Chapter Four - Utah Snow and Highway Patrol

This weekend was a weekend to remember, let me tell you.  I had to make a trip to Utah because my sister was in need of some help on Saturday.  Every so often, I get the chance to drive to Utah and hang out in the "big city."  It's so nice to have Salt Lake only 2 hours away because after spending a few days in the hussel and bussel of the city, you can always go back to Rock Springs and relax.  So, in short, I usually love driving to good old Utah.  However.....

This trip was quite different.  I was going down with a friend of mine, Kaylie Crowley.  She had a rehearsal for Westerns next musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.  Her rehearsal ended at about 10pm on Friday night and we left for Utah at about 10:30pm.  We had heard that there was going to be some bad roads ahead and so we were kind of scared to drive through it, especially at night.  However, we decided to go away...

Everything was peachy and there was no bad weather for a very long time.  Then, out of the blue, the storm came out of nowhere.  Just before Evanston, the roads started to become slick and the snow started to fall and blow around us.  We couldn't decided weather or not to pull off the highway and wait or just keep going.  We figured that we'd better keep going just so we don't get stuck somewhere.

So...  As Kaylie and I crawled along the highway at about 20 MPH in my poor little white Buick, we began to get even more nervous than before.  We had been driving for hours and hours it seemed and due to the heavy fog and snow, we didn't know quite where we were.  After about 3 hours of driving, we did know that we were in the canyon that eventually opens into the Salt Lake Valley.  As you can guess, that canyon has a large downhill slope for the last few miles until it opens into the valley.  We started out decent into the last bit of the canyon and the tires on my poor car could not grip the road.  We started to slide and the fish-tale.  We did a complete 180 degree turn on I-80 and bummed into the median.  Lucky, there was a service vehicle behind us that helped us to report the accident and get us on the road again.  It sure was a night to remember.

I guess that the entire point of my story is this, if you ever drive to Utah in a snow storm and you bump you car into the median, the Utah Highway Patrol Officers are very nice and friendly!!!

Well, that is about it for now!!  Stay tuned for more!!

Chapter Three - Theatre Kids on the Beach!!!

This was probably one of the most crazy weeks of my life.  A bunch of WWCC theatre kids were selected to go compete at ACTF (American College Theatre Festival).  This year, the festival was held in a little town called Arcada, CA.  This is the home of Humbolt University and it is roughly 16.5 hours away from Rock Springs.  And guess what??  We drove all they way there and all the way back in the wonderful WWCC school vehicles!!

We left on our exciting adventure on the 12th of February.  I rode in the "Mom Van" driven by my good friend, Zack Spurlock.  Zack is also an RA in the dorms here at Western and even though he is a "ginger," we still love him!!  Since the drive was super long and exhausting, we also needed someone else in our car that was approved to drive and so, my other good friend, Kylee Ogzewalla, was there to take over when Zack was tired.  The middle seats of our "Mom Van" was where all the coolest people sat.  Needless to say, I was in the middle along with my friend Tasha.  We had a blast doing what theatre kids do best, sing showtunes as loud and obnoxious as humanly possible!!!  In the back, we had two of the loveliest girls in the entire world.  If you ever end up at Western, you must meet Emily Larsen and Annie Willie.  They are two of the funniest people I think I have ever had the privilege of meeting.  Emily provided us with tons of snacks for the long trip which made everyone extremely happy!  Annie is pretty quiet but boy when you mention Garth Brooks, she sure brightens up!!

Emily Larsen & Annie Willie

Kylee Ogzewalla & Tasha Newmen

Zack Spurlock

So, with the "Mom Van" all packed and ready we headed off the Arcada, CA.  Everyone did pretty well in their different competitions and we all had a blast doing what we love best, theatre!!  On the days we didn't compete, we found our way to the beach which was completely amazing!!!  Instead of telling you about it, just take a look at the pictures!!

The Beautiful Pacific Ocean

Footprints in the Sand

Kylee Ogzewalla

Annie Willie & Me

My Awesome Shadow!!

Kylee Ogzewalla & Jeremy Egan

This is my favorite picture of the entire week!!

 After our exciting week, we all packed up again and started for home.  Let me tell you, it was the longest car ride of my life.  We ran into some bad snow in Salt Lake and had to stay the night there.  Eventually we did make it back safely to good old Western just in time to start school again on the Tuesday after Presidents Day!!

As I mentioned before, Annie Willie was one of the quietest people during the trip.  However, she did have a wild moment in which she broke out some Garth Brooks on her iPod.  Here is the video footage of this very funny moment...

Well, that is all for now.  I hope you enjoyed and remember....  WHY NOT WESTERN!??!!??!?!!