There is no way I could’ve fit EVERYthing I loved about tour in this blog post. Here are just a few! The ones I had pictures and videos for on my phone!
1) “Journey to the Past” music video with Katie H
on Balboa Island on our first day off. See vid HERE.
2) Staci being with us in our hearts. She was the
little “Flat Stanley” of tour!
3) Singing practically half of the concert program
inside this tall, skinny, metal structure with a few great friends.
4) The Hansen Family restaurant, Los Gringos Locos,
catered our dinner prior to our first show. It felt like a taste of home, in a
way!
5) Meeting and greeting Christian and Nathalie
after the Costa Mesa concert.
6) Being at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Being
able to actually touch the wacky, silvery, metallic exterior as I sat at dinner
or walked the grounds. I was right there where the Steve Carell “Get Smart”
movie was filmed. It may be the kookiest-looking building I’ve ever seen,
inside and out. Inside the Hall reminded me a lot of what a fancy version of
the biblical Noah’s Ark would resemble.
7) Offering the prayer, on behalf of hundreds of
people, inside Disney Hall. Surreal. Can hardly believe that happened.
8) Having Jess Harnell there at sound check with us.
One of the kindest humans walking the planet today. He’s loved the Choir for a
long time, sings exceptionally well, and he’s seen us perform but has never
sung with us. I thought I’d go about finding out if he’d like to rehearse with
us and he wanted to and he LOVED it! He got to sing right next to my good
friend Matt. Can’t wait to see Jess and his manager Jeff again in a couple of
months. Love them.
9) Whale and dolphin watching was nothing short of
magical. Especially when we saw a thousand dolphins and not one, not two, not
three, but FOUR blue whales: largest creature ever to dwell on earth, and quite
endangered.
So beautiful. Almost cried.
10) Sleepy people.
11) False-alarm fire alarm at 4:30 in the morning on
our first night in San Francisco. It was hilarious, I was not angry, and was able
to fall back to sleep in less two minutes when I returned back upstairs to my
bed on the 8th floor.
12) Rode in Ubers/Lyfts for the first time in my
life on this trip. Every driver surely thought that I and my friends were
crazy, with every Uber/Lyft ride we took. However, I think the driver in the
big, black, shiny SUV named Demetrius (the one who raved about Mrs.
Incredible/Elastigirl’s physique) was maaaaybe crazier than me/us…
13) Visited a very weird, very retro arcade and arm
wrestled the same luchador Julie Andrews did in “The Princess Diaries.”
Couldn’t have won without Paul’s help.
14) Playing on top of the Golden Gate bridge…
… and under it!
15) Going to the flower market with the man who
knows!
Fun to see Andrew in his element!
16) Anytime at the outdoor venues when the cellos or
violins were in the sun, off to the rescue hastened these kind, selfless souls
who stood for hours beneath the blazing rays, with shielding umbrellas in-hand.
17) Ramadan lanterns backstage at the Berkeley venue
(the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre)!
18) Alcatraz day! If you ever go there, do yourself
a favor and do the audio tour – it’s great! It’s done so well that you’re often
led to believe that the prison sound effects you’re hearing through your
headphones are what’s actually going on in real life. Kind of spine-tingling.
Also, the ferry ride to and from was wild. Luckily I had biker shorts on
underneath my dress because I was accidentally flashing people left and right (while
remaining modest somehow).
WHOOOOPSY-DAISY.
19) People spelling stuff wrong makes me feel sad.
But I still bought the Rainier cherries because those are just righteous.
20) SEA LION FAMILY OH MY WORD HOW COULD ANYTHING
EVER BE CUTER THAN THIS LOOK AT ALL THOSE BABIES
21) The Shoreline Amphitheatre performance. Sound
check was especially really neat, when we had the San Francisco Gay Men’s
Chorus rehearse with us. Their conductor led us in our encore song at the end
of the actual concert. How heartwarming it was—and also thrilling—to hear the
entire audience joyfully explode into lovingly supportive applause when Lloyd
Newell introduced Dr. Timothy Seelig at the podium. It’s just really cool to
think about the bridges of harmony that were built that day, when many people
seem to be wired to suppose that not much harmony could exist between a group
like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and “the granddaddy of the LGBT choral
movement” (Seelig).
