Mesquite Adventures

Right now I am just going to recount this past weekend I have just experienced traveling to Mesquite with the Folk Dance team. We left at 3:00 PM on Friday and arrived in mesquite around 7:30 PM Nevada time. On the bus ride up we got to know John Wood (our tour manager) a little better which was fun. He taught us a song about a turtle named Tiny Tim who swam in a tub full of bubbles and at the end of the song the bubbles all popped and we had to throw our head back and laugh. Apparently his little boy loves the song and would always throw his head back so we had to do the same as well, I look forward to really learn the song so I can sing along. Then every time we got on the bus he had to tell his joke about the horse in a bar, it is not really funny but because it is tradition we laugh anyway.

Ashlee and I were put in charge of putting together the fireside we will be doing on mid-semester tour at the end of February but we also need a couple of songs for Sacrament next week. Since we don't really have time to practice the songs during class we tried to get some rehearsal time in on the bus. Very inefficient method! With everyone was seated on the bus and just the nature of a team traveling together it was hard to keep everyone focused. We did become familiar with the song but were unable to really work on parts and making it sound good. We had some time at the venue in mesquite where we had a piano and we got together and practiced. I really like the song but I am a little nervous about making us dancers, who the majority are non-singers, sound good.

Friday night we separated to our respective sleeping situations. Originally I was supposed to sleep in the hotel with the majority of the boys but I wanted to be with a host family and Mike wanted to be in the hotel so we got permission to switch spots. So I got to stay with the Crowther's. I was so glad to be there. Reed and I talked with them about their kids, horses, cars, family adventures and even a little history about Mesquite. We were hoping that we would get to ride the horses but alas it never happened. However, Saturday morning Bro. Crowther drove us to the high school in his '51, green, Chevy. It was awesome. I think my major is really taking affect in my life now. As we were talking to Bro. Crowther, Reed was interested in the cars while I was more interested to hear how he recreated with his family. It was kind of fun.

We then made sure everything was set up for the show and had a few sectionals throughout the day. A couple of hours before our show started we went to a ranch and had dinner at a mess hall kind of place. The barbecue we had was AMAZING but the best part about dinner was the people I got to be with. As we are walking up to the building I see through the window Sis. Reber! Her and her husband were my district leaders last Summer in Nauvoo and was definitely one of my favorites. Of course I went up and talked with her, gave her several big hugs, and even shed a tear. There were also 2 boys and 2 girls there that were fun to play with. Does it say something about my maturity level when I am more comfortable with 7 to 12 yr olds than my peers?

After our show we got all cleaned up and loaded the truck to go home that night. Our original plan was to drive straight through the night and get back to Provo around three in the morning on Sunday. Well as plans usually do... it didn't go as planned. Our bus driver came an hour late and so we contemplated finding a hotel for the night. Finally the bus driver came but then in the 45 min that it took to drive to St. George we realized that there was something wrong with him. He was swerving and weaving in and out of lanes. We stopped at the Port of Entry in Utah and the Highway Patrolmen found an empty bottle of Oxycodon that had been filled the day before. It ended up that he was cuffed and taken away and we were shuttled from the port of entry to a hotel in St. George. The people of the area were so kind in being willing to come with their personal cars and shuttle all 45 or so of us in the middle of the night.

We were at the hotel until noon the next when the alternate bus driver was available. Since we were all going to miss every ward time, Jared (the banjo player) and I suggested that we have a devotional. Of course since I brought it up to Ed and Jonathon I was asked to put it together and Ed told me to find a girl to do it with. I was able to rope Ashlee into working with me and we put together a lesson on preparing the way for the Lord through service (mostly Ashlee's idea). I think the lesson turned out alright and we all made it back home safely albeit 14 hours later than we planned. We had a great adventure to kick off our touring season.