Abbie's Real Life Blog

Last night I went to see the Peking Acrobats show at Jesse Hall with a friend who picked up tickets for cheap.  It was a pretty good time.  I never go to shows at Jesse Hall (in fact, the last time I was there for a show was probably in 1999, when we went to see Lewis Black perform) and I don’t know why.  They probably have a lot of really interesting shows.  But, damn it, I’m trying to save money, not spend it on random shows.

Anyway, the acrobats were entertaining.  The audience was about 50% kids under the age of 10.  The show started with a disclaimer: “These stunts take years of practice.  Please do not try them at home.”  Which I felt was woefully inadequate when then presented with balancing acts like men on pointed spears, roller skating women on tables, 15-20 people on one bicycle, and a man doing a handstand on top of six stacked chairs (the last one was done off the side of the stage because there wasn’t enough height on the stage for all the chairs).  My friend and I giggled throughout the intermission at the idea of these kids running home to start their ‘years of practice’ by balancing their kid brothers on the top of a couple of rakes.  I lamented that I know no families of young boys to whom I could give the DVD that was being sold in the lobby.

Today I am making reservations for my upcoming trip!  I’m going to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in early June, and now I’ve got confirmed reservations, so it’s set.  I realized yesterday that if I didn’t start researching, it would soon be too late to get reservations for lodging inside the park.  And once I started researching, it soon became apparent that my tardiness at beginning the process was going to be the limiting factor as to what I can visit and when.  But I am happy with the plans so far.  I spent some time trying to decide if I felt ready to stay in a tent cabin for two days when the weather in early June in that part of the Rockies can be anywhere from warm & sunny to snowed-in.  The decision was only made after I realized that the tent cabins, while equipped with electric lights, do not have electrical outlets.  I am all for walking to bathrooms and paying for showers and heating with a wood stove, but being without a power outlet to charge my camera batteries is pushing my sense of adventure.  (It did occur to me to get a power converter for the car.  But then you get into the issues of locking up tent cabins too, and the idea of being in an unlocked tent cabin, alone, for two nights in the mountains, seems to be beyond my idea of a reasonable risk.)

There’s nothing like making some definite vacation plans to get me excited about a trip!  Remember when I tried to go on that trip to Nebraska without making any plans?  I didn’t even go!  I helped somebody move instead!  I am really going!  (Unless something major comes up, of course.)