Day 1 - Sunday 29^th - CA->AZ->NV->UT

Our adventure actually started early on Sunday, June 29th when we set off from Mission Viejo for our 1,585 mile odyssey in the Band truck. The first problem we hit was with the truck overheating. It runs fine normally, but some of the hills, especially the one out of St. George, UT, were a problem. The 6% grade, 27,500 lbs. of truck and equipment and 108F outside temperature added up to a little too much. Climbing at 25 MPH in 3rd gear (its a 6 speed), with the HEATER on (remember it is 108 F outside), got us up the hill to our first stop at Cedar City, UT.

We drove for several more hours to make up for the lost time and then discovered that finding a hotel in MT at 10:00 pm was not too easy. There are very few towns on the I 15, less with hotels and even less with hotels that one would consider staying at. Fortunately, we managed to get the last room at the Best Western in Dillon, MT.

The good news is the rain never arrived and we were safely on the road again bright and early the next morning.

The kids are all EXTREMELY excited to be here and had a total blast setting up their 'spaces' and making 3D shapes with the spare air mattresses. The alumni 'staff' actually set up a tent at one end of the gym and another group set up the Fender PA system with an IPOD and had Beatles music reverberating around the school halls within minutes of arriving.

Everyone arrived safely and the gym finally went quiet around 2:00 am. Following breakfast, the kids had their first rehearsal in Canada (see the Kodak site for LOTS of pictures). The weather was perfect - sunny and cool -this is good news since they perform in tomorrow's 4.5 km parade around the same time of day as this morning's rehearsal. Rehearsal was very productive and the kids are sounding great.

The school is now filled with bands from several nations including Germany, Finland, Scotland, Canada and The U.S.A.

After rehearsal and lunch, we boarded school busses and headed for downtown Calgary. This was a chance for the kids to see the City, buy some souvenirs and see the City from the top of the 626' Calgary tower. One cool feature of the tower is a glass platform that you can walk on and see the street 626' below.

Next it was load the buses and head back to the school for dinner and a trip to the Leisure Center where the main attraction was an indoor version of Wild Rivers. The kids had a ball. Needless to say, taking pictures was not appropriate but I did snap a couple of wide angles to give you an idea of how the place looked.

 Finally is was back to the school where several of the kids joined the multinational soccer game that was already in progress on the practice field. It was difficult to tell who was on which team but a good time was had by all until it got dark and then the swarms of mosquitoes caused the game to come to a rather premature ending.

Tomorrow is parade day following breakfast at 6:00 am. The parade is expected to attract 300,000 spectators and will be televised nationally.

I've been told that there will be a LIVE VIDEO FEED on the Calgary Stampede Website.

Mission has the honor of starting second in the parade behind the Stampede's own parade band.

6:00 a.m. breakfast arrived way too early this morning. But sausage and pancakes were just what we needed to get us going for the busy day ahead. The buses were loaded by 7:15 and the convoy (the kids in uniform and the parents in their cowboy hats) headed off toward downtown. (Thank you Susan for the flags -- we taped them to the mirrors of the truck in honor of our holiday!)  The convoy consisted of buses, trucks and other support vehicles from several bands. The convoy came complete with a huge police escort that closed all the intersections in our path so that we didn't have to stop as we hurtled toward downtown.  What a treat!

The streets were already lined with people who had arrived early to stake out their spots. We also passed thousands of folks carrying blankets, pillows and lawn chairs trying to get in position before the parade got underway.

After a few last minute preparations we were ready to line up.  The sound of bands warming up and TV helicopters buzzing overhead filled the air. As usual, our Drumline drew a huge crowd during their warm-up. We started to move forward and were greeted by a new sound... that of a railway crossing gate that was about to close. The red flashing lights came on and the gates came down, splitting our band into 2 halves !

Everybody got out of the way safely and the trains passed without further incident.

The next sound that we heard was the roar of two military jets as they flew overhead announcing the official start of the parade.

The weather was cool and cloudy - perfect parade weather. The streets were lined with thousands of people (we were told about 300,000) including many excited children and even construction workers who were taking a break to watch the parade go by. Many more watched from the balconies, windows and walkways that overlooked the route and even more watch on National Canadian TV.

