uh...well, i'm back! yea! there's so much to tell...so little time to do so...

basically, i was in the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. it's like marching band without woodwinds. I was on the colorguard line.

ok, it all started at the end of May. i flew up to Rockford, Illinois (where the corps is based out of) to begin full-rehearsal days (we call theses days "everydays"). we would wake up at 8 AM and have an hour to prepare for rehearsal. We normally start off the day with sectionals...normally this would last about 3 1/2 hours. we would then have an hour for lunch. the next block would be visual. this is where we would learn and clean drill. then, we'd eat dinner...and then full ensemble would begin. this would be the block of rehearsal where we'd practice w/drill and music.

now that i've explained that, i'll tell some more personal stories. this whole drum corps thing was a true test of my character. it's so hard to explain it all b/c u have to experience it to know exactly what i am talking about. so...yeah

i started off the season as an alternate. i went to rehearsal...practiced...but never learned drill...and never did the work with the rest of the colorguard. i spent most of the rehearsal time practicing by myself...alone...it became very boring...

once i got through everdays, life became just a tad bit easier. we began performing shows...and tour officially began!

i picked a bus seat partner. his name was Sam, and it's a weird story about how i picked him to be be the one i would sit by everyday for about 8 hours straight. i started off by wanting to sit by one of our drum majors...but he decided that he wanted to sit alone. so...there i was again...alone. no seat partner...just alone. then, that evening i met a guy named Sam. he seemed a bit interesting, and he obviously loved the Lord. so, a few hours after talking to him, we became seat partners. the very next day, the drum major came up to me and asked me if i would sit with him...i declined. it was so weird to see how God worked this whole thing. to make things short and simple (for i am dead tired! ), i would have never ever survived this summer without the support my loving seat partner gave me. praise the Lord for the people He placed in my life.

well, i'm off for now...more to come later. so much to tell!! time for some zzzz's

Cool! waitin (patiently ) for the rest!

What fun!

This one time, at band camp...
I used to play the Tuba in the marching band in HS and in College at NMSU, Las Cruces. Some of the best times of my life. I miss it. Now I'm a computer geek.

well, steve wants more stories...but i dunno where to begin! so, i'll just start where i left off...

ok, after finding a bus seat partner, the next days we started touring!!

we began by touring in the Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Minesota area...we would practice during the day, perform in the evenings, and drive in the bus all night long. we'd pull into our housing site about 5 AM and pull all of our luggage into the gym. we'd then have a few hours of sleep (which is what we called "floor time"). the schedule for the whole summer was basically the same, except for free days we began our drive from Illinois to California by having a few rehearsal days in Wyoming and South Dakota. man...oh man...oh man...those days were intersting. our stop in Wyoming consisted of a few hours of rain/sleet/snow/sunny/hot/freezing weather. within the first 2 hours of practice and stretch, we had all of those above weather patterns. lol u couldn't decided whether to wear ur thick coat, rain poncho, or just run around naked lol, j/k. at this time, i still didn't take part in any of the show, so i still was practicing by myself. but this practice field in Saratoga, WY had a special hill behind the small stands. so...being the mischevious person i am, i ran up the hill (to avoid the staff looking at me) and practiced up on the hill. i picked that spot for a certain reason...it had a view like no other place i had been before. i could see the whole corps marching with the blue sky, puffy clouds, and huge mountain range in the background. it was one of the prettiest places i'd ever been... if it weren't for the weather, i would've liked to lived there.

there was something else completely absurd about this place....we were in the middle nowhere. we practiced right by the main street in town, and people would drive up to watch like we were a drive in movie. plus, when the guard went to one of the sides of the field to practice by ourselves, we started hearing some interesting noises come from across the street and a hill. in fact, every once in a while, our instructor stopped talking and silence would fall for a second, but all of a sudden there would be a "BAAAAA!!!!" it was hilarious... well, being the curious people we are, we walked over the hill and found out that there were sheep and cows grazing all over the place...what a funny experience!

well, i'm off to bed for another night. i also have to start preparing myself for my new job! i am the guard instructor of a small town Geary, Oklahoma. i cannot wait to start...and it'll definitely be an experience like no other....life seems to be throwing theses types of things at me right now. thank you, Lord, for a non-boring life!

