This weekend was so sweet. It felt really long. Ryan, Gary and I took off to Leavenworth on Friday to go camping with a bunch of other people. I don't normally have people in the car with me for long trips. It was entertaining having people to talk with and made time go by quickly.
The camping spots were pretty small. We were on a long, narrow rectangle of grass. There were two communal fire pits on either end of the rectangle, and nothing more. Two enormous families set up their entire band wagon around the fire pits. So...no fire pits for us. We, uh, just made our own. On our little plot of camping land, there was a large dust patch where there was no grass, so we made a fire pit with rocks.
Being men, we had to go prove ourselves at the wood chopping block (not me). With a dull, blunt blade, we made little progress, what with the logs being about a foot and a half thick. After a while, we got enough (by, "enough", I mean, "too much") and headed back. We set up shop and all got around it. The camping guide zoomed around in his golf cart and...didn't notice we had a fire where we weren't supposed to. Huh. Oh well. We talked and I smoked my pipe. Got to know people. And we got yelled at by a grumpy woman at another campsite, "quiet DOWN!"
Then at eleven-thirty, the camping guide showed up out of nowhere, really damn quietly behind someone. When he had all our attention, he said, "quiet time started at eleven."
Then he looked at our fire. And even pointed his flashlight at it (he had to make sure it was REALLY there, I guess). "Put it out. NOW," he said, very disappointed. So, we did. We sat there not too much longer in the pitch blackness because...we were in the dark. We all started getting ready for bed. Then my car alarm went off. For probably about five minutes. I forgot where I put my keys. A woman from the same grumpy family yelled, "turn it OFF!" Duh? Did she think I was sleeping through the alarm or something? I finally remembered I had put my keys in my back pack. That was good. Everybody from surrounding camp sites applauded when Megatron's battle cry finally got turned off. Oops.
Woke up nice and early. Walked around a little. Went to a field nearby, and was able to see the surrounding mountains and peaks and how we were in a valley. Beautiful. I really wanted coffee - it was a cold morning - but the check-in office wasn't open yet. People slowly started waking up and at seven-thirty we went to grab breakfast. We talked about things like Polybius (the game, not the god) and The Mexican Perforation. The urban legend of Polybius was debunked for us. I guess that's a good thing. Wouldn't want to believe a lie.
I was a bit nervous for white water rafting, to be honest. Forty-two degree water? Yeah...Oh well. Ryan and I were in the front. That first huge wave that hit me - dang. It was scary. And really cold. I was determined not to get bucked off into the water. And I didn't. I did get bucked off into the boat, though. I was also determined not to lose my sunglasses. And I didn't. I need to be determined more often, it seems like. Ryan got taken down a couple times. We got really good at pulling him in quickly. Haha. It was fun hearing everybody's stories. Gary and David's raft taco'd. And they hit heads. They tried to tip their raft, but surprisingly, it didn't happen. It was fun. Lots of rowing. When we got back on land, it was nice to warm up. Feet were numb and cold. Same with my fingers. That's okay, though. I'm warm now, aren't I?
After we all got back to camp, we went to Leavenworth. What a cool town. Nestled in a valley between huge mountains, it was beautiful. I've heard it's stunning during Christmastime. We went to Gustav's for lunch. Walked around Leavenworth. I dropped Gary and Ryan back at the campsite and I took off. I would say it was a quiet drive...but it wasn't. I blasted down the road in the sunshine with my windows down, singing/listening to Meatloaf (notably, "For Crying Out Loud"). I had no trouble getting to bed that night. Started watching my favorite episode of the Office (Traveling Salesmen/The Return) and I fell asleep pretty quickly.
Yesterday was good, too. Really good, actually. I wanted to go to the Fremont Flea Market after church, but I was invited to a picnic at the Arboretum. So I chose the picnic. That was a lot of fun. A ton of walking. We walked from one end of the Arboretum to the other. David, Derek and I ended up on an island in mud. But we kept on going. And ended up at the Museum of something-or-other. Instead of going back, we kept going. After a ton of walking, we found our original picnic site and left. I went to the singles bonfire in Alki. That was fun. Parking was probably, literally the worst thing in the world. Parked way too far away. That's okay, though. I like walking.
The singles thing went well, I thought. Met people, obviously. Played a lot of bocce ball. That game is sweet. It was a great weekend.
Tonight is the last community group. It'll be good, but sad.
It'll be a good night.
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