The band looked and sounded great and were well received by the excided crowd. As our band went passed, many spectators shouted "Happy Birthday", a reference to our 4th of July Holiday.  There was one unfortunate incident when an equestrian group arrived late for the parade and tried to maneuver into their assigned position in front of our band. Their horses became spooked by our drums and flags and they demanded that we stop performing until they had passed. Unfortunately for us, this was the exact time that we were passing by the first set of judges... grrrrrr.  However, when the band started playing "Zippity Do Da", and the spectators recognized that we were from California, they started cheering, clapping and waving.  The kids were thrilled! 

The route is roughly 3 miles and by the time we got to the end everyone was exhausted.  After a brief rest and several bottles of water, the truck and buses were loaded and we headed back to the school for a much needed rest in anticipation of our BBQ provided by the Calgary Stampede Committee.  Burgers, dogs, potato salad and coleslaw were on the menu, and the kids ate ravenously.  Unfortunately, in the middle of the BBQ, the skies opened up, and it poured buckets -- complete with thunder and lightening!  Most of the kids dashed toward the school -- a few of them stood in the middle of field and danced in the rain :-)  It poured for about 1/2 hour, then the skies cleared and the fun really began.  A football match (soccer game to us Yanks) had been organized between the band from Denmark and our band.  Of course we knew we were in trouble from the start.  What transpired is difficult to describe in words -- the band from Denmark lined up at the end of the field, and with our kids and the Danes holding hands in a line, they first played our National Anthem, and then the Danish National Anthem.  What a moment!  Those students on both teams who did not participate in the game brought out their instruments and each side had its own pep band.  The field was full of spectators, music, rifles, and us cheerleader parents.   With a score of ~10 to 0, in the final 5 minutes of the game, Team Mission Viejo scored a goal to avoid the shut-out.  On an assist by Ian, Anthony Duval kicked in the goal -- our side went wild!  You would have thought we actually WON the match, and we were expecting Anthony to be hoisted on the team's shoulders and carried off the field!  It was a wonderful evening, and the kids (and us parents) had a truly marvelous 4th of July!  We hope you all enjoyed your day, also.  It's early to bed tonight as we are off early tomorrow to Banff and Lake Louise. 

We are all just having too much fun!  Til tomorrow ...

Day 7 - Saturday 5^th - Banff, Lake Louise and Other Mountains and Lakes

Today was another full day starting with breakfast at 6:30 am, on the buses at 7:15am and not returning until around 10:00 pm.

Our first stop was Johnston Canyon Falls, about 2 hours NW of Calgary. The scenery on the drive up was beautiful. Towering snow capped mountains, tall fir trees, lush meadows and millions of tiny yet colorful flowers lining the route.

A 1/2 mile hike alongside a stream took us to the lower falls.

After a brief stop at the falls, we jumped back on the buses and headed towards Lake Louise. On the way there we we given a spectacular view of the Canadian Rockies, including the glaciers.

Before reaching Lake Louise, we took a short detour to Moraine Lake. A short hike up a rocky path put us high above this jewel colored turquoise lake.

A short time later we arrived at Lake Louise itself. All I can say is WOW! Now I understand why this is the most popular tourist destination in Canada. 'Spectacular' doesn't even come close to describing it.

Next stop on our trip is the Gondola at Banff. The ride caries us up 2,200 feet to the summit of Sulphur Mountain, The peak of 7,486 feet provides the most wonderful views of Banff and the surrounding Rockies.

Following the Gondola ride, we head into Banff for dinner and shopping.

Banff reminded me somewhat of Solvang - candy stores, gift shops, restaurants, hotels and tourists (although many more of each than Solvang).

Today was the highlight of my trip so far. Tomorrow we rehearse in the morning and then head off to see the Main Stampede Complex for the first time. We'll be performing a stand-up run-though of our show on the Saddledome Steps in Downtown Calgary, followed by a march through the Stampede grounds. The it's back into street clothes for an evening of fun, including the famous Chuck Wagon Races.

p.s.

