A Home Fit For Scarecrows

Well it’s been lot longer than I had wanted it to be but I am finally updating ‘Gullidgestravels’.  It’s now November and I’ve been neglecting this blog for the past 8 months! I hear you all ask ‘What have you been doing?’ well here is the shortest version possible:

March: Made it back to Nebraska after cruising with Allison and making a few stops on the way home. Klause was back to his usual self and I was wearing a smile from ear to ear. 

April: The night before we were due to fly to England we lost my wallet. Turned out to be in Allison’s handbag the entire time (even after we both checked it twice) ugh! Landed in England and it was the wettest April on record! Literally ‘April Showers’ for our entire trip. Beside the weather, we had such a wonderful time. We were lucky to have my mum there for the entire month and David’s car (Thanks David!!) Sadly Tara (the dog) was in Spain with David so no early morning walks but the weather would have ruined that anyway. Visited the birthplace of my dad in Somerset and met some distant relatives too. Nearly made an offer on the pub that my dad was born in (yes…he was born upstairs of the King William Pub in Curry Rivel) If only I had 300,000 pounds to spare! Oh and witnessed my sister Emma getting her first tattoo! Lots of laughs and some tears when it was time to head back.

Gullidge/Winter family day out in the rain at Wilton House, England

May: relaxed in Nebraska whilst staying at Dani & Michael’s place. Painted Allison’s parents house (white!!) and helped out over at our friend Robert’s house. Tilled his bathroom floor and sanded down 100+ year old wood. I was in my element. Then it was time to leave…again! A sad good bye to Klause but he is in perfect hands with Allison’s good friend Jamie.

June: arrived in LA for rehearsals. Allison arrived a week later. Had a good time hanging out with some old friends from TN, Justin & Melissa. They live in LA now. Spent a week in the studios with a friend from my 2007 Disney contract. Learnt all three shows and a few other little pieces. Flew to Vancouver and joined the Coral Princess on 25^th. Back to good old Alaska. Yoho!

LA, with my favorite band.

July; (Our Birthday month!!) All three shows are now up and running and we are out of rehearsals. Enjoying my time in the cabin and benefiting from dating a singer! (Room service & two portholes) Was spoilt on my birthday by Allison with a scavenger hunt for all my presents. She set the bar high for next year by getting me a new set of luggage! Am I a lucky guy or what! Just after my Birthday I got to see my partner in crime Jethro Marles. Many many laughs were had. Allison was pleased to finally meet this mischievous small boy I lived with whilst at college. He was working as a singer/dancer on Celebrity Cruise Line. The cast and I all went on a whale watching tour. We saw plenty and definitely got our $15 worth! Went to a 80’s theme party…but we went dressed with a twist…as 80 year old’s!! Got some laughs.

a sunny day visiting an Alaskan Glacier

soaking up the sun

Partners in crime!! Me and Jethro Marles

August: exploring the Alaskan ports with my friend Les and his girlfriend Mel. Fishing and hiking etc. Plus eating cupcakes in Skagway has now become a tradition. Saw some more of Jethro and mainly had breakfast with our other-half’s. Oh and we didn’t get to see any of the London Olympics due to Princess not airing it on the ship! Oh and took tons of photos of mushrooms.

A cold day fishing in Skagway with Les & Mel

Spotting lots of Whales

September; saw the Great Alaskan Lumberjack show. Started rehearsals for the two shows that are added when we switch to 14-day cruises.  Finally left Alaska and cruised down to LA and on through the Panama Canal. Celebrated Allison and I’s 2-year anniversary, she got me a year membership to Ancestry.com! I have spent a lot of time putting that to good use researching the Gullidge family tree! Rehearsing all the time for the new shows too. Went to a Hollywood themed party, Allison went as ‘Holly’ (the bush) and I went as ‘Wood’ (the material). Again some more laughs.

A fantastic group of Jack's!

Our 80 year old efforts!

hitching a ride!

October; spent this month mainly in rehearsals doing technical runs of the two shows, ie for lighting & automation! Went through the Panama Canal a few times too! Also swam with some Dolphins in Cabo San Lucas…beautiful experience!! Allison’s parents and grandma came on for a day visit whilst they were in LA. Enjoyed showing them around the ship and were we live. Her mum got us the biggest pumpkin pie I have ever seen!




