I Spent a Month There Last Weekend

That's how the joke goes. Someone mentions a city that is known for being kind of run down, or perhaps just a little bit on the boring side, and then you smily wryly and say "Ah, yes, I spent a month there one weekend." And then you wait for everyone to catch on. Oh, he's not being serious, he's wittily implying that it's a boring place where nobody ever wants to go because there's nothing to do. Ahahaha, he's so funny. I must be perfectly clear, however, that I am in no way kidding, or trying to be funny, when I write, in all honesty, and with no hint of sarcasm, the following:

I spent a month in Jacksonville, Florida last weekend.

I was there to audition for the Jacksonville Symphony, along with about eighty other trombonists from around the country (where are all these trombonists coming from?). My first mistake came when I was booking a flight. The audition was on Sunday, with the semifinal and final rounds on Monday. Whereas the other trombonists from Rice arrived on Saturday and left Monday night, my return flight was on Tuesday morning, which, after I failed to advance past the preliminary round, left me with two whole days in Jacksonville with nothing to do but watch TV at my hotel and drink beer purchased from the Publix down the street. My second mistake was booking a hotel that was not within walking distance of downtown, which was where the audition took place. Not that downtown was that fun a place to be, mind you, but if I were there I could have avoided having to take a taxi everywhere, which would have been good because, as it turns out, it takes about 45 minutes for a taxi to show up after you call it in Jacksonville. No matter where you are.

It wasn't all that bad, really, I mean it was boring, but it was also nice to have a chance to relax and sit around and do nothing after the hectic end of the school year.

So now that I'm back in Houston and school is over, the name of the game has become Summer Plans. I have taken a job for the months of July and August at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It's a summer orchestra made up of professional musicians from around the country, and I am going to be working stage crew, along with my friend Craig and one other person who I do not know. Now, Jackson Hole, Wyoming is, from all that I have heard, an incredibly beautiful place, being right on the edge of Grand Teton National Park, which is itself just South of Yellowstone National Park. It is also in a part of the country to which I have never been, so I am very excited to get out there. However, the getting out there is a little complicated, as it is, one could say, hella far away. So after long deliberations, conversations, and calculations, here is the Master Plan for Summer 2006. All rights reserved.

May 10, or 11, or somewhere around there: drive from Houston to Boston, with stops in Nashville and Oberlin. ETA in Boston: May 15? Maybe?

May 15 (?) to June 20 (??): Boston (well, Newton).

June 20 (very approximately): begin driving from Boston to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with a stop in Chicago very likely, and another stop after that definitely necessary, but I don't know where. Any suggestions?

June 25: Arrive in Jackson Hole. This is when I can move into my provided housing, so I have to temper the departure date to suit this date. Leaving June 20 should give me plenty of cushion.

June 26 - August 29 (???): Grand Teton Music Festival. I am employed, technically, until the 29th of August, but Rice begins before that date. Depending on when certain things occur, such as seating auditions for the orchestra, I may have to cut out of Wyoming and head back to Texas a little earlier than that. We shall see.

August ???? - May 2007: Houston!

So those are my summer plans! Exciting, no? By my calculations, I will be driving about 5,800 miles total. And I'm really excited about it. I must be losing my mind.