First, an Overview pt. 1

Well, since I've gone ahead and gone through all the trouble of setting up a new blog, I feel I should give all you new readers (that is, those of you who aren't my mom) a little look into my 2007 before I begin this crazy journey.

A month-by-month recap should do the trick:

January

Places traveled: Chicago, IL; Green Bay, WI; DePere, WI; Racine, WI

2007 started off with an unbeatable deal on the newly routed NY/Chicago leg on Jet Blue, so I attempted to visit every relative I was able to. This included-1 grandmother, 2 aunts, 3 uncles, 8 cousins, 6 cousins-in law, and 9 second cousins. Not too bad for a 4 day trip. This also included my first lighthouse-free visit to downtown Chicago. Those of you not familiar with my father should know that EVERY time we were promised a trip to downtown Chicago and the Navy Pier, we would ultimately end up in Evanston, IL at the Grosse Point Lighthouse. SO not the same as Navy Pier. It was a busy, but wonderful trip. Should you be so curious, more pictures are posted here.

February

Places traveled: Nashville, TN; Minneapolis, MN

My Rat Packers reconvened for the second half of their first US Tour in lovely Nashville, TN. No one turned away from entry into the US, bars and live music on every corner, SONIC? All was right in the world of the Pack. The entire week we were in Nashville, the Minneapolis area was suffering through negative blizzard conditions. I wasn't too sure how my Brits would handle it, but in a unusual twist of fate, the sun came out just in time for our arrival bringing the temperature up to a balmy 16. With an aptly named "Brit's Pub" practically connected to our hotel, I knew we'd found a kindred spirit in Minneapolis. This city gave me a chance to escape as it is the hometown of my cousin Mark, who the day after I arrived, proposed to his adorable girlfriend Katherine! I had a great time spending the week celebrating with them and my aunt and uncle also joined us for a long weekend. Definitely two of the better weeks I had spent on tour. Look, more pics.

March

Places traveled: New Haven, CT; Newark, NJ

Yeah, not my favorite places on tour. It was hard explaining to my Brits that Newark really just has the airport, and that's all. I have random pics from New Haven here. I neglected to take any pictures of Newark, save for the one on the billboard en route to the theatre that said "Stop the Killings." Ridic. I of course feel the need to post that picture as my sole memory of Newark...

April

Places traveled: Grand Rapids, MI; Hershey, PA

These two week sort of went by in a blur. We were met with a late season blizzard in Grand Rapids. Some of my company decided to take a road trip out to Grand Haven, MI to check out Lake Michigan, which was very impressive to them. It was fun to see the other side of the "Lake Michigan Circle Tour" that I always see signs for when driving around Wisconsin. As always, photos here.

From lovely Michigan, we headed off to Hershey/Harrisburg, PA. For those of you who have never ventured out to the land of chocolate, the rumors are true. It smells like someone is making brownies every second of the day. Not to mention that our presenters at the Hershey Theatre greeted us with a gigantic bowl of all things chocolate when we arrived. Let's all be thankful for the fact that the company management office was on the 5th floor of the theatre and the elevator was so old and creepy, I ended up walking up most of the time. We took a side trip to Amish country (conveniently located next door to Target!) I was unimpressed. Or rather, I was horrified at the thought of life sans TiVo. And of course, no trip in April would have been complete without my making a Dad-like run to the Harrisburg Post Office to mail my taxes at 11:45pm on April 16th. Even the extra day couldn't give me enough time to finish before then. Insane. Pics here...

May

Place traveled: Cleveland, OH

The last stop on the Rat Pack 07-07 tour was Cleveland, OH. Our only 2 week stop of the trip, and was that a wonderful thing in and of itself! The company was able to do all sorts of fancy things camping, Cedar Point, and Indians game. And lots of shopping. Theatres (and therefore our hotels) are most often located in downtown areas, and can be rather hit of miss on the fun factor. Thankfully, Cleveland had just about everything we needed, so it was lovely. We had great crowds as well, which was very nice. All in all, it was a great way to wrap the tour up until the fall. Of course I have more photos!

So, there you have it, the second half of my first adventure as a touring company manager. More to come in my next installment. Please leave comments as I am posting this from Berlin and am tres homesick already.