Mormon Tabernacle Choir Tour

From the crossroads of the West, we welcome you to a blog about inspirational music and Army’s spoken word. The 2009 MoTab Choir Tour began with a visit to Cincinnati, Ohio. Army was most excited to visit Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals. While there the Cincinnati Enquirer announced in a publication that “Nothing prepares you for the expressive power of the choir heard live”, and Army would have to agree.
The next stop on the trip was to Missouri. For the first time in 51 years, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir preformed in St. Louis, and according to stltoday.com, “left everyone smiling”. Army celebrated this successful l concert with a picture of himself in front of the famed Gateway Arch.
From St Louis we headed North to visit the Nauvoo Temple, and other church sites. Here is a picture of Army by a statue of Joseph Smith. Then we made our way over to Des Moines, Iowa for a concert at the Wells Fargo Arena.
The MoTab’s next stop was on to Norman, Oklahoma to sing for the first time in over 40 years. Then down to Kansas City, Missouri. One of the fun sites Army visited was the Missouri River. Army was kind enough to get out his camera and take this picture of a line of the 11 busses that were used to haul the MTC all over the country.
One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to RED ROCK’s in Denver. Red Rocks is a fabulous amphitheater in Denver with a beautiful backdrop of big red rocks, similar to Tuacan in St. George, but much bigger. President Monson paid a visit to let us know that he was supporting the choir in all of our endeavors. Unfortunately, Security stopped Leslee from getting Army in a picture with President Monson.

Fish Lake, Utah with Ragena

Hi, it is me, Army again, with my latest adventure. I just returned from a trip to Fish Lake, Utah over Memorial Day. I went for the fishing and the atmosphere. I wish I had a nice boat, but this is what I was stuck with. Oh well, I decided to try and make the best of it.

Look at this fish. Ragena’s husband caught it. It is a Lake Trout, 37 inches long and 21 pounds. ( For all you "Fact lovers" out there, you will be interested to know that 37 inches is just one inch smaller than the stack of papers on Phil's Desk, and 21 lbs is the exact amount of birthday cake served to the March birthdays).

The Fish is as big as the 3 year old holding me. But he wasn't the only one with success. Though it rained a lot while we were there (which is a little foreign to me as I am more used to the desert conditions where I was raised). We only had a few hours to get in some good fishing, but hey this is not too bad for a couple of hours of fishing. The kids caught these fish , one of them on his Tigger pole. They were so excited.

Leslee Bingham and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir are going to be departing tomorrow for the Tour of a lifetime. They will be visiting several major cities through the midwest. Go MO TAB!

Arizona

My latest adventure was with Pearl and Gene Simmons (the Mail room guy, not the rock star). We were going down to Arizona to attend the graduation of their son Slade, who is now a Doctor of Audiology (he is the one that outfits Pearl with the special earpeice on her phone). Our first stop was at the Glen Canyon Dam. Please read and enjoy some fun facts about all of the stops on my trip.

Glen Canyon Dam - By 1959, the Glen Canyon Bridge was completed permitting the trucks to deliver equipment and materials for the dam and the new town of Page, Arizona.
The next year concrete placement began and continued night and day until the final bucket was dumped three years later. A bucket held 24 tons of damp concrete and it took over 400,000 of them to build the dam. Over five million cubic yards of concrete make up the dam and power plant -- that's equal to enough to build a four-lane highway stretching from Phoenix, Arizona to Chicago, Illinois. Construction began on the 3,700 foot dam with blocks of concrete 7.5 feet high.
Next, turbines and generators were installed from 1963 to 1966. The dam was dedicated by Ladybird Johnson on September 22, 1966. It took 17 years for Lake Powell to completely fill for the first time. The plant generates more than 1.3 million kilowatts of electricity with each of the 40-ton steel shafts turning at 150 rpm, generating nearly 200,000 horsepower. With all eight generators operating at full output, over 15 million gallons of water will pass through the power plant's penstocks each minute. The electricity is upgraded on a transformer deck from 13,800 volts to 230,000 and 345,000 volts for transmission to distant markets.

Sadona, Arizona - I met a Sheriff of a little town on my way to Slades graduation. He was the Sheriff of Sadona, which is located 120 miles north of Phoenix Arizona. The population is around 24,000, and the average rainfall is 17.15" per year. Found here are cliff dwellings constructed by the Southern Sinagua people, who inhabited the area from about 650 A.D. to around 1300 A.D. However Sadona's first settlers came in 1876 but wasn't founded until 1902. The City of Sadona became incorporated in 1988. I made it across three streets in this town without getting hit! YEAH!

