Wheel of Fortune

Wren recently tried out for Wheel of Fortune and was accepted! We flew to LA for the big day! Destination: Culver City.

 Destination within destination: Wheel of Fortune!

 

We settled into our hotel (The Double Tree) the day before so had time to visit Sony Studios where Wren's taping will be.

 We took their 2 hour tour, and thought we didn't get to see the Wheel studio, we did get a sweet pfaux-to of what we might look like if we did win big on Wheel... maybe something like this!

Other things on the tour included the Wonder car from Will Ferrell's movie Talladaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

 Wren got his photo with this cute rig from 22 Jump Street.

 

A favorite for Wren was seeing the Jeopardy studio.

 I totally got to meet the real (cardboard cutout) of Alex Trebek!

And see the famous sheet music for the show

We bussed home to be ready for the big day!

Wren preparing his mug for national television.

Having his morning breakfast (buffet style, and comped by Wheel) in his "business" suite, yeah!

Off he goes with his back-up outfit and a bunch of other contestants!

I didn't get to see or talk to him until he was competing. I met two sweet ladies who I sat and cheered with. I saw 5 shows from noon to 5, with a short lunch break. Wren was the 4th group out of 5. It's such a nerve-wracking game to watch!

We wanted to take advantage of our time in LA so we went to dinner close to Venice Beach. They just happened to be starting trivia... it was perfect. We didn't win, but it was super fun!

The next day we were supposed to fly out, but we were on stand-by and the flight was totally full, so we booked another night and went into town to the Museum of Jurassic Technology. A suggestion from our friend Saxtor. It was super interesting.

The In and Out was a burger joint Wren had been excited to visit, so we had our lunch there.

 The whole trip was a blast. I got to meet Pat Sajak and Vana White! And the entire Wheel staff was super nice and helpful (especially this guy Tony who has been part of the Wheel crew for 30 years!). We always knew what to do as the audience and Wren said the staff really helped the contestants feel comfortable and have fun. No wonder Wheel of Fortune is known as "America's game".

See Wren's results on national TV Thursday, October 30th. Check local listings for the time... go Wren!

Random things I like in San Fran

So I had no idea San Francisco was so pretty! I've definitely done a poor job of actively seeking out all the things, or remembering to capture the scenes once we happen upon them, but I thought I'd share a selection of random things I DID capture. Like this park here... it spanned twice as far and wide behind me.

 I definitely enjoy random sidewalk art, like this beauty.

 Three vaccume cleaners, just kickn' it on the sidewalk, no big deal.

 Jeff Lefferts has a banana sticker on his car. The two times I have seen his car parked not at his house, there has been a banana peel next to it... not from Jeff! I parked Vince next to this little yeller without knowing, and when I saw it I just laughed out loud and thought fondly of Jeff.

Along with seeing random street art, I also adore finding scraps of lost or discarded paper with words on them. This one says... "Summer dancing in the winter sun, don't look now I've come undone". Sweet, right?

Another rediculous love I have, is for little dogs. I can't say I'm proud of it, or that I try or want to feel so squeely around them, but oh shazam... I can hardly contain myself, and typically my joy is so overwhelming, my eyes start to tear! Tears of joy! So much joy! Just look at these two! Mo and Lilah... uuuuuh!

 At one point they were both crawling/jumping/laying/licking/wriggling/rolling/snuffeling all over me! I was in heaven! Tiny dog heaven! I also took a video of them playing... you can find it here!

 Other things I've enjoyed while here are all of the parks, bike riding (trying and occasionally succeeding climbing outrageously steep San Fran hills!), taking yoga classes, being warm, practicing doing handstands (which I havn't been able to do for so long due to years of chronic shoulder pain/issues), singing with Marks choir class, and taking Dance Classes! Those classes have been my especially favorite thing that I really hope to continue when I get home. Hooray for interesting, beautiful, and inspiring things within an adventure!

Vince in San Francisco

In my most recent post, I mentioned craigslist riding a couple from Portland to San Fran. I made my way down here to meet up with friends and show collaborators Shannon Collier, Alex Allan, and Mark Growden. One interesting element is that Shan and Alex are sorta couch surfing and I'm living in my wonderful vehicle, home, and little blue buddy... Vince.

One might not think it, but 3 essentially "homeless" people putting a show together doesn't come without complications. All that aside, one hilarious moment came just after packing up ye ol' Invinceable Vinceinator with 3 bikes, three people, their food and personal belongings, including but not limited to aerial, climbing and surfing gear... yes, the board. I'm kicking myself for not snapping a photo, but to wrap this up, not 5 minutes into chugging down the San Fran hills, Vince, the convincingly hopeful, sputters, coughs, then dies. Thankfully I have towing insurance, and thankfully the house we just moved out of had a car so Shan could make it to the class she was teaching on time.

I didn't realize how much I've grown fond of this little blue van until I saw him get loaded up onto this tow truck... just thinking to him, "don't worry little buddy, you'll be ok!"

That night we (Vince and I) spent the night outside "The Garage" the place where he would receive a new $600 fuel pump. While waiting for the "procedure", I was in a cafe across the street and found this in the (seemingly ironic) comics...

 I'm going to take it like this... "I will spend a lifetime nurturing the things/ones I love". And though in this account I'm also spending a small fortune, I quite like that as a general notion.

SanFran Craigslist Rideshare!

For about a month, I will be in San Francisco working on a show for the Oregon Country Fair with the amazing Shannon and Alex. To save a bit of cash, and have some company to California, I searched Craigslist... and it turned out great. Heather and Noah put me up in their house the night before, complete with pre-bedtime sauna! They were great company and we made a safe, quick, fun adventure of it.

All in good time, good taste (that might be questionable), a good price, and in the good 'ol ConVINCEingly, InVINCEible, VINCEnt Van Go (that's my little blue van)! Hooray for craigslist rideshares!

Adventures with Mylee

So recently I have been fortunate enough to hang out with one of my favorite people, Mylee.  She recently moved to Chico CA to pursue her dreams of opening a dance studio called Duende Dance Studio. I love the name.  Here's what Duende means... "It comes from inside as a physical/emotional response to music.  It is what gives you chills, makes you smile or cry as a bodily reaciton to an artistic performance that is particularly expressive".  What a great name for a dance studio, right?  Ok, and now here are a few snippets of our adventures.

This is us with our friend Zeek the trucker, receiving our gluten-free, smiley-faced, heart-shaped, snickers n' bananas pancake. Delicious!

A gorgeous view from our chilly California camping expedition.

Thrift store browsing makes for great photo shoots.  And this place called Funky Trunk was Awesome!  The owner, Sharon, makes and re-makes many of the super fun items there. Check it out if you're ever in Chico!

We went on a "find-free-fruit" adventure one day, as there is an abundance of fruit trees in Chico.  This fruit shown above is a persimmon. It was my first time trying one and it was delicious, kinda like a mango.  The boot tree was a bonus, we met the owner (donning a wicked-awesome x-mas sweater) who when asked who we were by her neighbor joked, "I caught these people trying to steal stuff!" When we inquired about the tree she plainly stated her husband was crazy. She was a hoot!

We drove to the Chico Community Observatory where we watched nature and ate burritos from her and Andy's favorite truck.  We saw ducks swimming, dogs running and chasing one another, and teenagers taking photos of each other throwing bigger and bigger rocks in the water while slowly undressing to their boxers.  Thank goodness for Mylees binocs! So big thanks to Mylee and Andy for hosting me and sharing in your adventures!