Sounds like you had a real adventure!


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Sorry for the pressure for tales from the road, but this no-lifer is just trying to live vicariously through his freinds

Welcome back Sarah! Sounds like a good time. Have you seen "BLAST" ? It's a musical and the cast are all drum a bugle corps people that have reaced the age of retirement from the corps. I't great and available on tape and DVD. Lots of young talented people that weren't ready to be done with the fun. I think it was on Broadway and is now traveling.

don't worry, steve! this is actually helping me sort through all my thoughts of what happened this summer. i don't mind telling my stories. some of them are good...some of them are boring. but tons of things happened to me, and i definitely want to share the experiences with others!

Hi, Thom!!! it's nice to see you! I definitely heard of BLAST. what an awesome thing it is!!! man...to be part of it would be so cool...i'm really into the directing part of corps and Blast! it would be so cool to be a drum major of a corps (especially Phantom)....

uh, ok. well, before we arrived in California, we had a rehearsal day in Reno, Nevada. talk about hot!! man, we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere! the desert surrounded us...thankfully, our instructors let us have tons of water breaks.

we eventually arrived in sunny California. what a beautiful state! they didn't call it sunny for no reason. we had the sweetest weather...even on those long, grueling rehearsal days. we definitely had fun! we held our first "laundry day" of the tour season. laundry days are one of the most exciting things to do on tour...we get to mingle with real people! we'd arrive at the laundromat, run inside to get a washer before everybody else does, and begin observing our surrounding areas. then the questions would begin. "what is the phantom regiment?" (most of us would be wearing our jackets) "why do u have such a beautiful tan?" (even in california, we had darker tans than tons of the mexicans! ) "where did that extreme sock line come from?" (i had to wear tennis shoes everyday in practice...no ifs, ands, or buts..) laundry day also consisted of shopping! most people would begin shopping at the nearby drugstore, or begin searching for a place to eat. wow, fast food was a special thing on tour. wal-mart trips were a special thing, too! roflol...

well, after shopping around, most people would return to the laundromat to switch their stuff from the washer to the dryer. thus, we would begin another unforgettable part of laundry days...goofing off...and mad libs. my seat partner brought his mad lib book with him to every laundry day. someone would walk around the whole laundromat asking different people (sometimes ppl not on tour w/us!) for a nound, adj, etc. this would fill about the 2 hours left of the laundry day...and for the record, it made us more of a family...(i can hear the "awwww" coming from you guys now )

well, that was a laundry day in a nutshell! u might hear more about a specific one that we had in El Paso, Texas...what a day that was...but right now, i'm going to head out. have an awesome day everyone! God bless ya!!!

That is cool, yeah, california is pretty, the weather surpasses anywhere I have been except maybe Colorado. Where in Cali did you tour ? Are yall done with your tour ?

Great stories Sarah

What happened in El Paso? I forgot you guys were gonna be in San Antonio, my brother was there a few times and we prolly coulda caught a performance there. Didya get to perform with the rest of the group? You mentioned a couple times you weren't performing yet..

I played trumpet in the marching band in high school and college, so I remember those days as a lotta fun

well,it's been a while since i've spoken here. El Paso was interesting...lol

we had a laundry day there. You have to know a bit about our surroundings. El Paso is right on the border of Texas and Mexico. So, our housing site/school was about 15 feet away from the border....crazyiness. when we pull up for the laundromat, we come up to the coolest place ever....there was a wal-mart!!!! there was also a pet store! i missed animals sooo much that i spent about 2 hours total just going into that store. then, i went to another cool place...LITTLE CEASER'S!!! I order a large pizza for 5 bucks and some crazy bread! man...it was a laundry day to remember!!!

sooo...it just goes to show that drum corps does something to u...it makes u appreciate the smaller things. like a puppy dog's fur, or a slice of cheese pizza. lol life was sweet that day!

hehe, sounds like it... you wouldn't have been able to handle a krispey kreme donut there

lol, you got that right.