Sounds like a fun trip! Where all did you go?
Sioux Falls, Iowa
Sioux City SD
Rapid City SD x 2 nights
Worland Wyoming
Togwatee, Wyoming
Colby Kansas
I’m missing one, but can’t remember off the top of my head.
We went to Yellowstone park and saw Old Faithful...it was all so neat. I tell ya, they worked those teenagers to death. There was no partying going on after hours, as far as I could tell...they went to bed exhausted. Matthew would come in, shower and just collapse into bed anywhere from 11pm to 2am.
They did between 2-3 one-hour concerts a day at juvy centers and hospitals and homeless shelters. Mt Rushmore was the pinnacle of the trip as you can imagine and they did a great job. They sang one song that has the soloist singing “He’s Alive!” at the end and the crowd in the amphitheater hooted and hollered...it was great!
Matthew really benefited from the whole experience. It was the most independence he’s ever had and he made a few mistakes. Like he wanted fajitas at Casa Bonita and so he ordered the Grande, but he was too small to carry the two gigantic plates of food and one of the bigger teenagers had to carry it for him! It was a massive amount of food and our official photographer actually photographed him with it. Then he proceeded to pick all the meat off and seperate it with the tortillas...he ate just that...none of the rest of the food. He said he wished he hadn’t wasted that money on all that food he didn’t want.
He calls the place “Casa Dolorosa”.
Matthew has a good reputation though...amongst kids his age and with the older kids too! One of the oldest guys...a senior...taught him how to text message! (Something I’d been trying to do, because it’s cheaper than minutes.)
Oh, and out of 54 kids on the choir trip, I think we figured 10 of them were homeschooled. Homeschooling is very common here and so the fact that Matthew is homeschooled isn’t really an divisive issue. Some kids go to Broken Arrow public schools, some go to Bixby public schools, some are homeschooled, some go to Jenks public school...like that. Matthew just doesn’t go to their district. Heh!
It’s why I’m loathe to move from Oklahoma...