16 posts tagged “rose bowl parade”

So it's January 2nd, 2009 and it's coming home day. Our first flight leaves @9am so we're up with the chickens again to shower and finish packing to make sure we get to the airport in plenty of time.  Flight 1 members of the band, including Hailey, are also up and heading out to the airport to catch their flight. They are flying out of John Wayne/Ontario, we are flying out of LAX. I've been very concerned that Hailey might get back to the school before me but looking at our flight schedules I've already determined that it looks, on paper, like I would be able to get there just a few minutes before she does. We have a layover in Houston but she has a 2 hour drive from the Atlanta airport to the school. It's going to be close!

We get checked in fine but Hailey texts me to tell me that they took her Victoria Secret body spray because it was in her carry-on. She also tells me that their flight is delayed because they are waiting on a flight attendant. This is good news to me because I really want to be there when their buses roll in!

We take off on time and have a nice flight with another movie and meal. I felt cramped because I was in the middle seat! We have the same hassle in Houston and once again I DON'T find 'outside security' in time to have a cigarette!

The sweeps and dips coming in for a landing in Birmingham make my stomach do flips but we land fine (Thank God) now I just gotta get Hailey on the ground and through that 2 hour bus ride and we will be HOME!

We get our luggage, I get my car out of the garage with $50.00 (wow) then we head to the school. It's around 5:45pm Bham time and the band is supposed to arrive at school around 6:30pm.

Just as we were turning into the school Hailey called me and said they were 15 minutes out. I couldn't believe it worked out so perfectly! Some of the 'stay in Bham' band parents had erected a Welcome Home sign for the kids. It was AWESOME!

 

Mom was anxious to get home so she headed out and I anxiously awaited the buses arrival. All of us parents were out of our cars waiting for the buses (and if I'd had a nut in my head I would have pulled out my camera, but I was tired and goofy). When the buses pulled in they received a round of applause! I got my girl and we stopped by the Pig for some food because I knew she didn't eat hardly anything there (she's picky) and I knew there was nothing at home to eat...then we headed home.

The animals went absolutely nuts when we came in (especially Heidi). Michael and Alyssa had made us a Welcome Home sign as well...

 

How sweet!

It was a fantastic trip but it was good to be home. Mom called and said she had made it home so all was right with the world. We all 3 made it there and back safely.

So that's our trip. Thanks for checking it out!

88gurl

Please see parts 1-8 first

All of the floats in the parade were beautiful but there were a couple that were my favorites.

First is the Jacko float. Now, not being from California I thought this was a float dedicated to Michael Jackson. It was only later that I realized it was about Jack in the Box, the fast-food restaurant. Who knew?

 

It was like 60s hippie dancing themed and kind of reminded me of an episode of Laugh-In!

 

 

 

My most favorite float in the parade was the Bollywood float! The colors were gorgeous and the dancers walking alongside were beautiful and it was the scene of a wedding.

 

 

 

 

The stealth bomber was late but finally showed up! I heard there was frost on the wings and they had to de-ice it before it could take off from somewhere in Kansas!

 

And now...the moment we've all been waiting for (well me and my Mom anyway)! The Homewood Patriot Marching Band making their 3rd appearance in the Tournament of Roses Parade. The Homewood Patriot Band is the first band from Alabama to ever appear in the Rose Parade and holds the record for the most appearances. I have numerous videos that I have found across the internet as well as the video that I made myself.

Anyone watching the piece of crap network called NBC probably missed our band because the scumbags chose to air a commercial while we were marching by.....a lawsuit is pending!

Video of the band being featured on ktla in Los Angeles (Homewood is shown at the beginning of the part 6 video)

KTLA actually has another video of our band as well as all of the bands and floats and equestrian units in the parade. Just keep clicking next.

HGTV gave Homewood a good bit of airtime although he spends part of it talking about a new television show and he called us the 'Hollywood' Patriot Band LOL...this video is not available online but someone cleverly filmed it on their television screen.

