Thompson Falls

Children all over Montana can rejoice that I've finally visited the town that is "named after me." They're so sincere about it that I don't have the heart to tell them that that isn't actually how you spell my name!

Thompson Falls lived up to my long standing joke of Thompson with a P being a wet Thomson while I'm a dry Thomson. Yes, that is some grade a bathroom humor right there. It was rainy and I got soaked. I mean so far, it's been rainy the entire time I've been here, but I can't make that joke in Trout Creek!

I went to Thompson Falls for the sole purpose of finding a postcard and this post. There wasn't really a lot to do there, especially not in the rain, when all potential hiking was out of the question. I did snap a nice pic that proves Thompson Falls and I do have one thing in common -- even when we're soaked, we're still pretty.

Also, it's that time of year where snapchat wishes people happy holidays with geotags so that you know where someone is wishing you a Merry Christmas from and this is Montana's:

Also, I got a little thank you present from Trout Creek that included a calendar so I guess I'll now know what Trout Creek looks like when it isn't all cloudy and the sun is up for more than a third of the day.

Hanukkah on the Road

So, my makeshift menorah appears to have been a success!

Made out of tin foil, hot glue and birthday candles, I have brought Judaism to Trout Creek! AND I didn't burn down the cabin we're staying in.

Trout Creek has repaid the favor with freezing rain. The roads were slightly less treacherous this morning so I felt a lot less likely to die but I'm still trudging through slush, which isn't the greatest feeling in the world.

Today, I will have eight hours and 32 minutes of "sunshine" although I'm definitely using that word ironically here. The goal is to get to Thompson Falls today if the roads aren't too gnarly when we finish up at the school. Updates to come when they can.

Eight Hours and 33 Minutes

In my last post, I talked about how the sun didn't rise until 8:17 this morning. Well, it sets at 4:50 this afternoon. That's eight hours and 33 minutes of sunlight AND it's been raining all day!!!

I can't.

The Final Fall Residency

Residency #32 begins. This is the final residency of the fall and of 2015 and I just completed my last auditions of the year.

I thought Amsterdam would be my final performance of 2015 but it looks like I'm going to be playing one of the narrators this week!

It is rainy and icy here in Trout Creek. Our drive to the school was interesting because we had to be at the school at 7:30 and this is what I woke up to on my phone this morning.To put that into perspective, auditions started at 8:30...

We've got yet another cabin in the woods and I thought that this morning would be the end of everything because cabin in the woods apparently equals no need to plow... It also equals shady internet so I'm currently blogging from the school.

Anyways, auditions were great and now we're getting ready for rehearsals and just nine days until I'm back in Boston!

Also, yesterday, on the drive, I saw a lot of big horn sheep! They were pretty cool!! I also saw a flashing sign that said "Watch for big horn sheep -- falling rocks -- 425 already killed" Ok, vague sign, What does that mean? Have 425 people been killed? Have 425 sheep already been killed? Or have 425 falling rocks been killed?! I need to know!!!

Finally, happy Hanukkah! I just purchased what I think will be the greatest makeshift menorah in the history of Missoula Children's Theatre. Tadventures indeed. Pictures to come (unless it doesn't work out, in which case I might be dealing with third degree burns and will be unable to blog).

Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse

Final genie-ing of the fall!

What is a vegetarian doing at a steakhouse, you might ask. Well, having the best friggin' meal of the year, that's what.

Rewind to the beginning of the day when I was preparing for my final performance of the fall tour and surfing the internet. I went onto Thrillist because that's what I do and I saw they had posted a new list of the best steakhouses in every state. Even though I no longer eat meat, I still click on their meat-themed lists because I know a lot of carnivores (plus, there may be a day when I rejoin their ranks, I haven't decided yet). When I first read these lists, I usually start by checking Massachusetts because hey, maybe I've been there! And then I'll go on to check other states that I feel some sort of attachment to -- i.e. North Carolina, where Whitney is -- and I definitely feel attached to Montana at this point, so my jaw literally hit the floor when I saw that the "best steakhouse in Montana" was in the town I was sitting in (the town in which everyone knows my name... see my previous post). I mean, seriously, when has that ever happened to anyone anywhere?! I immediately googled Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse ("the best steakhouse in Montana") to see if they had anything besides steak on the menu and then I immediately called them to find out what their hours were. I then hung up and immediately called back because I realized that they're a steakhouse and a reservation would probably be a smart idea (plus, it would make me feel fancy and who doesn't like that?!).

