Unpacking

It's been a busy week! Unpacking all my stuff took a really long time. It's still not completely organized, but things are starting to look better. These pictures are from when things were still just stacked up waiting to be opened. My brother came in from Ft. Eustis this weekend to help me and visit. I hadn't seen him since June so it was really great to see him. 

This is my second bedroom where I had the movers  stack most of the boxes.  That was one daunting task to unpack. 

This is the kitchen. I have much less cabinet space in this apartment than I did at the old house. I've been trying to only keep the essentials and nice things, I've got a whole stack of stuff to bring to goodwill. 

On Monday several of my UNT friends were in town for a Navy Band audition. We met up in DC and I got to reunite with some old buddies. 

Back Home

My first tour is done and I'm back home in Baltimore! Things are good. I finally got my household goods delivered. There were a few complications with that... I'm sure nothing a few claims won't fix. It's good to have my things (esp a couch), and my apartment is finally starting to feel like home. 

Here I am in front of the Capitol building in downtown DC. If I look cold it's because it's FREEZING here. It's hard to believe that I now live in a place that can just randomly snow whenever it feels like it. More updates with pictures from my put together apartment will be coming soon!

Colorado Springs, CO

I love Colorado Springs, it is always one of my favorite cities to visit. Fortunately we got to stay there for two nights!  This pictures is Erika and me in the super fun downtown area doing some quality shopping.

Isn't this picture of our hotel glorious?  I can't imagine waking up every morning and seeing those mountains. Just makes you want to sit there with a cup of coffee and think deep thoughts. Our hotel was across the street from this really cool brew pub that had one of the best Belgian wheats I'd ever had. Yum! 

One of the other awesome things about this stop was that I got to see my friend Jeff, who plays in the Air Force Academy Band. Here we are at our concert. 

La Junta, CO

Our first performance in Colorado was special because three of my buddies got promoted to Staff Sergeant. Erika, Tim & Kevin all got to the unit a few weeks after I did, so the four of us are the newbies. I didn't get a picture of Kevin, but here is Erika getting promoted by her section leader, (SFC  Brimhall, oboe- in the right corner), and her group leader, (SGM Gould, clarinet- on the left). 

This is Tim, warming up in the horn section before his promotion. 

Here is a shot of the stage right after the concert. It was a cool hall with lots of alien lights. 

KANSAS

I know it has been a while since I've blogged. I definitely hit the mid-tour slump and things started kind of running together and I went into survival mode! :) We are getting close to coming home now and things are picking back up. Each day is still fun and brings its own adventures. Rather than blogging about each town, I'll just offer a few thoughts about our time in Kansas. 

We were definitely in the "Great Plains." This was a picture snapped from my bus seat. The view stayed like this for most of the state!

I think that Kansas has one of the coolest flags, (other than the Lone Star). It is hard to see in this picture, but it is very colorful and detailed. 

We played in a lot of small, rural Kansas communities. This is one gym that had a huge crowd. 

One of my favorite days was in Goodland, Kansas. I did laundry in this 100 yr+ laundromat that was so nostalgic and full of character. The downtown area was mostly closed but the group I was with managed to find a fantastic little diner called "Apple Jack's." They had this amazing smoked brisket and rice soup that I am definitely going to try to recreate sometime. 

One high school we played at had these signs all over the highway. TUSAFB is definitely always in the "Go Zone."

Here is another awesome gym crowd. It was a pretty packed house for how small of a town we were in! 

It was nice to see a part of the country that I was almost totally unfamiliar with. It is starting to get cold, I even had to break out my long down coat. I couldn't believe how windy some of our stops were. I miss my Texas pine trees- they do a good job breaking that cold wind!

Liberty, MO

We had a fantastic concert at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri. The church was huge, as you can see from the picture. It also had video capability, which means that we can play some of our tunes that have awesome and inspiring slide shows. 

After this concert we  had a day off  in Kansas City. It was a much needed opportunity to do laundry, relax, and celebrate Halloween!

For dinner on the 31st, I went to the top-rated BBQ restaurant Jack Stack's. This was my incredible meal. Beef & pork ribs, and the best baked beans I've ever tasted! 

After that we had a TUSAFB Halloween Party! Here are a few of the fun costumes. I am the hotdog on the left, if you can't tell. :) I also experienced the largest Haunted House in the US- THE BEAST!!! It was huge and exciting, I was scared the whole time. 

I really enjoyed our stay in Kansas City, I look forward to coming back and doing some more exploring.