I had quite the busy weekend and I'm not sure I can even describe everything that went on. To start off, Friday was mostly a usual Friday- I went shopping at the food bank and worked at BICAS, but it also saw some unusual things in going out to breakfast with Jenna, one of the VS's support group members, to talk about taking care of the VS cars which is one of my jobs. As well as at night, our whole house went to the Glow fest which is a bit hard to describe but it was essentially a hippie/alternative art and music festival that was a dude ranch way out north of the Catalina's. Art involved things that glow and most were left for very open interpretations and music involved mostly folky, acoustic sounding noise, sometimes with words, sometimes without. Overall, it was a great experience, and if I had a chance to go again, I probably would, if it were with the right group of people.
We ended up not getting back until past 11 because it was over an hour drive from our place and Saturday morning we had to get up at 5:30 to go hiking! A short sleep, but you can sleep when you're dead- (one of my new life motto's haha). A large group of us, 14 in all-Me, Amy, Audra, and Miriam, Kristi, Dan and Scott, Jacob, Luke and Stevie, Jen, Kaitlin, Erin and Jeff- to name them all. We all headed south to the Santa Maria's which is the mountain range that is straight south of Tucson. I don't know if I ever mentioned this but what makes Tucson so beautiful, and also easy to learn directions is that it is a flat valley that is surrounded by all four sides with mountains. To the north- Catalina's, west- Tucson mountains, east- Rincon's and south- Santa Maria's. Anyway you look, you have a pretty good looking view.
Soooo, we drove down to the Santa Maria's to summit Mt. Wrightson, tallest peak in all four ranges, at least I'm pretty sure. It's quite a hike too, you start at about 5,500 ft. or so and climb to 9,400 give or take a little on both sides. It's five miles to the top which may seem like a bit but when you're climbing four thousand feet it's almost short, in other words, the five miles were UP. Scott, leader of CHRPA and leader of hikes ha, lead us straight to the top in about two and a half hours, we were booking it right up the cliffs. There were six of us in the front pack lead by Scott- Me, Dan, Luke, Jacob and Erin. So we made it to the top and got to hang out for about an hour before the entailing second group made it up. The view of southern Arizona was spectacular and the weather was PERFECT. Us guys had our shirts off and it was still almost a little warm. We all had a good time chatting, eating lunch, and taking pictures. As some of you know, I get a bit antsy on hikes and often try to find anything I can to make things a tad more exciting- well this time it was the other side of the summit- making our own path that is. I convinced Luke and Jacob, two of the YAVer's that we could traverse the rock cliffs and make it back down to the saddle about a mile away on trail, without the trail. Ended up... great idea! It was mad fun, more exciting and make some great pictures. Speaking of, hit the link to check some out- LINK. I wish we could have done that down the whole mountain. In short, we all made it down safely and all 14 of us were tired, sunned and ready for a nap- which most of us saw in the afternoon.
That Saturday night then we organized a little get together which involved fun, chats, star gazing on the roof and DANCING. We had the JVCer's and Luke the solo YAVer over and had a good time. So it was a early hike, lazy afternoon and another late night with fun. Sunday I then got up, a bit reluctantly and biked off to my first soccer game. I felt like a kid again, first just because of the tournament style atmosphere, then we got new jerseys!- which were also yellow and blue which were my old club colors, and of course we won, and that's all I did when I was a kid haha. We won 3-0, playing pretty well I'd say comparatively speaking with our potential. To the other teams defense they didn't have a single sub- in 40 minute halves and 95 degree weather. I should have scored but came out empty handed- last time it will happen, but did help in producing all 3 goals. It was swell and I look forward to our next game. I thankfully came home to a message saying the house got invited to a cook out at a church goers house and so I headed up that way and got a delicious lunch which was just what I needed.
So with out more words, it was hard to get up today and go to work on Monday, but work went well and I look forward to resting up a bit before the week hits another head of steam. Hope ya'll are doing well and I think of you often. I watched this random movie Amy got from the library yesterday called Old Joy, and it was filmed in Portland and the Cascade Mountains somewhere around Colton and it made me pretty homesick. In a good way though, I don't think I get bad homesickness, it just ain't in my blood. Good movie too though, I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Be easy and live life- you can sleep when you're dead.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Hey-o
Been awhile, I have been busy, yes indeed I have. This past weekend was fun filled and volunteer filled ha. On Friday I had fun working at BICAS again, I'm getting to know the guys better and I'm actually working on bikes now so it's good. I can't wait until the end of the year and I know everything there is to know about bikes and how they work. Then that Friday night, Ana, my roommate who works at Catholic Community Services helping with refugees had some of her clients that were our age come over. It was one guy and his two sisters who were all early 20's. They had just arrived in the US from South Africa but were originally from Somalia so it was sweet getting to know them and hearing their stories. As it is was just me and Ana because both Amy and Audra were gone, we invited the 4 Jesuit volunteers, JVCers we know fairly well now so it was a small get together and a great time.
