After two days of seemingly endless fun, the long bus ride to St. George was a great opportunity to catch up on some long-need rest. Several hours of bus travel can provide a platform for bonding with others and strengthening friendships, which is exactly what happened.



One of the great things about motorcoach trips, is that they are always a step away from reality and into a visual wonderland that is vastly different from our normal every day surroundings. The drive from Buena Park, California to St. George, Utah made for a long, but enjoyable ride with stunning scenery. 



We witnessed some of Utah's most beautiful mountain vistas. The grandeur of Utah's scenery enveloped us with the warm and vibrant colors of the Southern Utah desert.

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On the bus ride, many of us were writing "spoon messages" to our friends . Throughout the tour, we have been asked to collect plastic spoons from the different places that we eat at on tour. We write a fun letter to a friend on tour, attach it to a spoon, and members of Musicians Anonymous (MA) deliver them the next morning. The long bus ride gave everyone a chance to think of what they wanted to write to their friends for these messages.



Once we arrived at the hotel in St. George, there was no resting. We were given a few minutes to get changed and board the coaches. We then took a magical carpet ride from St. George to an Arabian oasis in Tuacahn's Aladdin for Boys' Choice Date Night. It made for a truly spectacular evening filled with delightful songs, enchanting characters, and hilarious comedy.



Even when we returned to the hotel, some of us were still singing “A Friend Like Me,” “A Whole New World,” “One Jump Ahead,” “Prince Ali,” and many other tunes from the timeless classic. 



It was bed check shortly after we returned to the hotel; however, several of us were certainly not in bed. In fact, members of MA stayed well up to five 'o clock in the morning getting spoons ready to deliver and fun awards for every member, director, and chaperon of the orchestra.  Thank you for reading this entry in the 2012 Granite Youth Symphony Summer Tour Log!



~Justin