YESTERDAY WAS A LOOOOOOOONG DAY!

My flight, correction… FLIGHTS to the States yesterday took a bit longer than I had hoped, but hey… I never have any trouble sleeping on planes, so it wasn’t all that bad after all.

My folks were so kind to drive me to Brussels airport. Yes,… I left from Belgium. Saved quite a bit of money on the flight(s) compared to leaving from Amsterdam. Looked around on the internet for decently priced flights and ended up with Air Canada as my best bet.

The fact that this flight would go through Toronto didn’t bother me, not even the fact that I had a 5-hour layover there. All airports in the USA and Canada have free Wifi, so I never got bored.

Checking in at Brussels airport didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped. The guy checking my passport needed to see my ticket…. My return ticket to be precise! And guess what. Obviously I had NOT printed that one. Apparently they need to see if everyone leaving for the States will also return at some point. They couldn’t find my return flight in their computer either.

When I eventually got to the check-in counter I was surprised to hear my flight was going to go through Montreal first! Jeeezzzz,… I never checked my flight schedule too well I guess. The same plane would fly on to Toronto, so it was only to clear customs in Montreal and then move on.

The flights were fine. Even though I slept good, I didn’t miss the drinks or the meals/snacks! Didn’t see all that much of the movies though!
In Toronto I already had to clear customs and Homeland Security for the USA, so that made it a lot easier. Spent my time at the Toronto airport effectively. Grabbed a bite, and had a few beers (Molson!) at the airport bar.

Got to Minneapolis in a much smaller plane. Coincidentally it had the word JAZZ on the side, almost exactly in the same font as Blue Devils use for that word on their corps jackets.

Trinet picked me up from the airport and drove me to BD’s rehearsal site, where they were just having snack. A very warm welcome was awaiting me. So many members came by and said they were happy I was back on tour with them this summer. Always nice to hear.

I sleep on a mattress in the school these first few days, since we’re not leaving for the next city until Saturday night.
This morning they let me sleep in a little bit. Guess what… with the jet leg that doesn’t help much. After 3 hours of sleep I was up and running. Took a half an hour power nap this morning.

This morning the weekly food-order was delivered too, so we had a shitload of boxes and stuff to find a storage space for. Today the corps had split laundry day and rehearsal at the school stadium (Impressive school complex!!). I will go and watch some of rehearsal tonight. Fixing dinner now!

Not too sleepy at the moment, so I think I will be fine.

Enjoy,
HK