Texas Tour Day 9 - Des Moines, IA

Fourteen hours on the road.  Our thanks to Laurel Kallman for managing this great tour.  We are in Des Moines and heading home.  The question is do we take a left on I 90, go to the Black Hills and continue the magic or head back to Concordia for the BBQ diner and the Welcome Home concert.  We had a great photo op with the Land O Lakes Choir at a rest stop in Kansas City.  They are following in our footsteps.  We sang happy birthday to Robert Nelson and Jack Hoagland. We added bus drivers in Kansas City and our regular drivers Joe and Al had an opportunity to hang with the boys on the bus from Kansas City to Des Moines.  We played cards, chess, mental pattern challenges, made more lanyards and did Albert Einstein problems along the way.  We ate well, played well, met new friends in McDonalds, and are looking forward to seeing our families but not looking forward to saying good bye.  It has been a special privilege to share this experience with the boys, the chaperones, Todd, Mark’s extended family and Mark.  This is a treasure that will remain with all of us forever.  Thank you for sharing your boys with us.  See you next year.  Your blogger and photo editors Greg Oasheim and Matt Mayer.  

Texas Tour Day 8 - - Fort Worth, TX

We left Austin taking a four hour trip to Fort Worth, our last stop in Texas.  We sang at Cook Children’s Hospital in a stunning atrium so suited to making children feel safe and welcome.  The boys lifted hearts and filled the space with beautiful music.  People were watching from three levels and it was broadcast throughout the hospital and people in the second building could hear it as well.  The boys handed out Boy Choir CD’s to parents of patients after the performance.  It was quite moving.  I don’t think there were many dry eyes.  One can’t leave a place like that without feeling moved but fortunate for what they have.  The staff at the hospital had lost a nurse recently and asked Mark if he could bring some boys up to the station where she worked to sing “The Blessing”.  That is the power of music. 

We traveled a short distance to the Fort Worth Stockyards. The boys had plenty of free time to explore.   It was old west flavor with lots of shopping, a river walk, museum, art gallery and eating.  Then the Long Horn cattle drive down Exchange Street and a BBQ dinner at the Rodeo Coliseum.

Off to LaGrave Field, a field where some of the greats of Hall of Fame baseball have played and the boys sang the National Anthem. 

We drove back to the Fort Worth Stockyards for the rodeo.  We watched bull riding, calf roping and barrel racing.  The highlight was when they asked the eight through twelve year olds down onto the arena to sing YMCA and participate in a game.  The Boy Choir had the highest participation rate and won the prize.  We beat the Texans.

We checked into the hotel late but get an extra forty five minutes of sleep before a full day of travel to Des Moines tomorrow.   

Texas Tour Day 7 - Austin, TX

Up at 7:00 am and some well needed extra sleep.  Good Day Austin on FOX was the first stop today http://www.boychoir.org/about-us/in-the-media.   It was a limited group that went to the studio so others walked to the Capital building.  We then went to the LBJ Presidential Library.  We toured the exhibits which was very interesting especially since we had just visited the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas a few days ago.  After the exhibits we sang a few songs in the Great Hall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpVKd9AgAyg.  The boys rocked the Great Hall.  This was a five story open space that was roughly eighty by eighty feet surrounded by solid marble.  The sound came from everywhere.  It was truly amazing.  The curator of the museum told Mark that there have been many choirs in that space but until today not one had conquered it.  The people in the offices on the fifth floor came to the overlooking windows to see who was singing because they thought there had to be one hundred and fifty choir members below them.  We walked over to Texas Memorial Stadium on the University of Texas campus for some lunch then on to the State Capital Building.  We conducted a self-guided tour which included watching the special session of the House in session.  The Texas State Capital is taller than the US Capital Building in Washington with a huge and beautiful rotunda.    The boys sang a couple of songs and filled that space as well.  We went back to the hotel for a quick change, walked over to Buca di Beppo for an excellent Italian dinner and sang our thanks to the service staff.  We got on the buses and headed to Central Christian Church, our last formal concert until the Welcome Home concert on Sunday.  It was a beautiful church with incredible acoustics.  They sounded like the pros they are singing music specifically chosen by the seniors.  Then it was Allegro Night Out so the boys split up.  Mark took Todd, the Allegro chaperones, and the Allegro boys out on the town. We shopped at a hat store, a second hand store and ate ice cream at Amy’s.  The boys enjoyed the treat.   Back to the hotel for a 5:30 wakeup call and a first stop at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth tomorrow.