 

Someone I don't know also made a video of our band in the parade.

 

And finally my own video I made as they marched by our area. They were awesome!

 

GO HOMEWOOD PATRIOTS!

After the parade was over there was a mass exodus out of there!

 

We got back on our bus and rode back to our hotel.

The band was not done with this day yet...oh no...they had plans to go to the Santa Monica Pier and then have a special Mexican dinner with Mariachi band at their hotel.

Mom and I had planned to go to the pier to meet up with them but we were just too exhausted. We decided to just hang at the hotel and start packing for the trip home.

To be continued in part 10...

 

Please see parts 1-7 first

The floats and horses in the parade were simply amazing! Here are a few of my favorites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't believe Hee Haw had a float in the parade. Marty Stewart and his wife were on board.

 

The Vera Bradley float carried women who had survived breast cancer. Cynthia Nixon (Miranda from Sex and the City) was on board. She looked so pretty!

 

 

The now famous skateboarding dogs, Tyson and Tillman had their own float in the parade with a skateboarding track built right in! This float was blaring "Who Let the Dogs Out?" and it was a real crowd pleaser!

 

I believe it was one of these horses that took off with the most amazing gait I have ever seen. I believe it's called the rack or racking. I wish I had filmed that!

 

Both USC and Penn State showed up for the parade and both teams were greeted with both cheers and boos as they came by our area!

 

 

 

 

More to come including my favorite floats AND the Homewood Patriot Marching Band!

Continued in part 9...

Please see parts 1-6 first

Happy New Year!

Finally parade day is here! This is what we've been waiting for for over a year. This is the whole reason we are here. This is the BIG DEAL!

We decided to skip the free breakfast at 4am in exchange for a little extra sleep. Mom ate some poptarts in our room and I skipped breakfast. We got downstairs in plenty of time to check-in and get on our bus. Grandstand tickets at the parade as well as transportation there including a boxed lunch were the only things that were included in our trip. Our group filled up 3 buses departing from our hotel. There were some other buses at the hotel loading other groups. It was very exciting!

We got on our nice, warm charter bus and it was so nice to just be a passenger and not have to worry about being on the right bus or knowing when to get off. Ahhh!

We left the hotel around 5:45 and arrived in Pasadena around 6:30. The traffic was maddening but our driver was a pro and got us in and parked pretty quickly. We were given our tickets and were left on our own to make our way to Colorado Blvd. We had to walk a couple of blocks and I noticed this extremely long line of people. I thought maybe there was a line to get onto Colorado but it was actually the line for the porto-potties. Yikes!

We had fantastic seats! We were about a mile into the parade so the bands and floats and horses would all be fresh. We were in a grandstand in the next to the top row. Everyone sitting around us was in our group and we all talked and told them about Hailey and the band so they could all cheer for them.

I had some time to take some pre-parade photos. As the sun rose over Pasadena it was looking like a beautiful day for a parade!

 

 

 

As we waited for the parade to reach us we were treated to some skywriting!

 

 

The Goodyear blimp was flying high above to get those fantastic aerial shots you see on television.

 

 

 

 

Finally the parade reached our area! Yeah!

 

 

 

Asimo was the first float and he was astounding in stature! I heard that he actually knocked down some power lines further down the parade route.

 

Other highlights:

Chloris Leachman was a very gracious Grand Marshall.

 

Corky Conzonire, the President of the Tournament of Roses Parade rode proudly with his family. Hats off to him because he's the reason we are here!

 

 

 

I didn't photograph many of the bands because I was really trying to conserve my batteries. Our band was 56th in line so it would be a while before they came by.

One band amazed me though. It was a unified high school band from Hawaii. They were huge and amazing!

 

 

All of the bands in the parade were fantastic and while I was thoroughly enjoying myself and taking it all in I was also waiting with anticipation to see my beloved Homewood Patriot Band!

More to come!

Continued in part 8...