Next stop on this plesant little trip was to Slades Simmons graduation as a Doctor of Audiology.

How many years of schooling did Slade take?
Bachelor's Degree = 4 years. Master's Degree (Audiology) = 2 years. Doctorate Degree (Audiology, Au.D.) = 2 years.

How many training or precepting hours did he put in? I don't remember the specific hours, but as a Master's Student, I probably did about 20 weeks of full-time externship, another 12-20 weeks part time, and maybe 3 semesters seeing patients at the clinic on campus (U of U). After completion of my Master's Degree, I moved to Palm Springs, CA to complete a required fellowship which was 9 months full-time.

What was your favorite class?
Probably anatomy courses. Usually these were among the toughest classes, but it was a topic I enjoyed and found it easy to study.

Is the Anatomy Similarities in the ears of humans and Armidillos?
Unfortunately, I don't know!? I tried to find some info on the Armadillo ear but couldn't get any details. There may be some differences either with the hearing or the balance mechanism, but I can't say for sure.

The Pacific Cruise

Army was invited to go with Jerrine and her husband Brian to L.A. California for a fun filled weekend cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean’s “Mariner of the Seas.” Royal Caribbean repositioned this beautiful ship from the Caribbean to the West Coast. Army was a special guest on the West Coast inaugural voyage.

We departed the Salt lake airport right after work on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.

The flight was short and uneventful





. On the shuttle bus from the L.A. airport to the rental car, THEY THOUGHT I WAS LUGGAGE!!
Once we arrived at our hotel – The Double Tree – at the Marina at San Pedro, all was forgiven~~

I was finally treated like the royalty I am!!








After a great night sleep the sightseeing began. The marina was just steps from our hotel.
We drove along the Pacific Coast stopping at a scenic point near Palace Verde….Next we saw some beautiful sights at San Pedro~~~~
BOY! I wanted to surf, but Jerrine said that I would sink like a rock - - and wouldn’t let me in the water!!!





Finally, it was time to head for the ship. 3500 guests and 1200 crew members it’s like an “army”… J


We breezed right on to the ship, being a VIP (Very important Purse), they didn’t even check my I.D. The Bon Voyage party was all ready in full swing. Everyone was nice and friendly…
My new friend, Ray, tried to share his drink but it wasn’t my Diet Coke, so I declined.

Soon it was time for our Muster drill to make sure the less traveled would know what to do in an emergency!



After that I was ready to hit the high seas. I explored the ship and the many wonderful things to do.
I tried my paws at rock climbing with my friend from Brazil; he was so happy that I was on board. I make him think of home. He said, that there are many armadillos in Brazil. He let me rock climb before any of the others!


I slept in late and then started off the day with milk shakes at Johnny Rockets. There was a sexy leg contest, sorry, I forgot my camera for that one, and that was followed by a belly flop contest! Tons of fun!




That evening we watched it rain as we sipped diet Coke in the Crown Lounge at the top of the ship. After disembarking we still had a bit more time for sightseeing before our flight home. It happened to be the night of the Academy Awards so we headed to Hollywood Blvd. Jerrine was afraid that the paparazzi would mob us if I made an appearance so I had to hide in the trunk of the car while they got the last pictures of our fun trip.
Oscar is just behind Jerrine’s head, but she was much more excited about the poster, as she and her daughters do love to shop!!
I Love Bob Hope!! And yes! We were right there at the OCARS! There were hordes of people. The area you see is a secure area, only a few people were allowed in. You had to go through security and get wanded and searched before you entered. There were police and swat teams and even a bomb squad there!!!
All in all we had a fantastic weekend!!

Jerrine had a lot more fun on the trip that we didn't even have room enough to put all of her pictures in this blog.

Stay turned Army just got back from Arizona with Pearl, and you will really want to see that one.

Viva Las Vegas

Hi everyone, it’s been a few weeks since you have seen or heard about some of my travels. My most recent trip was to Sin City with none other than Mother Teresa (Nola Baker) and her husband George. We went to attend a Psych Conference held at the South Point Hotel and Casino. It was a lot of fun running around the Vegas strip and enjoying the warm weather. I even got a little gambling in before Nola noticed that I was using her gambling money.

So it was rather unique being at a Psych Conference, every morning we would get up and go down to the lobby for a continental breakfast. As I sat there eating my food, I would hear two Behaviorist’s begin a conversation, one would say to the other “Good Morning, How am I feeling today?” They would talk for hours and hours, those two were nuts!

