The First International Adventure- Canada 1998

The summer of 1998 took our two heroes to the land of the Great North- Niagara Falls and Toronto, Canada. This trip was our Cornerstone Choir Tour and was planned by Rob Thomas, who unfortunately, did not make the trip because he had taken a job in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The trip was led by the wonderful Eva Hart and Randy Von Kanel, and everyone's least favorite music couple, Andy and Amy Swanner. Just imagine someone who had nothing to do with your group all year long and then all of a sudden just shows up trying to run things and then treats you like your in 7th grade.....lots of fun.

Anyway, the trip started with just 8 of us leaving on a separate flight that apparently, for booking reasons was easier to do. We got delayed and had to wait for the bus, but right there, in Toronto, Jay Money, along with Chip, Cooper, Alec, and myself wrote, composed, and performed our cult classic, "The Root Song". On the same trip, we would several remix versions that would include Blake adding a a part as well as Lee Boy adding a part. The tradition of the root song still lives, but the true greatest root song moment is yet to come.....stay tuned.

Jay Money and I had our obligatory root bed together and roomed with everyone's favorite drummer Lee Boy and Matt Davis, a new comer. Eventhough they weren't in our room, Blake and Cooper soon brought us hilarious news that was also something that would live on to this day in 5A and 5-Jay lore. Apparently, in the Dallas Airport, Jeremy Gray had stolen some porn in the airport bookstore. When caught with it in the hotel, he was confronted by Dave Westerfield, who was also an adult on the trip. Instead of facing his crime like a man, he quickly pinned it on Cooper. While Cooper didn't get in trouble, this is quite possibly the hardest I ever laughed in my life just laughing at the idea of Cooper getting in trouble.

We performed several concerts in the Niagara/Buffalo area throughout the week, and besides Andy's shenanigans, this trip was very enjoyable for comedic value, and was also some of my personal favorite songs and performances we had. Everyone's favorite explosive bowel, Chip Boyd, had struck up a romance with a local resident named Tabitha. Not only were they blatantly in freaking love, they lied about it. Chip also didn't make any comments like he did the previous summer in Wyoming, but he definitely was spotted by Cooper in the hotel lobby looking at porn with Jeremy Gray.......SMART!

The second or third day, before going on the Maid of the Mist boat to see Niagara Falls, we went to the colonial tourist city of Niagara-on-the-Lake. This BEAUTIFUL small city, which was the original capital of Canada, was also the site of one of my most famous short-lived catchphrases to date. While trip flirt and hottie Leah was hitting on ANOTHER guy, she bent over, and I looked at Jay and just simply said "all day!". You'd have to be there to understand.

Anyway, after a long week of singing, "prayer walking", eating, farting, rooting, and fun, the trip came to an end with a wild day in Toronto. First, Jay, Blake, Alec, Cooper, Chip, and I all went to the hockey hall of fame in downtown Toronto. While we there, Jay and I took pictures next to the Stanley Cup. So, for a few seconds, we were champions. After goofing off for a few hours there, the night and trip culminated with Jay, Me, Chris Doremus, Ben Burkett, and *cough* Chip Boyd going to the SkyDome (now called the Rogers Centre) to see the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Anaheim Angels, but like always, Pigott stole the show. I danced between every half inning, and much to the chagrin of some drunk guys from Boston, I was the highlight of the evening. Once again, I was the hit of the night in the stands. Dave Westerfield even called it "the funniest thing I've ever seen." After heckling Mo Vaughn and Shannon Stewart, it was time for the grand finale. All of us, except for Chip, thank God took our shirts off and danced the night away the entire 9th inning. No one said anything to us, and if they would have, my excuse would have been, "sorry, we're Americans, we didn't know." Like I said, Jay started the trip with a classic moment, he also ended with one. He looked down during a pause in the action and then screamed "MY UNDERWEAR IS SHOWING!", a line he still uses with the same playful tone today. After a night of throwing water out the window and throwing coins at cars out the window, it was time to go home. Jay and I wouldn't have another trip again until the already mentioned trip to Houston. What a segue.

Oh yeah, let me add that Jay and Chip met R and B superstar Mya in the Atlanta airport, Chip didn't know who she was. Anyway, she's so sexy, I'll give her her own space on the website. Hats off to ya, Mya, I salute ya.