Trip to Kalahari

On Friday, April 16, 2011, I went on a weekend trip to Kalahari with my youth group from Calvary Baptist Church. I had been looking forward to this trip since January. In getting ready for the trip I packed my CD player, as well as my toiletries, swimsuit and spending money.

I got picked up at my house at 4:30pm and went to the church. Where we loaded up three vans that would transport us to the water park.  The drive took about 45 minutes, during the trip I just listened to my CD player and before I knew it we were there.  When we arrived at Kalahari my roommates and I checked into our hotel, got unpacked and swam from 6pm until it closed at 10pm. In between that time we took an hour off to have dinner.  The restaurant was called Zulu Grille.  My friend Josh and I had pizza and coke.  Just before the park was to close two guys entered the hot tub where Josh and I were relaxing. They somehow got into an argument when the one guy called the other guy immature in front of his girlfriend. The one guy became extremely angry and started punching the other guy in the face and smashing his head against the railing. The fighting became very intense and as they got closer my friend Josh and I quickly jumped out to safety. It took ten police to stop the fight and another ten officers to restrain him and check for weapons. Exhausted and shaken I ran back to my hotel room.

The next day was Saturday and we got up early; around 8am, we met back as a group in the hotel and had doughnuts, muffins and juice, afterwards we broke up into groups; one for the girls and one for the boys. We discussed the passage from the bible and what they meant. Later we went down to the water park and took a group photo in front of the roller coaster and tree house.  Later my friend Josh and I went on this awesome ride called the Toilet Bowl. It’s called that because it spins and flushes you down like a real toilet. We continued swimming until noon and then had lunch in one of the conference rooms. Our lunch consisted of chicken fingers, Mac N Cheese and cookies.

After lunch we had our third prayer session on Decide. This session focused on God’s word and making the right decisions. The prayer session lasted about an hour and we had free time to go back to the water park until 6pm.

When the clock hit 6 it was time to go back to the hotel and pack up our things and go back home to Avon Lake.

We were all very sad that the weekend went by so fast and our trip was over. We had such a good time that we will be going back next April.

Trip to Canada.

On July 15, 2010 my family and I went on a vacation to Niagara Falls.  To start off we packed our gear, clothes, snacks, and passports into separate suitcases. I had the most stuff. Some of the extras I packed were my iPod and laptop.

The drive to Canada took about four hours. During the trip, so I wouldn’t get bored I listened to my iPod. Before I knew it we were there. We then checked into our bed and breakfast. Our bed and breakfast was like a suite. It had three bedrooms, two baths, and a living room. In the living room was a refrigerator and microwave. Every day for breakfast we had a homemade meal, we could get whatever we wanted. We then unpacked our things and went off to see the falls.

The falls were beautiful. Since it was evening we decided to have dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the falls. While we were there we were able to watch a fireworks display. It lasted about ten minutes and was a sight to behold.

The next day we had breakfast, afterwards mom, dad and I took a tour on the white water rapids. While we were on the tour we learned that the current in the Niagara river was moving at the speed of forty-five miles an hour. We were told that some people attempted to ride the current. That wasn’t a very good idea because when they came out the boat was destroyed.

The next day was Wednesday. On that day we took the aero cart tour of the whirl pool; we couldn’t get near it because it would suck you in. We learned that it was so dangerous that a cow got too close to the edge was drowned into the water and died.

Our next tour was the jet boat. On that tour we drove by the dangerous current and right past the whirl pool. We didn’t want to get into the whirl pool but we did see it up close. It was so powerful that I gasped with excitement. After we were done with the tours we went out to eat at an expensive Italian restaurant. The food was “ok” the best part was when we left and went to an awesome ice cream shop. I had grape ice cream. While we were eating, we all walked to the park and watched kids playing  in water fountains, I decided to swing on the swings.

For lunch we went to the Skylon. This restaurant was five hundred feet up and had a revolving dining room. The view was breath taking. After we finished eating we went to the IMAX Theatre. We got to see real videos of people who took barrels down the waterfalls. We saw a video of a young boy named Rodger who was with his uncle and older sister riding a row boat. The boat flipped over and the current sucked them to the falls. The uncle went down the falls and did not survive, Rodgers sister was two seconds away from dying but the tourists went over the railing and grabbed her with her feet dangling off the falls. Then Rodger went over the falls and survived and got rescued by the Maid of the Mists boat. It was amazing to watch. Now it was time to go home. I really enjoyed it and was glad I went. I hope we can go back in the future.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

