It's Fine, We Went To State!
TSSEC trip was freakin' awesome!
Ok, so we left on Sunday at 1:00 and we began our six hour charter bus trip to San Marcos. We did what we could to keep ourselves from killing each other including cards, books, Aladdin, and part of National Treasure. We stopped in Waco for lunch/dinner at Fazoli's and had some fast food Italian. We arrived around 7:00 (I think, I didn't have a watch), and we unpacked everything and settled into our rooms. I was roomed with Josh, Alex, and Stephen, so it wasn't a bad room. We had a mini concert in the courtyard and I officially freaked out about my solo because I had a memory slip at the very end. Then we ordered pizza from Papa John's and watched the end of the Maverick's game (they won, by the way). After the Maverick's, we watched what we could of Braveheart until it was lights out and then we finally settled down to sleep.
The next day was Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest (TSSEC). We were supposed to get up at 5:10, but we were all up by 4:50, so we went ahead and started getting ready. Funny, through the night, I kept waking up every hour on the hour and Stephen and I both had a dream that the alarm never went off and everybody had left us and we were stuck in San Marcos. Anyway, we all got our showers and Alex, Stephen, and I got into our dress clothes (a tux for me, yuck); Josh didn't perform until later. We piled onto the bus again at 6:30 (?, I can't really remember and I lost my itenerary), and headed for IHOP where we had not so good of a meal. By 7:30, we were on our way to the contest. When we got there Mr. R rescheduled our horn quartet because we were at the same time as theory, which I was also doing. He got us in at 8:45 and we played Frippery No.8 (Barbershop) and got a two, which is still pretty freakin' awesome for state. Then, I camped out at my room to see if I could get in early instead of playing at 5:28 and holding the rest of the band back. I sat and I waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, 11:30 came around and I had to leave and take the theory test. After a very easy test (which caught me completely by surprise, I thought it'd be harder), I went back and camped out at my room again and waited, and waited, and waited. 4:00 came around, yes, I had been waiting at that stupid room for six hours, and Mr. R finally got me in with the trombone judge. I went in around 4:10 and performed "Reveries" by Glazunov. Finally, we got to leave and eat at Joe's. At Joe's, we enjoyed ourselves with floating buckets, pictures, and breaking forks and then we finally had our awards ceremony. I was the only one who didn't know my rating yet. Congratulations to the Euphonium Trio (2), the Flute Trio (2?), the Horn Quartet (2), the Flobarinet, or Miscelaneous Woodwind Trio (1), the Trumpet Trio (1), and the Trombone Quartet (1). As for soloists, congratulations to Julia (1), Tiffany (2), Leah (2), Tara (1), Kelsey (1), Joey (2), and Adam T. (3, it's okay Adam, three still means very good). I also found out my rating, 1! I'm excited. After Joe's, we went to the movies and half of us saw X3 and the other half (which included me) saw Over the Hedge, which, by the way, is an amazing movie. Then we went back to the hotel and just chilled out until lights out, where I fell asleep immediately.
The next day we went to Schlitterbahn! Our group, which consisted of Joey, Kelsey, Mesa, Andrea, Adam V., Stephen, Keyes, Michael, me, and at some points CJ, Cain, and Andrew rode most of the rides and Whitewater and the Torrent Wave River remain my favorites. Soda Straws come pretty close though. I have yet to ride the Master Blaster, which I really want to do. So, after a long and fun day at Schlitterbahn, we piled yet again onto the charter bus and began our long journey back home, where we finished National Treasure and watched The Last Holiday. We stopped at McDonalds/Arby's (I ate at Arby's) for a late dinner and we finally arrived back home around midnight. We got the bus unloaded and I turned in my horn and tuxedo and then I sleepily stumbled into the truck and went home.
Two sore feet, two sore arms, and a good old sunburn later, I'm sitting here writing this and smiling at all the memories. It was a great trip and a great year. Let's do it again next year! In Auburn's words, "Don't suck, blow."