Please see parts 1-5 first

 

The Hollywood Tour was somewhat exhausting (especially for Mom) and we were both needing down time that just didn't seem to be available in our days. We weren't getting much sleep and the strain was starting to show. I was not looking forward to our journey to Buena Park because it involved 2 different buses and a train ride. Nevertheless, I knew we were going to make it there because we had both already paid $50.00 for our ticket and I wanted to see Hailey. This was the only day (besides travel days) that the band did not have to suit up for a performance. This was definitely a working trip for them because in addition to the 3 performances they had to do they were also still practicing! This day was for them to just be kids and have fun. I remember in New York after the parade when we all had dinner on the boat and the kids were all dressed up and had a disco on their level of the boat. They were just having a blast and I kept thinking to myself how much they deserved it. This trip they haven't even marched the parade yet and they already deserve some fun and I wanted to be there too!

The band and company (300+ people) had had breakfast on the Queen Mary on their first day but we weren't even there yet. It's really hard to find places where they can all go at once and dinner theaters are usually popular places for large bands to go when they are on trips. Dinner tonight was at the Pirate's Dinner Adventure. I had bought our tickets online and saved $20.00. The 6:00pm show was sold out so I'm glad I went ahead and bought the tickets.

On a last minute whim I called the concierge at the hotel to review our travel plans and see if he knew any better or quicker way for us to get there. He informed me that Buena Park was very far away and he felt like it was too far to take public transportation. He offered us a private car at the low, low price of $65.00 one way! Ummm.....what? Thanks but no thanks. So we hit the street to begin our journey.

We caught the blue bus to the train station where we would catch the green line train. There was a ticket kiosk and I went ahead and bought us both day passes which would cover the round trip. $5.00 for me and $1.80 for my Mom who gets a Senior discount.

The train was like an above-ground subway. It went very fast and seemed to be traveling along with the interstate traffic. We rode it for about 20 minutes. We stopped at a station called Norwalk to catch the orange bus whose final destination was Disneyland. It was getting off work time and the place was extremely crowded. This was the first bus we had ridden that had standing room only. It stopped at every stop with people getting off and more people getting on. Mom and I had to sit with other people and there were people standing in the aisles. It was quite cramped and very uncomfortable. It amazed me though, how these people utilized their public transportation. The crowd died down as we got closer to the final stop. Finally it was our stop and we got off. We had to walk about a block to the dinner theater. It was surprisingly very cold and we just wanted to get in where it was warm.

The sign out front welcomed the Homewood Band! How cool is that?

 

When we got inside the entire band and company were there and they were just mingling, having snacks, drinks and watching a pre-show. It was so good to finally be with them! I called Hailey and told her we were there. She said "Where?" She found us quickly and I gave her a big hug! We talked for a bit before she was whisked away with her group. I've been on a few of these trips over the years and I know that parents intefering or pulling their own kids away from the group is not allowed. It is a huge job to keep up with 250 kids and they do a great job at it but it also means that parents have to understand that their inteference will undermine their whole process. So I got to see her for a few minutes.

 

The theater was in the round and divided up into 6 different colored sections. Hailey was in the purple section and Mom and I were in the green section. Each section was assigned a pirate that was wearing the section color. We were to be the cheerleaders for our pirate. It was a very interactive show and some parts of it seemed like a pep rally! There were singing and dancing numbers and some incredible acrobatics. All of the performers were extremely talented. Our green pirate, a very nice-looking young guy, was amazing when they all took turns on a trampoline. There were fireworks and explosions. They didn't allow any flash photography so I didn't get any pictures. The meal was shrimp and chicken with a salad and rice, 2 glasses of beer or wine and apple cobbler for dessert. It wasn't fantastic food, but all in all it was a fun time and well worth the $50.00.

