Day Eight - NYC

Today was not the kids' favorite day, but it was date night
(afternoon) for us! The day started early for some of us. John and
Evan got up at 5:00 AM to return our rental car. They took the train
back and bought our metro passes for the week.

Later that morning, John and the kids went into the city while the
baby and I stayed at the hotel. It was a win-win. They got to see
Grand Central Station, I got caught up on my email and Lavender had a
nice long nap. I guess I need to add another "win" in there!

The kids spent the rest of the day at the hotel, babysitting and
studying. Marianne even had her Spanish class via Skype. As John and I
left for the subway station, I was flooded with memories. Last summer
the two of us spent a few days in NYC. Unfortunately, it was 100
degrees and I had terrible morning sickness. Being at the same hotel
and walking up the stairs to the train, I remembered how awful it was.
This time was so much better! We has beautiful fall weather and I felt
great.

A few weeks ago, John was excited to get tickets to "The Late Show
With David Letterman." It was quite a process. First he requested
tickets on line. Then he got a phone call giving him a number to call
to answer a question. They took our names and gave us a name and color
as our "code word." When we got there we had to stand in line to get
our tickets. An hour later we had to come back, stand in more lines,
show our driver's licenses to multiple people and go through a metal
detector. The security was tighter than the airport!

Finally, we were prepped on how to laugh and applaud correctly. We
were told to laugh heartily and immediately when Dave told a joke. We
could think about it and decide if it was funny on the way home. Then
they had us practice our laughter and reminded us not to whistle, yell
or "wooo." If we made any of these noises or took any pictures at any
time, we would be kicked out of the theater. It all sounds pretty
harsh and we knew they were serious, but they did everything in a nice
way with a sense of humor. The show is 30 years old, so I guess
they've got a system that works!

Inside the theater, we were happy to get seats in the third row. It
was cool to see all the lights, cameras and equipment. I hadn't
realized that the backdrop of the city is a 3D model. Before show
started, Dave came out to talk to us. He started talking to a guy
with a Wyoming tshirt and then recited all the facts he knew about
Wyoming. Then he jokingly asked how many other people were from
Wyoming. Of course John raised his hand and called out. At first Dave
didn't believe him, but then he asked him what city he was from. He
made a couple more jokes and then left. So John was one of two people
who actually got to talk to Dave.

Once the show started, I was so interested in watching the production
crew that I nearly forgot to laugh and applaud correctly. I was
surprised that while they were filming, there were 15 - 20 people
onstage in between the audience and the cast. Of course you can't see
them when the show airs, but you have to look in between them to watch
the show from the audience. I was also surprised that Dave reads the
jokes off cue cards. They are hand written with a fat marker and held
up close to him, right underneath the camera. No Teleprompter for him.

The guests were Taylor Swift and Rachel Maddow. John was disappointed,
especially when he knew that Bill O'Reilly and Donald Trump would be
on later in the week. We are not fans of Maddow and I admit to not
clapping at some of her comments. Honestly, we are not really fans of
Taylor Swift either, but it was very fun to see her up close. She gave
a good interview and a great performance! Even better, we were not
there the night Snooki was a guest!

After the show, we freed the kids from the hotel room and took them
out to dinner at an Irish Pub. As soon as I saw the menu, I remembered
what I had last summer and ordered the same thing: a hamburger on a
pretzel roll. It is truly the best burger I've ever tasted. Delicious!