today is my little brothers birthday. Happy Birthday KYLER! tomorrow is Saint Patricks day, but it feels like the night before Christmas because tomorrow I'm finally getting to travel out of state with the basketball team! here is a background to this trip. I was in the band in college. When I first started they told me... oh we travel out of state every year. So I just assumed I would be able to go out of state for free every year, but noooo I didnt get to. My first year they didnt win the tournament. My second year... they didnt win the tournament. My third year they did... and they went to Virginia, but I was too late getting my name on the list to so I couldnt go. Upsetting. My fourth year they won the tournament... but the first round was in San Diego... not out of state. Now, by all of these tournament wins I mean the womens basketball team winning the Big West Tournament. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the mens team would win the Big West Tournament and travel to the NCAA tournament!!! So this is very exciting to me! Its in Wisconsin which I wasnt planning on going to this soon but it knocks it out early. Im getting to go with a bunch of friends. I get a free charter plane (I know out side of the scope of non reving around the country). I get a free hotel at the Double Tree Milwaukee. AND I get $100 in spending money! I love NCAAMILWAUKEE DAY 1 (03/17/2010)
Well I could not fall asleep last night! and I missed my alarm! and I only had about 10 mins to get ready! but I threw on my green! grabbed my Saxophone! and shot out the door with Otto! HELLO WISCONSIN! I threw my stuff on the bus and met the rest of them at the airport. Of course I parked my car there cus its free and all. We all hopped on the plane, operated by Sun Country "The Hometown Airline", and made our 3.5 hour non-stop trip to Milwaukee. When we landed we expected to see snow, but it was warm and sunny. Easy plane ride. Definitely different flying with a bunch of friends rather than by yourself.
As soon as we got to the hotel we got settled and went for a
walk down the main street in Milwaukee. It ended at the Milwaukee Museum of Art, but it was closed. It was a nice way to get out and see the city. After, we went to an English Pub (I know English Pub on Saint Patricks day is wrong but the Irish Pub was charging to get in...) we ordered some beer (some of us got green beer) and discovered how cheap beer is in Wisconsin! They called them half pitchers but they were about one pint less than real pitchers and they were only $5!!! We all had a lot of beer and a lot of food. I think there is a video some where of about 10 band people in the english style phone booth outside of the pub.... that should be interesting to see.
Alan and I met up with Otto at the Miller Time bar where I got my first taste of Linenkugel Sunset Wheat beer and my is that a heavenly taste. So good! They had some very interesting items on the menu including Beer Chedder Soup.... didnt try it. :/ We stayed there for a while and just hung out, took pictures, had more beer.... it gets a little fuzzy at that point. haha... HELLO WISCONSIN
MILWAUKEE DAY 2 (03/18/2010)
Today I woke up out of the most comfortable bed Ive ever slept in, threw on a sweater and when down to the lobby to work on some homework... Im so glad Im doing online school so that i can travel as much as I do. The people in charge made plans to go to the Miller Brewing Factory. We hopped on the bus and made our way over there. Cheer and Alan came with. It was fun. Im so glad Otto turned 21 a couple weeks ago so he could be apart of this beer adventure. After sitting/walking/climbing stairs through our *free* tour, we got to sample *free* beer. Otto had a final after so he didnt have too much beer. I took
care of his though. (otto--- proof of U Can Study Buzzed) This tour began the trip phrase "What time is it?" We were able to send post cards to our loved ones back home and I sent as many as I could remember to as many addresses as I could remember! We were herded on the the bus and made our way back to the hotel.
After a nap and some homework we were back on the run with the intentions of going to the Dueling Piano Bar in Milwaukee. On our way we got a bunch of free Red Bull which I know will come in handy later! Well we didnt go to the Dueling Piano Bar because they dont let people under 21...
we went to a Brew Co Restaurant instead and i had of course, the BBQ chicken pizza. While there we watched the Marquette, Lehigh, and Wisconsin games. We rooted for the under dogs of course. There were a lot of upset today and we are hoping for more tomorrow!!!! I had some sort of raspberry beer. It wast good and I dont recommend it. It was a lot of fun and on our way back to the hotel we all sang, as a chorus, the Hello Wisconsin song from That 70s Show. ... Just practicing for tomorrow.
