Day Two

Near Boston at Burlington High School. We arrived here from NJ this morning. We had one rest stop on the way in New York, the trip was uneventful and I was able to get enough sleep. I am sure I will sleep well tonight, however.

Breakfast was easy, just put out donuts, coffee, pop tarts and other baked goods with the usual cereal, yogurt and stuff.

Lunch was what we call "split", which means that the brass would be fed at 12:45 and the guard and percussion at 2:00. Since it was in a single location, it is pretty easy to do. We served hot dogs and home made Mac and Cheese along with chips and apples. I made the Mac and Cheese from the ziti I cooked and chilled yesterday. I looked up a general recipe and went from there. Butter and flour for a roux, water and milk, a truly awesome amount of cheddar cheese, a couple of pounds of Parmesan, dry mustard, a touch of garlic powder and a block of Velveeta we had left and we had a large pot of cheese sauce. We made 8 pans and they ate 7, so I think they liked it.

Tonight is meatballs and spaghetti with salad and green beans plus some chocolate sheet cakes. Here are some photos:

The spaghetti and meatballs

Alice serving the chocolate cake

Yesterday they had a repairman come to fix the valve that got broken on the flat top. He told us that the back splash we had was causing many problems and told us to either remove it or cut holes in it to let the heat flow properly. This has been done so the unit should work much better. I am hoping that we will be able to do some blackened chicken sandwiches. I think the corps will love them. Here is the recipe

We are now getting ready to head to the show in Quincy. 

Matt

First Day

I arrived at the Trenton Train station all safe and sound. I was picked up by an old Cadet friend, Chris Demas. There was another Cadet at the train station too so the three of us headed to the housing site.

When I arrived I saw many old friends and met some new ones. The best part of joining the tour is getting to see all these great people, members, staff and volunteers.

I found my son, Liam, got a hug and handed off to him his new shoes and air mattress.

Today was a bit of a special dinner because a great supporter of the cadets, Greg Pych, was bringing it in. He brought country ribs, corn, baked beans and a wonderful salad of mixed greens, grapes, strawberries and a neat mixture of three dressings. Greg prepared the ribs with a rub in the oven then finished them off on the grill with barbeque sauce. We did our special "cooler corn" and it came out great as usual. A very successful meal and the members were well pleased with it. Here are some shots of the food:

Country Ribs

Mixed Salad

Corn on the Cob cooked in a Cooler

Liam showing off his meal

At the Train Station

The station in Norfolk is packed! This is very good news for our new little station.