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BizB
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Nationals Day 1
2006-03-04 |
Well, Indianapolis hasn't changed much since last I was here. I don't know what any of the rest of the city looks like outside of the general area of the RCA dome. I first came here to see a Colts/Dolphins game when I was dating/married to BBCK's mom. Then, again last year to see BBCK's cheer competition. This year's trip hasn't been as good as last year's trip. For starters, the hotel sucks. The first indication was when I went to get on the elevator and saw this sign... Surely that must be a mistake, right? Nope, here's the inside of that same lift:  The view from my room isn't bad  , but I'd rather not have a window that refused to close until I put some serious muscle behind it  . When I was closing it, I noticed the stains on the top of the heater  , but that didn't really bother me much. It was the lack of electrical outlets that made me the most upset. There was no place to plug in my C-PAP and I didn't get quality sleep because of that. To make matters worse, I didn't get to sleep until midnight and I had to be up at 6:45, so there wasn't quantity sleep, or quality sleep. Feh! When I flipped the switch by the door to turn off the lights, it turned off the TV, too. In order to watch TV, the switch by the door had to be "On" and the individual lamps on that switch had to be turned off at the lamp.
When #3 came to get BBCK in the morning, she asked why I didn't have her showered yet. I told her that she didn't have her suit-case here and as such she didn't have any clean clothes to put on. #3 assumed that the bag was in her friend's room and told BBCK to shower while she went to get the bag from the other room. While #3 was gone, and BBCK was in the shower, the power went out. Not in the whole building. That would have been too easy! Instead, it was only select rooms that lost power, mine included. BBCK freaked because there are no windows nor emergency lights in the bathroom and it went pitch-black in there. I opened the drapes and opened the bathroom door allowing in enough light for BBCK to find her way out of the now soaking wet bathroom without killing herself on the wet tile. The power returned after they sent a housekeeping person to flip some breakers. And then, it went out again. And the housekeeping lady returned and flipped the breakers again. Repeat 2 more times. Breakfast was okay. Standard continental fare. After breakfast, we were off to the convention center for the day's events. Most of the parents rode on the bus. I walked. It's not that far and it wasn't that cold out. After 4 blocks, I was able to get inside the maze of hallways that lead to the RCA center. Here's a pic from one of the walkways across the main road and one of the inside of the maze  . In the hallways, they have these flat-screens advertising stuff every 15 feet or so. Brilliant idea if you ask me. Here's a shot of a building that is standing on a site that was, just a year ago, a hole in the ground next to the hotel where I stayed. . When I got into the main hallway, I had to pay to get into the exhibit halls.  ...not bad for 2 days' worth of activities. Then, I threw my stuff into a locker and headed for the stages  where I met up with the team sitting around waiting for their event.  
After #3 got there, we went to the T-Shirt stand to pick up a shirt for BBCK before they ran out (they always run out of the good ones)  Unfortunately, they totally screwed up and left BBCK's name off of the team roster  so we didn't get to put that on the back of the shirt. No good reason was given for missing BBCK's name. We're kind-of pissed about that. Did I mention that BBCK's luggage was lost somewhere along the way? We eventually tracked it down. It was/is in the back of the van that dropped her off at the bus. So, since she didn't have any clothes other than the ones she wore on the bus, #3 and #3's mom went to the mall and picked up a pair of jeans and khaki pants for her. Anyway, back to the events of the day... Here's a shot of the main stage in the main hall. That banner must be 40 feet tall  . There's a cut in the middle and the teams come out from behind the banner to get to the stage. The chairs directly in front of the stage and the floor in front of those chairs are reserved for the parents and teammates of the team that's performing. Our team's supporters go all out with the decorations and signs etc when we're sitting in that reserved area. Here's a shot of one-of-two lighted "S-P-A-R-K-S" signs that were there  And here's some shots of the dance routine.
    
Time for dippin dots! They're the icecream of the future, you know? And then, more waiting for the next event. There's lots of that.   . Next up, our Junior EXl team. These kids put together the best routine I've ever seen. And, they did it flawlessly.
   
After all of our teams had performed, we went to the HardRock for diner. From the sidewalk in front of the HardRock, we could see this monument. I'm not sure what it's for, but I plan to check it out if there's sufficient down-time tomorrow. The HardRock kicked ass. We had a "reservation" for 90 (we warned them we were coming is more accurate) and then, we showed up with 142 people. They were champs, though. They were quick. The food was hot and tasty and everyone had fun! After we finished eating, BBCK and her friend convinced one of the cheer moms that she should do a kart-wheel. I don't know how they convinced her. Clearly, she can't.  But, she gets an E for effort!
Lots of the kids/parents decorate the doors to their hotel room as a show of spirit. Here's some shots of a few of them.
   
Another tradition is the "Buddy Gift". Each kid is assigned a buddy. The older of the 2 is responsible for the younger when they're not with the parents (most of the day). Each buddy is supposed to buy a gift for the other. They're to spend "around $15" on the gift.  As you can see, BBCK's buddy didn't even come close to that dollar figure. Here's some more misc. pictures from the day...
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