[Kevin Kolodziej]

I've never had the experience of driving to Atlanta from Indiana or Milwaukee, but I've been on my fair share of long drives with teams, and I have enjoyed all of them (except when the bus fumes made everyone sick ). So the journey is whatever your team prefers...I would imagine the costs will be fairly comparable.

Last year we were lucky to have team 93 from Appleton pack our pit display and tools in their trailer that they drove down. If you have someone willing to do this, or have someone within your team that can do it and offer it to other teams (if space is available), this is a very good option. Taking ANY robot supplies through the airport will give you much more of a hassle than you want. This includes buttons too!

As for the wrap party, I didn't get to go in 2004, but last year's was very neat. It did get cold, but a simple sweatshirt would have been good enough for me. Even so, I stuck it out and enjoyed the full Cirque du Solei (I think I spelled that right....) show and had my fill of GOOD food! The games are great for students and mentors alike - they had a laser tag game, some basketball games, obstacle courses, and the always popular jousting and bungee runs (Baker, you still owe me a joust!!). My students had a lot of fun competing against the mentors.

Good luck, no matter what you decide, and we hope to see you there!

Kev