Mom was extremely exhausted from the traveling and all of the noise was making her very edgy. It seemed to go by so fast and now we had to make the grueling journey back to our hotel. Since we had crossed the street to get to the theater coming I knew that our bus stop would be on the same side of the street to go back. I saw the band loading their buses and tried to get back there to tell Hailey bye but I could not. We couldn't risk missing our bus. We started walking to the bus stop and Mom really needed to sit down. There was a little bench a few yards from the bus stop so I told her to sit there while I went to check and make sure it was the right stop. While I was checking the bus actually came and it was the right one. I asked the driver if he could drive down and pick up my Mother (he could see her sitting there it just just a few yards away)! Well, he refused and said she needed to come to the bus stop. I knew he wouldn't wait while she walked there. He just told me there would be another bus in a few minutes and shut the door in my face and drove off! I couldn't believe it! I walked to get Mom and got her to the bus stop and we just had to sit there and wait. It was freezing cold and I was wearing flip flops. I saw all 7 of the bands buses pull out and leave and I felt so sad and jealous. Even though they had the boosters on ghetto buses at least they were ON a bus! I wondered why we didn't just go ahead and pay the extra money and do the trip the other band parents did. Oh well!

Finally our bus came and we got back to the train station much quicker than before since it didn't stop near as many times. There were some Disneyland employees on the bus who had just gotten off work and we got to listen to some very interesting stories about people breaking rules and stuff. Wow! Those people had seen it all!

So we get on the train and it's just sitting there with a couple of people on it. I look at the map on the wall and we're definitely on the right train but it's not moving! As more and more buses came, more and more people got on the train. It was around 9pm on New Year's Eve so there were all kinds on that train. People still coming home from work, people going to parties, it was crazy! After about 30 minutes of sitting there finally the train left (driving backwards, which was weird) and we flew back through the interstate traffic and arrived at the station around 10:15. Due to missing the first bus and the train being delayed we had missed our final bus back to the hotel that was supposed to come at 10:02. There were no buses there and I was worried. I called the concierge to see if the shuttle could come pick us up since we were very close but he said they couldn't do that. Finally another blue bus came. The driver needed to take a quick bathroom break so he parked the bus for five minutes before he let us get on. He was so nice when I asked him if he was going to Century and Aviation. He said sure I'll get you there! Whew!

I have never been so glad to see a hotel in my life!

Mom crashed but I stayed up to watch the ball in New York drop on TV.

Tomorrow was the big day, parade day and we had breakfast at 4am and loading of the buses at 5am. I left another ridiculously early wake-up call and crashed myself.

Happy New Year!

continued in part 7...

Please see parts 1-4 first

After wandering around in this Grove place for probably 30 minutes we finally found the entrance to The Farmer's Market. I was completely gahgah! It was so cute! There were all these little shops and food stands and a whole produce section just like in the grocery store. I even saw an entire little store that sold nothing but different hot sauces! I took as many pictures as I could before we had to return to the tour bus.

 

 

 

 

 

I could have stayed in there a whole nother hour but we had to get back to the bus so he didn't leave us!

When we made it back to the street where the bus was parked we noticed a couple of the band's buses driving by!

I pulled out my phone to call Hailey and see where she was and noticed I had a missed call. It was her! She was in the Farmer's Market but we didn't have time to go back in! I looked and her bus was parked right in front of our tour bus! Can you believe it? It's now Wednesday afternoon and besides a brief glimpse of her at Bandfest I haven't seen my daughter since early Sunday morning.

 

 

So, feeling deflated I told Hailey that I would see her at the dinner theater FOR SURE and we got on our bus to leave.

This was pretty much the end of our tour but our guide pointed out a few other things on the way back to the hotel. Most notably, the house where Marilyn Monroe lived.

 

All in all it was a great tour. We saw so much and our guide was both knowledgeable and very funny. He really engaged the crowd. At one point he even let me sit in the passenger seat. I don't think there is any way we could have seen as much as we did trying to tour on our own. What I didn't realize, and I guess a lot of people don't realize how HUGE this place is. I was glad we took this tour and we got back to our hotel around 2:30 so we had an hour before we had to begin our journey to Buena Park.

To be continued in part 6...

Please see parts 1-3 first

December 31st, 2008

It's New Year's Eve in California!