White Water Rafting Trip

On June 25, 2010 the Avon Lake Venture Crew went on a White Water Rafting campout in West Virginia. This was something we had planned for a long time. We were very excited to get started.
We first started off packing all of our gear; tents, food, headlamps, and swimsuits. When we were done packing, we loaded up the car and began driving to Beckley West Virginia. The drive took about 4 hours including rest stops.
We finally arrived at the campgrounds around 1oclock. We set up camp and got our swimsuits and swam at the Ace Lake for 4 hours. Then, we all went back to the campgrounds and made dinner.
After we had dinner, Tim, Scott, Bill, and I decided to all go on a midnight walk down the path outside the woods. It was really scary; we kept hearing all of these strange noises. We hurried back to the campground and then went to sleep.
The next day was Saturday; we got up at 8 am and made breakfast. We then decided to take a hike to the Great Gorge Bridge. The hike kept going upward until we reached a height of 800 feet from the ground, it was a beautiful view, we could see the rapids and people white water rafting, we also saw the New River Bridge, and it’s the tallest bridge east of the Mississippi.

After our hike, we all decided to go repelling off the cliff. The feeling was like you were falling, it was very scary my thoughts kept me thinking about the probability of the rope breaking; it would be a painful fall, but fortunally this didn’t happen. We then got very tired and decided to back to the lake.
When we got back we decided to go for a swim in the lake. We swam at the lake until dark; this was a very different experience. We had to wear life jackets because the lake was deep and the water wasn't clear. In the lake were objects to climb like a blow up ice berg, and a toy called Saturn that spun around. After swimming we went back to the camp and had a late dinner.
The next day was Sunday. We got up at 9 am and got ready for White Water Rafting. Tim, Bill, Kat, Scott, Becky, and I got ready and took a bus down to the Gorge River. We put on our life jackets and got in the raft. The first rapid we went on was a class 1 rapid which was called Piece Of Cake. This meant that it was really easy. We then moved on to class 2 rapids which a bit more difficult. This rapid was called LowerKini. It was more difficult because the current was stronger and the rapids were getting bigger. By this time we were ready to eat lunch.
We pulled off the side to a small island and had a free lunch that was provided by the Ace Adventure Resort. They had cheeseburgers, potato chips, and coke. For dessert they had a strawberry cream pie, it was really yummy!!

After lunch we went back out to raft. Now, we moved on to class 4 rapids. They were called class 4 rapids because the water is a hole in the river which tries to suck you up. As we were the surfing the hole in the river, jerked the raft to the side. As a result I did a back flip off the raft, got sucked into the current and popped back to the surface motionless and confused. Another raft came by and rescued me and took me back to my raft. When this was over, we all went back to camp grabbed our bags and watched our White Water rafting videos. The next day we went back home. I will always remember this experience because I had so much fun.

Band Camp

On August 16^th 2010 Band Camp began with “Freshmen Wake-Ups.” At that time the Seniors, Juniors, And sophomores got up at 3 A.M. and sneak into the homes of the freshmen. We jumped on them while they slept in bed and then made them get dressed in silly clothes. We then took them out to eat breakfast. Some went to Perkins and some went to I Hop. After that we were ready for our first day.

Rehearsal started at 8 A.M. sharp. The first session went from 8 A.M. till noon with an hour for lunch. That day it was very hot and many people passed out but we all kept going. We marched, marched, and marched.

From noon until 1 we ate lunch right at the high school. We were all so tired from holding our hands up for so long we could hardly move. Now it was time to go back and rehearse.

From one until four we rehearsed inside the band room. We were broken down into groups called sectionals. The woodwinds were in one group, the brass in another and the percussion in the Band Room. This was done so that the band directors could hear each section individually. We were dismissed at four to have dinner and had to return by six.

From six until nine we practiced in the parking lot of the high school; since everything was cooled down so no one would pass out. During this time we learned our basic drill, which consisted of maintaining perfect posture, footing, and head movement.  Once that was done, we learned our figure eights which taught us how to face the audience no matter what position were in.  Now that the evening was over we could finally go home. This routine continued for one week until we had perfected not only the steps and routine, but also the music.

Our reward came when football season began and we played to the audience under the lights every Friday night during half time. We enjoyed going out onto the field and performing in front of the football audience. It was a perfect opportunity to show the people of Avon Lake how hard we worked on making the half time show possible. 

Marching band camp provided me an opportunity to meet new friends and develop a sense of pride of being part of the Avon lake High School marching band; this is something I will never forget.

Demo Work

One activity that I am involved in is community work for my church which is St. Joseph’s. Many of the projects we have done have been very rewarding. It makes me feel like I am making a difference in the world.

