So, we just got back last night from our preseason trip to Pennsylvania and New York. Needless to say, we are definitely breaking in the new coach (Daniel Seiffert) because so far three out of the four games we have had included multiple complications. Whether they have been our game getting canceled at the last minute, having ridiculous car problems, or just getting lost. Even though all of us girls are used to things usually taking a turn for the worse at some point or another during our trips, I don't think our poor coach was quite prepared for this trip.

Starting out, all of the girls piled into the good 'ole Cougar bus while Coach and "Papa Coach”, as we call his father, followed in a van with all of our luggage (which also surprised him I think with how much girls really do pack ). The trip was going well and we were about an hour away from our hotel in PA when we noticed the bus driver talking to the steering wheel and brakes, which is usually not a good sign. What we later found out was that the power steering had gone completely out and the brakes were barely working, both of which are extremely necessary when swerving down hills and around crazy curves to find our hotel. God for sure had His hand on us the entire trip. To add to Coach's stress of his first real road trip with us, he now had to try and find us a new way to get to our game, which was still three hours away. We all really did feel so bad for Coach so we kept assuring him we were used to this and everything would work out. I do give him huge props for keeping his composure and smile the whole time. Eventually, he found us a charter bus and we made it to our game on time, although not anticipating the problems that were soon to come in two days.

Thursday night's game at East Stroudsburg University was a bummer losing 3-1. Even though we did play decently and held our own, we were still not satisfied with the outcome. So, it was nice that on Friday we were able to forget about everything for a day and tour New York City! Friday was probably the only day on this trip that we really didn't run into any problems. We also had a little bit of harmless fun with our freshmen (left) as we got to pick out their outfits for the day in New York City. Our freshmen our such troopers and kept good attitudes the whole time!

It was a blast walking around New York City and just relaxing and taking the day off to do whatever we wanted. Although we all went our separate ways in groups of four or more, we all ended up experiencing one of the same things that day: almost everyone at one point or another was led into a hidden room to view the usually expensive name brand purses. I would say that was one of the biggest highlights of the trip for me and a lot of the girls. Just getting to experience the craziness and even "shadyness” of following a Chinese lady into a hidden back room to look at Gucci, Prada, Coach and many other brands of purses was really such a thrill. After coming out alive and seeing most of the main attractions in New York City, we all headed back to the hotel after finally having a problem-free day. Little did we know, Saturday would bring us different problems all together.

On Saturday morning, we were all excited to get another chance to play a game at Nyack College and do better than we previously did on Thursday. We all left the hotel with the anticipation that we would actually be getting that chance. To start the slippery slope of setbacks we would soon be tumbling down all day, the half hour trip to our game turned into an hour and a half trip as we started out the complete opposite way we were supposed to be heading: setback # 1. Next, upon arriving at the field a mere fifteen minutes before game time, we had to wait another fifteen minutes in confusion as the coaches and referees had a meeting by the field. As we see our coach walking back, he begins to shake his head, not a good sign at all. He then tells us the center referee made the decision to cancel the game because the field was "unfit” to play on because of the mud and water on the field: setback #2. We were all furious to say the least, especially because the field did not have any standing water on it and really was not in that bad of conditions, but what can you do.

So, we ventured on and started our trek back to Mount Vernon which was supposed to only be around nine hours. After driving five hours and a quick stop for food, we had to stop at our first hotel to trade in the charter bus for the now fixed Cougar bus and van. We then proceeded on our only half-completed trip home. With a mixture of two bathroom stops, one food stop, and a fill-up stop, our trip was slowly growing in length. Plus, we got lost or missed our exit at least once or twice which is always fun when you've been stuck in a bus all day long. We eventually did make it back to school and we were thrilled to say the least.

Although our trip had many unanticipated bumps in it, we all had such a blast spending time with each other and getting to know Coach a little more everyday. We truly were blessed to be safe the whole trip and I was extremely impressed with how well Coach handled every setback and still had a smile on his face, praising God the whole trip. I love our team this year and how close-knit we are, we truly are one big family. Everything we go through whether setbacks or the fun times always just brings us closer to each other and we can make a good time out of any bad time. :)