Saturday I woke up early and got a full body massage for free! because an ex-VSer who works at CHRPA, Kristi, is in massage therapy school and she needed volunteers for her final exam. I can totally volunteer for that so I jumped at the chance. In the end, great choice, massage was great, just what I needed and I felt very relaxed and zen. Then, that night it was one of the JVCer's birthday so we had a little party, hanging out, eating ice cream, talking and dancing to some sweet tunes. AND, the Presbyterian volunteers were getting back from a seminar thing and 4 of them came a little bit later and joined the festivities which was grand. I work with Luke who is a YAVer, young adult volunteer, so I had met him but it was the first time getting to know the other 3. They are all cool, and we are all cool and it was a cool time.
Sunday, I woke up at the crack of dawn, 6 am, to get picked up by my boss, Scott, and his younger son and friend to go mountain biking. Tucson is great like that, that you can drive 15 minutes to a sweet plot of desert full of trails just for mountain biking. I guess mountain biking is super popular here so there are trails all over, but Fantasy Island haha, where we went is real close. It was a swell time, out in the desert, ripping trails and cutting up some dirt. I hadn't mountain biked in awhile so it took me a little to get accustomed to the difference in street biking but after that it was so fun. You just have to watch out for cactus haha. After we got done biking, we drove straight to a park where some church/CHRPA people play ultimate frisbee before church and I we played some frisbee. I have to say, I got back home at around 10 and was utterly exhausted. So the rest of the day was spent napping and watching football.
Then last night, the YAVers invited us over to a house that they swam at earlier in the weekend and they were cooking the son of the people's whose house it is dinner in thanks. I hope that made sense, but I'm too lazy to proofread and not sure if that sentence was put together correctly. So me and Ana, for our last night alone went over to the house and played water volleyball, ate some delicious food and hung out with they YAVers and Sam, the son, who is actually our age going to the U of A.
Finally tonight, everyone is back, including our newest member Miriam who just got in from Evansville slash Kansas where she is from. I'm cooking dinner, which I'm pumped about, Greek fennel skillet, and we will all eat together as a full house. It's nice to have people around as it got a little lame and lonely with just me and Ana.
Until next time, keep your heart in your hand and your eyes to the sky.
Cheers, Daniel
Saturday I woke up early and got a full body massage for free! because an ex-VSer who works at CHRPA, Kristi, is in massage therapy school and she needed volunteers for her final exam. I can totally volunteer for that so I jumped at the chance. In the end, great choice, massage was great, just what I needed and I felt very relaxed and zen. Then, that night it was one of the JVCer's birthday so we had a little party, hanging out, eating ice cream, talking and dancing to some sweet tunes. AND, the Presbyterian volunteers were getting back from a seminar thing and 4 of them came a little bit later and joined the festivities which was grand. I work with Luke who is a YAVer, young adult volunteer, so I had met him but it was the first time getting to know the other 3. They are all cool, and we are all cool and it was a cool time.
Sunday, I woke up at the crack of dawn, 6 am, to get picked up by my boss, Scott, and his younger son and friend to go mountain biking. Tucson is great like that, that you can drive 15 minutes to a sweet plot of desert full of trails just for mountain biking. I guess mountain biking is super popular here so there are trails all over, but Fantasy Island haha, where we went is real close. It was a swell time, out in the desert, ripping trails and cutting up some dirt. I hadn't mountain biked in awhile so it took me a little to get accustomed to the difference in street biking but after that it was so fun. You just have to watch out for cactus haha. After we got done biking, we drove straight to a park where some church/CHRPA people play ultimate frisbee before church and I we played some frisbee. I have to say, I got back home at around 10 and was utterly exhausted. So the rest of the day was spent napping and watching football.
