My hiatus from my DCI tour is just about to end. The five-day pause was very refreshing and needed to restore me for the long journey ahead to several more shows. Taking the efficient and affordable Southwest Airlines from San Francisco to San Diego after DCI West was the right thing to do. Staying with high school buddies who migrated here fifty years ago was the medicine this old man needed.
The California sun and the cool breezes concocted an atmosphere of cool mornings and not-so-oppressive sunny afternoons, just like it was fifty years ago when we all landed here. My morning walks included poking into the Tocolote Canyon trails. Geckos skitter across the hot sandy path as I hike. Views of the canyon and beyond are revealed as the trail climbs up the steep slope to the top of the hills overlooking the greater San Diego area. Mellow mornings included communicating with home and checking all the good posts, videos, and the latest issue of Drum Corps World.
Flo was available on the 65-inch for me and my friends to enjoy watching the two California shows this week. Boston extends its winning streak. They must be on cloud nine, or is it a mushroom? I have been communicating with my BAC tour family by text, as well as fielding emails from my fellow board members back home. Saving an old schoolhouse can be difficult. Good things take time and patience.
My return plan is to duplicate my last Rose Bowl trip by taking the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to Los Angeles, renting a car, and heading directly to Pasadena High School for some BAC rehearsal fixation. Then a quick check-in at the Hilton before heading to the Rose Bowl on foot. Wish me luck. Time to enjoy my last evening at the hacienda with my amigos.
