Ok Ill walk you through and give you a basic idea of what we did. Well we left on Tuesday afternoon (4:30 although it was supposed to be 4:00) after school. I was loading the rider truck with all our instruments, uniforms, and other miscellaneous items. The scary part of it was the parents put me in charge of making sure all of the equipment was on the truck. First off it was the band managers job to do it and I was ordering around the band parents. That was really weird. At the last minute, Mom came to see me off right before I loaded the bus. She brought me two grocery bags full of food. Anyway we left on the charter bus all the way to Florida.

The ride was 28 hours on the way down.  It was a long trip down. It was snowing when we left Traverse City. I couldnt wait until we were in Florida where it was warm and most of all no snow. I sat with Tony, the sophomore percussionist. I intended to sit with Jeanette, but my group was the last to load the bus. He was a cool kid anyway. Right away we popped in a movie to watch. I cant remember what we watched though. I had my headphones on just trying to relax; my tailbone was hurting me a lot so it was all I could do to make myself comfortable. Around midnight, we made it to Toledo, Ohio for some food. After getting a cappuccino at McDonalds, I went with Donnie and Calvin to a truck stop next door for a pillow and some supplies. Then we got back on the bus. We were the only ones on so we did the Pixie Stix challenge. I took four at a time and did a full pull. Donnie tried seven but couldnt do it. I thought he was going to choke. Then the rest of the group came on the bus. We went to sleep kind of. I was up but not conscience, if you know what I mean.

At 6:00 am I woke up. I didnt know what time I actually fell asleep. There was a rest stop that we went to before we went to breakfast. We were in Georgia. When went to eat it was so funny because I couldn't even understand them. There was a buffet and they had "home made" fried chicken. Man was that good. I had Donnie go up the line and constantly get us plates of chicken. We made it down to our hotel Wednesday night. Once we got there we just vegged out. I got about 6 hours of sleep that night which was the most sleep I ever got during the whole trip in one setting. 

Thursday we went to the fort in Animal Kingdom for breakfast. There they had a petting zoo. I hung out with Jeremy who had a video camera with him. We took a bunch of random pictures- it was fun. We returned to the hotel to rehearse. The room they had reserved for us was like a sauna. I was in there for 2 hours because I was in Symphony band and Jazz band. Then we went outside to rehearse the marching band. It was so hot. Then I went and loaded all of the instruments on the Ryder truck. That afternoon we went to Magic Kingdom. I went on Splash Mountain, a two-hour wait. I rode the tea cups- that was ok. We did some little rides and it was fun I suppose. I didnt like it as much as the other theme parks that have the big rides. We get back to the hotel 11:30ish because we watched the fireworks by the Castle. I was exhausted.

The next day was performances (Friday). We had to head out to Valencia Collage in Orlando. It was an hour drive from our hotel that was just outside of Disney World. The Symphony band went first at the crack of dawn so we left early. Our warm up time was at 8:30. We had to keep our cases on the Ryder truck so it was kind of a pain in the butt with the instrument situation. Concert band went in the auditorium to listen to us. They were really supportive of us. Without them we wouldnt have done as well as we did. I love those guys. Then afterwards, we put our instruments away and ate some lunch on campus. I changes into my jazz band uniform before I ate. Afterward Concert band was up. Us jazzers couldnt listen to them because we thought that our warm up time over lapped with the Concert band performance. Well they made a mistake with our warm-up time. So since it was too late to go listen to then we layed out on the lawn in all black (in uniform) in 85 deg temperatures.

           We were talking about when we went to Western Michigan for the jazz festival and how after wards we were all in bad spirits after hearing these bands that are just awesome. We have every disadvantage working against us. First off we rehearse two times a week. Most of the time our rehearsals are canceled because of weather or people cant show etc Also we dont start jazz band until after marching band. That is the biggest disadvantage of them all. While we were waiting one of our chaperone bought us all drinks. Then Concert band was finished and we went in our warm-up room. We did a decent job of playing I suppose. I dont know really; our band has a history of over judging ourselves. Finally we were able to leave. Again I went and helped load the truck. I took us longer because we wanted to separate the concert instrument from the marching one because we wouldnt need them any more. I was the only one who knew what was a marching horn and what was a concert instrument. The rest of the parents just followed my orders (well I guess Katie Sidel was there too to help).

