The Way Home

Day 5: Travels
Sunday, August 10, 2008

We made sure to be all packed and ready to go before falling asleep last night, so we were able to leave the hotel on time.

I forgot to write about the parking card at the hotel. Parking at the Embassy Suites is $18.00/day, with in and out priveledges. If you are a guest at the hotel, they can add all the days onto your bill, and give you a key card to get in and out. For a couple of days, I had to swipe the card 3 times before actually getting it to work, which was done with my right hand instead of the more convenient left one. Bro said that it was probably the angle of the swipe. Anyway, we would cheer whenever I'd get through on the first try. We're easily amused.

Oh! I also forgot to give a big shout-out to Angela, for sending me a copy of Rockapella's rendition of "Indiana" so that we could listen to it in the car. One of the reasons for us to go to Best Buy was to get a CD-R for me to copy it. (Contrary to what the rental car lady said, our Matrix was NOT equipped with satellite radio, so luckily, I brought my CDs as a back up for the daily drive time). When I was in the aisle looking at recordable CDs, I saw that the smallest package held 25 of them. I only wanted one, and said it aloud. The woman next to me laughed and said, "Me, too!" We should have pooled our money together and split a pack of CD-Rs, but she didn't say anything about it, and I was already overwhelmed by the various types, so I got to add a bunch of CD-Rs to my luggage. I'm glad we had more than one, because we had to try it a few times before Bro actually got it to work.

When we arrived at the airport, we saw that a bus had broken down and was blocking traffic. There you go, guys: The Santa Clara Vanguard bus! Well, Bro said that it's time they got a new bus anyway. This ended up being a problem, because the shuttle bus for the rental agency could not get to us. So one of the employees took a SUV from the rental pack and drove a group of people to the terminal. I was frightened because he seemed to drive like a maniac, and I didn't want to be a passenger in his vehicle. Bro almost did get into the 2nd group to ride because of his flight time, but thankfully, the actual bus got there, and we had a calmer experience.

I said my byes to Bro, and sat in the Southwest terminal for a really long time. Since I had a layover in Phoenix, there were a whole bunch of people from the Academy waiting for the same flight. There were also a couple of people from SCV, a guy from BD, and someone from the Colts. I just love the airport on the day after DCI finals, with all of the tired and/or excited kids. At one of the gates, a guy was drumming on his practice pad. You know those drummers just can't keep their hands still.

Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, who checked me in while I was watching drum corps, I made it into the A-boarding group, so that I could get a seat by the window to sleep during the flight. A couple with a 4-month old baby sat next to me on the plane. He seemed happy at first, but he did cry a bit during the trip. I tried to sleep through it, and did get some z's merely due to my exhaustion. An age-out from the Academy was telling his neighbor all about drum corps, so I enjoyed hearing his viewpoint.

When I arrived in Phoenix, I had another hour or so to wait, and during my wait, they changed gates, so I got to our new gate, and they had cool seats in a block which had an outlet in the armrests. I didn't feel like taking out my laptop so I didn't sit there, but I was still irritated that some people sat there that didn't have anything to plug in, even though there were plenty of empty regular seats. The flight to Ontario was pretty much uneventful, and peaceful.

I was REALLY tired when we arrived in Ontario, so I got some food to eat on the way home, then went to bed right away and took a long nap, instead of going to a party to which I had been invited. I only got up in order to watch the Olympics for a few hours before going back to bed.

I had a great time on this trip. It's nice that Bro and I get along so well that we can travel together (although there will be no Santos Siblings on the Amazing Race anytime soon, because, like, he'd kill me). I'm going to miss being able to just drive half an hour to see him, but at least the flight is only an hour long.

Thanks, Bro, for all of the laughs, and for loving Sweet Tea as much as me! You're the best Bro EVER. Love ya! I look forward to next year, at (the hopefully completed) Lucas Oil Stadium.

SUTA! SPLOOIE! RUFIO! VANGUARD!! and all of that fun stuff until Drum Corps season 2009.