Comin' Down the Mountain

The HB and I had another fun trip to the mountain with Indian Guides. Since we are in a 'graduating' tribe, we got the nice accommodations. By nice I mean carpeting, heating that works, only four to a room and a bathroom which is not down the hall. We were still in sleeping bags on 6 inch mattresses. But, it's better than the old gulags (little heat, concrete floors, metal bunks).

The boys are at the age where they don't require a ton of supervision as they pretty much play among themselves. So, that meant we could all sled/hike during the day (there was a couple of feet of snow, but the temps were in the 50s) and boys would be on their GameBoys while the dads played cards at night.

Knowing the driving conditions getting to the camp (the last two miles is an unpaved, rutted and usually muddy road), I asked if the HB and I could bum a ride. We were able to, and fortunately with one of the boys the HB doesn't hang with that much. And, just as fortunately, not with one of the boys that he's more friendly with, but who has a voice like nails on a chalkboard and the vocal impulse control of a four year old. Of course, the HB and the other boy hit it off well.

Unfortunately, I left some kid DVDs at home. The guy who drove only had two: 3 Stooges and Beowulf. The 3 Stooges were pretty fun and it was the HB's first time seeing it (yes, female readers, I fully understand the yawning gender gap in enjoying the 3 Stooges). They found Beowulf pretty intriguing, but didn't really understand it. However, the protagonist's primary line, "I AM BEOWULF", was a great source of humor and became the tag line of the weekend for the tribe (e.g., after a long sled ride a boy would stand up and exclaim, "I AM BEOWULF!).

On the way home the other boy complained about a bit of a stomach ache. Apparently he gets a little car sick on windy roads. So, we made our planned stop once we got out of the mountains to get some sodas, etc. On the freeway he still said he didn't feel well, so his dad suggested that he roll down the window to get some fresh air. He does, and then pukes. Besides getting the auditory splendor of the event, for some reason I was looking through the passenger side side mirror so I got to enjoy it visually as well. Unfortunately, so did the lady driving the Volvo station wagon next to us who got a windshield full of hurl. When she pulled up along side of us she gave us quite the WTF? look. By that time everyone, except the kid who vomited, was convulsed in laughter (it wasn't long until he saw how funny it was). We then proceeded to make some jokes on her behalf ("Well, the day can't get any worse.", "Shit, first my car won't start, I'm late for a meeting, my boss chews my ass out, then my car gets puked on...can this day get any worse," and "At least I didn't drive the convertible today.").

My wife was happy to see us home and it was good to have a home cooked meal, even if I was the one doing the cooking. A looooooog soak in the jacuzzi took care of any strains from the lodge and the sledding as well.