November; happy to watch President Obama get a second term as President of the United States. Not sure how I would have felt if Romney had won! Now counting down those days until we sign off this ship! Went as Rodger and Jessica Rabbit for Halloween!

Halloween 2012

Both of us will be flying to Tennessee on Dec 1^st. Staying two nights with friends and clearing out our storage unit. Loading it all into a U-Haul truck and driving it to Nebraska. We will be back there on the 4^th and finally reunited with our dog! The plan is to spend Christmas in Lincoln, NE and then we will be making a move out to LA in January. My friends Justin and Melissa have offered me a job in their company. They both work for a small company called Ten Thirty One Productions. And they produce the LA Haunted Hayride every year. The company is growing and will be taking on new projects like a Hayride in New York etc etc. They spoke to me about it whilst we were catching up with them in LA. It’s a fantastic opportunity to finally step off the stage and make some career changes. I will be helping them with the production and special effects side of it all.  Something I am very interested in. There is a lot riding on this so please pray for a smooth relocation and job hunt. Until the new position with them picks up I will have to find other types of work and LA is really popular for extras. ie background work on TV and movie sets. Allison will also be looking for background work but she is still very much interested in performing. So keep your fingers crossed for us both. Putting positive thoughts out there and trying to network as much as we can!

Well for now I wish you all a happy fall season. I can’t wait to get into that festive mood, as it’s an odd feeling being in a warm climate during this time of year.  Thank you again for reading and I won’t be leaving it this long to update next time! Cheers.

Also…

sadly the day after we arrived in England my great Aunt Florrie passed away and we were just about to go over to visit her. The world works in a mysterious way I suppose. She was being forced to be moved to a hospice, as she was becoming very sick and frail. She had refused any treatment and said many times she wanted to die at home in the house she was born in. She got her wish on the morning the ambulance was there to pick her up. I was sad to have not been able to say good-bye to her but we were conveniently there to attend her funeral. She would have just celebrated her 90^th Birthday last month.

Planking for Mr President

The Beginning of The End

OK I am back and ready to update this blog. I’ve been taking my time to write this next chapter due to the seasonal celebrations. Since I last wrote on here a lot has been and gone and nearly all of it was good! The weeks passed pretty quickly leading up to my vacation with Allison.  I signed off my ship in the morning and was sitting eating lunch with a friend of a friend by 1pm! I was fortunate enough to see the Ruby Princess sail off into the horizon whilst eating my lunch too. This meant the holiday had begun. I then spent the rest of the day sprawled out on the couch surfing the web with free fast wifi and catching up on one of my favorite sitcoms ‘Modern Family’. Had a much needed FaceTime with Logan and Klause. FaceTime is for iPhone users only and is just like using Skype. Logan is the kind chap looking after our dog Klause. Who apparently was spoiled over Christmas from not only Allison and I but his surrogate family!

only the lobby of my Hotel in Curacao!! 

Pool view from the Hotel

I made it to Miami airport thanks to my organized girlfriend who had everything planned out for me! Boarded my flight to Curacao after a quick rendezvous with fellow cast members who were flying to the New York area.  Touched down and was escorted to my shuttle who would take me to the hotel. I can’t tell you enough how that drive was pretty crazy and reminded me that I was back in an Island were driving exams are just a test of putting the key in the ignition! Said at least a few prays on that 40-minute drive. Finally arrived and was greeted like a movie star! After all Allison had put me up in a 5 star Hotel and sadly I was only staying there for one night! I could have stayed there for at least 5 days longer! The only way I can describe it is as if you were in a James Bond movie or at a honeymoon retreat. Paradise! Offering me free drinks and a cold wet towel every time I step foot outside my room. Took a nice bath the morning of meeting Allison. Took the 40 min drive back to the airport where we had planned to meet. We both agreed it was kind of weird at first, we weren’t sure how to act around one another. I’ve been emailing this girl of mine for the past 3 months but for some reason didn’t no how to act normal around her. After a few hours we finally were back to our normal selves. Signed me on the ship and then spent the afternoon wondering around Curacao. I got to watch one of her shows that night called ‘Motor City’. Later that night we eat a little something in the Piazza and I thoroughly enjoyed it because as a crewmember I am not able to eat there on my ship. I took full advantage of this the next morning for breakfast. We spent the day shopping and drinking coffee at Starbucks! We don’t need anything fancy to keep us happy. So nice to spend time with one another after being apart for what felt like was forever! Treated one another to a piece of jewelry from Aruba. I have to say their use of the expression 