Texas Tour Day 6 - Austin, TX

We ate another satisfying breakfast at the hotel before leaving for San Antonio at 7:00 am.  The boys gladly took another hour and a half of quite time (sleep) on the bus before our arrival.  It’s amazing the positions those boys can sleep in on the bus.  Good to be young and flexible.  We watched William Travis, Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett fight to the death at the IMAX Theater which was about a block from the Alamo.  We then toured the Alamo and surrounding grounds before performing in the Cavalry Court.  I’m not sure which song got the most applause, Ghost Riders or the Star Spangled Banner.  The boys then enjoyed three hours of free time.  All did the River Walk, a stroll along a Venice like promenade with gorgeous pines, palm trees, flowers and restaurants.  The River Walk is a manmade river designed by some Disney folks for the San Antonio World’s Fair in 1968.   The boys also shopped, toured the beautiful churches and ate a good lunch.  We jumped back on the buses for a quick trip to the El Mercado Mexican marketplace.  Lots of shopping and souvenirs, then back on the buses to a private party at the Casa Rio Restaurant for dinner.  After diner we walked out their back door and down to the River Walk where we boarded boats for a tour through the river system.  The boys sang their way back to the hotel for lights out and sleep, which they will get a little more of tomorrow morning before we start the day with a live TV appearance on Good Morning Austin. 

Texas Tour Day 5 - Austin, TX

Wow, y’all.  This was a big day.  We left Dallas at 8:00 am for a 4 hour trip to Austin.  Bus One had been implementing a quiet ½ hour each day.  Bus Two decided to try the same thing starting the moment the boys got on the bus.  It was quiet for two hours, they loved it.  We stopped at Starbucks (for the adults) and a bathroom break along the way.  Two hours later we arrived at the Bob Bullock State History Museum.  We had lunch at the museum and toured some exhibits before the concert.  The boys filled the three story rotunda with a cappella music.  We walked through a few more exhibits and did some shopping at the museum store then off to see Austin in the Austin Duck Adventure amphibious vehicles.  We saw the Texas Capital building which is the tallest capital building in the country, drove into the water on Lake Austin and saw where the rich and famous live in Austin.

Dinner was at the well-known Salt Lick.  Texas BBQ at its finest.  You will hear from your sons that it’s the best BBQ they have ever eaten.  Brisket, ribs, sausage, coleslaw, potatoes, fresh homemade bread, as much as they could eat.  Topping it off was pecan pie (Matt says the best he’s ever had) or peach cobbler and ice cream.  Jealous yet?

You’d think that would be enough for one day.  Nope.  We dropped in on the Congress Avenue Bridge bat tour.  We boarded a double decker boat and witnessed the evening flight of one million bats going out for dinner.  It was amazing watching a stream of bats all going east in search of food.  These bats eat 30,000 pounds of insects each night.  Of course with all that eating comes the other part of the cycle and many boys reported a few small drops on their heads as the bats flew over (think flying mouse).  That’s one of the reasons they’ll be showering.

Tomorrow, off to San Antonio and the Alamo. Yee haw loved ones.

Texas Tour day 4 - Dallas, TX

Good Morning Texas, the rock stars from Minnesota have arrived.  We left the hotel under threat of storms and it didn’t disappoint. We had another scramble from bus to shelter.  The boys recorded one song and sang another live http://www.boychoir.org/about-us/in-the-media.  We left the TV Station in the rain but true to our luck it quit when we got to Six Flags.  It was hot and the roller coaster ridding was intense. Others who weren’t fans of the numerous coasters found enjoyment with other rides, shopping and eating.  Everyone ate well and stayed hydrated so there were no problems with the heat.  We left an hour early and stopped at the Spaghetti Warehouse.  The food was great and the serving staff really loved the thank you song from the boys.  We got back to the hotel and played in the pool for about ½ hour then off to bed for a really busy day tomorrow.

