DAY 6 , Practice Day in Belding, MI * * * *

Alright...first, some news on the Orlando event. Some planning is still being completed and an arrangement is being formulated to accommodate those that have already purchased tickets to the show. I was told that a final announcement should be available on the Crusaders' web site sometime Monday or shortly thereafter. Check here for updates



Yesterday was a practice day at Belding HS and Middle school. The weather got very hot and humid--into the low 90's and hazy. It took its toll as we had an EMS run for dehydration and another non-heat related hospital run that will require some home recuperation time. Sounds like the member will be returning very soon to complete the season. Best wishes to Matt on a speedy recovery--we miss you already brother.




The dehydration case is returning to the line-up today and should suffer no on-going issues pending proper hydration. It is one of the common issues with new members--they all underestimate the amount of water they need--especially on humid days when the body is pressed to the limit.


I loaded up a few miscellaneous guard pix today. Enjoy.


The day began with a food run for Eric and I. It is funny to see the reactions on other customer faces when they see us going to check-out. Today was about 5 baskets full--8 watermelons, 400 pieces of mixed fruit (apples, peaches, pears, nectarines, plums), 25 lbs of pancake mix, 5 Lbs of flour, and 24 Gallons of milk. This was a small run--no bread!

After rehearsing most of the day, ESL was at 7:30. We loaded and pulled out on schedule at 9:00PM for Racine. The drive was about 280 miles, 5-1/2 hrs. Smooth except for the section on I94 through the Chicago Loop. Even at 1:00Am, the traffic and construction is bad and it was a wonder that the crew got any sleep at all on the U3.

The time changed since we are now on central time--the corps got an extra hour of sleep.

We are sharing the housing site today with the Troopers from Casper Wyoming. No problems since this is a BIG school and gym and we coordinated our eating and showering schedules.

We're off in an hour or so to do the Racine show after a good rehearsal day today and yesterday. The drive tonite is only about two hours to Madison, Wisconsin. Tomorrow nite is a long haul back to Ohio where we stayed near Findlay. It is 400 plus miles so we will depart immediately after the show and drive all nite. A couple of restful days until Erie, PA and on to NY and Mass.

Copy off any pix you want since I anticipate having to remove some of the older albums as resource limits get thinner. I will provide some sort of CD after the tour is over so if you missed pictures, I will have them all.

Also I've started to rate the housing sites--see the daily title at the top--one to 5 stars.

Enjoy.

Curt