Then last night, the YAVers invited us over to a house that they swam at earlier in the weekend and they were cooking the son of the people's whose house it is dinner in thanks. I hope that made sense, but I'm too lazy to proofread and not sure if that sentence was put together correctly. So me and Ana, for our last night alone went over to the house and played water volleyball, ate some delicious food and hung out with they YAVers and Sam, the son, who is actually our age going to the U of A.
Finally tonight, everyone is back, including our newest member Miriam who just got in from Evansville slash Kansas where she is from. I'm cooking dinner, which I'm pumped about, Greek fennel skillet, and we will all eat together as a full house. It's nice to have people around as it got a little lame and lonely with just me and Ana.
Until next time, keep your heart in your hand and your eyes to the sky.
Cheers, Daniel
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
New Things
So first off, an add on to my last post about my phone and tying it to this post "New Things" I hate my new phone haha. Simple as that, but whatever, it works to call and talk, it works to text so what else do I really need from the stupid thing. It's doing its job, I can't fault it for that.
Now, other more germane information, I am and about to start new things this week. First and most exciting is that I have finally signed on to play soccer here. I joined a team called Demon Rum ha, who is headed up by a guy who is friends with Dan Wilhelm who works at CHRPA. Dan hooked me up with a scrimmage they were having and even though their team was full Geoff let me come and play. Turns out, they have room for me now so I just need to register and the season starts next Sunday I'm pretty sure so I'm stoked. It isn't necessarily the level of play I was looking for but I think it'll do just fine, I'm just glad to put my boots on and hit the pitch. Although I don't think the fields here in Tucson really deserve being called a pitch haha. It's hard, filled with ruts and is about half grass half dirt. It was a combination between not having worn my cleats in a while and the super hard ground that caused some major blisters after a full game. But everything is alright, and I can't wait to play again. I also realized how out of shape I am so I want to work at getting into a better fit.
My next new thing is that I joined an Ultimate Frisbee league and the first week is this Wednesday so I'm pumped about that too. Looking forward to meeting new people, everything seems really laid back and not really super competitive which is totally my style when doing something like frisbee ha. My team already seems real cool and chill just by the emails that have been sent thus far. The only downside to all these new things is that they aren't very close to where I live. So with playing soccer, frisbee, and working downtown on Friday I'll probably be putting in around 60 to 70 miles on my bike at the least. So it might be a little tiring, but I'm looking forward to getting in good shape and chiseling my body into super Daniel haha nah just kidding. But it'll be nice to be active again and hopefully my hip won't give me too much trouble.
On a last little note, whoever said Fall starts in September did not live in Tucson haha. Today was one of the hottest working days I feel like I've had so far. I don't know if it was because I was on a roof all day or if the humidity was high but man, I felt like just keeling over and dream about waterfalls. It's 6:30 pm right now and is still 99 degrees. You kidding me? This whole week is suppose to be over 100 until Sunday and were almost past the midway point of September. Not saying I don't like the heat, I do, and it's still the reason I chose Tucson but man, I wouldn't mind some lower 90's. It may sound crazy to some of you reading this but that seems almost chilly to me. 80's? Man, what am I suppose to do after work? 83 ain't warm enough to go swimming haha. But whenever I get kind of tired of the heat I just look at home's weather and see tomorrow it's suppose to be 70 and rainy and I'm glad it's 100 again. But what I really cannot, cannot wait for is come winter when I look at Goshen's weather see that it's below zero and I'll be chilling in shorts in a t-shirt maybe tanning a little bit, maybe I'll have a sweater on or something, but that'll only be in the evenings haha.
Cheers ya'll, Daniel
Now, other more germane information, I am and about to start new things this week. First and most exciting is that I have finally signed on to play soccer here. I joined a team called Demon Rum ha, who is headed up by a guy who is friends with Dan Wilhelm who works at CHRPA. Dan hooked me up with a scrimmage they were having and even though their team was full Geoff let me come and play. Turns out, they have room for me now so I just need to register and the season starts next Sunday I'm pretty sure so I'm stoked. It isn't necessarily the level of play I was looking for but I think it'll do just fine, I'm just glad to put my boots on and hit the pitch. Although I don't think the fields here in Tucson really deserve being called a pitch haha. It's hard, filled with ruts and is about half grass half dirt. It was a combination between not having worn my cleats in a while and the super hard ground that caused some major blisters after a full game. But everything is alright, and I can't wait to play again. I also realized how out of shape I am so I want to work at getting into a better fit.
