Austin and Texas State University

Today was a very busy day! After an early breakfast, we loaded the busses for the ride to Austin, the state capital of Texas. There, we spent some time learning about Texas history (okay, and playing dress-up) at the Visitor's Center, and touring the Capitol Building. This state Capitol Building is the largest in the country, and had some very cool features. We learned that most of the desks in the Senate and House of Representatives rooms are originals dating back to the 1800s, and that whenever a new governor is elected, it takes two days to rotate all the governors' photos through the four floors of the cupola. AND, the Bus #2 group got the treat of a tour guide who looked exactly like Clark Kent of the Superman movie. :)

Ryan plays dress-up at the Visitor's Center...

A sea of orange making its way over to the capitol building...
and standing in the cupola area of the Capitol Building.
We received multiple compliments from staff members at both the Visitor's Center and the Capitol Building about how well-behaved and polite our students are... we agree! It's always nice to hear it from others, though. :) After touring the state capitol, we spent a few hours at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, a huge collection of artifacts complete with with a replica of the Oval Office. Then it was on to our clinic at Texas State University. Dr. Rod Schuler was a great clinician, and had a lot of helpful insights for our band.

Dr. Schuler working with the band...
The percussionists....
An attempt at a video of our clinic! The sound quality is not great because it was taken on my phone, but hopefully you get the idea.

After the clinic we headed back to San Antonio and took over the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.

Other "highlights" of the day included Kelly M. getting a full-body stripe from laying down on a line of newly-layed caulk... and Tommy P. asking during the middle of our Q & A session with Dr. Schuler how many Texans actually have a southern drawl. :) Much to our surprise, Dr. Schuler gave us a very detailed description of how the various Texas accents are distributed!

Time for bed... tomorrow is performance day!