Stowe2

So the cliff hanger to what happened on the second day of the trip.

Well this is probably one of my favorite stories to tell in person so I'll give a totally lame recap. Basically we went out on the second day very very sore. So much so we couldn't drag ourselves out of bed to get an all day lift ticket. Instead we got there around mid day and got a half day ticket. Got on the snow and instead of it being bulletproof like the day before it was mushy and fun for trail riding. In the woods it was like wet cement. Not great condition for the woods. So we took a few laps through the park. It was fun, hit the half pipe, a couple well built jumps that I wasn't worried about because it wasn't Wachusett. On top of it we got some good pics.

Chris of course being such a tree monkey wanted to quickly get back in the trees. He had convinced us to hike the Chin which involved a 40 minute hike up to the summit. From there we were supposed to find a chute and make our way down. To some road and walk back to the car.

What happened was Chris getting lost on top of the Mtn. and Jarod taking over the leading portion of the hike. which I didn't know because I was at the back of the line. What I did know however is that Jarod had never been to Stowe, he had told me about a dozen times how excited he was to come on the four hour ride up. Now I was a bit dismayed and as we began our descent off the north face to find a better place to put our boards on I slipped on the hard snow and began sliding chest first towards a cliff with my trusty board in hand. I let go of my board and barehanded clawed my way towards the only charlie brown tree I could see. I grabbed hold of it and it whipped me around. I'm told that my board flew off the cliff quite well. It took quite a cliff drop.

I got up and my hands were mangled with nails bent back and blood starting to pour someone suggested I put my gloves on. From there on, after getting Jarod to find my board we made it down to the bottom. Not by jumping back on the trail but sticking to the woods as was our plan. I emerged around 5 30 with plenty of sweat pouring from my body. The near death experience didn't faze my friends, they still made fun of me fifteen minutes after the fact. Asking if I felt closer to God, or if my life had flashed before my eyes. None of us were fazed apparently. Once we got back to the car I grabbed my xtreme team medal that hangs from my mirror and put it on, proudly proclaiming "I earned this today".

We finished off the night with some killer sushi.

Summer Gone...

The summer has already gone without much notice. So far we had about a week or two of warm weather for the entire thing. Which isn't bad for me since I love winter. We also had nearly a month of rain everyday. Which is bad for me because I 1. want that to be snow, and 2. rain totally cause me to be unmotivated. Not sure what it is but it happens that way.

I personally had a great summer.

Took two classes at the college down the street. One was great and the other I won't mention much. America in the 60's it was a fascinating and eye opening. Got to read see and hear about the various counter culture groups through the era. As well as hear the mainstream conservatives who seemed absolutely nutty. One Presidential candidate wanted to Nuke Vietnam and take the war into China and win all of asia for 'democracy'. Regan wanted the national guard to beat up student protestors. To top off the class we had to give a 10 minute oral presentation on something that happened during the 60's.

Well the snurfer was invented in '65.

My Prof nearly spit her coffee out her nose when I announced my subject.

There was always a few weeks off here and there but soon I was off for two straight weeks at camp. First Boys camp and then a wedding (at camp) then Sr High. The two weeks were great I got to spend some quality time with the youth that I care about and make some new friendships. I was amazed at how two weeks at the same place were so different. Except for the water front. It stayed the same, always as fun as the week before. I managed to perfect 'the flying squirrel' and my front flip as well as invent a new move I like to call 360 cannonball. It's fun and easy.

The speakers were great and the Sr high band was fantastic. My cabin was nearly not even work. For a get-to-know-you exercise we ran over to cabin 1 and threw small rocks on their metal roof for a few minutes. Once we were all warmed up it made things much easier to get along.

After a two week break, with plenty of youth group prep work swirled in. I was back at camp for another week. There were 6 speakers for one week of camp. It was off the chain! An amazing week for sure. No comparison as far as planning and speaking.

Now I sit in my room thinking of the Summer that is gone. With camps, classes, and beach days in the mix. I wonder how in the world I got pneumonia?! Which has slowed me down just enough to write on this blog once more.