From the Edge of the Falls...

I have returned! After four amazingly strenuous days of tour, and several busy days since then (not to mention a dentist's appointment), I have finally found the time to relate my adventures.

What can I say? Tour was amazing! Traveling cross-county in a bus with seventy other musicians is definitely not an activity for the faint of heart.

We left Lansing at about 7:30am; my bench-partner (for lack of a better word) and I began chattering happily away as we got to know each other better. While we are both in choir, we sing in different sections, so we really hadn't been very close friends before. Then, something happened while we were cruising down the highway that neither of us will forget in a long time: the girl in the seat behind us got very sick.

Neither of us was aware of what had happened until after we spent several moments staring at the mess in front of us. It took a long time for us to recover afterward.

Despite the horrible beginning, the rest of the trip proved to be enjoyable; at least, after the four of us involved managed to get cleaned up. The bus, containing about fifty-seven people (the rest of the people traveled in a fifteen-passenger van to avoid squishing), was always very noisy. The people in the back of the bus (namely two cellists) amused themselves by singing Disney songs, Wizard of Oz songs, VeggieTales songs; and by quoting the movies The Princess Bride and The Lord of the Rings. The Somebody who quoted the clergyman from The Princess Bride was especially hilarious.

That, I should think, gives you an idea of what went on in the bus while we were traveling. Yes; those boys were singing everywhere that we went. Singing in very high-pitched voices, I might add.

Wednesday evening, we arrived in Niagara. Since we were late, our concert actually had to be moved back an hour, but everything else went as planned. We (that is, some of the choir people) ran around in the street trying to convince people to come into the conference center and listen to the music. Some people listened, some people kind of nodded their heads and continued walking; one dude took to his heels and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, before he had even reached us.
While the band was playing, those of us who were outside noticed a cop car driving down the sidewalk (which was very wide). He didn't seem to think that he was doing anything out of the ordinary; he simply waved to us, and kept driving. Perhaps cops normally drive down the sidewalks in New York?

After the concert, we went to see the Falls all lit up; on the way to and fro, some of us sang numbers from The Wizard of Oz; my particular favorite was the Winkie Marching Song. Quite Fun. We received many odd looks from passersby, as might be expected.

The next morning, we performed at a school; I had woken up with a raging headache from lack of sleep (we arrived at the hotel at about midnight, got to bed about an hour later, and had to get up at five. This was repeated pretty much every day of tour). The rest of the day we spent at Niagara Falls.

Lunch and dinner were eaten at this amazing park that was above the gorge and whirlpool.  We goofed off, relaxed, and played ridicules games; one of which was entitled "The Land of the Nice People", which I may explain to you at another time. It was extremely frustrating, I can assure you.

At the Falls, we went first to the Cave of the Winds, and then to the Maid of the Mist. I don't have any pictures from the Cave because it was far too wet for me to get my camera out. I was in the first group that went down. We rode an elevator down inside the cliff, came out into sea-gull-niceties land, and made our way over to the wooden platforms that clung to the rocks beside the bottom of the Falls.

It was awe-inspiring. We clambered around on those slippery red platforms, fighting the powerful wind and being engulfed in heavy sprays of cold water. The Falls roared over our heads, and the combined forces of the elements threatened to knock us right off into the churning river; at least, that's how I felt. I am deathly afraid of heights, and yet, somehow, I was able to climb around on those crazy sticks. I will never forget what it was like to stand on that Hurricane Deck (the "Rainbow Deck", as Someone called it), almost completely blinded by the icy water, and grinning up at my friends on either side. People were shrieking and howling (and singing) all around; one group of weirdos was dancing around in a circle and almost hurled themselves off the platform. The whole experience was terrifying and exhilarating at once. It made one appreciate the awesome, terrible power of one's Creator to stand, small and insignificant, next to that roaring, life-taking waterfall, and yet feel absolutely safe. I really can't explain it.

The Maid of the Mist was also quite an experience. We went right inside the circle of the Horseshoe Falls, where the mist was so thick that it blinded us, and my hair got drenched for the second time that day. the ponchos that they give you, by the way, are virtually useless. It's best to leave them off, and get soaked all the way so that you can get the full experience.

Many things happened on Tour; so many that I can't possibly record them all. The little things were actually the most significant to me. Like, while riding in the van with some other girls, we were playing the alphabet game just to pass the time. When it was your turn, you had to come up with an animal that started with the letter that you were on. When it came to her turn, one of the girls threw up her arms in frustration and said, "Rats! What starts with 'R'?" It took us a very long time to stop laughing.

When we performed at the Homeschool Conference in Rochester, we were actually fed a hot meal; and it was a black-tie, quite fancy meal at that. We were wearing our uniforms, so we were well-dressed for the occasion. After we finished eating, some of us figured out how to make our glasses hum, and we had a harmony-chorus going on before we were called onto the stage.

Rochester Convention Center = Pretty cool

We also toured Eastman School of Music; saw their giant crystal chandelier, and the orchestra rehearsing under it; we toured Eastman House, which is very cool ( the dude had organ pipes built into his wall in the sitting room). George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak (or it might have been Kodak Eastman; I'm not sure) was a millionaire and had a beautiful house and gardens (I loved the grape vines!), but, despite his wealth, he was very unhappy when he began to fall under the regime of old age. He shot himself after taking care of his estate, apparently. His suicide note was on display at that the house; and that, more than anything else, had an eerie effect on me.

While at the nursing home, some of us were out in the hallway, kind of relaxing after we had finished performing. A crazy nurse came by to take pictures of all of us, much to our dismay.

On the way back from Tour, we stopped at a pizza parlor in Toledo and enjoyed deep-dish pizza and a song sung by four of our people; they took one of the choir's songs (Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel?) and rewrote the words. The result was hilarious.

When we finally arrived back in Lansing, at 11:12pm (I remember!), we were all very much exhausted and wished for nothing more than a nice, soft bed (especially me, since I had to take the floor at the hotels). We unpacked, said our hasty goodbyes, and returned to the cycle of normal life (ha!) once more. I still can't believe how many good friends I've made on that tour; most people I had just passed in the hallway on rehearsal night and never spoken to. Not anymore.

There. Now you have the longest post in the history of posting; and that concludes my Tales of Tour.