MILWAUKEE DAY 3 (02/19/2010)
This morning i woke up, got ready, and hit the town with Alan. We went to the Milwaukee Public Market to get some cheese. I dont know much about cheese so i had the lady that worked there help me pick out which cheese to get. I got some for my roommates and some for Ryan, my co worker who that is working a double to cover for me so i could go on this trip. I ended up getting some sort of white
cheddar, gouda, and a cranberry chipotle cheddar.... idk. I wont eat it. After we walked to the Milwaukee Museum of Art. This time it was open. We walked around for a bit then went back outside to watch the architecture of the building move... every day at opening noon and closing the wings of the roof close and open. Alan recoded it... it took 10 mins. He was very excited the whole time.
The museum was very cool. There was a lot of art in it and we saw just about everything. It got a little mind number after a while. nearly two hours of looking at art can take a tole on you if youre not used to it. The coolest part about the whole place was this exhibit called the Infinity Room. You walked in and it was almost like being in a box of windows with mirrors on the other side and little lights between the glass and the mirrors.... seemed like how it would be in outer space. It felt like it went on forever... for infinity. It was neat! I tried to be a little artistic myself while i was there.
Some how between me going to the art museum and coming back Otto and a few others went to another Brewery and took another tour and got another round of free beer. He came back and he was so drunk that I wasnt sure if he was going to make it to the game! He rested up. I loaded up the instruments into the bus. When we were ready to leave I had to put his clothes on him cus he was so outta it. He snapped back as soon as he realized what we were doing! We were
on our way to the GAME!!! As soon as we got there we got off the bus and started singing "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Gauchos, Gauchos!" People were jealous of how cool we were. Some how I sneaked in a few Red Bulls... and between the afternoon and the start of the game i think i had 3 or 4 of them... i was wired! We walked in and it was so big. we were all so excited! we got to watch the end of the Georgia Tech/OSU game. That was a really good one! We were joined by some of the Marquette band members and it really made us sound pretty good! The game was
pretty good. We were pretty close for a while but Ohio St pulled ahead. I was really proud of the team. I think they played really well considering
they were up against Ohio State. Next year I hope we get a higher ranking so we get to play a school that isnt ranked number 2!!! But it was great fun and when we left the Bradley Center we were cheering things like "Your score is our temperature!" and "At least we have a real beach!" ... When they loose they have to go back to Columbus... we get to go back to Santa Barbara... I'm not complaining.
After the game we waited in the lobby for the team to get there and cheered for them like we always do. They had a great season. Otto and I met up with the Athletic Department in the Hotel Bar and had a few... more like 5... drinks. We got the Spotted Cow and it was really really good.
Beer in Wisconsin is soooo good. I dont think Ive ever had so much beer in my life. haha. We hung out there. Talked to the bar tender. Made some friends. After we went up to the rooms and hung out in the hallways like all good band trips end. Some lady showed up and told us she had a brautworst in her purse... Some douche bags from Minnesota were there and they tried to fight Otto... because of them I hate all people from Minnesota...
it was such a fun night to end a fun trip. Im still awake and it about 5 am... i uploaded all my pictures though so at least I got something accomplished!
MILWAUKEE DAY 4 (03/20/2010)
This morning was a tough one since I only got to bed at 5 AM!!! When we looked out the window there was snow on the ground! Otto had never seen snow fall before so we was very excited. We packed up and hit the road for the airport. When we got there we had to wait in the bus for about 40 mins. It was killer. We left through the private part of the airport where the chartered planes left from. We went through "TSA", which was no where near ligit TSA... I didnt even have to take my shoes off. The flight had free internet so that was great!!!! We got free turkey sandwiches and that made my day since i didnt eat breakfast.
When we landed in SBA we had to wait on the plan for another 40 mins for the guys to get all the bags off... we brought alot of crap! I then ventured over to the main part of
the airport to get the shuttle to my car.
My new friends from the Nexus and the Radio came with me cus they needed a ride to their homes in IV. I stuffed them into my car, got some gas, and dropped them off at their places. I came home and vegged for a bit... just to get back up and go out to downtown tonight! While i was there I saw someone with a Wisconsin shirt.... Wisconsin is following me!!! Im going to put blankets over my blinds so the sun doesnt wake me up and i sleep in tomorrow!
5 states down, 45 do go!