Ok, so we left on Sunday at 1:00 and we began our six hour charter bus trip to San Marcos. We did what we could to keep ourselves from killing each other including cards, books, Aladdin, and part of National Treasure. We stopped in Waco for lunch/dinner at Fazoli's and had some fast food Italian. We arrived around 7:00 (I think, I didn't have a watch), and we unpacked everything and settled into our rooms. I was roomed with Josh, Alex, and Stephen, so it wasn't a bad room. We had a mini concert in the courtyard and I officially freaked out about my solo because I had a memory slip at the very end. Then we ordered pizza from Papa John's and watched the end of the Maverick's game (they won, by the way). After the Maverick's, we watched what we could of Braveheart until it was lights out and then we finally settled down to sleep.
The next day was Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest (TSSEC). We were supposed to get up at 5:10, but we were all up by 4:50, so we went ahead and started getting ready. Funny, through the night, I kept waking up every hour on the hour and Stephen and I both had a dream that the alarm never went off and everybody had left us and we were stuck in San Marcos. Anyway, we all got our showers and Alex, Stephen, and I got into our dress clothes (a tux for me, yuck); Josh didn't perform until later. We piled onto the bus again at 6:30 (?, I can't really remember and I lost my itenerary), and headed for IHOP where we had not so good of a meal. By 7:30, we were on our way to the contest. When we got there Mr. R rescheduled our horn quartet because we were at the same time as theory, which I was also doing. He got us in at 8:45 and we played Frippery No.8 (Barbershop) and got a two, which is still pretty freakin' awesome for state. Then, I camped out at my room to see if I could get in early instead of playing at 5:28 and holding the rest of the band back. I sat and I waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, 11:30 came around and I had to leave and take the theory test. After a very easy test (which caught me completely by surprise, I thought it'd be harder), I went back and camped out at my room again and waited, and waited, and waited. 4:00 came around, yes, I had been waiting at that stupid room for six hours, and Mr. R finally got me in with the trombone judge. I went in around 4:10 and performed "Reveries" by Glazunov. Finally, we got to leave and eat at Joe's. At Joe's, we enjoyed ourselves with floating buckets, pictures, and breaking forks and then we finally had our awards ceremony. I was the only one who didn't know my rating yet. Congratulations to the Euphonium Trio (2), the Flute Trio (2?), the Horn Quartet (2), the Flobarinet, or Miscelaneous Woodwind Trio (1), the Trumpet Trio (1), and the Trombone Quartet (1). As for soloists, congratulations to Julia (1), Tiffany (2), Leah (2), Tara (1), Kelsey (1), Joey (2), and Adam T. (3, it's okay Adam, three still means very good). I also found out my rating, 1! I'm excited. After Joe's, we went to the movies and half of us saw X3 and the other half (which included me) saw Over the Hedge, which, by the way, is an amazing movie. Then we went back to the hotel and just chilled out until lights out, where I fell asleep immediately.
The next day we went to Schlitterbahn! Our group, which consisted of Joey, Kelsey, Mesa, Andrea, Adam V., Stephen, Keyes, Michael, me, and at some points CJ, Cain, and Andrew rode most of the rides and Whitewater and the Torrent Wave River remain my favorites. Soda Straws come pretty close though. I have yet to ride the Master Blaster, which I really want to do. So, after a long and fun day at Schlitterbahn, we piled yet again onto the charter bus and began our long journey back home, where we finished National Treasure and watched The Last Holiday. We stopped at McDonalds/Arby's (I ate at Arby's) for a late dinner and we finally arrived back home around midnight. We got the bus unloaded and I turned in my horn and tuxedo and then I sleepily stumbled into the truck and went home.
Two sore feet, two sore arms, and a good old sunburn later, I'm sitting here writing this and smiling at all the memories. It was a great trip and a great year. Let's do it again next year! In Auburn's words, "Don't suck, blow."
posted by Chris at 9:06 AM
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