That afternoon was the parade competition. We went back to our hotel room to change into some normal clothes. Then we quickly reloaded the bus and headed to MGM. We went "back stage" to quickly get out our instruments and uniforms, get them on, warm-up and finally get in parade formation. The parade route was so short. We played Rocky. I was already out of the parade route and still not finished with the song. It was that short but then again I'm in the second line behind the poms and color guard. At the time we thought it was a waste but that was a grave mistake to say that on our part. I helped load the truck because I worked my way up to loading crew by this point. I don't know what time I got back but I do know it was late. We went back to our hotel room and slept in till 8:00. I enjoyed that; they canceled our character breakfast.

Today was the show parade at Epoct. We went to Epcot and hung around for a while. We all met and changed into our uniforms. They took us a short distance backstage to warm-up. The warm-up area was air-conditioned which was so awesome. We quickly got in parade formation and headed off. It was a short parade- only ¾ of a mile (compared to our Cherry Festival route which is 2 miles). But with the heat and humidity I almost passed out at the end of the parade. I was ok once I had water in my system. We played Spirit of America once when we entered, then Rocky and our Fite Song. We stopped at the fountain to play Conga (mainly because its a pain to march to, lol).

When it was over we got dressed and hung out at the park until 5:00. Then we went back to MGM for entertainment purposes. Jeanette, Matt, and I went together as a group. We went on Rockin Roller Coaster first. We waited an hour to go on a 45 second ride. But we did go and see Muppets 3-D. It was pretty funny. Then we went on the start wars ride twice. Afterward we decided that we needed ice cream. After finding an ice cream shop, we walked back to the ship to find Miss Moore sitting at a table. I went and joined her. We talked about random things then Aki, JJ, and Hilary showed up. The one conversation that I remember was went for some odd reason I told Moore that I used to have a crush on Kermit the Frog. Enough said about that. Then that night was the award ceremony at MGM.

Now this needs a paragraph of its own. Well you need to remember my band is not normally a competitive band. The only people who were supposed to compete were the marching band and symphony band the rest (concert band and jazz band were just for show). After the beginning jazz/combo band opened the ceremony and got us all obnoxious, the awards began. My band was the last to arrive so we were standing in the back. Then the announcer asked all the band directors to come on the stage. We decided that we would be the band to cheer the loudest and the longest. When they announced our director we did just that. I could see her face turn red even from way in the back and when I talked to her later she confirmed my accusation. Well the marching bands were listed off first. We never thought our marching band would get anything. Well when our class was the next up, we were a bit surprised.  What the announcer said next will always ring in my mind forever- From the marching band class AA, first place goes to TRAVERSE CITY CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL!. There was a slight pause from my entire band. Then all at once we erupted in one stroke; a cheering mass of teenagers. Everyone in the auditorium turned around because we surprised them from behind. My director had a smile from ear to ear. Our drum major and Jon ran down to accept our trophy. It was huge. We were still cheering after he continued to call off other bands. We jumping up and down, hugging each other. Then the unexpected happen. After the choirs were awarded their trophies the jazz ensemble was next. It was an open class meaning the size or caliber of the school doesnt matter. The announcer named off our name for second place. I almost started crying. Our jazz band is second in the nation. I was shaking. We were hugging each other to death and cheering; I must have gone deaf right then and there from screaming so loud but I would actually go deaf later that night. Jason grabbed the trophy from Jon and wouldnt give to Miss Moore like Katie did for the Marching band trophy. That was his trophy. Then the concert bands were the last to be awarded. We competed in class AAAA. The announcer named us second place. This was amazing considering that the two bands those placed first and third were 200-300 piece bands. The competition level is so much higher than us (we have less then 100 people in our marching band and only 40 people in symphony band). On our way out we went to the entrance to wait for everybody.  Katie was standing in the middle of us bandos and gave us marching band cheers. We screamed so loud. This is when I really went deaf. We yelled so loud and chanted all the marching band cheers that we knew. The other bands walked around us thinking we were crazy and giving us weird looks. I never cared then and I still dont now. Not one band had the pride we did that night. To be in a band that can come together like that is rare and far between. No one cheered as loud as we did and showed pride for each other. We got back to the hotel at midnight and with daylight savings it was 1:00. I called my parents as soon as I got back. I couldnt understand why they werent excited. I went back to my hotel room only to realize how late it was. I got in the shower about 2:00 and went to bed an a little over an hour later. I slept two hours that night. I was so excited.

