The Trek to Vegas

Have you ever felt like you are on a high speed vehicle moving toward some kind of disaster and it’s happening to you and there is not much you can do? That was my Thursday. Both metaphorically and literally.

Charlie and I got word around 9am yesterday that our flight to Las Vegas was canceled. Usually, if you are a party if one or two, you can make things shift and work out, but we were a party of 40. The chances of finding forty seats on a plane last minute was slim to none. We waited on hold with Southwest for 2 hours with no luck before driving to the airport to talk to someone in person. It was snowing in Vegas and the airport was closed.

The dance teams were set to go on stage at 9:30 this morning so the first flights out were not an option because we wouldn’t get there in time. We got creative and talked to three different airlines with no luck. We considered flying to LAX, Ontario, or San Diego that night and then driving, but the most seats we could get were 24! No where near our full party.

So around noon, we called a bus company to see if we could get a charter bus to Las Vegas last minute. The bus company came through, but they said the earliest we could leave on our eight hour drive would be 5:00.

With no other options, Mother Nature working against us, and no control over the competition schedule, we had no choice but to drive! My fingers, arms, legs, and toes were crossed that the pass into Vegas would be open because it had been closed all day.

The first, and maybe only, stroke of good luck happened at 4:00 when the bus showed up early. We piled in and left by 4:30. Our plan was to sleep on the bus and hopefully get into the hotel with some time to sleep before competition.

Me and coach Jaimee on the bus. 

On the bus, the girls were in good spirits. They sang, watched movies, and enjoyed their teammates. We stopped for In N Out for dinner, a Mercy favorite on road trips.

The entire bus ride I was soooo nervous we were going to get stuck on the bus at night in the snow with a road closure. I was in a big metal tube speeding along with no control! I called the cal trans hotline multiple times, but when we got to the pass, it was open. Whew. Snowy and icey. There was at least six inches of fresh snow.

Rest stop with 6 inches of snow!

It took us twelve hours total to get here! We had to drive slow and stop every two hours. I was beyond happy to see the hotel, even though it was 4am!

By the time we were all checked in, it was 5:00. We set our alarms for 7:30 and enjoyed a short nap.

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Start of day two! I took a shower after two hours of sleep and felt like a new person!

Our dance teams were competing in four events so there was a lot of shuffling. There are so many people here for this competition of all ages! Pom poms, make up, costumes, and gaggles of girls are everywhere.

Dance competitions work like this. Each team has a call time for warm ups. They get a designated space to stretch and warm up for 30 minutes. After that they have a specific time they have to be on stage. The competition churns out dances every 9 minutes, about 3 to perform, and 6 for the judges to score.

Mercy competed in Lyrical, JV and Varsity Pom, and Hip Hope. Each team was beautiful and had great performances. It was really nice because the cheer team came and supported the dancers for all their routines. It was fun sitting in the crowd cheering with them.

It was a successful dance day. We got two second place trophies and two thirds. The girls were happy with their performances and some teams lost by only a point!

After a little break, enough to get some food finally, it was time for dance to return the favor and cheer for cheer. The cheer competition is different because it lasts two days and the teams perform twice. It is nice to have the opportunity to fix mistakes made on the first day.

I really enjoyed being back stage with the cheer team. They are super positive, focused, and everything I want our students to experience as an athlete at Mercy. Before they went on stage each girl told one of her teammates what she admired about her. What a way to walk confidently into competition after being told how much you are admired and loved by your teammates. It was really cool!

Cheer watching their performance to make corrections tomorrow. 

So, after two hours of sleep and being on my feet documenting the trip and helping where I can, it is time for bed!!!! I can’t wait to be horizontal.

Successful day for Mercy Athletics.