The band was scheduled to go on a tour of Hollywood and other key areas and we were going to try and meet up with them sometime during the day. Before we left I had already found a double-decker topless bus tour for us that sounded pretty good. It departed from Mann's Chinese Theater at 9:30am. The cost was $20.00 which was reasonable compared to some of the others. This was our plan when we went to bed but when the wake-up call came we were both so exhausted we decided to consider other options since in order for us to get on the tour bus at 9:30 we would have to get on the city bus around 6:30am AGAIN. We already had plans to meet the band at a dinner theater in Buena Park for the evening and that bus/train trip was long and we needed to leave the hotel for that at 3:30pm to be there in time for the 6pm show so my calculations were showing me that we would be not only exhausted from riding buses but also cutting it very close. We had already paid $100.00 for our tickets to the dinner theater and this would be my only chance to actually physically touch my daughter and I was determined to get there! So, once again, I consulted the concierge for some other options for us. It turned out the hotel offered a Hollywood Tour through an outfit called VIP Tours and they picked up right at the hotel at 9am and we would return around 2pm with NO CITY BUS RIDES! The cost was $55.00 each and we went for it.

Our tour guide was a very knowledgeable guy named Monday (no kidding, that was his name). We started out by heading to the coast and drove through Marina Del Ray and then Santa Monica but due the strange fog that had moved in overnight we couldn't see much. (some of these photos are take through the window of the tour bus so they aren't that great)

 

 

 

Our first stop was Venice Beach and we got only 15 minutes. Although it was foggy and kind of dead since it was winter. There were a few surfers in the water and I even saw a guy rollerblading down the boardwalk. I can just imagine how it is there in the summertime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the sun got hot and we headed further inland the fog burned off and it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny California day. We drove through so many different areas that I've lost track so I'm just going to post the best of the best of my photos.

 

 

 

 

 

This house is currently owned by Merv Griffin but was once owned by Eddie Murphy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was Hollywood Blvd and this place was just about as freaky as Times Square! We only had 20 minutes and the crowd was insane so I snapped as many pics as I could and my Mom was accosted by a cross-dressing Cat Woman!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our bus was parked one block over right beside Hollywood High School. I cannot imagine what it's like for the kids going to this school! Our tour guide told us that Carol Burnett graduated here.

 

Despite many attempts and sightings both inside and outside the tour van I was unable to get a photo of the Hollywood sign.

Once we were back on the bus we rode and rode and rode and saw many more places than I can even remember. Our tour guide seemed to know everything about every street and place in this town.

I had spoken with Hailey several times telling her where we had been and it seemed they were going to the same places we were about 30 minutes behind us. Our next stop was the Farmer's Market and I was hoping that I could see her there.

When we arrived at the Farmer's Market our tour guide gave us one hour. My Mom and I got trapped in this place called The Grove, which is a super high-end outdoor shopping area. It was nice but I wanted to see the Farmer's Market and Hailey!

 

To be continued in part 5...

 

Please see parts 1 and 2 first

Bandfest was amazing! I had scheduled in a little free time in Pasadena before we headed back to our hotel. The band was headed to the Rose Bowl to have their picture made and although I really wanted to go there, that would mean another bus excursion and I wasn't sure we could even get there in time. Luckily, one of the band boosters got a picture of them so I could see how they looked.

 

Of course, the professional one that I buy won't have the cones and stuff in it.

So Mom and I just walked around and I got some amazing pictures. Pasadena is a beautiful city and is surrounded by mountains. Just gorgeous! The whole city was buzzing with excitement and was already decked out and set up for the upcoming parade!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being from the South, seeing palm trees and mountains in the same photo is just plain fascinating!

We ate lunch at a Carl's Jr. I wanted to eat at Jack in the Box but Mom didn't find it appealing. It was good but the same as Hardee's here.

Soon it was time to catch our bus back to the hotel. I figured it would be pretty easy, just do what we did to get here but in reverse. Sounds simple enough right?

