Pics - Tuesday

Tuesday was mostly about orientation and setting up for the competition.  There were some good chances to break free though and we saw the city during mini trips as time was available.  During the evening, the students met at the Power & Light district for an outdoor party.  The crowd was huge and the music loud.  It was loud enough that I needed to take walks now & then to regain some hearing.  Ending the night by walking to the World War I monument was a good finish for the day.

Maine delegation breakfast on Tuesday morning.  All of the schools from ME met in the hotel to have a breakfast together and to go over the week's events.

A view over the old levee road section of the Kansas / Missouri border in the city.

The new performing arts facility below Bartle Hall appears to be almost complete.  It's quite impressive looking with a metallic finish and an enclosed glass face.

View out the window looking East from the Grand Ballroom lobby area at the convention center.  The building spans over Interstate 70 and several city streets.

Some of the crowd checking out vendors and events in Bartle Hall.

A very impressive band performance by the visiting Army recruiters.

KC skyline looking northeast from Bartle Hall.

The carnival-like atmosphere was in great supply Tuesday with the incredible weather and lots of attendees.

Redcoats and others checking out exhibits and activities in the Bartle Hall area.

Looking southeast from the Bartle Hall events.

The conference center is truly massive and walking the length of it can take quite a bit of time.  Be prepared to wear good shoes!

Looking in toward the center of the activity outside the conference center.  Many tool, automotive and machine equipment vendors are set up in this area.

Walking back down to the Grand Ballroom entrance where Jon's competition will be held.

The ground floor of the conference center.

The ground floor of the conference center.  The video production students were setting up in the background and had started to prepare a news item about the events going on during Tuesday.

JonF in The Link - the elevated walkway system in the Crown Plaza area.  It was a good spot to take a break and look at the scenery without worrying about getting run over by traffic.

The one and only Crown Center fountain with some kids enjoying a way to beat the summer heat.

The Jungle Room at the Crown Westin hotel.  Hey JonF - is that a lion hiding in the vegetation?

Checking out the nice view from the observation deck at the Crown Westin.

Getting a view of Union Station and The Link from the Crown Westin observation deck.

The scenic view from the Crown Westin observation area.

Although it was a split moment decision to visit Union Station with only a little time to stop, it was worth visiting again to see the enormity of this space and how well it has been renovated.  The architecture is quite striking.

Texans were spotted strolling around the Grand Ballroom entrance, sporting bright white cowboy hats.

Another look at the nicely finished Performing Arts facility.

Me and my new pal.  A relatively huge robot based on the Lego NXT controller.  This was among the many robotics exhibits in the Grand Ballroom area near JonF's competition.

Looking up into town from the Grand Ballroom.

John Deere had an equipment simulator set up for people to try out.

Display objects demonstrating the possibilities of 3-D printing techniques.

The Army chopper.  Quite impressive.

People try out a shoot 'em up game the Army had set up.

A Harley Davidson on display in the exhibition area.

A student tries out a demo of a welding aid for visually inspecting work.

People congregating outside the central entrance at Bartle Hall.  Lots of noise and commotion here!

Truck on display at the Snap-On tools exhibit area.

The crowds thickened in the early afternoon as vendors started to sell food and give away goodies.

Interesting car on display outside the central entrance at Bartle Hall.

Let's get a closer look at that engine...

Custom dragster on display.

Suppose this thing will "move"?

The Snap-On custom chopper on display.

Let's get another good look at that bike...

JonF confirms the configuration and setup of his computer for the competition.

The setup officials seem to be satisfied that everything is ok.

After the orientation and setup, there was enough down-time to visit The Plaza, aka Country Club part of town.  Lots of places to look at around here.

Fiddling with film and taking a nice break at the fountain in The Plaza.

An especially interesting view of the KC skyline as we drove toward the Power & Light district.

The crowd starts to pour in at the P&L district party.

We took a break from the party to go grab some pizza at a nearby place that had pretty tasty food and entertaining guys who did demos of pizza dough twirling to show the crowd.

The party got pretty packed as people arrived in hordes.  It was nearly standing room only, and quite loud.  I think I've regained some hearing...

Interesting view from the P&L district party area.

The band works the crowd up with some singalongs.

Hmm.  Maybe it is time to take a stroll and leave the P&L show for a little while.  We did, and managed to hear each other after walking a few blocks.

Our walk took us to the World War I monument where we got a great view of the night skyline.  We made a brisk return back to the party to get our bus ride back to the hotel.  Now, time for bed to get ready for the big events on Wednesday and Thursday!