Show day is usually a 3,000-5,000 calorie day. I'm not even kidding. I'm pretty sure I once fit a week's worth of food into a singular show day but this might be a new record. I was going to post pictures of everything I ate (dinner came with a salad and a dessert) but nothing compared to the main course, so feast your eyes on the glory of my jumbo prawn lobster-style dinner!

Fatty fatty ALL the friends

In case you're wondering, that plate is loaded up with seven jumbo prawn, drawn butter, a baked potato, sour cream and two thick slices of garlic bread. I had debated getting the fried shrimp but then I thought "drawn butter" and nothing beats that. They even had a little candle underneath the drawn butter so it stayed warm and bubbly through my entire dining experience!

I like to believe that I am someone who generally makes good decisions but I know now that all of my other decisions have been nothing compared to the series of events that led my to Sir Scott's. Buy your plane tickets now, family! I know you've all been talking about coming out to Montana at some point and when you do, this is where we are going. Montana 2016!!!

Everyone in Manhattan Knows My Name

That's it. I've done it! I'm a big star!!!

I can honestly say that everyone in Manhattan knows my name. Of course, I must clarify that it's everyone in Manhattan, Montana, so it doesn't sound quite as impressive when the particulars get involved, but it is technically a fact.

Today, we once again ventured outside of Manhattan to go to the Bozeman Hot Springs. In the spring, I went to the hot springs in Banff, Alberta and I knew it would be just about impossible to top those (sitting in 100+ degree water while surrounded by picturesque mountains and snow flurries?! Yeah...) but the hot springs here were nice too. One thing people don't tell you about natural hot springs is that they're kind of Satan's swimming pool because there is sulfur in the water, but that stuff is good for you and my skin feels great now. This hot springs were indoors, which was interesting... They had hot pools and cold ones for when you needed a break from the heat -- the craziest thing I saw all day was a woman filling her water bottle from the fountain that fed into the cold pool. Seriously? True story.

Now, while I enjoyed the hot springs and getting to swim around, what I really enjoyed more than anything was the sauna. I guess I needed to sweat out a lot of stuff -- although I also sweat out most of my fluids and now feel dehydrated and am drinking a water/Powerade blend to get some electrolytes back.

Tomorrow is show day and then it is goodbye Amsterdam and hello Trout Creek for one last week of the fall tour!

ALPACAS!

To start off this post, we shall go back a day because yesterday I went back to Bozeman and discovered that they have their own geotag. Missoula really needs to get with the times! Bozeman shows some Montana State University pride, how come Missoula can't do that (show University of Montana pride, that is)?

Bozeman only being 20 minutes away is like a God send, by the way. It's the most glorious thing in the world after not having anything very exciting around for weeks now. (No offense to the towns I've been in, but Bozeman has multiple yoga studios, shopping, hot springs that we'll hopefully be checking out on Friday and most importantly, Target!).

And on to today! When I first arrived on Sunday, I posted a picture of my view here but I didn't mention the animals. The family we're staying with has several very friendly dogs, but they also have horses and alpacas! I think that is super cool, so today, I braved the chill to get a few pics of the alpacas casually enjoying the mountain scenery (ok, the alpacas were actually enjoying the hay, but I was enjoying the scenery). They're pretty freaking cute!

No biggie.

In other news, my horoscope told me to pamper myself this week so I spent way too much money on a box of strawberries at Albertson's today. Whatever. I feel pampered now!