The trip for me started with a 2-hour delay at the gate at LAX, but that didn't bother me. I sat next to a very cute little girl named Michelle who was very well-behaved. After I landed I got my checked bags and figured out the shuttle thing when Graham called - he'd somehow gotten to the hotel before me. Then I got to the hotel we met up and went for dinner. Graham chose Ruby Tuesday's rather than fast food. He had salmon in a peanut sauce (ew!) and I hat pot roast.

The busses still hadn't come in so I said I'd go to his room to watch whatever football game was on that night but when I got to my room to change my shirt I found one of my face medicines had leaked and somehow rubbed turqoise from some colored plastic onto my shirts, so I was trying to get all that out of my clothes when Graham came looking for me so then I had to throw on a shirt and then we watched the came in my room.

Becky and Kim came in later that night and the next day we played a short parade at DinseyWorld, then after changing and various conferences, Becky, Graham, Michael (the drum major), Laura, and I decided to use our "one day one park" free pass on the Magic Kingdom. After a few rides Walker arrived with Cliff (this really quiet trombone), and Graham went to the parking lot to give them their passes, during which time the rest of us went on the Carousel of Progress, which featured hokey animatronics and a song that got stuck in our heads but it was indoors and had seats, which I enjoyed.

Throughout the afternoon we rode Space Mountain, Splash mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which we rode three times, which was funny because Michael had been saying it was really boring before Walker came and then Walker says right off the bat that it's his favorite), among other rides. Michael kept talking about when he came in high school the Haunted Mansion was a make-out ride, and Laura told how if the ride stops a voice says "Please remain seated in your....DOOOM buggy" which greatly amused us so Michael bet Laura dinenr and Becky bet Laura dessert (neither of which ever paid up) she couldn't make the announcement play. So as soon as we got on the ride she stood up very nicely with her hands folded. As Michael said, the guy behind the camera was probably going "This is the best behaved hooligan we've ever had!" Once we passed a camera the ride stopped, the announcement played just as Laura had said, and all of us burst out clapping. We wondered what they thought.

On the Buzz Lightyear ride, where you shoot targets to rack up points, the ride stopped for about 2 minutes as we were at the entrance to the first room so I spun our car in a full circle, shooting the whole time. I looked down and my score was 800,000! I thought I must have accidentally found a 100,000 point target, so I tried to find it, and maxed out my score (999,999) before we left the first room. In comparison, Graham and Walker were the next highest scores in our group and they got between 100,000 and 200,000.

In line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad I weirded out Graham by saying I could picture him with a facial piercing but not Michael or Walker. But I can.

Most of the stupid quotes from the trip came from me. I said, when some Disney Princess crayons passed me by in the gift shop, "I can't imagine drawing with a head," which I didn't find too dirty but everyone else laughed at. Then, the worst one was when Becky was bemoaning that guys won't say what they want as gifts to which Walker and Graham argued "Because we don't know" and then they bemoaned how hard girls are to shop for because girls know what they want but won't say which I agree is a harder situation. So I was going to say that the generic gift for a girl is candles and scented bath
stuff, and then would say that the girl will at least pretend to like it, though I know I never end up using most of it. However, it the middle of this conversation someone called Becky, whose phone was set to silent and was in my purse. So while my brain stopped for at least 30 seconds to realize what was going on in my bag and explain, I couldn't understand why everyone was laughing hysterically. Walker was actually doubled over and it wasn't until he wheezed out "In the same breath!" that I stopped, thought for at least a minute, and realized what I had been saying: "Just get a girl candles and some scented bath stuff....and I'm vibrating."

Michael got Mickey ears and had George P. Burdell embroidered on the back, and Mickey gloves and all the drum majors wore them at the game.

After DisneyWorld Graham's whole room (Graham, Michael, Walker, and a freshman Brendan) came over and we all watched Sports Center together and ate cookies, which I must say I greatly prefer to drinking parties.

The next day, Monday, we spent two hours on the busses outside the hotel waiting to go to practice but then practice was cancelled, so Graham, Walker, Jen, Laura, Brendan, another freshman Dusty, and I went out to the hot tub. There were a lot of other people and it was fun.

That night we played at a pep rally for the bowl game where we were called Georgia Tech University again. Then Becky and I and a lot of trombones went to Downtown Disney. We ate a Planet Hollywood (I had a delicious brownie sundae) and then walked around.

Tuesday we left for practice at 11:45 to a high school stadium, then drove to the bowl stadium (Citrus Bowl). After waiting forever in a variety of locations the game finally started. Brendan and another trombone rat got George P. Burdell paged. And we won the game! We totally trounced Syracuse, 51:7. It was great.

Then the next day I flew from Orlando to Charlotte, and then on to SFO. When I was boarding the plane at Charlotte I was pulled out of line to be completely patted down by a TSA agent, I think because of a "*S*" on my boarding pass. Completely. She went through my luggage, too.

And thus on to Christmas.