We had hoped to see a moose today... but as Mr. Hannan kindly pointed out... the closest thing to a 'mangy moose' we're going to see is the one taking the pictures... gee thanks John ;-)

Day 8 - Sunday 6^th - Stampede Park

We arrived at the school around 10:00 am this morning, just in time to watch a full run through of the show. The show is now sounding really good and there was a large round of applause at the end from the small crowd of Danish and German onlookers who are sharing the school with our kids. 

After lunch, we boarded the buses to head down to Stampede Park for today's performances. The park is like a combination of the OC Fair Grounds, Del Mar Race Track and the Staples Center. The kids did a stand-still performance on a large stage next to the Saddledome, followed by a second performance as they marched the length of the fair. The performances were very well received by the fair goers and several kids wanted their pictures taken standing next to our Band and Color Guard members - very cute - they felt like rock stars!

We had one brief scare with the truck when we noticed one of the railway bridges that we went under was only 2 inches higher than the height of the truck.  On the return journey we saw, just in time, that the bridge on the return side of the road was in fact 4 inches lower at 12' 10" (our truck is 13'). We ended up taking a lengthy detour just to find a bridge that was high enough for us to pass under.

The "Stampede" was much like the OC Fair, with overpriced rides and too much fried food.  In lieu of fried Snickers Bars, the fried sweet of choice was "Deep Fried Oreos".  We are not sure how many of our kids partook of this delicacy, but we did hear grumblings of "upset tummies" on the way home :-) 

We met up again at 6:30 pm and walked over to the Grandstand area to watch the famous "Chuck Wagon Races".  I still don't really understand the rules, but basically there are 4 teams of 8 horses in each race, and a total of 8 races.  4 horses from each team pulled the chuck wagon and the others were ridden by "outriders". The race starts by the outriders loading a keg and a stove into their wagon (not an easy task with 4 nervous horses ready to run). 
It was great fun but, after the 4th race, the clouds opened up (again complete with heavy thunder and lightening), and everyone got soaked!  Fortunately it was almost time to leave anyway and, at this point, we all piled back into the buses and headed back to the school to warm up and dry out.

Tomorrow we perform a stand-still performance at Rope Square (Downtown), and return to the school for a couple hours of practice in preparation for the competition on Tuesday. 

Stay tuned...

Today started with breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes) followed by a stand-still performance in Rope Square (Downtown). We were somewhat disappointed to find out that our original 30 minute performance time had been cut to 5 minutes and we would only have time to do a stand-still of our parade music. There was a large crowd at the Square and the kids' performance was very well received. The next couple of hours were free time to have lunch and shop, followed by loading the buses and heading back to the school for rehearsal.

The clouds were starting to look ominous as we were unloading the truck and we barely had time to run through each movement once before the lightening and thunder signaled that it was time to quit. We had just got everything off the field before the rain started. We did our best to keep the equipment covered with tarps as it was loaded into the truck but by the time we had finished, everyone was soaked and the rain had turned to hail.

Within 15 minutes, the sun came out, the clouds blew away and the sky turned from black to blue.

The next event on the agenda was 'glow bowling'. This turned out to be very similar to our ten pin bowling except that it used just 5 pins, each bowler can bowl 3 times per frame, and the center pins have higher point values than the outer ones. Judging by the noise level, a good time was had by all.

We also took this opportunity to celebrate the birthdays of the students who are celebrating their big day while away from home.  The birthday cakes were enjoyed by all! 

More tomorrow following the Field Show Competition . . . the kids are really looking forward to finally performing their show ("real music" as they call it -- they have had enough of "Zippity Do Da"!) . . . fingers crossed !

Tuesday was another LONG day for everyone. It started with the routine early breakfast at the school followed by the short bus ride through Downtown to Stampede Park. There was a different feeling within the group today. Today was the day that we'd come 1500 miles for. It was our chance to show everyone what Mission can do.

The kids were simply amazing during Prelims. There were a couple of minor drill errors but musically they sounded close to perfection. When it came time to announce the awards, everyone was apprehensive. This was a difficult competition to judge with so many different types of bands (e.g. How would the judges rank us against a much smaller, yet wonderful, Scottish Pipe Band?)

