Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Day 3 - June 8 - Sioux City, IA to Rockford, IL

 We ate breakfast with our amazing hosts, and then had an early meet up back at the church to pack up the bus and say goodbye to First United Methodist Church. Ringers shared experiences of our first night in host homes this tour (or ever for new ringers). One host made a detour on the way to church to take ringers to see where George Foreman is buried. 




Before getting on the road for the day, we made a stop at Big Mama's Coffee & More for a drink and to thank her for promoting our concert last night to all her followers. Gene joined us and treated us to our yummy coffee, chai, lemonade and other specialty drinks, all made by Mama (Mary). It was such a fun stop and a really nice way to start another long bus day.






 

We drove through sections of heavy rain while on the road, but our trusted bus driver Dave got us through safely. We saw some beautiful green countryside out our bus windows, and even crossed the Mississippi River. We have covered a lot of miles in just three days!  To pass the time, we played another round of Jeopardy. Teams were the same, and this time the Back of the Bus prevailed!


We arrived at The Second First Church in Rockford, IL, and the ringers got to work setting up and rehearsing. The chaperones walked to a post office drop box and made a friend along the way. Members of the congregation prepared a delicious taco night dinner for us before our concert. 






The church is a beautiful space, and does a lot to serve the community. It has some unique stained glass, which we all have started paying attention to as our theme for the daily Devotional this tour. 



The ringers played a great concert and impressed another audience!









Ringers answered a lot of questions from the audience after the concert, and then were given a tour of the church's bell room. 











We love seeing family and friends in audiences while we're on the road, and tonight George was able to perform in front of his aunt and uncle who drove 3 hours to see the concert. 




Before packing up the bells, some of our seasoned ringers had an enthusiastic debate on whether playing tinks or bass is more difficult. The debate has not been settled.







We had a church stay night, so each of us claimed a spot in the gym to set up our air mattresses and sleeping bags. Before lights out, Kelly made the kids really happy by ordering McDonalds and Buffalo Wild Wings. We ended the night on a good note!












Monday, June 8, 2026

Day 2 - June 7 - Sidney, NE to Sioux City, IA

The Ringers loaded up the bus at 7:15am and were on the road by 8:00am with such long bus day's ahead we need to be packed and ready to go quickly. The Ringers get faster and faster loading up the bus each stop and today was a great start with so many new Ringers.

Bus day activities consist of many different things here are just some of the fun things that happen on the bus.

Eating lunch and snacking and snacking and more snacking.





Playing on their phones.




Drawing and watching dance moms.


Giving Molly the run down on boyfriends!

Telling Terry what the difference is between Base Bells & Tink Bells, 

Because Bass is Beautiful!


Playing JackBox in the back of the bus.

Molly introduced the cross stitch pattern which was created by Katie Lay our previous Director the pattern is a beautiful stained glass window, which is the theme for our daily devotionals.

The chaperones created 3 jeopardy games based on our stops and tour manual for our long bus rides the Front of the Bus beat the back of the bus in final Jeopardy! Winning a 3 pack of gum each. Who will win the next round?


There is always sleeping, laughing and lots of time bonding!

We arrived in Sioux City, Iowa around 4:30pm and our Directors, CP and Molly were greeted with a huge hug from Gene Wagner the Music Director First United Methodist Church. We played here last year and it was a wonderful venue with a lovely and warm community. We had a wonderful pasta dinner with garlic bread, fruits and dessert!





The Ringers played a great concert in our formals and had 85+ in attendance to support their music! Many had come the previous year so it was nice to see some familiar faces. They always love to talk about bells and have the patrons come and talk to them after the concert. 







The night ended with us packing up the bells and meeting the host for the night. It is always nice to have a bed and a shower after a long day on the road and playing a concert. 

It was a wonderful stop Sioux City, Iowa!