So first we had to locate our bus stop which would be on the opposite side of the street from where we got off before. We found that no problem and our bus came right on time. We flew back through Hollywood on the Red Rabid bus! We arrived back at the layover place where we had changed buses before. We crossed the street and then I got confused because there were 2 stops very close together. We needed the Metro 460 to Century and Aviation. While I was trying to figure out which stop to wait at a 460 came, I didn't notice that it said LAX as the destination. So we got on. The bus driver was extremely rude and I actually through he might have some kind of mental disorder because everytime I asked him if he was going to Century and Aviation he just kept saying "this bus goes to the airport". Finally I asked a passenger and she told us that we were on the wrong 460 that this one only went to the airport but we could catch another bus there to get back to our hotel. Whew!  So we changed buses once more (got a nice driver this time) and got dropped off right by our hotel. Man were we beat! It was only about 4 in the afternoon but it felt like 7 or 8!

Despite of the couple of glitches in our plan, all in all I thought we did good getting to Pasadena and back. For some reason as soon as we got into the lobby Mom wanted to go to the bar and get a drink (so unlike her). We had margs made by a very nice bartender named Mauricio! Then we went up to our room.

We were too tired to go out again for dinner and couldn't afford to eat at the hotel. We had ordered a pizza the night before and had some left. We ate that and crashed. I think I fell asleep in about 5 minutes.

We had an early wake-up call for the next day and it would prove to be a doosie!

Continued in part 4....

Please view part 1 first...

 

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Since Mom and I had opted out of the booster trip offered by the travel agency the band used for something a little cheaper, aside from parade day we were basically going to be on our own as far as where we went and how we got there. We wanted to do as many things with the band as possible. This was going to require some planning.

The first thing we were going to do with the band was attend Bandfest. Bandfest is an event held at Pasadena City College a couple of days prior to the Rose Parade. It features all of the bands chosen to march in the parade doing their field shows as well as a 'pass in review' which is just a sneak peek at how they will look and sound when they march in the big parade. Bandfest DOES NOT feature the bands from the two teams playing in the Rose Bowl because they did not audition for the parade. Bandfest is held over two days in 3 different sessions. I had bought our tickets online months ago so now the only challenge was getting us there!

Since there was no way we could afford cabs I knew that we were going to have to utilize the very efficient public transportation system in LA county. I had found a fabulous website called www.socaltransit.com before we left and already mapped out the commutes to the places we were going...but as they say things always look better on paper. We were about to find that out!

 

It was about a two hour trip and we wanted to get there early so we could get good seats so we were catching our first bus at 6:24am at a bus stop just across the street from our hotel. LA county doesn't have just one bus line like they do here in Birmingham, they have multiple bus lines that stop here, there and everywhere. It's very confusing but I had my instruction from the site so I figured (hoped) we'd be OK. Right off the bat we miss our bus because it came a few minutes early. As buses stopped I would ask them where they were going and none of them were the right one. I frantically called the concierge at the hotel (Thank God I remembered to bring the hotels phone number with me). He was great and told us the bus we needed to take would be along again in about 30 minutes. So we waited and finally our big orange bus showed up! I was so glad because my Mom (always the negative, doubting thomas) was ready to hang it up and go back to the hotel. Not me! I knew that I was getting there no matter what because I wanted to see my daughter! The bus driver was so nice and we chatted about how much she liked Alabama (she had been to Montgomery once). When we reached our stop to change buses at a layover station she showed us which bus we would need to get on which was red. Our next bus would take us all the way to Pasadena. This bus line was called the 'Metro Rapid' and I quickly found out why! This guy drove like a bat out of hell! I felt like I was on a ride at an amusement park. I kept thinking we were going to wreck but then I realized that this guy knew what he was doing and I just held on tight!

We drove through some of the Hollywood area on the way to Pasadena and it was beautiful!