Texas Tour Day 3 - Dallas, TX

This was a special, emotional and powerful day.  We were up at 5:15 am, ate a big breakfast and off to Faith Lutheran Church in Flower Mound by 7:00 am.  The boys performed at two services and were warmly received and appreciated.  Lots of intermingling with parishioners, Minnesota connections and members of Mark’s extended family.  A Subway lunch especially designed for all dietary needs was delivered after the second service.   We ate outside in the shade and then hopped on the buses (piloted by Joe and Al our great drivers) and headed to the Sixth floor Museum.

The Sixth Floor Museum is in the original Texas Book Depository building where Lee Harvey Oswald laid in wait for the motorcade that carried John Kennedy.  The boys were fascinated.  Many read every word in every exhibit.  There were three members of the tour who were actually alive when John Kennedy was assassinated but that didn’t take anything away from the experience of those who weren’t.  Standing on the curb and seeing how close the people who were there that day were to the tragedy was profound.

We headed back to Faith Lutheran Church for a 7:00 pm concert after a stop for dinner where we ate and sang in appreciation for the wonderful food and service.

The concert was in recognition of the life of Maxwell Thomas Schwloert and Father’s Day.  This is where the t-shirts “Love to the Max” had their meaning.  The boys sang beautifully.  Mark dedicated the song Tell My Father to fathers everywhere but made special mention of a few.  There were very few dry eyes.  As a special photo tribute the choir sat on the floor of the gymnasium and spelled out “Max”.  We headed back to the hotel for a quick ice cream treat courtesy of Cassie and went to bed.     

Texas Tour Day 2 - Dallas, TX

We had a great breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Kansas City and left for Dallas at 8:30 am.  We traveled a little over 500 miles with a few quick stops and quite the lanyard manufacturing process Cassie engineered.  Many of the boys found the scenery interesting.  More trees and hills than they were expecting.  We got to Dallas around 6:30 pm and departed for the Hard Rock Café at 7:30 pm.  We listened to some live rock and roll, bought some souvenirs and most ate burgers but the menu included Veggie Burgers and salads so everyone was covered.  We arrived back at the Embassy Suites, where we will be for three nights, (great rooms, living in style) at 10:00 PM.  Lights out was pretty much right away because of a 5:15 am wakeup call for three Sunday performances at Faith Lutheran Church and a tour of the Sixth Floor Exhibit.

Texas Tour Day 1 - Kansas City, MO

The choir left on time, we ate snacks, played cards, did cat’s cradle, chattered and ate our way to Missouri.  We ran through a downpour to our respective choices for lunch (Taco Bell, Subway, and McDonalds).  The rain quit and we were welcomed to Kansas City, Mo (they are sensitive about the fact that Kansas City is in Missouri not Kansas) with sun.  We stopped at a very cool museum called The Treasure of the Steamboat Arabia.  Originally built in just 6 weeks the Arabia sank in 1856 in the Missouri River.  It was excavated in 1988 by Bob Hawley, his sons and friends in the middle of a corn field because the river channel had changed over the 132 years since its sinking.  The largest treasure of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world was recovered.  We moved on to the Holiday Inn had a pizza dinner and then performed at the Community Christian Church with the Kansas City Boy Choir.  The Community Christian Church was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and made for a very interesting venue.  Among other things it has a “steeple of light” that reaches 4 miles into the night sky.  Tomorrow we head to Dallas, rested, well fed and happy.

Final Boychoir Texas Tour Meeting Sunday, June 9

We started the meeting with the boys singing us a wonderful song.  I snapped a picture.  We all received our tour T-Shirts and our Itinerary for the tour.  We were all introduced to Laurel Kallman from Gateway Tours.  We have the same buses from the spring tour, Northfield lines.  We even have one of the same bus drivers, they liked us so much.

All of the Chaperones were introduced and money exchanged hands.  :)  We talked about what to do in-case of an emergency at home, call Laurel.  We went over all of the forms in the packet, the packing lists, Dress Code Cards, Six Flags Medical Release form must be turned in at the bus, etc...

See you all bright and early 5:30 am Parking Lot E at Concordia University.  Don't forget to bring your family and friends to our Welcome Home BBQ on June 23, 4:30pm at Graebner Chapel, Concordia University.  See your BBQ Flyer for more information.  Yeeeee Haaaaaw!!!