‘One Happy Island’ probably only comes from the fact that so many cruise ships port there and bring them the paying customers!! After Aruba it was back to the high seas for two days…but we had no complaints!! Finally got to see the show that everyone has been talking about, British Invasion, what a wonderful show. Allison is heavily featured in the entire production so I was sitting there like a proud dance mum! I did start to wonder if any British cruise lines perform a show based on American Music and Artists? Throughout my time watching Allison in her shows I witnessed a lady fall over behind me and so I got up to help and lost my seat!! Kindly told the couple I was sitting there…made them feel guilty. Never told them it was my perfectly chosen spot for filming the show from! Then another night some idiot behind me spilled her entire drink over the large lady sitting next to me. In her purse and over her cell phone. It’s amazing what you witness when you are 30 minutes early to a show!

Fred and Ginger reunited!

Backstage on the Grand Princess

Shopping is what she does best.

As we weren’t going to be together on Christmas day we had our own special day and pretended it was the 25^th December. I received some great gifts from Allison and we both spoiled one another. She was given two watches and other goodies from me. I woke up early and went out to grab some breakfast and set it up next to my laptop with the fireplace playing. Opened all our gifts and then watched a Christmas movie in bed.

Arrived back in Ft. Lauderdale and said goodbye to the passengers and hello to the new ones. We were up early and rented ourselves a car. Driving ourselves to the mall where we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Had our laptops looked at in the Mac store. This day was my first experience of the store Lululemon. Allison kindly treated me to a pair of ‘Kung Fu’ pants (dance wear) and a new black backpack. The backpack is like a Swiss army knife! We had some issues getting back to the ship on time. We attempted to meet up with a friend of mine; Rebecca O’Quinn but there wasn’t enough time for a conversation. So it was a quick hello and goodbye. Allison was due back onboard by 3:30pm and we ran up the gangway at 3:33pm. Lucky for us they didn’t seem too concerned. Phew! Allison was tuckered out and took a nap whilst I played with our new external hard drives.

After all the struggles and dollars it cost us to get me there we sure did have a fabulous time together. 

My tasty Christmas Day dinner! ugh!  

 So where did I leave off? Oh yeah…Christmas! Allison and I had a wonderful time during our cruise together. I am so fortunate that she did all the hard work she did for us to be able to spend 8 glorious days together. I won’t go on and on about every single thing we did but just know it was amazing and we both spoiled one another at this special time. Since I’ve got back onboard the Ruby Princess time has decided to fly by! I now only have one cruise left. I’ve enjoyed my weekly routine of going to the Greenhouse Bar in St. Maarten. This is a very popular bar for crewmembers and I’ve been going there since 2005! A lovely Dutch lady owns and runs the place. Also I have spent time walking through the wake looking for sea glass on the British island of Grand Turk. I’ve found a lot that I’m going to keep and eventually do something with. I’ve been trying to save money every paycheck so we don’t have to stress about paying bills whilst we are in between jobs. I swear I will never let my kids become a professional dancer. They can dance but this won’t be their career. It’s sometimes a joke when I see how little I am paid. But then I look at the hours I only work and I can understand why!

Reunited with my friend Annika in St, Maarten

Seeing in the New Year on the pool deck.

A few weeks back now whilst sitting at the bar at a Hard Rock Café in St. Maarten I was reunited with an old college friend, Annika. We spent three years training at Bird College for Performing Arts in London together. A random highlight to a rainy day trapped in the bar until the weather cleared up. We caught up on our lives since we had graduated and just couldn’t believe that we literally were in the same place at the same time! Small world eh!

