Big Sky Country

Missoula, MT
Hello Friends!

After a whirlwind week of Annie Jr. packing, cleaning, saying goodbyes, crying, and laughing I have finally made it to Missoula, MT. I feel like this was a move that was way too long in the making, thus making the actual leaving very tough. There are many many friends I did not enjoy saying "See ya soon". However, like many good friends in my life, distance will never cause a friendship to go away, it just makes seeing them again that much more special.

The eight hour drive in my filled to the gills beat powder blue Sable was actually quite enjoyable. The weather was fine, albeit a bit gloomy for Memorial day weekend, and I actually enjoyed the feeling of traveling. I guess I am a bit of nomad at heart.

I was a bit amazed at how different Oregon is as soon as you get even 50 miles east of Portland. I have done that trek down I-84 many time and I think since I have been so urban based these three years I forgot about the high desert that is like 75% of the Beaver state. Though barren, there was a simplistic beauty to it, and of course weaving along the Columbia is always fun.

I once again experienced the dilemmas of making good food choices at gas stations. For some reason passing up the Funions and fried unknown meat option seems to be easier this time around. Tomorrow the two week training starts and I meet my tour partner face to face, also rumor has it that we have a tour now!

The Adventure Continues - ML

Ready, Set...

Portland, OR
Hello Friends and welcome to the travel blog of one Matt Loehrke! One of the things I did not due during my first tours was keep a detailed record of pictures and tales from my travels. This is something I vow to remedy during my new jaunts.

While I will be actively talking about the sites and adventures of the road, I will not be talking about the children much, unless a really special story needs to be shared and in that case I will not be using their real names. This comes from both personal and company policies.

So here I am with five days left in Portland. The weekend was quite fun full of friends and shows. Saw a production of The Sound of Music on Friday. The lead was a student of mine this past year and she was wonderful, I was quite proud. Saturday I hosted a "Take my stuff party" which gave me a nice chance to connect with friends one last time and for them to take some of my earthly goods with them and thus saving me some trips to Goodwill. It was tough saying "So long for now" to friends yet again, but by now I feel they are use to me always being on the go, and as I have said often, the world is smaller now then it has ever been and staying in touch is ridiculously easy now.

Today I saw Oregon Children's Theatre production of Sideways Stories from Wayside School. It was full of actors and designers from Pinocchio and while I was not a huge fan of the script, their performances were great and I was very proud of them. Speaking of Pinocchio today also closes NWCT's 17th season. It was a great season and I am very proud to be part of it both on and off stage.

This week is all Annie Jr. and packing. I hit the road at 9AM on Saturday. I imagine I will be doing a lot of reflecting this week. Musing about my time here in PDX and what lies ahead.

Unless I am in a place with no internet please check here often and follow my adventures! If you would like to send me an email or care package on the road I would love it!

mattloehrke@gmail.com

c/o MCT
200 N. Adams St.
Missoula, MT 59802

And remember even though the headquarters for MCT is in Missoula, I will not be. Right now I don't know my summer tour schedule but as soon as I do I will send it out and look forward to all and any recommendations of things to see and do across the globe.

Here we go friends!

The Adventure Continues - ML