The next day we went to the House of Blues in the morning for breakfast. We were up by 5:30 in the morning. They put on a good show for all of us. He had a list of names (Jake Blues) and made some us of us kids go up and dance. We took pictures of our trophies and us in the parking lot after wards. It was 8:30 at this point when we left for the water park. We went to blizzard beach. I did something really evil to my band teacher while I was there. "Me and my boys" first went in the wave pool to cool off then we went on the Cross Country River. All you do is hop on an inner tube and the current takes you around the park. We were all so tired from the lack of sleep so we took a couple of laps around until we decided to go on a ride. We got off and found my band director and Mrs. Trinka (a chaperone). They were considering going on a ride that we were going on, Steamboat Springs. They were dressed in full clothing and didnt have their bathing suits like us kids had. We figured it was a dry ride so I convinced Miss Moore to come with us. Well we made it to the top and Miss Moore and Mrs. Trinka were the only ones in clothes. They were begging to have their doubts now but they couldnt turn back because they were already at the top of the mountain. So we were next up. Miss Moore and Mrs. Trinka jump in and I tried getting in with them but they knew that they were screwed so they tried to get me out. I made it in anyway and I yelled at Calvin to join me. Just after we went down the slide the whole bottom of the boat filled up with water. Then the plunge! The first thing that came out of Mrs. Trinkas mouth was Oh S***!. I found out later that everyone in line was laughing at her as we went down. As for the ride, I laughed the whole way down. We were just getting soaked. It wasnt until halfway down until Miss Moore realized that there were handles on the boat. When we made it to the bottom I was laughing so hard that I could hardly breathe. Then we went under a waterfall as we were coming to the end of the ride and that completed it right there. After we got out of the boat, Mrs. Trinka lifted her purse and a stream of water came pouring out. I thought I was going to die of laughter. I fell over as I got out of the boat, thats how funny the whole situation was. I would kill to have relived that moment again. Then the rest of my boys came down in the other raft right behind us. They were laughing as hard as I was. Then Moore found a spot to dry off. She put a towel over her face so no one would recognize her. Me and my boys went on some more rides after that.

        The next ride we went on was where you grab an inner tube and climb up a bunch of stairs to the top of the ride. If you have a two-person inner tube then you have to go on this open water tunnel. I went with Garrett on the first run. Once I made it to the bottom I took a single person tube and climbed back to the top. This time I went on the closed tunnel. That was fun because you couldnt see where you where going. After that both Calvin and I decide we want to go on the big ride: Summit Plummit. We climb all the way to the top- the very top. While standing in ride, I talk with other bands from around the country, and yes, I told them what I did to my director. Man what a wedgie ride. As soon as I made it the bottom I had to pick both my bathing suit and my shorts out of my butt. I walked funny after that. Then both me and Calvin decided to meet up with the others by where the parents were sitting. I dried off and went back the changing rooms to get on normal clothes for the rest of the day.

Then we went to Animal Kingdom after the water park. I went on the Safari Ride and another show. The safari ride was fun. We only had to wait in line for a half an hour. The show that we saw was Bugs Life. This was also a 3-D show like the Muppets. That was all the time that we had to spend when we had to meet up with the rest of the group. I waited around at the entrance again, like usual. We got off late because we had a missing Link, Laura link that is, lol.

That after noon we left for downtown Disney to go to Rainforest Café. They had really good food. We hung out a while there (I went with my boys). Then it was time to leave for home. We left at 6:30 evening. The bus ride was quiet considering the lack of sleep throughout the week. Everything went smoothly until Matt had a seizure from the heat and dehydration. We had to call an ambulance (we were at a truck stop) and go to the hospital. Im not sure how long we spent there but we were off again. I guess on the way Florian (a German exchange student who plays tuba), who was on the other bus got sick and threw up. Miss Moore ended up cleaning it up because she was sitting next to him. We got back home at 1:00am and we were expected to be back at 9:00.

         Amazing, I went to school the next morning. I slept through my first hour class (pre-calculus), skipped my second hour class and came to the band room to sleep on the floor. When Third hour began Mrs. Boyer (the orchestra teacher) kicked me out so I skipped 3rd hour to go to the cafeteria to get some coffee. I was so blasted tired. My 4th hour is my lunch hour so I slept on the couch in the band room. Then I went to band, then my 6th hour class (physics- the reason why I went to school in the first place), then back to the band room for music theory. We didn't do any thing- my band teacher teaches the class so we just talked about the trip.