a whirlwind 36 hours...

Our high school marching band had the honor of traveling to Dover, DE to take part in the Atlantic Coast Championship Competition! In our group there were 27 bands from the Atlantic Coast (New England States to VA), there are 4 groups (based on number of band members in each band) that take part in this competition for the weekend, we were told some 125 bands in total...first picture shows *our* band loading the charter busses for the trip. The second picture shows the band preparing to take the field for competition at (9:02 p.m. Saturday) having the trip of 5 hours on busses to get there! Small in numbers but mighty in desire!!

It was also a 5 hour drive for the folks from our town that support the band in competition (including our family)...you need to be able to cheer in a loud voice for these *wonderful* musicians! The actual announcments telling of the winners for our group began at 12:30 a.m. in the morning on Sunday...we were able to leave the Dover, DE area at 2:45 a.m. because we (our family) were actually starving and had to find something to eat at a 24 hour Denny's Restaurant following the announcements of the placement of the bands for awards! We received a *Bronze* winner status and a trophy to go with this placement!

Our family had reservations with a very simple, clean and no frills motel in the Lancaster area (2 hours from the competition), but in the right direction to be headed home (the band continued home and did not stop to sleep overnight)! Who needs frills when it is 4:15 a.m. in the morning when we arrived to stumble into our rooms for sleeping (including *sweet grandaughter* rescued from that long and late drive home on a sleepy band bus), we were just needing to find a CLEAN bed and a bathroom waiting (no frills please and it is far cheaper without them)!! Remember check out is at 11:00 a.m. so we had to do a LOT OF SLEEPING very quickly, and checkout...WE MADE IT, but we are EXHAUSTED tonight!

Do we care that the swimming pool is CLOSED for the season (??).......NOPE, because there is NO TIME to swim, and also at 40 degrees temps it would have been only fit for Polar Bears!!

DO WE LOVE OUR BAND, and the *dear grandaughter* that is a member of this band (??) YOU BETCHA!!