The tour continued...

A little update on Jordan.   He is in Belding, MI for a competition tonight.  This is the 3rd one of the trip thus far.  The other two... Omaha and Lyons, MI-- they placed first.  Tonight they will once again meet up with a local Bay Area Drum Corp... and we will see how they still match up.  Thus far they are the closest to upsetting the World Championships for them.

So... yes, the excitement is building.   Scott left for Chicago yesterday on business.  He will meet up with the Corp in Dayton, Ohio on Friday.  From there he will be driving the equipment truck and sleeping on his cot.   Fun!

The following are pictures I took at the Dublin Show back on July 19.

You may need to click on these... to get a better view.

But do note the nice lines and curves... the cohesiveness of them as a whole.  All while moving and playing.  They are smooth as butter and sound phenomenal.

In just a second they will turn around-- a really cool sight.

The end of the performance.  And very nice to see them still playing the role of high caliber performers... even when they are no longer being scored.  This is only a very small taste as I was too distracted by the fabulous to remember to take pictures.

As the rest of the Corp is retreating... the Contra Tubas (Jordan) line up and wait.  The color guards are gathering their flags.  This picture show the very first Contra Tuba as he steps out of line to retreat from the field.  I was also trying to figure out which one is Jordan... by enlarging the picture I am pretty sure he is the 3rd one in from the left.  They are all dark... racial coloring or not... so much sun they have had.

As they walk past the stands.  Click on that picture...you can just see the sharpness in their walk.  Awesome!

He is the first one in the second row.

So there is a little taste of what he does.   Their performance was new and improved from the first time I saw it ... about 3 weeks earlier.  And am sure the performance in Indiana... will be the same kind of improvements.   

They receive scores on different parts of the performance... the final score, of course, is based off those.  The Corp with the highest score wins.  They have progressively improved their score... as are the others behind them.   Do remember they are undefeated.  But it all depends on who performs the best on D-Day.   They are currently forecasted as getting the World Championship in both A and B Corps.   Cross your fingers... the pressure is on for them.

And Jordan... paving the way to his scholarship, besides having a great time!

Jordan rides the train.

Okay my arm has been twisted.   And besides my son is having a once in a life time experience (actually he wants to have the experience for the next 2 years); it warrants me archiving this time in his life.

I will cheat a little though and add an email from one of the parents.

The Blue Devils are on their USA tour through the midwest right now.  They started on the California Zephyr in Emeryville (Oakland) and this will take them to Omaha, Nebraska where they be on bus.  They will finish up in Indianapolis at the DCI-- Drum Corp International.  Then fly home.   This is not a luxury trip by any means.  No hotel rooms... only school Gyms and Buses to sleep on.   Food is prepared by a travel group of parents and their truck loads of food.   Jordan got a trial run of this memorial day weekend.  It was wonderful... he said.  He also experienced on their So Cal Tour.  

Scott has been a dutiful volunteer and drove equipment trucks for a few of the competitions.  He will be meeting out in the midwest and will be driving the equipment buses and then driving them home.   

So did that catch you up?  Oh and we will just mention that by the time Jordan starts school... he will only of had 11 free days this summer.  Add on to that he has a Spanish Class through BYU he is trying to finish up before school starts  AND summer work for 2 AP classes.  

He has great ambitions... have to hand it to him.   Unfortunately, the Eagle project has been put on hold until he can find time.  Oh, but that gets good... time will not happen until December.  When he gets back from tour... he goes right into HS Marching Band.

Did I mention the kid is having the time of his life?  Well he is!

Message yesterday-- 

Mom- "How is the train ride?"

(most of you should remember that Jordan is my train boy)

Jordan- "AWESOME!"

Practice on Mars-- where he spent lots and lots of time.

The uniform... sorry no copies of the picture.  We have one legal copy.  They are really expensive.  In fact this whole experience is quite pricey.

Before I get to the parent's email.  Jordan is in the B Corp-- the A Corp is where his aspirations are.   Blue Devils are world known in the Marching's Major League.   Undefeated they both are... and both the top scores.  Indiana will tell though... when all the Bands meet at one place who is # one.   I will keep you informed.

Below is email from the parent.   I will add my two cents in.

   

Has anyone found out whether the kids get bussed back to Blue Devils hall from SFO on the day they return? 

 

            I had thought about trying to ask someone the morning of dropping off the kids at the Hall the day they left, but it was still dark and a lot of milling around, and I didn't really feel like tracking down Rick or Debbie to ask them that at that time.  I am sure that we will get the official word well before the return flight date.

 

            Does anyone want to meet at the Nob Hill parking lot and hang out for five or ten minutes just for old times' sake?  How will we fill that void that is left from the time waiting at Nob Hill and the time driving to Mars?   ( Yes, Jordan and these 4 boys and their families.. we do have a connection with them.)

 

            I had a short telephone conversation with Chris today.  He said that everything is going well.  They are able to sleep and they have electrical access for all their electronic devices.  He said that they had just passed Rawlins, Wyoming, which would not be along the route that Amtrak shows for the Zephyr.  He said that they had a route change.  I think Wyoming would be farther north than the standard route. 

 

            Have any of the rest of you heard any news?  Maybe each of us reporting those little bits and pieces of information can replace what the car pool used to be for us. 

 

Has anyone heard anything about how they are replacing Sovina Edwards as the staff bus driver once they reach the Midwest?  I suspect that also means that Mark Edwards is probably also off the tour.  It seems like that would leave them shorthanded on adults, and it seemed like they were shorthanded to begin with.  (Sovina is the parent volunteer coordinator for all the driving.  She broke her knee on the way out to Nebraska.  She is the only driver for the staff bus.  Currently staff is on the train with the kids... but in Nebraska the staff rides in MAGIC... magic because they never know if she will make it.   Magic had an over heating problem and Sovina took off the radiator cap.  The spurring water caused her to fall and break her knee.  Once again... I can't OVER EMPHASIS VOLUNTEERISM.  I have no tolerance for those who do not carry their weight!  It takes a village to raise these kids.)

Till Another Day....       GO BLUE DEVILS!

 

 

 

Absence

Amazingly,  Surprisingly,  Shockingly

I have not been able to get back to my blog.   

Thanks for always checking.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that my MIND IS NOT STILL!