My next new thing is that I joined an Ultimate Frisbee league and the first week is this Wednesday so I'm pumped about that too. Looking forward to meeting new people, everything seems really laid back and not really super competitive which is totally my style when doing something like frisbee ha. My team already seems real cool and chill just by the emails that have been sent thus far. The only downside to all these new things is that they aren't very close to where I live. So with playing soccer, frisbee, and working downtown on Friday I'll probably be putting in around 60 to 70 miles on my bike at the least. So it might be a little tiring, but I'm looking forward to getting in good shape and chiseling my body into super Daniel haha nah just kidding. But it'll be nice to be active again and hopefully my hip won't give me too much trouble.
On a last little note, whoever said Fall starts in September did not live in Tucson haha. Today was one of the hottest working days I feel like I've had so far. I don't know if it was because I was on a roof all day or if the humidity was high but man, I felt like just keeling over and dream about waterfalls. It's 6:30 pm right now and is still 99 degrees. You kidding me? This whole week is suppose to be over 100 until Sunday and were almost past the midway point of September. Not saying I don't like the heat, I do, and it's still the reason I chose Tucson but man, I wouldn't mind some lower 90's. It may sound crazy to some of you reading this but that seems almost chilly to me. 80's? Man, what am I suppose to do after work? 83 ain't warm enough to go swimming haha. But whenever I get kind of tired of the heat I just look at home's weather and see tomorrow it's suppose to be 70 and rainy and I'm glad it's 100 again. But what I really cannot, cannot wait for is come winter when I look at Goshen's weather see that it's below zero and I'll be chilling in shorts in a t-shirt maybe tanning a little bit, maybe I'll have a sweater on or something, but that'll only be in the evenings haha.
Cheers ya'll, Daniel
Thursday, September 9, 2010
R.I.P.
Sad day yesterday, my love, my companion, my life partner, my cellphone.....broke. I was working, digging a trench, which by the way is quite a fun activity (not really) and had my phone in my pocket. I was on my side for 20 to 30 minutes working to fix a water line, laying in gravel and when I got up to check what time it was, I was face to face to a poor broken screen. Inside and outside. I almost teared up, but I held it together. We've been through so much, it's like a losing a part of my soul. I really thought we were going to be together forever (at least until I got an iPhone ha). Sad day in Tucson. I'll carry on, but knowing that a piece of me has been lost in the never ending battle of life.
Miss you phone, always will- Daniel
Miss you phone, always will- Daniel
Monday, September 6, 2010
Lazy Day Weekend
This weekend as most of you know was Labor Day weekend, but I decided to rename it Lazy Day because I didn't do much of anything and really the last word I would use to describe it would be labor. It was an extra long weekend because of course I got Friday off from CHRPA and so it was an excellent 4 days of freedom, ahhh. Friday I went for the first time to BICAS to volunteer. I was a little nervous but I knew that was nonsense and was also excited about riding my bike downtown. My dad shipped my Trek touring bike down south and so I got it on Thursday and had fun putting it back together and then riding it Friday. It's nice to have a mode of transportation besides driving or walking now.
So, on my way to BICAS, it's about 8 or 9 miles into downtown which is kind of a bummer, wish it was closer but what can ya do. It took me only about 25 minutes to get there but I also seeing how fast I could get there and it's also really hot so you have to figure out that balance between working hard and not drenching yourself in sweat. Once I got to BICAS they put to work on checking used tubes for leaks, which I was ok with except that there were probably 200 tubes haha. So I ended up doing that for 3 hours and then leaving. Wasn't the greatest experience but I talked to a girl that I know who works there and I think the second time will be a little bit more enjoyable and educational.
This Sunday was the first Sunday I wasn't busy hiking so I got to go to Tucson Mennonite or Shalom for the first time. The congregation is really small, only about 30 people but it does fluctuate quite a bit and the numbers are usually down in the summer. The service was good and was informal which I liked and they sang hymns which I liked and the people all seemed real warm and welcoming.
