DAY 1 :: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 :: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Meeting at 6:00 am is not fun for anyone, but we were getting on the road for WGI! The trip down went surprisingly quick stopping minimal times for breakfast, lunch and the occasional potty break. We arrived at our rehearsal site just in time for our 3pm rehearsal block. The 4 hour rehearsal went well and we were quickly off to our hotel for some much deserved rest and relaxation. Steak & Shake was the dining establishment of choice. Who can pass up great burgers paired with shakes and fries? Surely, not Velocity!

DAY 2 :: Thursday, April 8, 2010 :: Centerville, OH
Up nice and early for our 8am rehearsal block. A nice three hour block with plenty of time to get ready before the big prelims performance at Centerville High School. Hair was to be done, make-up plastered on and uniforms ironed (thanks, Dean). We have our focus at the rehearsal site and pile in the van to head to the site just in time to saunter into warm-up. It is safe to say that Velocity had the run of their life. The staff was not just in tears, but outright blubbering. Many hugs were shared and tears dried by all. We received an unbelievable score and were absolutely ecstatic about progressing onto semi-finals! And what food joint happened to be the closest to Centerville High School for us to choose for dinner? That’s right – Steak & Shake for dinner. Again.

DAY 3 :: Friday, April 9, 2010 :: Centerville, OH
Whew – we got to sleep in a bit. There was a great energy as everyone was getting ready for semi-finals. Focus and body warm-ups were done in the parking lot of the hotel. Over to the Nutter Center we went. Another moving performance by the wonderful members of Velocity. Tears were once again shed by all. After the performance, we headed back to the hotel and went to grab a bite to eat. As hard as it was to pass up Steak & Shake (ahem) we opted for Waffle House – affectionately known as Waffle Ho. After filling our tummy’s to capacity, back to the Nutter Center we went to get our scores. As Lindsey and Katie stood down on the floor of the seemingly enormous arena, we  were eager to hear our score and calculate our placement. Then it was announced, “With a score of 82.5 … Velocity”. Good news – our score had jumped up again! Having eventually calculated scores throughout the rounds, we ended up in 25th place overall. Not bad at all!

Dinner was had again. Little did they know that the staff had a little something up their sleeve. Upon returning to the hotel, the members were surprised with an outdoor movie presentation courtesy of the Speedway and Ryan’s projector. It was an emotional viewing of scenes from the season set to music. A great end to a wonderful season.

DAY 4 :: Saturday, April 10, 2010 :: Dayton, OH
We really got to sleep in today! With all the performance commitments behind us, this afternoon was our free day. So off to Miamisburg Mall and Blue Byrd Tattoo. You see, it has become a tradition of sorts for members to be inked while in Dayton. While it may have started out with one or two members, this year we had an astonishing four tattoos and two piercings. And there were three additional members that wanted to get tattoos, but we ran out of time (they met in Milwaukee the following Monday to continue the tradition). After the shopping and tattooing, it was off to the Arena for World Finals!

After finals, the staff and of-age members headed over to Headquarters for the annual post finals festivities.Oh – and the staff and of-age members also  enjoyed a 4am feeding at Steak & Shake. It was the only thing open. Just our luck.

DAY 5 :: Sunday, April 11, 2010 :: Centerville, OH
The long ride home. Teary-eyed, I watched the van (and Piepers little black box)  stuffed with the most wonderful group of people pull away.