Presently a good friend of mine from Pigeon Forge Tennessee is down to the last 60 contestants on American Idol. Her name is Janelle Arthur and is a country singer. We worked together in 2009 at the ‘Country Tonite Theater’ and I really hope she can either go all the way or at least use this as a stepping-stone to becoming a recording artist. She is a winner either way. So I’ve been trying to follow her progress via the Internet. Please if you can place a vote on my behalf ok!

The plan right now is for me to fly to Myrtle Beach, collect my car from the storage garage it is in. I’m kindly spending the night at Claire and Rodney’s place. These are friends of mine from Celebrity Cruises and most recently ‘The Palace Theater’ in South Carolina. Then on the road for a 6 hour drive to Pigeon Forge, TN. I recently had new tenants move in so I have lot’s to sort out with them and all of mine and Allison’s stuff has been moved in to a storage garage. We were using the basement as a dumping ground for all our personal belongings so I have the task of looking through it all and throwing out what isn’t needed. So I’m going to be in Pigeon Forge for 5 days and will try to visit as many of my friends as I can fit in. I’d like to see some of their shows, so most of my evenings will be filled with entertainment. I am staying with my good friend Matthew Samler and his wife Nikki. They just got a new dog so I am looking forward to playing with ‘Timber’ as I won’t be reunited with Klause until sometime late in March.

View of the Ruby from the island of Dominica

climbing to the bottom of a water falls in Dominica! So much fun!

My dance partner Luca in our show 'Broadway Ballroom'

I will be cruising on the Grand Princess with Allison from March 3^rd until 17^th. That’s also her last 2 weeks of her contract. On the 2^nd I will be driving all the way down to Melbourne, Florida and spending the night at a family friends house. Bill and Carol Maskell, they are friends of our neighbors who we have visited before back in 1993. Both my Dad and John have stayed there too over the years. Bill is originally from England and Carol is American. He has been living over there for at least 30 years if I’m not mistaken? Anyway we’ve stayed in touch over the years thanks to Facebook and I can finally visit them. Although it maybe short it’s still taken us a long time to finally get together.  It’s so handy because Fort Lauderdale is only 2 hours away so after all those hours of driving I can get some rest that night and leave at a sensible hour! Park the car in the port parking lot and then a much needed 2 week holiday with Allison. This is what has been getting us through these months apart! Knowing we will be able to spend those two weeks in each other’s company. Fast forward to March 17^th and Allison and I road tripping our way to Lincoln, Nebraska! Taking a week to get there whilst visiting friends of ours and Allison’s Aunt and Uncle. First stopping in Savannah, Georgia to spend the night with our friend Faith Boles. Then onto Knoxville, St Louis, Memphis, Branson and finally to Lincoln.  

Whilst we are in Lincoln Allison’s friend Dani and her fiancé Michael are getting married so we will be looking forward to celebrating their special day with them. April 9^th we will be boarding a flight to London, England and spending a month long there. I am truly blessed that Allison is willing to spend her time to do this! It is a much-needed visit home. I miss out on so many celebrations and routine events, so this should quench my homesick blues! My family means so much to me and just spending time with my mum at the house will be my highlight! I’ve been busy thinking of places for Allison and I to visit and people to see so let me know if you are reading this and would like to meet up. Another big reason for my visit is my Great Aunt Florrie is seriously ill and well…all I can say is please hold on and keep fighting so I can see you one more time! It would be all I ask for this visit.

Then we will be back in Lincoln for the most of May until we fly to LA and start rehearsals for the Coral Princess. Yep we are heading back out to sea but this time together! We will be cruising Panama, Mexico, Alaska and the West Coast. The best part is we will be home for Christmas!! So we can spend our 3^rd Christmas as boyfriend and girlfriend together…as we haven’t spent one together yet! Can you believe it! Another goodbye to Klause but it’s a sacrifice we have to make and hopefully this will be the last time! Who knows though? After we get back at the end of 2012 we hope to spend a Christmas with her family and then look to the future. I’m not sure what this might be yet but I am sure there is a plan for us! I just hope it’s one I like eh! I will try my best to not leave it as long to update my blog next time! Thanks for reading.