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.