We didn't have to wait to long before we found out the answer. Mission Viejo High School Diablo Marching Band and Color Guard finished 1st in Prelims with a score that was 4 points clear of their nearest rivals. We heard later that the percussion judge awarded us 19.6 out of a possible 20 (or 98% !).

Following awards, members of other bands came up and congratulated us on our score and wanted to find out more about our kids and where they came from ,etc.

The afternoon gave us a chance to relax a little, check out the fair and eat some more fried food and win some cuddly toys. Much to everyone's delight, dinner was pizza... LOTS and LOTS of pizza!

The Finals performance was visually cleaner than Prelims, with the Color Guard looking magnificent! There were many close-ups of the girls shown on the overhead video screen (Jumbotron) and they were all smiles and simply beautiful. This time the percussion judge was out on the field for the performance and it was clear from his gestures and some overheard remarks that he was very impressed by our drummers. The final score was 91.3 leaving us almost 4 points clear of second place. An amazing performance by any standard - great job Mission!

The band was given the honor of performing a victory lap around the Stadium before leaving to be greeted by the crowds outside. The Danish Veijen Garden Boys Band even formed up next to our kids and played 'congratulations' to them. This was a time for celebration, pictures, hugs and tears - especially for the Seniors for whom this represents their final performance with this wonderful band.

Getting back to the school was somewhat exciting for the truck drivers. We were supposed to follow the buses who were taking a detour for us to avoid the dreaded 12'10" bridge.  Unfortunately, due to the heavy traffic leaving the Stampede grounds, we became separated and ended up getting lost. After a few laps through some hotel parking lots and a tour of the river district, Rosie, our trusty GPS, spoke up and guided us safely back to the school.  The final event of the long day was a surprise Ice Cream Sundae Social organized by the parents for the kids.  While scooping out the frozen rock solid ice-cream was a bit of challenge, the kids were patient and, in the end, they all enjoyed their just desserts :-)

Tomorrow we have our final stand-still performance at the South Centre Mall, followed by a pancake breakfast.  Then it is back to the school to relax, say goodbyes and pack for the journey home.  These 8 days have passed way too fast!

Well this is it, the last full day in Calgary, the last performance of our 2007 Field Show, the Seniors' last performance with Mission, and our final entry in "Calgary Chronicles".

We'd heard mention of the pancake breakfasts but were surprised at the scale of the event. There are several each morning during the Stampede, the entire City is invited, and it is totally free. They had rows of booths serving pancakes and each booth had a line of people stretching halfway across the Mall parking lot. There were hundreds of tables, all filled with people surrounding the performance area and stage.

The kids marched up with the drummers playing Cadence and then settled in to start their performance. I stood near the back and as the kids played, more and more people looked up from their breakfast to fully take in what was coming from the stage. The show sounded as wonderful as ever and Mission received a huge ovation at the completion of the show.

This afternoon the kids went to the mall to spend their last Canadian Dollars and maybe catch a movie, then back to the school to pack up and get ready to head home to California tomorrow. The atmosphere at the school this evening was magical. Everyone was tired but not to tired to smile and spend a few precious minutes chatting with the friends that they had made during the trip. Many of our kids exchanged shirts with the Strasburg band members and some, including my son, were seen teaching the Strasburg drummers Mission's cadence using German drums.

For those of you who were unable to come this time, we hope that you've enjoyed our "Calgary Chronicles" BLOG and that you'll be able to experience Calgary yourself, maybe even when Mission returns here in 4 years' time.

Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible... there are far too many to mention, but special thanks to Kris Campoli, Chris Rottenberg, Karen Overmeyer, Mary Alice Blanchard and John Hannan for making this dream come true. Thank you also to all of the chaperones, our "taxi" drivers (Anthony and Dean), parents, bus drivers (Bob, Rick & Abert), pit pushers, Paula, Loraine and the all the cafeteria team. Thank you to the Calgary Stampede organizers, especially our liaison David Koop - your hospitality and organization are beyond compare.  Best of luck to Frank and Tanner in returning our truck home safely.

YEE HAW ! from Calgary - Go Mission Eh!