 

Finally we arrived in Pasadena! It was just a little after 9am and the show didn't start until 10 so we were OK, not as early as we had wanted to get there though. The bus let us out right in front of the college and we walked right in only to find a very long line of people going into the stadium. It was very small, not much bigger than what you would find at a large high school and once we got inside all of the good seats were gone. We wound up sitting on the front row on the 10 yardline. This is not the best place to see the show but it turned out to be a great place to see the pass in review.

The Pasadena City College Honor Band is the only band that has an open invitation to march in the parade every year. Among the college students they choose high school students from around the country to march with them. This band had to perform at all 3 Bandfest sessions as well as march in the Rose Parade. Whew!

 

Mom and I were all decked out in our matching Homewood Patriot sweatshirts and immediately started to sweat! It was freaking hot as hell in Pasadena once the sun came up. We were melting with the sun baring down and no shade whatsoever. It felt like the first football game in August in Alabama and I started to worry about the band members falling out because they had been in their uniforms for hours already!

Oh, before the bands started performing they had this weird music therapy thing. We were all give these little 'drums' on our way in and were instructed to play what the lady played. I didn't really get it and I didn't participate.

 

Finally it was time for Homewood to perform. I got that same little nervous excitement that I always get when the band is performing for people that are not from Homewood. It just kind of makes you feel good when people that have never seen the band enjoy them. It's just a tingly pride thingy! I knew I wasn't going to be able to film the show when I saw the crappy seats we had so I just resolved myself to watching. This was the last time that they would do this show and the last time EVER that Hailey would do a show! They came out and blew everybody away!

 

 

Immediately following the show they morphed into parade formation to do their pass in review.

 

 

Suddenly I realized that I was in a great spot to make a video....so I did! Pardon my screaming but I hadn't seen my daughter since Sunday and I was just a little overwhelmed when I saw her!

 

Someone else filmed our pass in review from a much better seat and did not scream. Their video is much better!

 

Finally I found a great tribute video that someone made featuring the pass in review of all of the bands that performed at Bandfest. They are all spectacular! There are no slouchy bands in the Rose Parade!

 

This was an incredible experience and I was so proud after seeing our band pep up that crowd that I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face!

 

To be continued in part 3

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

Just as soon as the last present was opened on Christmas Day we quickly switched to 'California Mode'. We had packing and planning to do as Hailey was leaving in just 3 days. I was having some anxiety but not as much as I would have expected. This was a very big deal because first, Hailey had never flown and the farthest away from me she had ever gone was Gatlinburg, TN. She was very excited! I helped her pack and we selected outfits and jewelry and also made sure she didn't forget anything AND that her suitcase wasn't over the weight limit.

The band was departing on a staggered schedule on 4 different flights. Flights 1,2 and 3 would take charter buses to Atlanta and take direct flights to California. Flight 4 would depart from the Birmingham airport and experience a layover somewhere. Hailey was on flight 1. She had to be at school at 2am to catch her bus to Atlanta. It was exciting but I was slightly nervous because there were some storms coming this way from the west. I made a video of them leaving and let me tell you, as a parent, watching those buses drive away knowing my daughter was flying across the country was a very strange feeling.

 

Once I got back home I couldn't sleep. We talked on the phone a few times and she made it to Atlanta fine. She texted me one last time once she got on the plane before they made them turn off their phones. I was sending texts to her but she wasn't answering...I knew we were at this point, cut off from each other. I had to find some way to feel connected to her and luckily Delta has a flight tracking application on their website. I just entered in the flight number and it showed me this map and where the plane was, their altitude, their time in the air and their remaining time before landing. This was a Godsend for me! I watched it and messed around on the net for a while and I was finally able to get a nap. When I woke up and refreshed the map the plane was 30 minutes away from landing. She called me as soon as possible once she landed and I was very relieved but then a new strange feeling set in: my daughter is in California and I'm here! What if she needs me? What if she gets hurt? What if, what if, what if? I had to really suck it up. I trust the band director and all of the school staff and I knew that they would take good care of her. I went to work to finish up some things and pass the time before I had to pack my own bags. Hailey had to take another long bus ride to their hotel in Long Beach. Once she got to her hotel she called me and said she was already homesick. That broke my heart! I reminded her that I would be there tomorrow. We said good-night and I didn't sleep worth a crap!