Later, I went down to the pool to go for a swim with some of my buddies. They had a really neat pool with beautiful trees and landscaping. The water was a bit too cool, but still refreshing and yeah I know, she is wearing a bikini, but it’s okay because she also had on a Freudian slip.

After I went swimming for awhile, I went back into the hotel and sat in a dark hotel room because the lightbulb had gone out. When the custodian came up he asked me “How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb?” I replied that I wasn’t sure. He said “Just one, but the light bulb has to WANT to change”. He began telling me of some of his problems. I guess this guy thinks that he is only visible to Armadillos. He told me of a problem that he had recently when going in for an appointment, he told the receptionist at the Psychologist office that he feared that he was invisible, and needed to talk with someone about it. The receptionist walked back and talked to the psychologist about it, and came back and said to the custodian, “I’m sorry but he can’t see you right now.”

Now I had learned a thing or two about psychology on this little trip, and decided to talk with him about some of his issues. We went all over the place, just talking about everything. Here is a picture of the two of us talking in the hall way of the hotel. Here is another picture of us standing on the hot sun. After some very thought provoking conversations, I felt like I should let him know that I appreciated our conversations. I also told him to always remember that he is unique, just like everyone else. I hope that he gets through this tough time.

My final stop was to visit a Centenarian. Not many people get to visit with a centenarian, but I got my picture with one. Her name is Della Baker, Nola’s mother-in-law. She is 100 years old. When I got up on her lap, the first thing that she did was pull open my zipper to see if there was any money inside for her. There wasn’t Nola spent it gambling in Vegas.

Here are a few more pictures that just didn't get into the story above.

Kauai, Hawaii

Army recently visited the island of Kauai, Hawaii with Kelly. Unfortunately he didn't get out much, though it wasn't such a bad thing. As relaxation was a bonus for our jet lagged armadillo. Army really enjoyed his time just sitting on the 3rd floor patio enjoying the view in the calm 76 degree weather.

Army's next scheduled trip will be with Jerrine, as she cruises the Pacific in February. If you would like to take Army on a trip, please come and check his calendar to see if he can go with you. Also to fill any of the down time between trips, we would like to get Army to pose with some local or national celebrities. If you know any, lets get something set up so that Army can have some fun.

Army Goes to Washington

Washington Monument – Among Army’s stops was a visit to the Washington Monument. This Monument was to commemorate the life of our first president George Washington. Construction on the monument started in 1848 and was completed in 1884. The Monument weighs in at 181,708,000 lbs. That is roughly 300 Million times heavier than the world’s most favorite armadillo.
Oval Office – Though you and I may never make it inside the Oval Office, Army has. He even sat at the Resolute Desk, which was gift given to President Hayes by Queen Victoria. The ceiling of the Oval Office is 18’6” high, and measures 29’ by 35’ 10”. President-Elect Obama could put an NBA 3 point line in the oval office, with a basketball hoop on one end and practice his 3-point shot during the down times.
Wax Museum – Army visited the Wax Museum, and stood with several famous Americans. Two of the following stories are false, but two may be true, and one is totally made up for increased readership purposes.
Franklin D Roosevelt – The 32nd President of the United States. He helped to rescue the nation from the first Great Depression, and created the Social Security program. This is a picture of him and my Great Great Grandillo, also named Armando, they were close friends and confidants.
J Edgar Hoover – The First Director of the FBI had a few questions for my Great Great Grandillo Armando, but he was found innocent. I think he just had something against the whole armadillo race.
Bill and Hillary Clinton – She's been criticized for baring a bit of cleavage and ridiculed for choosing safe, solid color pantsuits. However, Hillary thinks that everyone should carry an Armadillo purse. Which I believe is the best advice that she has ever given, and would you look how happy Bill is about it.
George W Bush – In a recent attempt to bail out his slumping “Approval Rating”, President George Bush started to take the best advice from a Democratic leader, and carried an Armadillo Purse to a recent Wax Museum function.
Whoopi Goldberg – I am sure that you have seen the movie Sister Act. How about Ghost? This is my friend Whoopi and I liked her best in the movie “The Little Rascals”. What you don’t know is that I am good friends with Whoopi, I help her to study her lines for upcoming auditions. Okay so it may be really easy to spot the total lie, I mean, how could I help her study her lines? I’m only an armadillo.

Upcoming Adventures
Keep an eye out. Kelly, one of the Missionary Medical Nurses, will be coming with me and her husband to Hawaii. There should be some beautiful pictures on this next trip.