I apologize for not posting for awhile, but a lot has been going on since our Trip to Lubbock [I will post more pictures on my site soon, and provide the link to the page]. This is most likely the last post for the 2003-2007 Saint Anthony BEST Club team, and it will be a long one. Where to start...

The Night Before
On Thursday, after school, all of the team members went home (instead of usually meeting in the Hive to practice or add more to the robot) because we decided to meet at Michael's house, and then later on sleep there over night. About 3 of us actually showed up (just about the entire team was supposed to meet there). We mostly just practiced driving the robot in Michael's garage until about 2 in the morning (which had an area cleared for us to practice, and a full-sized pvc gazebo to test our stradegies), and we had to wake up around 5 to get ready for school. For some reason, I manage to wake up really fast, but 2 days later I feel the effects. However, we had PLENTY of time to sleep on the bus lol, but I'll get to that later.

That Morning
We managed to wake up, get ready, and pack the van in our ever-shrinking time budget. It was so cold when we went outside, it was literally FREEZING. We all decided to wear our hoodies under our jackets, which helped a lot. But, my face and hands were starting to feel like they were going to fall off if I spent anymore time outside, I literally couldn't feel anything!

Stephen, Jeff, and I rode with Mike and managed to get to school just in the knick-of-time! (well, about 10 minutes  early lol) Jeff, Mike, and I went inside the main building to meet with friends. A few minutes before we had to go to chapel, I Mike called me and asked if I had one of the other members' permission form. I was stricken with anxiety because I forgot where it was! I told him I would call him back and started thinking of a way to get the other person to go without his form of permission grantance. However, I later remembered that the form was at my house, so I called my parents to find it and bring it to the school. After a few minutes of looking, they finally found it and told me they would give it to the person after Mass. I was overcome with relief; the situation was solved!

At School
All of the team members seemed very anxious about this trip, but first we had to go to chapel and have Mass before we could depart. I was kind-of looking forward to Mass so that I could pray for our safe trip and be recognized, however I didn't go up when the other team members went up (I was just too tired to get up and walk up there; I felt bad because I felt like I wasn't part of the team for that moment). One of the other members made a joke about it afterwards which helped me to feel better.

After Mass, the senior class was dismissed, but all of the BEST club members were asked to stay behind. If I remember correctly, our principal just wished us good luck and congradulated us on our excellence so far. Then, we left and just visited with the other non-BEST club people . Some of us unpacked our stuff while the others just continued to chat and do some last-minute checks.

Arrival of the Bus!
All of the non-going-to-Lubbock students went inside to go to their classes, while all of the BEST team members stayed outside to mingle with each other. The Bus finally arrived, and it was huge! Due to the generosity of the PTC (Thanks again!), we were able to ride in a Charter Bus!!! It was all white, with near-black tinted windows. It went around the circular-path outside the main building, and parked right by the picknick tables. After it arrived, we all got our luggage, and brought it to the side of the bus to load it in. I helped my parents unload their stuff, and then helped them bring it to the bus. Then, I got some people to try to help Mike unload his car. But, we couldn't find him, so we just hung out with the soccer players who missed their ride and were late for the game.

After not doing anything for a while, we finally started loading the bus with out luggage; I brought my bag and my guitar with me for entertainment along the way. I helped my parents load their stuff, and then went inside, along with some other people, to explore the inside and claim my seat (I moved about 3 times before finding one lol). More and more people started coming in and claiming their seats as well; later on the sponsores came inside and sat down, along with all of the parents, in the front of the bus. Pretty soon, everyone was inside and waiting for departure. We saw a few students come out of the main building staring enviously at the bus. Right before we left, our principle came on the bus and made a last speech congradulating us, thanking the PTC for giving us the money for the charter bus, and getting after the people sitting in the back for their unappropriate atttire.

Departure
The Bus finally started moving (I thought we would never leave), and we went around the circle again to travel through the main entrance. As we went traveled around the circle hazard, I started to worry if I forgot to bring something or load something in the bus, but I went through the list of things I packed and I made sure it was all there; if I did forget something, there was nothing I could do at this point so it was pretty much pointless. Somehow, Marcus - a fellow team member who couldn't go because of a soccer game - ended up outside and waved us goodby as we departed (I didn't think he could see us through the near illegaly-tinted windows). After traveling down the main entrance, we turned onto McCullough and began our 8-hour long trip . I didn't think something this big would be able to turn in the limited space, but luckily we had an experienced driver.