22) Biking to the Painted Ladies with some of my
wonderful yayhoos whom I heart so much. What are the Painted Ladies? The houses
that you see in the background during the opening credits of “Full House.”
Millennials who have never watched “Full House” in their childhoods are
beckoned to mend their ways promptly.
(Did I spell “Millennials” correctly?)
23) P.S. That was the SECOND time I went to the
Painted Ladies while in San Fran. The first time was a few days earlier and it
was with THESE great peeps, among other good eggs not shown in this pic.
24) Alex is an example of said good eggs. How is it
that he is so cool.
25) So anyway, after biking to the Painted Ladies on
that other day, we then forthwith Uber’d to the Walt Disney Family Museum,
where we learned a whole lot about Walt’s family history, his early life, the
various stages of his career, specific intricacies involved in his early
animated films, his vision for Disneyland, the heartache that was felt far and
wide when he passed away, and much more. Mark freakishly knew a ton already and
the museum employees basically offered him a job right then and there.
 |
| Eight individual Oscar statues for when Disney won the Academy Award for "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" |
26) These funky old Mickeys are what your dreams are made of. Better leave a light on…
27) SAILING WAS SO FUN AND SO FREEEEZING!!!!
28) Riding a trolley car for the first time in my
life! Couldn’t have picked funner people to share the experience with!
29) Giants game! That’s my buddy Andrew. Sings
baritone, I believe. We were born in the same hospital three days apart. He’s
my brother. Also, my family despises the Giants, and I was basically the only
person in the whole stadium who rooted for the other team.
30) Earplugs in the Weill Hall at Sonoma State
University! Because we on the ground level were standing literally two feet
away from the organ monitors, which blasted our brains, the stage crew
passed earplugs out to all of us, and yes, I sang the entire first half of the
concert with plugs in! Actually, just one plug: the one for the ear that was technically
farther away from the monitor behind me (mere inches farther). Very interesting
to sing that way; it forces you to really zero in on your own intonation, and how
you meld in with your surroundings. I think I had a spiritual experience with
this. Something about meditation, and being still and knowing that God is God.
31) Adventures at Stanley Park in Vancouver,
including biking!
32) The ferry ride over to Granville Island. So much
hilarity! (There may be a video that exists of this short ride. I'll try to locate it. For now, here’s a photo of us.)
33) Sarah and I bought North Face jackets at
Granville Island, for the purpose of…
34) …sunset kayaking!
35) His name was Jesse. Oh fer the luvvvv. <3
<3 <3 <3 Hate to break it to the other girls, but it was I with whom
he accidentally paddled away into the distance whilst getting carried away in
lovely, meaningful conversation (we didn’t realize how far off-course we had
gotten!). That happened twice. But I guess none of us mattered all that much to him because he asked
for none of our numbers… Whatevs.
36) The miracle of Andrew’s bracelet. He lost it
during the Vancouver concert at the Orpheum and was so worried. Matt M picked
it up and called after me to take it and try to find out whose it was. I got
onto the MoTab Millennials’ GroupMe thread and uploaded this pic of it, asking if
it belonged to anyone. Andrew immediately replied, “THAT’S MINE!” I rushed down
from the 8th floor to the lobby to hand it off to him. Then the nicest hug
and it was such a special moment! God’s hand is in things.
37) Girls’ night in Hailey-and-Brittany’s room,
where we watched “The Princess Diaries” (also see #13) and we googled what all
the boys in the movie look like nowadays, and best friend’s brother grew up
to be the most attractive. He wins.
38) GUM WALL SO GROSS! Smells so sickly sweet.
39) Getting to see my dear B$, a Provo pal who now
lives in Seattle. Love him! HAH-hm!
40) Having Elder and Sister Hallstrom with us for
the first week, and Elder and Sister Pinegree for the second week. Elder
Pinegree was my institute teacher a couple of years ago, and at around the same
time his brother was a counselor in my singles ward bishopric. All very cool
people!
And uh... yeah! So there ya go! Bring on the next tour, eh? 2020, we’re comin’ for you!
What a Great Experience that was!!!
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