Talk About a Turn-a-round
So Chicago was exactly what I needed. It was an AWESOME trip and by far the best I've ever been on in my life. So I'll give a not-so-brief telling of my trip there.
Wed.- Get to the concert, one bus breaks down and the new bus heads out and we start out about an hour-and-a-half late, no big deal. However, as no one saved me a seat (twas madness on the bus, so not their fault) I was sitting by myself in the front and I didn't see any other seats open besides the one with my sister a row back. So I was going to sit alone which was fine as I wanted to sleep. Then Colleen Sullivan gets on the bus. Now I understand her problem, but sometimes I think its just more than autism. So I ended up giving up my row for her and sat with my sister.
Thurs.- Wake up really early to find that my sister is sick so spend the entire way to Chicago attempting to take care of her as I know what the hell to do. Saw Notre Dame where everything looks like a church. Really pretty campus. Then the Sears tower was really cool and Gino's East had some damn good pizza. Kudos to K. Fraatz for being able to eat two whole slices while some of us struggled with one. Saw our first lightning storm out there and its nothing like here at all, so amazing and lots of lightning bolts. Hotel was really nice. Foster and Max are nutburgers, and Tom actually does talk.
Fri.- Deerfield..... was terrrible I've never done that bad a performance in a long time. Then it was off to the museum where we hung out with Mr/Mrs. Kampmeyer and John + Evelyn who are the cutest little things alive. Then we split from them and saw .............. *drumroll*............... THE FAIRY CASTLE which was this really ornate castle thing that was just really cool. There were pictures of me taken not being able to get out of the room as if there was an invisible wall with a sign reading: "Fiary Castle Exit Only" So then it was on the Sea Dog for a "speed" boat ride. Lake was flat..... that would take some getting used to. Then the navy pier was pretty cool, had ice cream for dinner. The the Blue Man Group... I ended up sitting behind everyone b/c I was last in line so I got stuck in the row behind them but that concert was O-SO-AMAZING. I've seen them two other times and this was by far the best. The stuff they do...
Sat.- Clinics! At Northwestern which has a beautiful campus right next to the lake. Don Owens was our clinician for Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. He spent the first five mintues of orchestra while ppl were playing picking on me and I don't play my horn the same (it actually sounds good now) and he was just awesome. During orchestra he just picked on ppl (myself especially) but then in Wind Ensemble when we played he was awestruck and invited all of us horn players back for his 5-week summer program. The choir guy was a really cool guy, but didn't do as much. Did some quick shopping then we were off to Six Flags Great America. The group went on a roller coaster then split from there. Kristen and I spent most of the day trying to get stuffed animals together. We got a raven named Poe and two flourescent bendy flowers called Boris and Natasha. Then is was back to the hotel where Bob Roger's Travel got us free pizza from Domino's because we were so well behaved.
Sun.- The drive home! Spent some quality time aruguing with Evelyn and annoying John and then having them both attack me with tickle fingers. Sister got sick again near the end ended up sitting with her again and well it was just a drive back home. We were at one point 10 or so miles behind the other four buses b/c we were stuck behind a slow tractor trailer so our bus driver didn't stop like the other ones and we got back 15 minutes before everyone else did!
So now I'm back in school and facing a tough decision. I have permission and am looking into getting money to go back to Chicago for the summer music program. I just don't know if I want to go away that long, but I think I am. I'm so excited right now. And since I did such a wonderful job with my sister my parents have totally erased my slate and have only written good comments on it.
Wed.- Get to the concert, one bus breaks down and the new bus heads out and we start out about an hour-and-a-half late, no big deal. However, as no one saved me a seat (twas madness on the bus, so not their fault) I was sitting by myself in the front and I didn't see any other seats open besides the one with my sister a row back. So I was going to sit alone which was fine as I wanted to sleep. Then Colleen Sullivan gets on the bus. Now I understand her problem, but sometimes I think its just more than autism. So I ended up giving up my row for her and sat with my sister.
Thurs.- Wake up really early to find that my sister is sick so spend the entire way to Chicago attempting to take care of her as I know what the hell to do. Saw Notre Dame where everything looks like a church. Really pretty campus. Then the Sears tower was really cool and Gino's East had some damn good pizza. Kudos to K. Fraatz for being able to eat two whole slices while some of us struggled with one. Saw our first lightning storm out there and its nothing like here at all, so amazing and lots of lightning bolts. Hotel was really nice. Foster and Max are nutburgers, and Tom actually does talk.
Fri.- Deerfield..... was terrrible I've never done that bad a performance in a long time. Then it was off to the museum where we hung out with Mr/Mrs. Kampmeyer and John + Evelyn who are the cutest little things alive. Then we split from them and saw .............. *drumroll*............... THE FAIRY CASTLE which was this really ornate castle thing that was just really cool. There were pictures of me taken not being able to get out of the room as if there was an invisible wall with a sign reading: "Fiary Castle Exit Only" So then it was on the Sea Dog for a "speed" boat ride. Lake was flat..... that would take some getting used to. Then the navy pier was pretty cool, had ice cream for dinner. The the Blue Man Group... I ended up sitting behind everyone b/c I was last in line so I got stuck in the row behind them but that concert was O-SO-AMAZING. I've seen them two other times and this was by far the best. The stuff they do...
Sat.- Clinics! At Northwestern which has a beautiful campus right next to the lake. Don Owens was our clinician for Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. He spent the first five mintues of orchestra while ppl were playing picking on me and I don't play my horn the same (it actually sounds good now) and he was just awesome. During orchestra he just picked on ppl (myself especially) but then in Wind Ensemble when we played he was awestruck and invited all of us horn players back for his 5-week summer program. The choir guy was a really cool guy, but didn't do as much. Did some quick shopping then we were off to Six Flags Great America. The group went on a roller coaster then split from there. Kristen and I spent most of the day trying to get stuffed animals together. We got a raven named Poe and two flourescent bendy flowers called Boris and Natasha. Then is was back to the hotel where Bob Roger's Travel got us free pizza from Domino's because we were so well behaved.
Sun.- The drive home! Spent some quality time aruguing with Evelyn and annoying John and then having them both attack me with tickle fingers. Sister got sick again near the end ended up sitting with her again and well it was just a drive back home. We were at one point 10 or so miles behind the other four buses b/c we were stuck behind a slow tractor trailer so our bus driver didn't stop like the other ones and we got back 15 minutes before everyone else did!
So now I'm back in school and facing a tough decision. I have permission and am looking into getting money to go back to Chicago for the summer music program. I just don't know if I want to go away that long, but I think I am. I'm so excited right now. And since I did such a wonderful job with my sister my parents have totally erased my slate and have only written good comments on it.