Today's show was our official New Mexico stop on tour at the awesome Ocotillo Performing Arts Center in Artesia! 

The audience was small, but mighty and we had a great time meeting new friends after the show! The Quilt of Valor for New Mexico went to WWII Veteran Juan Chaves, who was such a sweetheart and was so excited about his quilt! 

Today we drove all the way from Sedona, Arizona to Artesia, New Mexico! After a cute stop at "The Garden" for breakfast, we went by the beautiful Painted Desert in the badlands of Arizona. 

​Right next to the Painted Forest is the Petrified Forest National Park where there is petrified wood from 250 Million Years ago! We took a hike around Crystal Forest (which used to be an actual forest) and saw the petrified trees that have turned into minerals over time. 

A quick stop in Albuquerque where Breaking Bad was filmed and a sunset with cows and windmills filled the rest of our day while we worked in the car. We arrived late and ready for bed.... our official New Mexico stop is tomorrow at the Ocotillo Center for Performing Arts at 2pm, we hope to see you at the show!  

This morning, we converted our beautiful hotel room into an interview room for the 3/4 interviews of the team for our documentary! 

Today's show was at the BEAUTIFUL Sedona Performing Arts Center in the heart of Sedona. The view from the lobby alone was magical! It was challenging to get the word out about the show in the Sedona area, but we had a very supportive and enthusiastic audience! 

After the show, we were so happy to see so many of our friends from the American Duchess, and of course Laura and Jared came to the show as well (Jared made his way onstage during Act One). The Quilt of Valor went to Thomas Lockhart, an Air Force colonel who was awesome!   

Wow, today is our 100th day on the road together as a team! Today started off at Anna's Grand Canyon cafe on Route 66! Our team plus Laura and Jared enjoyed the food and all the Route 66 memorabilia as we were traveling on the famous road!  

We drove north through the Gateway to the Grand Canyon, and arrived. We first went to Mathers Point which was--- just STUNNING. Truly, none of us had seen anything like it and it was just amazing. No place like it. 

We climbed down the Kaibab trail which was a mile down down down into the canyon. It was dusty, windy and awesome! We made it all the way to the famous "ooh ahh" point. 

When we were on the way out of the canyon, we saw the one and only COOKIE MONSTER! Then we drove to Sedona and arrived just around sunset. We are staying in the amazing Sky Rock Sedona resort which has amazing views. We were greeted with live music, and went down the street to Don Diego's restaurant where we toasted to our 100th day together. 

Today was one of those tour days you dream of.... as we spent the day hiking at Zion National Park! We were joined by Laura, Dan's sister and her boyfriend Jared!

We hiked over 7 miles around to the Emerald Pool trails, the Watchman trail and the Loop trail. It was truly an amazing adventure that included up close encounters with deer, waterfalls, cactus, and feeling very very very small overlooking some of the most incredible scenery any of us had ever seen in our lifetime. 

We're dusty from the road and the 5 hour drive after hiking to our hotel near the south rim of the Grand Canyon (tomorrow's adventure). But we're grateful for the experiences this tour has given us. Adios, Utah. You're the best. 

Tonight's show was at the amazing Historic Heritage Theatre in Cedar City, Utah! The venue was beautiful and the audience was enthusiastic for a Tuesday night! 

We saw our good friends Zurl and Sharon from the American Duchess, a longtime facebook friend and follower, Valeen and her sweet dog Harley, and some amazing veterans and audience members of all ages! Valeen made our entire team 50-State Tour Rocks to commemorate our 50th stop on the tour and we will treasure them forever! 

There were two Quilts of Valor that were presented for Utah- to an amazing husband and wife veteran team- Bry and Esmerelda Carter! We are so grateful to your service, and to all the Quilts of Valor does for our veterans across the country. 

Today was a long long day of driving all the way from Reno, Nevada to Cedar City, Utah! We'd like to give kudos to our entire team for their perseverance in getting from state to state. Road life is a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work, and takes stamina, heart and energy to get through every day. Our team: Jack, Tyler, Grace and Myra work hard every day to ensure this tour happens, no matter what. 

​And we are oh, so grateful for them. 

Tomorrow, we hope to see you at the Heritage Theatre Center in Cedar City for our official Utah stop of the Letters From Home 50 States Tour! 

Today we drove to beautiful Nevada where after eating at the Little Bear restaurant, we checked into our beautiful cabin overlooking Lake Tahoe! The cabin was sponsored by our very own Vietnam veteran Billie Waddell. 

We flew the drone at sunset, then headed to the beach where Jack had a walk with a duck and we all stretched after a long driving day.  

The next day was our show at The Theatre in Reno! The space was so much fun and has a regular magic act that plays there twice a week. The lobby was gorgeous and filled with elaborate costumes that were all hand made! Channel 4 also came by to do a news story on the official Nevada stop of tour! 

The audience was SO wonderful, and the show a lot of fun.... even though some technical difficulties caused the set to collapse mid-Act Two! 

After the show we drove to downtown Reno! We passed by the site where Erinn's parents had eloped (it's not there anymore but was called the Heart of Reno Chapel). Myra won some money at the casino, and we drove away to find the perfect sunset....

....which so happened to be at Banzai Rock in Lake Tahoe! The hike was challenging and a lot of fun! And the sunset was so worth it. 

After our flight back from Hawaii, we had an evening of organization back at the hotel and catch up on the business side of things for tour, and then we headed into San Francisco for a beautiful day off! We started out driving our tour vehicle down the world famous Lombard Street. 

We went to Pier 39, overlooking Alcatraz. We met many new friends, including "Big Al Katraz", a magician who pulled Myra onto the stage to assist with a trick. The seagulls were MASSIVELY big in the city, and we saw lots of street performers and shops. We had an amazing lunch at Taco Cantina, then visited the DOZENS of sea lions hanging out all over each other 

After that, we went to the Buena Vista restaurant, where we ha their world famous Irish Coffee! Then we stood in a very chilly foggy line to ride a trolley across town. Thanks, San Francisco for being such a great experience for all of us on our day off! 

The staff of the battleship presented us with special performer pins, and 

After we left the battleship, we had some dole whip and food at the canteen, then headed on the boat to the USS Arizona Memorial, where you can still see the ship that was sunk underwater. The names of all those who lost their lives are on the wall at the memorial which serves as a cemetery for the hundreds of bodies that are still underwater.  

We left right from Pearl Harbor to get to the Paliku Theatre, where we were greeted by many chickens and cats! (And a great staff, too). We met a new friend named Scott who helped us get all of our large props for the show from another new friend, Carrie, from a non profit organization called The Vintage Hawaii. The community of folks that help us along the road during this tour is truly something we will never take for granted. 

The show was a lot of fun, and we met some amazing folks! There were tons of veterans at the show, but also many active military from the military base nearby. 

The Quilt of Valor after the show for Hawaii went to veteran Jim Hamlin, and was presented by the warmest couple, Sue and Jack Laufer. 

That evening, Erinn and Jan took a long walk around the island and on Wakiki Beach. The perfect end to a genuinely perfect stay in a beautiful state of this amazing country.