With the first two weekends in Tucson both filled with a hike it was nice to be able to relax and take a little time of the ol boots. But wait, this weekend was extra long, I forgot about Monday... Yeah, I went on another hike. This time up a trail called Butterfly Trail in the Catalinas. It was actually right across from Sunset Trail where I hiked the first weekend. Just me and Amy went from the house and we went with the unit leaders family, Sue, who's the leader, her husband Mark and their three young kids, Matt- 11, Joshua- 9 and Brenna- 7. They are quite a handful but fun non the less. So here's my thought process: were going just on a short hike, young kids involved, can't be too hard or technical, weather will be great, this should be fun. Didn't turn out quite so warm fuzzy and fun ha. First we got there and it started raining so we just waited it out in the van hoping it would clear up soon. The plan was to hike give or take 7 miles one way. Sue wasn't hiking, she would meet us at the other end and we would have a picnic. The weather cleared after a few minutes and we were on our way. While waiting under the back door of the van with rain pouring down it occurred to me that I might have been a bit ill prepared. I had shorts, t-shirt (which I had changed into since I originally was going to wear a sweet tank top) and my birkenstocks. Hmmm, maybe not the best all weather clothes but what the heck, the weather was clear, we were fresh and ready to go.
First main problem, it seemed the hiking country had gone through a forest fire years ago which meant everything had burned but what does fire do? Revitalizes foliage and makes everything green. This meant the trail was heavily overgrown and the underbrush at times was quite annoying and made things slow going. Now for me, even with shorts on it wasn't too big of a deal but for young kids who aren't real big on getting even touched by the slightest, lightest, smallest leaf it made hiking a bit more interesting and taxing. Let's just say we all did make back to the van alive and leave it at that.
At times the view was beautiful and we did get to see a bit of a gully waterfall which was met with such vigorous excitement by the kids you'd think they'd never seen water actually FALLING besides out a faucet in their life. We all seemed to keep our spirits up and continued on our way although from the water it was a steady climb back up a ridge. Then the "are we there yet?"'s began. You'd have to guess in the triple digits to figure how many times I heard that, and then I multiply that by 3 and you can begin to imagine the frequency and amount of begging requests I got to hear. I was hopeful we truly did not have much further to go or else I was going to start turning to Mark and ask him the same thing.
If things weren't FUN enough, the clouds decided to come in and within 3 minutes my Target $2 white t-shirt, cargo shorts, mop for a head, feet and underwear were soaking. It was like I had hoped and prayed for a cherry on top of my sundae and God decided he'd deliver just in the nick of time. By the time the rain finally stopped I wasn't sure if was more mad that it had even started raining or that even after it had poured on me for 20 minutes we still weren't back to the van yet. The kids really pulled through and though they didn't enjoy it much at all, weighing their options of stopping and pouting in the rain or getting through it all to a warm van on the other end, it wasn't a hard choice. We had just under a mile to go after the rain stopped and from there all we got to hear about were freezing hands, and some very creative ways of getting back to a normal temperature. One of which, suggested by Brenna, was for Sue to go down the mountain, borrow a trailer from one of their friends, buy the hot tub that had been promised for the future, put the hot tub on the trailer connected to the van, come pick us up and we could drive down the mountain sitting in a hot tub. Wow, what a brilliant and completely feasible idea!
Freezing, starving, drowning, dying, falling, scratched to death, fainting, quitting, hands freezing to sticks, frozen blood, giant mudslide. Just a glimpse into the extreme, large, and at times quite creative vocabulary of 3 young children out in the wilderness. I have to look back and wonder if my grip on reality was that poor ba- I mean if my imagination back when I was a kid was so booming and bubbly. Maybe it was the Calvin and Hobbes they had me read out loud to them on the way up, who knows.
In the end though, it's these trips that stick out the strongest and you remember them for defining a small piece of your adventure in a broader experience. When all you can do is mumble and grumble to get through to the end, you get back and your mumblings turn into memories. So, it may have turned out to be a much longer trip then originally anticipated, and the nice picnic lunch might have turned into a small dinner while driving down the mountain, and my feet may have gotten numerous blisters from hiking in wet birkentstocks, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't have it any other way. Dry clothes are overrated anyway.
Daniel
So, on my way to BICAS, it's about 8 or 9 miles into downtown which is kind of a bummer, wish it was closer but what can ya do. It took me only about 25 minutes to get there but I also seeing how fast I could get there and it's also really hot so you have to figure out that balance between working hard and not drenching yourself in sweat. Once I got to BICAS they put to work on checking used tubes for leaks, which I was ok with except that there were probably 200 tubes haha. So I ended up doing that for 3 hours and then leaving. Wasn't the greatest experience but I talked to a girl that I know who works there and I think the second time will be a little bit more enjoyable and educational.
