SVCC Tour: Day Four

The first post in this series is here.  The second is here.  The third is here.  The fourth is here.  The fifth is here.  The sixth is here.  The seventh is here.  

With only a couple of weeks left before the beginning of a new year of making glorious music with the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir, it is high time I finish up this account of our tour this past June!  :)

This fourth and final day of our tour was set aside solely for fun: a trip to Busch Gardens.  With all the rehearsals and concerts out of the way, everyone was ready to relax and enjoy all that the amusement park had to offer!

When we got there, the chaperons were instructed to leave the bus first and then place ourselves into one of three groups: those who didn't particularly care for the rides and who would rather spend their time watching shows, those who loved the rides and would go on anything, and those in the middle.  I would have been glad to go with any of the groups, if needed; but my first choice was the in-the-middle group, and as it turned out, there were plenty of chaperons in each group so I got to stay with the middlers.  :)  As a bonus, when the choristers got off the bus and chose which of the three groups to join, Josiah came to the middle one; and I was extra grateful that I got to spend the day with him.  :)

Although I had been to Busch Gardens when I was much younger, it had probably been 20+ years since I had been there, and I didn't remember much at all about the park.  Fortunately, we were with some others who were much more familiar with it, and they led us around to various entertaining things, including a flight-over-Europe simulation and a humorous show that involved Irish dancing.

And of course, there were the rides...  ;-)

 I barely took any pictures all day long.  Sometimes even the most enthusiastic shutterbugs have to put the camera away and just enjoy being in the moment.  :)  But even without a picture to prove it, I'll mention that the most exciting(?) moment of the day came when a roller coaster I was on got stuck.  We had ridden most of the ride, and it was quite an intense one; but as we approached the platform to get off, the roller coaster stopped, and we couldn't go any further.  We weren't in any danger, but I'm sure I wasn't the only one who started to get a claustrophobic feeling as the thick bars surrounding our faces and bodies seemed to press more heavily against us the longer we waited!  The employees who were running the ride couldn't get it to work, so we had to wait for technicians from a different part of the park to come and get it working again.  All's well that ends well, and fortunately even that roller coast ride ended well.  But I sure was glad to get off it.  ;-)

At the end of the day, we ate dinner together before heading back to the bus; and of course, everyone had stories to tell of all they had seen and done that day.

 As we walked back through the park to get to the bus, we seemed to lose people left and right, as this little group shot off into this or that souvenir store to get a last-minute gift, or a few people needed to stop at the bathroom, or whatever.  It was a relief to finally get everyone all together again!  :)

 Knowing that this was the end of the tour--and for some people, this was the last time they would be part of this circle of joined hands as they sang "Siyahamba"--made this moment especially meaningful.

 No wonder so many of the parents had to snap a picture while the choir was singing.  :)

 When the tour started, I really only knew a handful of choristers; but by the end, I at least knew everyone's name--and in most cases, something significant about them.  What's more, the conversations I had with the other chaperons were so very enjoyable and enlightening.  On the long drive home from Busch Gardens, for example, I got to sit with Mrs. Wampler and enjoyed the chance to "sit at her feet" and learn from her as she shared from her life.  I also discovered that I'm actually distantly related to her, because her husband is some sort of cousin to my dad!  :)

At the end of the tour, I had to look back at the Davene who began the tour and laugh a little.  I can't believe I was ever unsure if I wanted to go!  I can't believe I was nervous!  I can't believe I was so clueless about how much fun it would be!!  :)

So much fun, in fact, that I (true confession time) actually had a little bit of a hard time re-adjusting to normal life after tour was over!  Of course, it was so good to see Jeff again that Monday night when we pulled into the parking lot and unloaded for the last time from the bus; and when we got home, David, the author of the note below, was ecstatic to see us again (the other three children were all asleep when we got home, so they missed the official welcome home).

But as grateful as I was for the familiar comforts of home and family, I was also missing the thrill and excitement of going, and doing, and seeing new places, and meeting new people, and hearing gorgeous music, and being part of such a special group.

I know the SVCC will go on tours in the future, and I hope to tag along for many of them!  But no matter what thrilling places we might go and no matter how long the trips might be, there will always be a cherished spot in my heart for this: the SVCC tour when my firstborn turned 12.

Our first SVCC tour together...

...but hopefully not our last!!  :)