For those of you who have marched with lines in locations somewhat far from where you live, what is it like? Is it even possible?

Sure. I drove 200 miles one way to rehearsal every weekend this past season. I still have a 4.0 too. It's possible to still do well in school and march indoor. You just don't get a social life.

Wow. How can you afford that with gas prices at four and a half dollars per gallon?

Exactly.

When I was driving 280 miles to Pittsburgh most weekends, gas was killer, but was around 2-2.50 then. Not so much now.

Back then, it absolutely destroyed my bank account. It took a while to recover from that.

Personally, unless you have a LOT of money saved up (you know, enough to march most corps), I'd suggest against it in this economy. Don't forget you'll be getting an oil change every month also.

If, however, you have a friend, you can probably offset the cost by carpooling, assuming that friend makes it. When I marched Project, we had a couple people that drove all the way from Connecticut to Pittsburgh. Talk about a long haul. They joined late, but they were plugged in quick and made most rehearsals (winter + connecticut = snow = bad driving). Its possible, but given the current rates of gas, I'd recommend against it.

This would be SO much easier if Project hadn't folded. I live outside of Pittsburgh, so it would be so easy to do.

The current indoor lines I'm looking at are in Michigan and the other side of Pennsylvania/New Jersey. I do not have a car. This might be a problem, haha.

Well, four reasons it wasn't as big a deal:

1) The severe gas price spike mainly occurred right after Championships.

2) THIS is the key... I carpooled with someone else in the ensemble. We split gas costs.

3) Both my parents and his parents helped.

4) The car we used was a hybrid.

Very smart. Not sure how well it'll work with these prices, though. You'll be paying a fortune no matter which way you cut it.

You could look into Matrix. They're probably a 2 hour drive from Pittsburgh, and there have always been a few kids from around here going up there every weekend. You could also try out at Penn State, which isn't too far either.

Thanks, I actually just did a mapquest on their location, and it's only an hour and a half drive! Good call! =D

You can also join Elements, which rehearses in Eastern Ohio probably a couple of hours from Pittsburgh. We had a tenor player from the University of Pittsburgh this past season. We are a PIO finalist from this past season and are always looking to grown and pick up new members.