If this is Thursday, we must be in...

Our Alaska contacts extraordinaire - aka Wendy and her awesome family - have been working hard to not only ensure that we will have great venues and great audiences, but that we will have many opportunities to experience all that Alaska has to offer when we're not ringing. I don't know about anyone else, but it's been really hard to pick the one or two things I really, really want to do - it all looks amazing!! Here's how our itineray looks right now:

Wednesday, July 19
Arrive in Juneau

Thursday, July 20
9 AM - Noon: Rehearsal
Noon - 4 PM: Tour around downtown Juneau
5 PM: Rehearsal
7:30 PM: Concert at Northern Light Church

Friday, July 21
9 AM: Head out on various adventures (glacier trekking, glacier flyover to Taku Lodge, etc.)
6 PM: Dinner at the McPhetres cabin in Tee Harbor for a BBQ on the beach
Midnight: Catch the ferry to Haines!

Saturday, July 22
5 AM: Arrive into Haines
Afternoon: River adventure up Chilkat River
4:30 PM: Picnic at Rainbow Glacier Camp
8 - 9 PM: Go see the bears eat fish at Chilkoot Lake

Sunday, July 23
10 AM: Church service (we will play an ensemble piece for the prelude)
11:30 AM: Potluck at church
Noon: Rehearsal and prep for concert
3 PM: Concert at Chilkat Center for the Arts

Monday, July 24
1:30 AM: Some catch ferry back to Juneau to go home
9 AM: Tour of Haines by Wendy's brother, Sam

Tuesday, July 25
8 AM: The rest of us head to Skagway by ferry
9 - 11 AM: Explore Skagway
11 AM: Catch ferry to Juneau
2 - 6 PM: Explore Juneau some more
8 PM: Fly back to Seattle

Or something like that, anyway!! There's no sleep time listed on that itinerary - what's with that?????

Getting ready!

Yes - it's hard to believe that this crazy idea we first talked about months ago is about to actually happen! Bryant is frantically weighing bells, chimes and cases in preparation for the equipment to be shipped, the first rehearsal for the Alaska program was last night (it will get better, right?? :-) ), Juneau and Haines are being blitzed with PR... It's getting exciting - I can't wait to get there and see all the beautiful scenery and play for the amazing people in Juneau and Haines who have worked so very hard to make this tour a reality.

Wendy's Juneau PR blitz update

Yes!! It's been a very busy day. My dad and I plastered the town with posters. We put some up in both malls (by malls I mean glorified strip malls), the grocery stores, a couple businesses in town etc. I gave press releases and our picture to 2 newspapers in Juneau. Both were very receptive. I talked to a bell director from another church in town and she was way excited that we are coming to Juneau. Her bell choir is even planning to go up to Haines to hear us there as well!! She will do great PR for us too. And J Allan MacKinnon is creating some radio spots to run on the radio before our concert. We've had lots and lots of positive responses with everyone we've met today. Our concert is listed on community calendars etc., so the word is definitely getting out!! I even spoke to a couple tour coordinators and they were very happy to hear that our tour day is Friday because that is a very light tour ship day here. They are very eager to get you all on tours. So.....be planning what you'd like to do.

I head to Haines on the ferry that leaves at midnight tonight (arriving into Haines at 4:30 AM--welcome to SE Alaska ferries!). I will plaster Haines with posters and meet with people there to be sure things work smoothly. Phew!

Wendy

Wendy's radio interview on KINY in Juneau

Just had a call from Wendy - she just got done with the radio interview in Juneau. She was on KINY's Capital Chat progam (http://www.kinyradio.com/capchat.html) for about 35 minutes. I gave her a CD with some song snippets - they played Sabre Dance from our upcoming CD as well as Route 66 and Stars and Stripes from the Seattle concert. And they took a few phone calls from folks asking about where to get our CD and if we could march in the 4th of July parade. :-) Hopefully this will stir up some interestin our show!