I'm not a time traveler, nor am I part of Harry Potter's inner circle, but I traveled the country this summer while working at my desk in the office and staring into my computer screen at home.

I've been to Sacramento, Calif., when it was 104 degrees, and to Edmond, Okla., when it was about the same with humidity to match.

I've been to Houston and Dallas and Atlanta, as well as Rio Rancho and Murfreesboro and Massillon.

Oh, and don't forget Denver, where for four glorious hours I really was a resident of Invesco Field at Mile High's "Thunder, Colo.," Section 508.

I've met Anthony "I'm Irish" Antonelli and Bobby Moore and Dan Dorst and Dee Black and Gary J. Post, who fell in love with the Troopers more than 40 years ago while he was a member of another corps, and hosted them at their "home away from home," Schuylkill Haven, Pa., with home cooking and Troopers flags lining Main Street.

I watched them practice in pouring down rain and sat disconsolate in an empty parking lot when a freak hail storm cancelled a free performance.

From the fourth weekend of May until this, I was captivated, mesmerized and obsessed with the Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps.

When he was a tyke, Skinny Son refused to accompany me to Troopers performances, choosing always to stay home with his dad.

Now, even he listened from the yard as they concluded all-days with two-hour mini-concerts, dubbing it "the soundtrack of the summer." Pretty profound for Skinny Son, don't you think?

The friend was a patient partner from the beginning and I shared every tidbit with him.

Most were fabulous - the first time they broke 80; the new ending; the way crowds cheered as if they were the hometown favorite from coast to coast; their zoned-in performance in quarterfinals.

Some were not fabulous. My pen pal, Gary J. Post, suffered a heart attack on July 27 while tending to his dogs, Cheyenne and Trooper.

And after that, on July 31, one of his friends wrote, "His wife Carol is with him each day, and says that she can only hope that every Trooper, those who came before, and those who are in the Troop now, know that he loves each and every one of them. He has followed the progress this year with great anticipation and thrill that his beloved corps is coming back so strong. This was the year he'd been waiting for."

Gary died Thursday morning, just hours before the Troopers qualified for the semifinals at Drum Corps International's World Championships in Indianapolis.

The Long Blue Line is not just kids who dig music. The Long Blue Line is a living, breathing being that projects Honor Loyalty Dedication from the first moment to the last and affects people for a lifetime.

Some things never change. They never exit the bus at a show without being in uniform.

They still sing "How the West Was Won."

The hot, cramped gymnasiums where they slept night after night were always cleaner when they left than when they arrived.

Just four summers ago, the Troopers' horns did not blare; the drums did not beat; the silks did not waft majestically in the breeze.

This weekend, they wowed the crowds in Lucas Oil Stadium, in movie theatres throughout the country, and a nation of Web watchers on tiny computer screens in cramped guest bedrooms.

Gary J. Post of Schuylkill Haven, Pa., is just one of thousands whose lives have been touched by the kids in 11th Ohio Cavalry uniforms and Indian princesses in buckskin - and a drum major who won't "hurry up," no matter what.

Thanks for taking me along. Is it Summer 2010 yet?

Community News editor Sally Ann Shurmur can be reached at (307) 266-0520 or sallyann.shurmur@trib.com. Read Sal's blog at tribtown.trib.com/Sal/blog