It Has Begun

     So. Yes. To begin with, I should have started this blog much earlier than I did. But it's going to begin from the middle and you're going to be cool with that. So there.
     Background info: if you didn't know already, I am currently employed by an awesome company to do children's puppet shows in elementary schools and public venues in southeastern Washington, central Oregon, southern Idaho and northern California. It is a rad job. Basically, I drive around a big, white van with one other dude that is full of sets, puppets, lights and speakers. We roll up to a location, do a full show (running lights and sound while doing the show), sometimes do a workshop afterward and then roll on to the next location. I have never done puppetry before. I have never toured a show before. This is all quite exciting, etc.
     Day one was... interesting. We drove out to Washington's scenic Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick and Pasco for the uninitiated) the night before our first show. The plan was to camp outside the city a ways to save a little extra money since our show wasn't until the following afternoon. We got a lovely campsite in Burbank which was right on the river. It was also directly next to the dumpster, but one tries not to nitpick. The campsite was primarily tenanted by drunkenly jovial old people in RVs that were bewildered that a campsite was being shared by two members of opposite sexes who were sleeping in two separate tents; I gave up trying to explain after a while and just let them continue meandering on to the next RV.
     Having a bit of extra time in the evening, we decided to drive into Pasco to try out whatever nightlife was happening there on a Monday. Turns out, quite a bit; albeit the super-sketchy kind. As soon as we entered the tavern, we were met by an extremely gregarious older gentleman with a lazy eye who proceeded to tell us about his time in prison for "some stupid traffic thing" until the desperately bored-looking bartendress told him to leave us alone so we could order. We each got a beer and my tour partner asked about food. He got quite excited when he saw the menu, but when he asked if he could order the biscuits and gravy, the bartender looked him straight in the eye and said simply, "I wouldn't."
      Advice heeded, he left to track down an ATM. During the inordinately long time he was gone (apparently there is only one ATM in town and it is arguably the most popular meeting spot), I was treated to a fantastic parade of local color that included grind-dancing drug addicts, vomiting grandmothers and Two and A Half Men. It was quite the evening.
     Food and drink achieved, we headed back to the campsite to bed down. It was a lovely night until 4am, when the sprinklers turned on and proceeded to soak my tent for an hour straight. I waited out the barrage of wasted water, moved my soggy tent to higher ground and set up camp in the passenger seat of the van (which, due to our sets and sound equipment, was unable to lay back). All I can say is thank goodness for the extra wool blanket my mother insisted I take along "just in case." It was still a pretty uncomfortable night, I must admit.
      All whining aside, I survived the night and most of my things managed to stay dryish (other than tent, sleeping bag and pad thingy). In good spirits and fortified by Denny's coffee and eggs, we headed to the local elementary school. Despite some miscommunication about where we were supposed to set up and a couple of very minor technical glitches, the show went quite well. The kids were super stoked, and our director who had met us at the school to make sure we didn't do anything too embarrassing was very pleased.
      I am now safely ensconced in a motel room that smells strongly of chemicals (better than the alternative) and which, I am pleased to report, has no sprinklers in sight. My plans include returning phone calls, bothering my gentleman friend (who I seem to be missing a bit more than I had thought and much more than I would care to admit), watching something stupid on my computer and passing out in order to do it all again at the ass-crack of dawn tomorrow. In summation: this beats the living hell out of working at the call center.