We finally found the hotel, which ended our rather eventful first day. The bus was as nice as it could be. Everyone was really great, especially in regards to each other. We all tried to sleep, which failed miserably. I maybe got 2 or 3 hours of sleep. We were all so excited to arrive at Ithaca. Ithaca is apparently near two other colleges, Cornell and a community college, so the town is a great college town with great scenery. At least according to our tour guide before our clinic with Dr. Peterson. He is amazing and great with us. He really helped us to improve, even if we didn't get more than an hour with him. He was a blessing to learn from, and he helped improve us and gave us confidence for our concert at Carnegie Hall on Monday. Lunch was a lot of fun. There are pictures of North band kids eating in the Ithaca cafeteria. There was so much good food and great fun. After a good hour for lunch (I loved having the luxury. It was a feeling of calm after a busy, busy morning.) we got back on the bus, which was almost exactly like the ride from home to Ithaca, except people went to sleep faster. We stopped at the Willowbrook Mall (which was not actually in Willowbrook. I was slightly confused when I first found out but that's probably because I was half asleep when I heard about the mall.). It took several of us reading several maps and walking around in circles to find the bathrooms (they were hidden behind the food court) and the food court. We had another full hour to eat (I could get used to this. I think everyone else can too). It took us about half an hour to get to the hotel and took the loading crew about 10 or 15 minutes to completely unload all four buses. They worked so hard so fast and helped to get the band into the hotel as quickly as possible. Now we're all just winding down, all excited from today and for tomorrow. Can't wait to get to experience New York City for the first time. They say it's the city that never sleeps. I'm sure we will find out tomorrow. Me, I'll just be happy to see Percy Jackson walking around Central Park.
