Daytona Beach, Florida

View from the balcony of my VERY NICE hotel room

You discover what REAL, serious traveling is when you get off of one plane early in the morning and hop on another one that very same day at sundown... especially when you leave one state and are back in that very same state the very next day. In my case, this time, it was Florida... The one state it just seems I can't get enough of (usually not by choice). I hopped on a plane in Destin about 6 a.m., touch downed in Memphis about 8 a.m., went home to wash clothes and re-pack (a skill I have mastered, I must say), and left that very night for Daytona Beach, Florida.

I will say one thing, going from a fun-trip to a work-trip all in one day is never fun, but you gotta get back to the grind somehow... may as well do it at one of the most well-known, popular beaches in Florida! Daytona is known for their cars driving on the sand. It's all really interesting: The sand on Daytona Beach is packed down so cars can drive on it. Well, they used to be able to drive on it. There's some rule now that is against it now, so only authorized vehicles are permitted on the sand. It comes in handy for a great run though. Name another beach you can run on, right by the water, with tennis shoes on and not get sand in your shoes or feel like your legs have turned into jelly from pushing off the thick sand. I don't think there is another beach like that!

Yes, this is the cheer competition I am refering to!

Once the work started, there was little time for my beach runs. The competition taking place was NCA College Nationals. If you have never been to a cheerleading competition, you are in for a treat, if you have never been to NCA College Nationals, you are in for a REAL treat. Picture a crazy-wild Spring Break taking place at a cheerleading competition. The competition is held right on the beach, near a few bars, and it's where all the action takes place: competition action and party action. A large stage is set up right on the sand, and cheerleaders, dancers, coaches, and fans who are finished competing or don't go until the next day, lay out (in their swimsuits) on rows and rows of colorful towels with a drink and one hand and a pom pom or some sort of spirit decor in the other. It's an interesting sight that I insisted on taking MANY pictures of, as you will see. Work crew taking a break!

OK, so enough talk of play, and back to work-talk (the reason I was there). This weekend, it was my responsibility to do video-work. There is always something different I work on when it comes to the Varsity Wired Video on Demand Channel that we have for Varsity.com. Sometimes, I am the reporter where I do all on-camera work, sometimes I write scripts for the videos, sometimes I organize and help with production, and other times, I upload the videos onto the site. In this case, I was the premier upload-er for the weekend. Sounds like a boring job, but it's actually the most important of all the "video" jobs. If the videos were never uploaded, no one could watch them! For some examples of the work I do, take a look at the website: http://www.varsity.com/vwired/index.asp

Just about half of the crowd at the competition!