Paris

Our journey to Paris via London was 1.5 hours longer because of the volcano. We finally landed in Charles de Gaulle on Saturday. We stayed in a lovely hotel in the opera district. We met my cousin Tanya's friend, Delphine who chauffered us around Paris. We went up the Eiffel Tower, drove down the Champs Elysses to the L'Arc de Triomphe. Saw Notre Dame Cathedral. We dined with Delphine's family, including her 80 year-old father, Regis, who was a sweetheart! Sunday we saw the Louvre and shopped. For dinner we bought French bread ham and cheese sandwiches, cherry pastries, and walked back to the hotel and had a French white wine with dinner in the hotel lounge.

Left for London on Monday noon.

125 Years and 22 Days

It was exactly 125 years and 22 days ago that Evelyn and her husband set sail for America. My cousin and I will be boarding a plane for England tonight. We are filming as well so we can make a documentary about my quest. Turns out Paris is not just for fun after all--there is some theatre research to be done.

I can't say if my journey, which will be about seven hours in a plane, or her journey, which was 10 days at sea is better.

Preparing for Europe

It's a total countdown now. Two days from today I will be heading to the airport to visit Paris and England. Paris is just for fun, but England is where I begin my quest to find more about Evelyn's family and her life.

I will attempt to blog and add photos each day of my journey, so keep coming back!

Accepting the Wrangler Award

The Western Heritage Wrangler awards were awesome! It was so huge--they call it the Cowboy Oscars and with good reason. Tom Selleck was inducted into their Hall of Fame so I got to meet him. I also met Ernest Borgnine. At 93 this man has more energy and agility that I envy him. He was so super nice and funny. When we were taking the picture you see we had a blast. The picture you see is actually the third one we took. The first one I said I blinked, the second one he said he blinked, and the third one was perfect! How nice of him was that?

I am truly honored to have received this award.

My acceptance speech was this, "Thanks to the museum, the History Channel, and the judges. Where else, but in the west, can you win an award for drinking and gambling on national television. Thank you!" The crowd laughed and cheered!

Western Heritage Award

I am so excited! I Just found out I won a Wrangler in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Western Heritage Awards to honor and encourage the legacy of those whose works in literature, music, film, and television reflect the significant stories of the American West. I won for my on camera performance in Cowboys and Outlaws: The Real Wyatt Earp that aired on the History Channel. Funny I won for "acting" and not writing...My friends Bob Boze Bell and Paul Hutton also won.