One of the first experiences that i had was in 2010. We went to an elderly ladies house to clean up her backyard. We raked her leaves, picked up dead branches, and tore down dead trees and weeds. It took us about 3 hours to do all of this. After we finished we went down to the High School and walked down the little trail behind the woods. While we were there, we decided that we would make the environment a better place. As we walked around, we picked up bottles and cans that were thrown in our path. We also picked up dead branches and bottles that had been discarded along the way. It was so sad to see how people abused this beautiful trail. At least we could make it a little prettier.

The next job we did was on Saturday, January 31^st. A group of friends and I did demo work, our job involved tearing down dry wall, roofing, parts of windows, and flooring. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun and we couldn’t wait to get started. Boy, we didn’t realize what we were in for.

As we began our job it became evident that we had a lot to do and that this would be a difficult job. As we continued the walls and roofing, we became covered in dirt and dust. We started working at 9 am and didn’t stop working until 1 pm with an hour break for lunch. Although it was a lot of work after we were done the area looked much better.

We enjoyed our community work and I can’t wait for our next project. Whether it helping the elderly or building or repairing things, we know that we are making a difference.

My Trip to Rome

In 2008 we went to Rome to visit my older brother Scott. He was a junior at Borromeo Seminary and was spending the entire fall semester studying Italian and completing seven theology courses.  This would be a great opportunity not only to visit my brother, whom I missed very much, but also an opportunity to see the wonders of Rome.  

 Getting ready for the trip was quite an experience.  I first had to pack some nice clothes because of the fancy restraunts and churches my family was planning on visiting. Then we had to pack our passports and plane tickets so we could get on the airplane.  When we arrived at the airport, we had to go through customs and metal detectors before entering the plane to make sure we had no weapons in our pockets or in our suitcases.  The plane flight took about 6 hours.  The plane had TV’s on the back of the seats and we were able to watch movies while traveling. Most of us watched Finding Nemo. 

When we arrived at Rome, we first went  to our hotel  (Westin Excelsior) and unpacked our stuff. Then we went to visit the Coliseum. The coliseum was where the Gladiators fought several thousand years ago.  It was built for them to train and fight to the death in. 

The next day we went and visited the Vatican. The Vatican is a giant Cathedral, and is the place where the Pope lives. They had caskets under the tabernacle with the Pope’s that have died a thousand years ago. They also had a staircase full of coins that visitors throw. 

The next morning we got up early and went to visit Trevy Fountain. The Trevy Fountain is a giant Fountain in Rome, with amazing statues coming out from under the water.

We ate at some fantastic places.  I love Italian food. Some of my favorite places we ate at were Abruzzi and Arul’s.  Abruzzi is a very fancy Italian restraunt in Rome.  In Rome you could not eat until 9:00pm. If you were early you had to wait, because the restraunts do not open for dinner until then.

This is by far the best trip I have ever taken.  If you ever get a change take a trip to Rome.

The band concert at Severance Hall

On Sunday, January 23rd the Avon Lake Concert and Symphonic Band were invited to play at Severance Hall. Playing at Severance is quite an honor, that’s where the Cleveland Orchestra Performs. Besides us there were three other bands, Bay Village, North Royalton and Orrville. The Case Western Reserve Symphonic Winds, a college band also participated.

Preparing for the concert was a lot of work. We were practicing Jackson Lake Overture and Valley Forge for almost three months. We wanted to make sure that we had a perfect performance. As the time grew nearer everyone was excited and very nervous. Finally Sunday had arrived. All of us had to meet at the High School by 11:00 AM even though we didn't perform until 3 PM. We had to arrive early so that we could hear the other bands. We were the third band to perform after Bay Village.

Walking into Severance Hall was quite an experience. Looking at all the designs and intricate details along the walls was very impressive. The staircase had a gold railing that went all the way up to the balcony on the second level. Besides the beautiful blue velvet chairs on the second floor, there were also private boxes that were purchased individually, by company’s or families. These boxes were something else. Each box had two rows of velvet chairs and a larger chair in the back row. I was lucky enough to get a peek at it. The boxes were closed off by curtains for more privacy.

Now we were ready to play. As we looked above we could see the beautiful ceiling that sparkled and reflected a beautiful leaf pattern. The entire interior of the hall is art deco with aluminum lights that ran along the stage. It was an awesome experience as we sat in the pit and began to perform.
We played very well and we were all so proud. The audience clapped so loud I couldn't believe it. We even got a standing ovation.

When we got back on the buses and headed home we were all so exhausted that most of us fell asleep. I will always remember that wonderful experience of a lifetime.