Our first full length show of the year has turned out to be one of the most challenging to get too in the SHOWOFF Show's history. Our flight plan started started in Harrisburg PA, connecting in Cincinnati to Minneapolis St, Paul, and then finishing in Sioux City, Iowa. That last leg of the trip is where our troubles began starting at take off, where the guy sitting directly across the isle of our cramped little plane started flipping out about the safety announcements, yelling something to the tune of "shut the **** up so we can take off"; which the flight attendant didn't seem to hear. Sporting a white bud light hat, and a t-shirt that probably said "she had it coming", this guy was a clear candidate for an anger management prison sentence. Jonathan and I started sizing the guy up assuming that we may have to take this gem of a humanity on in combat, and I didn't like our odds. Our potential opponent was sporting a short crew cut, and had the looks of a recent marine core combat vet. Sure he was starting to get a gut from his nightly case of cheap cold beer in a can, but he clearly knew how to fight. Put that up against a 120lbs contortionist who can hardly do a push up and a juggler who gets sore from 4 rounds of Wii boxing, and you have a winning bad guy. Luckily he fell asleep, phew, catastrophe avoided.
Flash forward two hours into the flight and we get a message over the intercom from the captain. Apparently Sioux City airport was living up to their airport code (SUX) and it was too foggy to land, so we were turning around and flying back to Minneapolis.
Angry guy was still sleeping, and I watched with anxious anticipation for the demon to wake and start killing things. He did eventually wake up, and the woman next to him explained the situation. I could see the anger well up inside him, and watched the woman recoil in uncomfortable apprehension. Landing announcements came over the intercom from the flight attendant, and more outbursts came from under the bud light cap, and this time she heard it. Questioning ensued, and he recoiled. The police were waiting for him at the gate, and Jonathan and I didn't have to get our asses kicked. I still want to know more about that guy, I'
m guessing he really was a marine combat vet and has some kind of PTSD.
Think the travel story is over? Not by a long shot. Our next task was to shore up in a hotel for the night and the airline was offering a distressed traveler discount at a Day's Inn nearby. Unfortunately the last shuttle to the hotel had left about 15 minuets before our arrival, so we had to take a cab. Guess what the 6 mile cab ride cost us..... $30! On checking in we discovered that the morning shuttle to the airport was all booked up already, so we were gonna have to take another $30 cab ride back. It was the most annoying set of circumstances ever, and it made me mad. I'm pretty sure I was one bud light hat away from talking to the police.
Back at the airport, guess what, still foggy. No planes are landing at Sioux City, and to cap it off, there was a disabled plane on the runway. We made the decision to abandon the flight and rent a car one way, otherwise there was a chance we would never make it to our show. Guess what a one way rental from MSP to SUX costs... $400/day! Lucky for us they had a car that needed to be returned to SUX and we got it for only $200/day... What a deal! Jonathan had some confusion at the rental counter as well. Our lovely agent Laura had found us this car and told us to talk to Mohammed at the Avis counter. So Jonathan went to the counter, and found Mohammed, who had no idea what we were talking about.... Apparently there were 5 guys named Mohammed at this place. It all got sorted out eventually.
The 5 hour drive to our show in Mitchell South Dakota was an eerie one. It seemed like the entire country was covered in fog and as the stretching great planes interstate disappeared into the mist, giant power line structures and windmills would emerge from it. The fog also crystalized on the trees in a thick frost, that was actually very beautiful.
Right before arriving at the school, we made a short detour to check out Mitchell South Dakota's main tourist attraction and claim to fame, the "Corn Palace". The Corn Palace is the only one in the world of it's kind (understandably), and it's basically an indoor sports arena. The corn comes into play on the outside, which is decorated entirely with corn parts, and sports a new motif every year. It's fun to make fun of, but honestly, it's pretty cool. Across the street we noticed that the doll museum had gone out of business, which made Jonathan sad.
Our show at Dakota Wesleyan University was a blast. They put us on an eclectic stage reminesiant of 60's or 70's style, with fake plants and fake marble pillars. The audience was packed in, and laughing hard, which was a nice way for us to start the year.
