but a banana in your ear

Our new song for the trip: Put a Banana in your Ear. Don't ask.

We said a sad farewell to Eric and Kate, and we were on the road again for Albany!

We had a fun stop at an historical landmark for my church. It was pretty sweet. Kirtland, OH baby! I know, for most of you, that doesn't mean much, but for members of my church it's pretty freakin' sweet. That's kinda the birthplace and there were some cool things that happened there. Feel free to check it out. We did.

We went and had a tour given by the sister missionaries. One from Hawaii (who could easily take Grant on in a teasing war. I was impressed) and one from Orem, so like neighbors.

I took some pics, but they are on the camera... in the car...

Elektra (the receptionist at the hotel) recommended a restaurant for us in Albany, but we got lost a little bit. So we walked down this street and found this AWESOME Chinese place called Awesome Wok Chinese. Yeah. That's how you know it's good.

music, music, la la la

Friday Night? Free time? What's that? Concert downtown? Check!

I went to the Pioneer Day Concert put on by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 2.0 called me and told me she had a ticket for me, so I took Trax down (meeting Therisia along the way) and met up with friends. It was pretty fun.

They truly know how to put on a great concert. A lot of the songs that were preformed were hymns of the church, but also they made sure to sing some great American classics (Somewhere Over the Rainbow for one).

They read (in the videos between the musical numbers) letters from people both members and non-members of the Mormon church where the people just praised the choir and their program each Sunday called Music and the Spoken Word. It seemed pretty cheesy (in a totally awesome way) until I found out the woman sitting next to us was in the same boat. She was not a Mormon, but had been listening to the program for years. She never missed a week. When her friend from Salt Lake City found out they were doing a concert for the state holiday (July 24th), she called this woman who lived in another state, and told her she was going to get tickets and that she should fly down to listen.

Wow. Sometimes I think I take for granted that I have such amazing culture right at my front door. I really should take advantage of those kinds of cool opportunities more often.

The evening ended in a SORELY needed dinner at Red Rock (in Salt Lake). Delicious.