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2007 Trips and Vacations
2007 promises to be even busier than last when it comes to travel. For starters, we are beginning earlier, with a trip to San Antonio in February. While we don't plan on attending the DCI World Finals in Pasadena this year, we do plan on traveling a little to see Ben march with the Madison Scouts. Then, there's the matter of a Riley Family Reunion, which is in Ruidoso, NM. As luck would have it, we also have to pass through Roswell, NM - home of Area 51 on the way to the reunion. We hope to find a few odd photos during that trip.
As with last year, you may follow our exploits by clicking on any of the buttons on the left. We'll start on this page with our February trip to see Ben perform with the 5A All-State Concert Band. Once again, enjoy the ride!
A ticket to the All-State Concert.
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And a certificate suitable for framing!
In January, Ben traveled to Odessa to compete at the All-Area level for the first time. At stake was a trip to State, something he had set his sights on at the end of the Madison season last year. Through hard work, he made first chair, and got that elusive "Golden Ticket". While Ben's trip to San Antonio was covered by the district, Ma and Pa were on their own. We chose to follow the band, heading to SA on Valentine's Day for our first trip of the new year.
This is the first of what will hopefully be two All-State patches for Ben. This patch was HUGE, and will be added to his letter jacket sometime soon.
Here's Ben and Nicole after the big concert. They were both in the same 5A All-State Concert Band.
The trip was not all about State - just mostly. When not at the Convention Center, C & R wanderer around San Antonio, and even took a look at some of the missions in the area. After many, many trips to the region, the Alamo was the only mission we had been to. We were pleasantly surprised to see what some of the others had in store.
MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO was originally founded in eastern Texas in 1716, then moved to its present location south of San Antonio in 1731. More may be learned about the mission here. Although it was a little tough to find, the trip was well worth the hunt. It was hard to imagine that as many as 200 people made the mission their home so many years ago.
The Convento
One of the espanada's bells.
ESPADA MISSION was the second mission we found on our journey. It was originally founded in 1690 in eastern Texas, and also relocated to what is now the San Antonio area in 1731. The church show below was completed in 1756. More about Mission Espada may be found here.
The Church
That's funny, we didn't see Alan here.
The largest mission we saw on our tour was MISSION SAN JOSE', located just outside of downtown San Antonio. Along with the mission, a very impressive Visitor's Center was available for touring. Mission San Jose information may be found here.
A Mockingbird spends some time with us as we read about Mission San Jose'.
The church at Mission San Jose'.
Taken from within the ruins.
More from San Jose'.