Monday, December 29th, 2008

I met Mom at the school where she was going to leave her car at 4:30am. We had both flown before but years ago (pre-9/11) and had always been with a man who 'took care of all that stuff' so we didn't really know what to do or where to go so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to catch our 9:55am flight to Houston. We got through the check-in fine and then had a little time to chill before we went through security to our gate.

Hailey called me bright and early and said they were leaving their hotel for a long day at Disneyland and California Adventure (which included a performance). I told her I would be there soon!

A co-worker of mine had loaned me an old laptop of his to bring along so I could move pics and videos off of my camera during the trip. I had packed it in the very bottom of my carry-on bag. Well, they made me take it out (first lesson learned the hard way) to get through security. Other than that we got through fine. I tell you what, those people don't play around and they have NO sense of humor LOL!

Finally it was time to board the plane. This plane was very small. It wasn't exactly a prop-jet but it definitely wasn't a 757! I think it seated about 80 people and there was only one flight attendant. It had one single row of seats on one side, a very small aisle and a 2-seat row on the other side. Once everyone got their carry-on baggage situated and seated (I let Mom have the window seat) of course we had to just sit there and wait to leave. I could feel my anxiety increasing. When the plane lifted off and I started feeling the combination of G-forces and then weightlessness I panicked and chewed 2 Xanax dry! Finally, once the pills started working and we got to cruising altitude I felt a little better. We landed in Houston with no problem. This was when the real fun began? If any of you have ever been to the Houston airport you will know what I mean when I say this airport is HUGE!

I learned a very hard lesson very quickly: apparently when you get 'secure' at one airport and get on a plane you're still considered 'secure' when you get off the plane at another airport. I had one thing on my mind during our hour long layover and that was getting a cigarette! When I asked where I could go to smoke I was told to go to 'outside security' (wherever the hell that is)! First we needed to find our gate. We had to take a monorail to get there. And then we rode one of those golf cart things through the airport. Once we found our gate I asked someone where 'outside security' was and they directed me there. I left Mom at our gate with our bags and our boarding passes...big mistake! I found the entrance to 'outside security' and was told I would need my ID and my boarding pass to get back 'into security'. I walked all the way back to the gate to get them and our plane was already boarding. DAMN! I was NOT a happy camper.

Our second plane was a 757 with 3 seats on each side of the aisle and seemed more to me like a plane should be. There were multiple flight attendants and we were going to get a meal and a movie during the flight. I wanted a drink!  We had margaritas and a salad and some burrito thing. It was OK for plane fare. This plane ride was much smoother and I was much more relaxed and even slept a bit. We landed at LAX around 3pm CA time. FINALLY I could have a cigarette. I sent Mom to get our checked bags as I hit the door! I smoked 3 cigs while we waited for the shuttle to our hotel.

We stayed at the Westin-LAX and it was a very nice hotel. The lobby was bustling with Penn State fans! There wasn't much around the hotel except other hotels but our room was very nice and the beds were awesome. The staff was incredible!

 

 

 

 

 

I called Hailey and told her we were in California. They had just finished their performance at Disneyland and were going to spend the rest of the night at California Adventure. I was heart-broken that I wasn't able to be there to see them in Disneyland because I've never missed a performance, but it just wasn't possible. Luckily, someone made a video of our band! I don't know who made this or why, but I was so happy to find it!

Note: For the first 3 minutes or so they are just waiting to march. The place looks packed and they were having some trouble clearing the street so please be patient! Thanks!

 

I knew they were all exhausted from the traveling but as always, when they put on those uniforms they just do what they do and they do it very well!

We just chilled at the hotel for the evening because we had a 3am wake-up call to go to Pasadena for Bandfest the next morning. We were exhausted and still on Alabama time so we went to bed around 7:45.

To be continued in part 2...