Quick...name the capital of Vermont!

Right now we're in between shows in Stowe, Vermont, a small town with lots of skiing somewhere very far north.  We're performing at the Stowe Mountain Lodge, which is the hotel for all of the skiers on the mountains, and also our residence for the night.  Here's the view from my balcony:

And here's the view from near the theatre:

I got a Droid over break and am trying to figure out how to use the panorama feature...not the best panoramic picture ever, but I'm learning!

We just finished our 8th show (a matinee) in 8 days, with one more in just a few hours, and then another tomorrow down near Boston.  It's been a hard week, as touring goes.  Not only have there been some fairly substantial post-show drives (2-ish hours), but it's also just hard to keep the energy up for this many shows in a row.  It's common for us to have 3, 4, or even 5 shows in a row, but 10 in 9 days is unheard of.  The only other time I can remember a tour like this was our final week in China last May, when we did 8 shows in 7 days.  As a testament to how much fun this job is, though, last May was truly the first time that going on stage ever felt like work.  

Fortunately, however, we've had great audiences all week long.  And I'm not just saying that to sound positive -- we've truly had incredible audiences this week.  Nearly every night has been a packed house, and it seems like the school orchestras we worked with this week were mainly filled with mature, enthusiastic, attentive students, which is always a huge plus for us.

Moreover, I was able to grab dinner with my friend and roommate from the Killington Music Festival, Ryan, in Manchester, CT.  I haven't seen him in over a year, so it was great to catch up with him once again!

In a touring first for me, I've also been driving.  Normally, I'm not one of the drivers because companies charge extra for people under 25, but I guess Dollar has this new policy that allows those over 21 to drive on corporate accounts.  So, I've put in some cool drives this week.  Most notably, I drove through Manhattan the other night, which was incredibly awesome and simultaneously terrifying.  Fortunately, it was around midnight when we arrived in the city, but it was nonetheless nuts.  New York is, after all, the city that never sleeps.

Today, I also did the drive from Brattleboro, VT, up to Stowe.  It was a fun drive, not only because the scenery is the exact opposite of Mesa (i.e., it was mountainous, snowy, and covered with trees), but also because I made my car stop in Montpelier, the state capital!

I think this is easily the smallest capitol building I've seen...

We stopped in a coffee shop and I had a maple syrup latte, a fitting and delicious choice!

New York, Paris, London, Montpelier.

Thanks for the good times, Montpelier!

Got to run...I'm supposed to be at dinner!