Today is Monday, July 17; it's a rehearsal day

We are in Lawrence, Kansas.


Photo by David S.

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Weather report and forecast for Lawrence

Click for Google map of Lawrence. With Google maps you can zoom in and out on a location. Click and hold on the map to drag the map in the window.

Today's Menu
Breakfast
Egg wrap
Breakfast meat surprise
Homemade banana and pumpkin breads from Aunt Carol (It's Adam R's aunt but it's really like she is everybody's Aunt Carol)

Lunch
Chicken nuggets
Tater tots
Fruit cup

Dinner
Pizza hot dish (this sounds awesome)
Green beans
Garlic bread
Cookies

Snack
Potato skins
Watermelon

Today's Schedule
9:20 Wake & stretch
10 Breakfast
11 Rehearsal
2 Lunch
3 Rehearsal
6 Dinner
7 Depart for KU stadium
8-11 Rehearse at KU stadium
11:30 Leave for high school
Midnight snack/pack/clean/load
1:30 Depart for Pittsburg

Today's Cooks
Marie
Carol
Bev
Tom R.

Guest cooks
John R.
Jannette W, friend of Matt M

Today's News

The corps received a donation of 1600 pounds of ice from the River City Ice Co. -- 200 8-pound bags. Seems like the ice company had a little problem with one of their refrigerated trucks and the Colts were the beneficiary. Seems fair after yesterday...

Oh, yesterday. I know I have a rule that nothing bad ever happens on the Virtual Cooktruck, but you have to know about the above and beyond efforts of the entire, ever-changing cook crew on Sunday. If you look at yesterday's post, it's nothing like what happen on the way to Saydel and at Saydel yesterday. We leave it as a monument to hope and planning. The cook trailer blew two tires around Grinnell, on I-80 on the way to Saydel -- about 55 miles east of its intended destination. So, the cook crew, headed up by Jody G and Carole B, gathered milk, cereal, juice, bananas, oranges, grapes, and the utensils needed to serve them and piled them in a van and headed for Saydel. Jody G called Jody and David S in West Des Moines and asked for 180 donuts or sweet rolls to go -- this was about 8 a.m. and breakfast was at 10. We went to to the local Hy-Vee where we used charm and a debit card to make off with 11 dozen rolls and donuts from one store on short or little notice. We stopped at another Hy-Vee and supplemented with 3 dozen more and we were off to Saydel High School. Tom R, who had driven from Michigan much of the night, was waiting for us and the kitchen crew arrived a few minutes later.

Matt T opened up the school and let us into the kitchen where we used a refrigerator for the milk and we set up a serving line, peanut butter and jelly table, and a cereal table just in time for the kids to get up and eat.

The tires were changed on cook trailer and it arrived in time to be set up and cookin' for lunch/snack. Tammy C brought Marie and Carol with her from Omaha when she was picking up Tom C from tour. She and Tom stayed and helped through lunch. Jody G was leaving and Carole B was supposed to leave but she picked up her car and stayed until late into the night. Diane K and Kayleen showed up to help. The Ferrells from Saydel were around all day to help with meals and take care of things in the school. (We won't go into what kind of things were taken care of in the school. You had to be there to get the full experience.) Greg brought Bev. Jody and David stayed until dinner time and then took their boys to do laundry while the rest of the corps (except for a few others who live nearby) loaded up on buses and headed off for laundry. While they were gone, Marie, Carol, Carole, Bev, Tom, Diane and Kayleen whipped up pizza for snack, stowed all the donations, and generally got the truck ready to go on the road again. And it was accomplished with surprisingly little grumping or panic.

I tell this tale not to toot our own horns. This is just to reinforce the fact that the unusual is the typical on tour. This really does happen quite often on tour. Plans, menus, schedules -- hell, everything -- changes on tour. But the bottom line is that the moms and dads and aunts and friends who volunteer on tour do one thing really, really well -- take care of our kids. They just do what has to be done to get the corps fed and happy and down the road.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in yesterday. Everyone who brought things, cooked, loaded and unloaded, planned, plumbed, sweated, sought shade -- just did everything so our kids could have a positive experience. Oh, and the kids gave the cook trailer a round of applause when it showed up. I like to think it was for us too.

That being said, welcome aboard new tour director Mike F. How was your first day?

Donations besides those listed above: fruit cups from the family of John W and bananas and watermelon from Peter H

As always, check colts.org for the latest official word on tour news, housing sites, mail drops, or other corps information.