Morningstar Tour 2010 - Peru Begins!

May 10 and 11th, 2010

Well another Morningstar tour has been kicked off.

After packing up all our boxes, loading them on a truck and heading to SFO in a bus, it dawned on us that we are all finally heading to Peru. Did we forget anything? Did we forget anyone? Check the lists, do the count off. Loud music, hyper performers, and a feeling that all the preparations over the last 9 months are culminating into what will be one of the best tours yet.

The plane flight and connections were uneventful. The group stayed together and stayed in control of themselves. By the time we landed in Lima, we lost Ashlyn's costumes though. We hope they show up before the first performance. Peruvian customs almost confiscated our tech, but Friendship Ambassadors pre-arrival prep and smooth talking by Jim Stark got us through.
We put all of our respective luggage, boxes carry-ons and tech equipment on luggage carts and created a serpentine line of Orange shirts and red sweatshirts walking from the terminal to where a truck and bus were waiting for us. We loaded our already weathered boxes (after three connections) into a waiting truck...

...boarded a great tour bus and headed to our Hostel.
Once we arrived we unloaded all of the boxes, something we will do about 12 more times and settled in anticipating a Peruvian barbecue provided by the Hostel.

The hostel is a converted great house with a combination of multiple small and large rooms with bunk beds. Some have bathrooms, some don't. There were already seasoned travelers resting from their days reading, working on lap tops, writing, or just chillin'. They did not know what to think when a horde of yellow shirted people headed their direction. As noted above, dinner was provided by the hostel. They prepared both beef patties and the best chicken I have ever had off a grill along with some yams and small potatoes and other vegetables. I think could get to used to this kind of eating.

Not everyone felt as I did, so I predict one of the snack boxes will get opened tonight.


After dinner the owner of the Hostel asked if we would do an impromptu number so the group performed the Glee-version of Somebody to Love number. Reed, McKinley and the rest of the crew delivered a great short notice performance ensuring new fans in Lima after only being in the country for a few hours.

We are heading to Cusco tomorrow early. We will keep the blog flowing.