41.5/25

This post is from Peter Shanahan -- seen celebrating in the photo above. Peter, a graduate of the UNCSA School of Music, is a second-year Open Dream Ensemble member. As you will read in the post, his sense of humor comes in handy when stuck on the road...


Open Dream has landed back on Winston-Salem's terra firma. While our most recent trip didn't include any actual flying, I'm sure all of us wished that we could pull back on the steering wheel, taking off into the clouds to avoid the 25 hours of driving we just completed.

The story goes like this:

Wednesday, November 11
9:00 AM Cast meets in Winston-Salem, NC and departs for Hundington, TN
10:15 Cast stops at Starbucks in Hickory, NC for much needed coffee and potty-break.
11:30 Detour due to a rockslide begins. Total closure of a major interstate highway.
2:30-3:00 PM Lunch break at Wendy's!!!
3:30 Pass through Knoxville, TN
6:00 (Approximate) Pass through Nashville, TN!
7:30 (Approximate) Begin traffic jam caused by terrible accident. Moved fewer than a mile in three hours.
8:15 Practical Jokes begin. Peter starts. Joshua ends.
8:45 Peter gets over the water w/lemon thrown at him and laughs about it.
9:30 (Local Time) Finally get to an exit and take a detour!!!
11:00 (Approximate) Arrive at motel in Hundington.

Thursday, November 12
6:45 AM Cast departs motel and soon arrives at the Dixie Carter Center!
7:00 Load in and set-up with lots of stage crew help. Thank you Dixie Carter Center!
9:00 Peril on the Red Planet showtime!
11:00 Peril on the Red Planet showtime!
2:30 PM EST Depart Hundington, TN with a full stomach!
2:40 Pick up my pillow left at motel.
Fast Forward......
8:45 Dinner break at...you guessed it: Wendy's!!! Yay!
8:50 James is accused of credit card fraud by the Hess/Wilco station manager.
8:55 James is found innocent by said manager. Whew!

Friday, November 13
1:31 AM Arrival of remaining pieces of cast at UNCSA campus in Winston-Salem, NC!

By my quick calculations, done while driving at 1:00 AM on Friday, that makes 41.5 Hours from start to finish, with 25 spent on the road!
41.5/25, a rock slide, a horrible accident, two shows on Mars, two Wendy's meals, and a trip ending on Friday the 13th.

What a trip! Yes, I'm convinced of it: we all wanted to have flying vans.