Tour #52: Ft. Collins, CO

Ft. Collins, my last big tour and most of the fam!  Here's Jerry, Jill, Mom, Dad, Amy and Nancy in the lobby.

In honor of my last tour, CSU used the right picture!

 The next day, we tried very hard to fit into mom and dad's tiny rental car with all of our luggage.  It wasn't going well, but at least we had a good time.

 Yay!  We made it to the Cracker Barrel!  My dreams!!

 Aim and I seeing each other for a record second time in one year! 

 And another set of sisters, mom is presenting our ride to the airport.  Thanks, Nanc, for touring us around Denver and helping us get to Vegas!

And go to Vegas we did, later that day.  We got a lot of wedding stuff done, all the while leaving some money behind...in casinos, not with the DJ or decorator.  Oh well, it was kind of a vacation, right?

This was my last "real" tour.  We took one more stop in Peoria, IL the following weekend for an IAS show.  And then all that was left was my last homeshow.

Tour #51: Hayes, KS

Well...

This was Kansas.  Show was good. 

Next stop: Ft. Collins, CO!

Tour #50: Great Barrington, MA

The RedCo is coming!  The RedCo is coming!

To the Red Lion Inn!  This place once housed George Washington.  It's for real old.

 And the diner was the best.  I had this Harvest Wrap: turkey, apples, sweet potatoes, lettuce and cranberries.  There was pie at the end.  Pumpkin.  It was a good tour.

The Red  Lion had many buildings...our cottage...

 And Warren's house.  Derek used the lovely canopy bed to Rock Bottom Dawn.

 The house!  RedCo! 

This show felt weird at first, but the meet and greet was lovely, and then we retired to our adorable 200 year-old rooms.  I could've stayed in this town for a week.  It was really cool to see the original buildings and metal work.  Hooray for the colonies!

Only a few tours left.

Next stop: Hayes, KS

Tour #49: Ann Arbor, MI

Still one of my favorite places.  I'm so glad I got one more chance to go!

A couple of things from last year: 1. Our fruit bowl, featuring a whole lemon.  There were more on night two, which Warren and I used to attempt juggling under Derek's instruction.

 And 2. Our wall signage from last year.  Derek wrote over it after this in sharpee for posterity. 

 And then he provided some artwork for this year's cast to sign.  Hooray 2011!

 We had to visit an old favorite, The Cupcake Station.  The standout feature of this cupcakery is that they offer all of their regular cupcake flavors in minis.  Minis!!

 This is what RedCo does with a $12 dinner buyout.  STACKS.

 Yay, Dawn!  Her dad came to town to see our show and brought flowers.  What a nice guy.

The best place in all of Ann Arbor, Zingerman's Deli, proved its worth by sending Tilliski an extra side to make up for the side that was left out of his original order.  Oh wait...Kalipsky?  But they regain all lost points by writing "salad!" 

The trip was great, as fun as I remember from last year.  Maybe if Second City goes again, I can hide under some suitcases.

Next stop: South Barrington, MA

Tour #48: Minnesota

Well, techically we flew into Fargo. 

Downtown Fargo was lovely.  We were a skip and a jump from Moorhead where our show was.  What a time!  Thanks to the students there for hanging out with us after!

 Oh Mahm!  Dawn looks a lot more Asian with this hair.

Please don't tell my company that I took this picture during our show.  But how could I not??

 Backstage in Brainerd, MN.  This bunny was a real treat.

 I will reiterate, this is our boss.

 Much of the fun of Minnesota was Bloomington's Mall of America!  We got everyone up early, even Kevin, to hit the biggest mall ever.

 It's not just a mall, it's an indoor amusement park!!

 A Spongebob rollercoaster?  Yes, please!

This was T's first rollercoaster and it was pretty awesome.  Not pictured - I got to see my friend from high school, Christina, and her daughter, Ainsley.  We road a tamer coaster than this and Ainsley took it like a pro!  It was great to see them.

 And the other thing to do that day, our show.  Thanks, U of M!

 Derek accomodated my need to avoid airplanes on our return and we took our own road trip back.  It's a 7 hour drive that we stretched to 9ish.  There were too many things to see!

Cheese curds and 50s music.  It was a success.

I am now about a month away from my last RedCo show. I'm lucky to get a couple of great tours towards the end, this MN one being among the best.  And speaking of great tours...

Next stop: Ann Arbor, MI!

Tour #47: Rock Island, IL

Another road trip, a return for me and for Kevin, to Rock Island, IL.

 On the way we got some gas station bit food!

 Look, when pizzas on a bagel, you can eat pizza anytime.

 Oh boy did they give us a lot of snacks.

The Radisoon!  We heard tell of a RedCo pool battle at a bar later that night, but ol' Grandma and Grandpa Shipman fell asleep watching Jersey Shore.  Senior.........itis.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Next stop: Minnesota!

Tour #46: Manchester, IN

This tour was dumb.  But the important thing is that Derek and I got engaged the night before!  Hooray!!!

Tour #45: Ohio and Indiana

Road trip! 

 We climbed into the van for a journey to Ohio and Indiana.  We hit a couple of very charming campuses in Ohio and one in Indiana.  College!  This says it all about the tour van.  Gaff tape vent cover courtesy of K. Sciretta.

 First stop: Kenyon College. 

 This was easily in the top 5 tour hotels ever.  Just lovely. 

So not everything is so charming.  This gas station en route featured some creepy life-sized dolls.  And those things on the wall too.  Zing!

 Yep.  That says Tom Raper.

Ball State!  Dave Letterman's alma mater did not disappoint.  Poster sale!!

I do like a road trip.  This one was pretty good. 

Next stop: back to Indiana

Tour #44: Huntsville, AL

I went to Huntsville, AL and all I got was this picture of Fox News playing in the airport.

Tour #43: Hilton Head, SC

Is this a charming southern square?  NO!  It's the Savannah-Hilton Airport!  Crazy. 

 And it got more charming. Outside our beach front hotel (sure, it was a Holiday Inn, but it was beach front!) there were some delightful rocking chairs.

 On our free day before the first show, Derek and I investigated the town shops.  Spoiler alert: we have a pretty killer Angry Birds song in the works. 

 Rocking chairs!

 This woman tells us what to do.

 Ah, home.  Flying into Chicago was very pretty. 

Oh yeah, we had a couple of shows at a pretty great Arts Center in HH.  But I don't focus on the shows because I have senioritis!!!  My final show with RedCo is going to be October 17 here in Chicago.  I'm sad to go, but I know it's time.  I'll be focusing on being a super tourist for the remainder of my time.

Next stop: Huntsville, AL