This past summer I was called to perform at a private event in Aspen Colorado. I’ve never been to Colorado and just remembered Aspen from the movie Dumb and Dumber…LOL. I have traveled for shows all across the US but Colorado was something special. I have to say it was such an adventure and the most beautiful states that I have visited other than Hawaii. I had a series of shows which were lined up before my performance in Aspen. I performed in Denver and Boulder Colorado. It was my first live performance since Covid. It was so nice to be in front of a live audience again. It seemed like life was normal again. People out and about living their lives as if Covid never happened. During the time, Toronto was still in a full lock down with only essential businesses allowed to operate.

When I arrive in Denver, I planned a trip to Mount Evans. What an exciting car ride. I drove and hiked over 14,000 feet in the air. The temperature dropped the higher that I climbed and there were mountain goats everywhere. So cool!! It was scenic but several people were struggling with altitude sickness and others had oxygen masks with them. I was wearing shorts and certainly was not the most prepared for this journey. I loved the fact that there was snow in the mountain tops in the middle of July when it was beyond hot at ground elevation.

After my shows in Boulder and Denver, I made a 4- hour long drive to Aspen Colorado. What a beautiful and scenic drive. I really didn’t want it to end. When I arrived in Aspen, it was such a nice resort town with event entertainment everywhere. It was nice to see live music and entertainers around the resorts performing for the tourists.

When I arrived at my show, it was remarkable. This was a private event at a private residence on the top of a mountain. It was an event for a 30th Wedding Anniversary which brought in people from across the United States. I performed some close-up magic during the cocktail reception. There was one couple who was loving some of my mind reading & mentalism. After I performed for them, I later found out it was Rob Walton (the owner of Walmart) and his wonderful wife. They were so nice that I had to use them as volunteers as part of my feature show later in the evening. One of the other guests flew in from LA and was an actor on the Sopranos. It was a very fun and diverse group of guests.

During my magic show which took place outdoors in the backyard, it started to pour rain. Luckily we were covered by a tent but was it ever a storm. I guess as a performer, you have to be ready for anything. I remember that I was performing at the Salt Festival in Goderich Ontario and literally within seconds it started to pour like I’ve never seen before. I think lightning hit the stage a couple of times as we were clearing equipment.
After the show, the Waltons asked if I would be able to perform at another event the next day. Unfortunately, I had to catch a flight the next morning for another event which turned out to be quiet the story. I pulled an all-nighter to drive back to Denver to catch my morning flight. I figured that I would leave extra early with all of the delays happening at airports. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the highway for me to see that the on ramp was blocked. My GPS kept diverting me to the same on ramp so I decided to pull over at a gas station. The lady at the station laughed and said the highway won’t be opening today. Why? Well it rained last night. SO, what’s the problem? Well there are mudslides and flash flooding along the highway. I guess this something that is common there but as a city person, this was the last thing that I would think of.

So I was advised to drive back to Aspen and try another way along a way called Independence Pass. So 1.5 hours back to Aspen with little hope of catching my flight, I was greeted by someone blocking the road. They asked if I have ever travelled on this road before. He mentioned that I would be going 15,000 feet up with very narrow roads which have been damaged by the rainfall. Well, I had no choice. The gentleman wished me luck and I was on my way for the scariest drive that I have ever been on. There were NO guardrails and the most narrow of roads that you could image. Literally 1 foot to your right and you would be off the mountain. Near the top, mountain goats started crossing the roads. There were parts where you had to squeeze 2 cars by reversing. It definitely took a year off my life but it was such a thrill. You must Google Independence Pass to know what I’m talking about. It was like magic but I just made it to the second for catching my flight.

The things we have to go through when traveling!