Even More Firsts: The Fourth Day

Hard to believe we are more than half way through the trip at this point. I mean, it is and it isn't. We're developing a rhythm, and things are mostly running smoothly. We have delays now and then, and a couple of concerts have started a little late, but thy have all been good an effective. And today we had a number of additional first that are really cool.

Let's start here. I walked into the breakfast area to make my waffle and said, "What's the waffle line situation?" Cole said, "This is your waffle." I said, "No you can eat your waffle." He said, "No, I made this waffle for you." I'm not sure how he knew when I was going to be there. But it was delicious. And it tasted even better because I didn't have to cook it! First time a youth has made me breakfast on tour.

Our first venue is the last assisted living facility in the city that accepts medicaid for payment. It's 10 floors or so, but they don't have a large common room. My contact had told me we would be in a tent in the parking lot, and that's exactly what we found when we rolled up. They were bringing out chairs and tables for the residents.

We've sung outside before, but this is the first time a place has set up a tent like this for us. And it turns out there's a story. Some of the local businesses objected to closing part of the parking lot and bringing in a tent, so they had to go to a meeting at city hall to argue for setting up the tent and using the parking spaces. Our coming to the event was part of why it was ultimately approved.

We also were not the only thing that day! After we left there was a whole thing...hamburgers and hot dogs, face painting, and kangaroos. Yes. They bring out kangaroos. For petting maybe? I wasn't clear on that. But that makes this another first: it's the first time I've been the opening act for Kangaroos.

It was windy out, so we needed Michael to help manage Leanne's music. The stress of the page-turner is real. He did a good job.

We did visit with the residents. They had been vocal during the concert, including applauding the solos during the songs, which was awesome! And as a thank you, they had donuts there were made right there in the tower (powdered sugar and chocolate). And they brought out apple juice. 

We had 2 concerts, so we said goodbye and hit the road. We stopped for food about half way there. I wound up at McDonald's with these jokers.

This must have been when the winner of the photo contest was made, because this is where my computer organized it by date and time. The contest was to be in a picture where someone was pointing. After lunch I stood outside the bus pointing to see if anyone took a picture of it. Someone took a pic of people pointing at me while I was pointing. The winner took a picture of someone pointing at a picture of the people pointing at me pointing. Cool idea, bro!

Common theme: traffic and tight spots. We were running a little behind for our second concert. I let them know what was happening, and they assured me it was no problem. 

Our second concert was at a memory care facility. It's 100 years old, and the only room large enough for us was the chapel, which doesn't have air conditioning. But it was beautiful! Unfortunately it was really hot. Last week the highs were in the 50's. It was 91 degrees out when we went in to sing.

They sounded great in there! We did have to take a water break at one point in the concert (another first).

My contact told me that nobody ever comes to be with them. They can't even get a priest from the church to come regularly. The best they can do is a deacon when his son can drive him. That's been a common theme this week, actually. We keep going places that don't get choirs very often or not at all. Most of the time we outnumber the audience. But it's deeply fulfilling. Not just to see how much the residents enjoy our concert and our visit, but to see how much it means to the people who care for them.

After the concert we went to our hotel to check in and change to go to a baseball game. We've gone to a game just about every year. I typically alternate between major and minor league. It was minor league this year...the Syracuse Mets.

It was really pretty, but it was also pretty hot. 92 degrees according to their thermometer. Didn't feel too bad once the sun went down though. Minor league games are so much fun! We had a patio with food (all you can eat and drink). And congratulations to the home team! They held on to win.

Twinning is winning...

This room of girls all bought these obnoxious hats. 

Here we are on our patio at the end of the game. This is our silly picture. Honestly I didn't include it here on purpose....I just picked one and went with it. But guys, this is what I deal with.

Oh oh! During the game! They're talking about what to get Millie and Jimmy for their wedding and also how to take the hex of the right fielder's glove. They're dealing with some serious stuff.

I had no idea this was going to be a thing, but apparently after the game there was an eating competition. The world champion hot dog eater was on hand (a bunch of our youth got to meet him, and he did autographs for them and such). We competed against 3 people eating boneless chicken wings (aka chicken nuggets, right?). To be clear, they added up what those 3 guys ate and compared it to what he ate. And he won. Apparently he's famous. Like most of the youth already knew his name. Jimmy Peanut I think it is. Joey? Joey Chestnutt? Crud I can't remember. Anyway...he won.

But there was someone way more famous than him at the game, and they knew it. They welcomed him on the jumbotron...

Then...back to the hotel for devotional time and hopefully some sleep. It can be hard to come by on this trip. It's an aggressive schedule, and at the end of the day I like to check in with each room of youth about how they are doing. Hanna and Rachel have been coming with me, so they are also sleep deprived. They're holding up remarkably well.

So that's about it. Lots of exciting things tomorrow as we celebrate our seniors! There are so many of them!