This Sunday was the first Sunday I wasn't busy hiking so I got to go to Tucson Mennonite or Shalom for the first time. The congregation is really small, only about 30 people but it does fluctuate quite a bit and the numbers are usually down in the summer. The service was good and was informal which I liked and they sang hymns which I liked and the people all seemed real warm and welcoming.
With the first two weekends in Tucson both filled with a hike it was nice to be able to relax and take a little time of the ol boots. But wait, this weekend was extra long, I forgot about Monday... Yeah, I went on another hike. This time up a trail called Butterfly Trail in the Catalinas. It was actually right across from Sunset Trail where I hiked the first weekend. Just me and Amy went from the house and we went with the unit leaders family, Sue, who's the leader, her husband Mark and their three young kids, Matt- 11, Joshua- 9 and Brenna- 7. They are quite a handful but fun non the less. So here's my thought process: were going just on a short hike, young kids involved, can't be too hard or technical, weather will be great, this should be fun. Didn't turn out quite so warm fuzzy and fun ha. First we got there and it started raining so we just waited it out in the van hoping it would clear up soon. The plan was to hike give or take 7 miles one way. Sue wasn't hiking, she would meet us at the other end and we would have a picnic. The weather cleared after a few minutes and we were on our way. While waiting under the back door of the van with rain pouring down it occurred to me that I might have been a bit ill prepared. I had shorts, t-shirt (which I had changed into since I originally was going to wear a sweet tank top) and my birkenstocks. Hmmm, maybe not the best all weather clothes but what the heck, the weather was clear, we were fresh and ready to go.
First main problem, it seemed the hiking country had gone through a forest fire years ago which meant everything had burned but what does fire do? Revitalizes foliage and makes everything green. This meant the trail was heavily overgrown and the underbrush at times was quite annoying and made things slow going. Now for me, even with shorts on it wasn't too big of a deal but for young kids who aren't real big on getting even touched by the slightest, lightest, smallest leaf it made hiking a bit more interesting and taxing. Let's just say we all did make back to the van alive and leave it at that.
At times the view was beautiful and we did get to see a bit of a gully waterfall which was met with such vigorous excitement by the kids you'd think they'd never seen water actually FALLING besides out a faucet in their life. We all seemed to keep our spirits up and continued on our way although from the water it was a steady climb back up a ridge. Then the "are we there yet?"'s began. You'd have to guess in the triple digits to figure how many times I heard that, and then I multiply that by 3 and you can begin to imagine the frequency and amount of begging requests I got to hear. I was hopeful we truly did not have much further to go or else I was going to start turning to Mark and ask him the same thing.
If things weren't FUN enough, the clouds decided to come in and within 3 minutes my Target $2 white t-shirt, cargo shorts, mop for a head, feet and underwear were soaking. It was like I had hoped and prayed for a cherry on top of my sundae and God decided he'd deliver just in the nick of time. By the time the rain finally stopped I wasn't sure if was more mad that it had even started raining or that even after it had poured on me for 20 minutes we still weren't back to the van yet. The kids really pulled through and though they didn't enjoy it much at all, weighing their options of stopping and pouting in the rain or getting through it all to a warm van on the other end, it wasn't a hard choice. We had just under a mile to go after the rain stopped and from there all we got to hear about were freezing hands, and some very creative ways of getting back to a normal temperature. One of which, suggested by Brenna, was for Sue to go down the mountain, borrow a trailer from one of their friends, buy the hot tub that had been promised for the future, put the hot tub on the trailer connected to the van, come pick us up and we could drive down the mountain sitting in a hot tub. Wow, what a brilliant and completely feasible idea!
Freezing, starving, drowning, dying, falling, scratched to death, fainting, quitting, hands freezing to sticks, frozen blood, giant mudslide. Just a glimpse into the extreme, large, and at times quite creative vocabulary of 3 young children out in the wilderness. I have to look back and wonder if my grip on reality was that poor ba- I mean if my imagination back when I was a kid was so booming and bubbly. Maybe it was the Calvin and Hobbes they had me read out loud to them on the way up, who knows.
In the end though, it's these trips that stick out the strongest and you remember them for defining a small piece of your adventure in a broader experience. When all you can do is mumble and grumble to get through to the end, you get back and your mumblings turn into memories. So, it may have turned out to be a much longer trip then originally anticipated, and the nice picnic lunch might have turned into a small dinner while driving down the mountain, and my feet may have gotten numerous blisters from hiking in wet birkentstocks, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't have it any other way. Dry clothes are overrated anyway.
Daniel
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