Thursday, April 23, 2009

Road Trippin'

Back to Colorado I go!!

I left washington on tuesday april 14th first thing in the morning. It was sad good buys to my housemates, loaded up and headed East. ( well I had to head West to Seattle before going East due to mountain pass's still being closed for the season). My housemates, how i have played house mother for for the past 6 months, wished me safe traves while also checking to makre sure my car had enough oil, correct tire pressure for highway driving, that i had gas, and food as well as a safe place to stay while driving to Colorado! WOW am i gonan miss them!!

I drove for about 13 hours that first day made it across washignton, through Oregon, and all the way across Idaho. I finally came ot a rest stop just over into the Utah boarder and spend the night in my car. Its great being and to move your whole life in your car and still be able to sleep in it!

I woke up first thing the next morning and headed south east down to Moab, UT to visit a friend and enjoy some R&R in the dessert! We went rafting on the colorado river, canyonering through the national park and just enjoyed hanging out around town! a great few days off!

after my quick but much needed vacation in the warm (70 + degrees) dessert, i headed back north to Colorado. I stoped by Leadville (the highest town in the country, 10,000 feet, to visit Ben, from camp last summer. it was nice to catch up, we went climbing and then to a STS9 free concert at Copper mountain for closing day! ps- i love vacation!

I am now here back at camp santa maria. We started staff training for outdoor ed on monday and are all ready for our first session of middle school kids to show up on monday! we have a great crew this year but i cant wait for all of the returners to come back from last year! its gonan be another great summer in colorful Colorado!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Spring.....???? Not quite Yet

BY Now its April in the Cascades and there is no sign of spring anywhere. during the month of March we received more then 10 feet of snow!!!!!! It just hasn't stoped snowing and its still dumping on us. The skiing is great, just Powder day after powder day, i will def be in shape for the summer, if my knees hold out!

Since my last post ( my birthday ) many exciting events have taken place. Jill came for a visit during her spring break. we had a great 5 days skiing, site-seeing in Seattle, and more skiing. i def think i whooped her butt, but i also know she enjoyed it in the end. Jill also helped me make a dress for our annual end of year fundraiser. We made the dress completely out of duct tape!! (a picture coming soon!!) The dress was awesome, Purple, Silver, and teal in a tube dress style, and straps added later for support. The event was just last week and it was a huge success! we had a great time drinking, dancing, all being in Costume! although the down side was that it was storming and we were out the door at 6am the next morning with 21 inches of new snow! Lets just say we were not in the best shape that morning...but hiking a bit, throwing a few explosives and skiing powder makes you feel better almost instantly.

I also participated in " Hope on the Slopes" the third ever ski for cancer. It is the downhill form of relay for life. This event is very new, as we were the third and final location for the 2008-2009 season. Crystal mountain had 62 participants, skiing a total of 523,998 vertical feet that day and raising over $16,000 for the American Cancer Society! WOW! im impressed and proud to have participated in such a strong event. thanks to all of you who donated to the cause, It was a great day! and yes you can still make a tax detectable donation as my personal page: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/CommunityFundraisingPages/HOSNational?px=10059968&pg=personal&fr_id=19221

Even though the snow is not stopping any time soon, my season in coming to an end. My last day at Crystal Mountain is April 13th!! As much as I loved this season and all the skiing, events, people, housemates ect i am excited to see green grass, wear flip flops and have a change of pace and activity. I will be driving back to Colorado between the 14-16th ish. I am returning to Camp Santa Maria, the same camp i worked at last summer. We start our Outdoor ed program for middle schoolers staff training on the 20th and kids arrive a week later. Im def excited to be returning to a familiar place with familiar people. I will be at camp through the spring, summer and possibly fall. the summer will be similar to last year in that i am leading the adventure programs in rock climbing, backpacking, and kayaking. But i will also be leading a pre-camp teen leadership 18 day course. It will be a mini NOLS or Outward bound style course revolved around leadership, teamwork and outdoor living skills. IM super excited about this course. on top of that i will also be taking on a role as youth development program leader. working with out 14 and 15 year old campers and helping them take on more responsibilities, and leadership roles in and out of camp. as we make progress on this program i will keep you all posted!

well its about that time again, to start saying good byes to my ski patrolin family and say hello to my summer lovin family. not to mention the i hope to see you soon to my friend and family thousands of miles away.

Happy spring everyone!!