6th/7th September, Day 13 - Return Journey

We are back in the same hotel where our journey started almost two weeks ago. Back then, the great adventure of 'Concert Tour through California' was still ahead of us, now it's already over.

We have experienced a lot, gained new experiences, got impressions of a different culture, met some new people, played many concerts, developed musically, strengthened the community of Juka, and of course, had a lot of fun.

The last day in California starts for all of us very relaxed, as we don't have to check out of the hotel until 12 o'clock. Some of us even find themselves in the pool in the morning, before we pack our suitcases one last time and load everything. However, we have to say goodbye to our substitute clarinetist earlier, as his flight departs in the afternoon.

For lunch, we go to the same Asian restaurant where we ate at the beginning of our trip. Then we get on our yellow school bus one last time, to which we have become really accustomed, and the journey continues to the airport. There is a lot of traffic in L.A., so we start sweating again because of the lack of air conditioning in the bus.

Arriving at Terminal B, we bid farewell to Franz with a final 'Fuck Yeah!' and thank him once again for everything he has done for us in the past two weeks or in the preparation. Here, we also say goodbye to one of our musicians, as she will continue her USA trip with her siblings.

After we all made it through check-in and security check, we have some time until we have to go to the gate, as our flight will not depart until 9 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. Enough time to satisfy our growing hunger. Just like on the outbound journey, the boarding is delayed again, but around 9:30 p.m. we are on the runway.

We land in Dublin at 3:35 p.m. and go directly to the next gate, but it takes longer again until boarding, and instead of the originally planned 4:25 p.m., we are on our way to the runway at half past 5.

We arrive in Munich at 8:30 p.m. After two weeks of yellow school bus, including two 12-hour drives, we can actually handle the long flight journey quite comfortably.

However, it takes a little longer at the baggage claim and in the end, we are still missing a tuba, a tenor horn, and a xylophone. Nevertheless, at around 10 p.m., we start our journey back home with the bus and hope that the missing instruments will reappear in the next few days. The tour bus feels surprisingly luxurious, spacious, and big compared to our yellow school bus.

During the journey, our conductor Basti gives a little thank-you speech to everyone involved in this trip.

Finally, we would like to thank everyone who made this trip possible or accompanied us. First and foremost, of course, our entire organizing team, our chef Baur, our youth leader Max, and our conductor Basti, Franz, Pete, and Shelly, and our chairman Jürgen, who not only enables us a lot in the club and accompanies us on the trip, but also drove us safely with the school bus from A to B again and again.