like road trips-- just being in the car, watching the versatile scenery, snacking, listening to music, and making conversation. Of course, it does have a lot to do with who I'm in the car with. But I've just always enjoyed traveling, and I don't mind the long distances. (My butt may tell a different story...)


We ran into some inclement weather in Nevada. What a beautiful rainbow!





What a beautiful profile!


At another point, we had to negotiate our way through some snowfall. There didn't seem to be very many other cars around us on the curvy, countryside roads. Megan joked that we might become the modern day Donner Party. We chuckled nervously at the thought.

Somehow we made it past the wintery, spring weather without having to abandon the comforts of the car to dig our own graves.

We stopped a few times for gas and/or sustenance. I got to watch "13 Going On 30" in the back seat on Erin's DVD player while Megan sped responsibly down the freeway. That movie makes me cry. I had to stifle my tears a couple of times. I didn't want to make a scene. Anyway, now Erin will know about it when she reads this. She can pat my shoulder and say "there, there..." next time we meet.

One thing I already knew, but was reminded of on this drive, was how funny it is to randomly honk the car horn while driving down a highway in the middle of nowhere when it's dark outside. I can't explain why, but it just is. Megan took the opportunity to honk the horn along to the music a few times, which triggered much laughter (and possibly startled a farmer from his sleep-- we couldn't see any habitation along the road, but that didn't mean there wasn't a house or two up the road with the lights out).

We approached Boise around 2:00 am. We dropped Erin off at her house in Nampa, then Megan and I continued on to my house. Erin had instructed us to not have any fun without her. We tried not to, but I'm sure the rest of the drive wasn't as lame as she hoped. As we took the exit leading to my house, once again I was forced to fight back looming tears. I didn't want the trip to be over. It's not often enough that I get to spend quality time with my wonderful sisters. I had simply the best time, and I love them to pieces. It says a lot of any set of people who can spend an entire week together and not get annoyed with or sick of each other. (At least, I hope they weren't annoyed by me!) Megan helped me unload my baggage from her car, we said a quick, sleepy farewell, and she was on her way home.

I can't wait until next time.