John M. Johnson

Savannah, Ga - switching busses for the last time. DCA finals; Sun Devils roll 3 busses and 2 hotels deep.

South Carolina - incindentally we passed Alliance a few hours ago. Apparently, they also are having bus issues. I see palm trees again. The day is getting better

We are on a new bus! We have to head over to Savannah, Ga to switch busses again. Then we will finally be on the way home. Sheesh. I am ready to sleep in my own bed.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words about the Sun Devils. The corps worked very hard this season. The corps did leave a little bit early yesterday, only to have MAJOR bus problems. Apparently, the computer that controls the rear tires decided that the wheels needed to turn to the left while we were doing 70mph on the highway. The back of the bus swerved and shuttered. We immediately pulled off to ##### the situation. To make a long story short, we had to spend the night in a hotel in Beckley, WV. We are still here awaiting a replacement bus which should be here by 1:00pm. Due to out driver's alertness, we avoided what could have been a really bad night.

The corps is finally awake from the Dinosaur BBQ induced coma. The food there was amazing! Many of our members have never been to an I&E and now they are now forever fans. Two of our percussion members, Ben and Travis, both performed in the percussion duets and took 4th place their first time ever in I&E. We will be doing a music rehearsal at our hotel at 9:30am. Stop by and say hi before we go to Prelims. Probably one more update before we head over to the stadium. It has been an awesome season.

Dinosaur BBQ was DELICIOUS. Back to the mini corps show.

Standing on the street watching I&E. Lots of people around. Old friends, new friends: drum corps is universal.

We just finished a full run of the show. Taking a little break and then doing another one from off the field. No humidity is fantastic.

Bleh , still sleepy. The corps got their wake up call at 6:30am. Time for a quick breakfast and on to rehearsal. According to weather.com it is 52 degrees. We'll try and get some pics posted on this thread sometime this evening. Keep checking up on us, we'll be busy.

And boom! We are in Rochester! Just watched Alliance finish up their parking lot rehearsal. The corps is checked in and getting Friendly's for dinner after our 26 hour one way drive. Early morning rehearsal is on the menu for the morning. The weather is not so bad. We thought it would be freezing.

Southern Pennsylvania. Rollin on the turnpike and having a good time. We have a remote contol helicopter flying around the bus. Kinda cool.

It is 4am and about 3/4 of the bus is sleeping, except for the people right behind me. I think we are in Somewhere, GA. the scenery is gorgeous. Nothing but darkness and billboards. I just grabbed someone's foot because I thought it was my hat...awkward.

We're on a bus! Got our swim trunks and our flippy floppies. We're on a bus, don't you ever forget. On to Jacksonville.

Safe travels Alliance! See you in NY.

Thank you all for the extremely kind words! I am truly humbled. I am looking forward to this weekend. I hope to see many of you, besides my corps , this weekend. I have only done a fraction of the work that some other folks have done for drum corps. I just hope that efforts we made will keep drum corps alive in Florida for generations to come. Thank you and see you on the 50. P.S. There is nothing wrong with winning a championship playing clarinet. I think it still counts

Here we go! Posts from the road to Rochester! South Florida corps members will be meeting at NPHS to start loading at 4:30pm. Then it is on to Orlando to pick up Central Floridians up. And finally to Jacksonville to get the rest. The corps has worked hard this summer. The final push is on! Safe travels to all other corps. See you at the next travel update.

Yep, the average age of the corps is 19.

Thanks Dick and have a great show in Rochester! I will see you in a couple of days. First beer is on me.

I am really stoked about this idea. Sooo, I looked for a geographical midpoint. It turns out that the midpoint in near Metropolis, IL / Paducah, KY Paducah is actually pretty close to Nashville. So why don't we make Music City Metal IV the biggest, baddest show of the season? Just thinkin out loud.

DCAS Alliance Austin Stars CorpsVets Gulf Coast Sound MCL Shenandoah Sound Sun Devils DCAC Chops Frontier Govenaires Lakeshoreman Kilties Minnesota Brass Vigilantes Even if I got some of the regions wrong, this would be an AWESOME super regional. I bet if we got the right minds together...and a sponsor, we could find a place to have this show and really pull this thing off. It does not seem to me to be a pipe dream. This is quite possible. "The DCA Throwdown 2010". Possibly the biggest show of the season besides DCA prelims. I like it.

Let's all meet up half way! What an awesome show that would be?! Full DCA-C and full DCA-S. Friggin awesome.

I agree with this statement 100% The true litmus test is to go head to head with the North-easterners. Not only does it create head to head competition, but the show will allow exposure to out of region corps. I hope my corps, The Sun Devils, take a trip up North next season besides prelims.

The corps performed very well last night. It was an emotional, yet energetic performance. The corps will now focus on the home show and then on to Prelims! The bus is on its way back to North Port High School to drop the rest of the corps off. It was a great weekend. CorpsVets were wonderful hosts as usual. See you all in Rochester...or the home show if you go

Second rehearsal block went very well. The corps is ready for a strong perfomance. The weather here is fantastic. Sunny with a nice cooling breeze. Corps is on a short break and then it's UNIFORMS! See you after the show.

First rehearsal block over. LUNCH TIME!!! Corpsvets are on the main field working hard while Shenandoah is rocking the other side of the field. Tonight will a great show!