#4: High Adventure Trip

Well, I'm gonna combine the rest of the days into this one, 'cause there won't be much to write since it's been a while since I went, and I'm starting to forget a lot of the detail.

So, Tuesday was the day of touring D.C. and wow was it boring. We walked and walked in the 90 degree blistering sun, and it was not fun at all. But, we did get to ride around on the Metro, and that was pretty fun. While on it once, there was a group of pretty good looking girls. So, when we get to our stop, instead of most of us closer to one door, we walk all the way to the end of the car to pass the girls. And one of the guys blurts out, "Hey, there's hot girls there", and one of the girls responds with, "Like you have a chance". Ouch! Very burned. I should have stepped in and been like, "Do I have a chance?" I bet I could have gotten a number. Or just denied by them.

So, we went to a bunch of memorials-pretty boring. I didn't enjoy it very much. But the one thing I did like was going on a tour of the Arlington National Cemetery. And the service thingy for the unkown soldier was so frickin' cool. There's a guard, a marine, who walks back and forth, guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier. And like every 30 minutes, they switch guards. Well, an officer comes out, along with the new guard, and the guard gives him his gun. The officer then checks the gun, and he goes over every single centimeter of that gun. He would stand inches away from the other guy, looking the gun over, and flipping it around-it was so amazing. Then, the officer checked over the guard, and he was so close to the guards face. I have burst out laughing if I was there, but I guess they're trained so vigorously that they know not to, or get a lashing like no other. So they switched out, and it was great.

Wednesday, we made our way to Delaware and got to a new campsite. And the tents were late, so we walked around for a bit. We were supposed to go swimming, but they closed down any swimming in the little lake, and it was pretty nasty anyways. Instead, we played some volleyball, set up camp, and then played a game of football. And it was a great game. Tackle all the way, and there were some built guys playing. But, I was the last on my team to handle the ball, but did get a rushing touchdown out of it. And later on in the game, I scored again with a pass. And then almost scored a third time, but was feet away from the endzone. The game ended up in a tie, after we caught up 2-2, took a big lead 5-2, and then the other team came back. But it was great fun.

Thursday, the beach. The ocean beach. We went, and this time I made sure I put on sunblock, 'cause I didn't want any more pain. So, me and a couple of others went down the beach to get to some of the larger waves, and they were so much fun. And they were huge too. We came back, and started a game of football. I came in, made a touchdown, and then everybody decided that the sand was too hot to continue, so we went back in to the ocean. So, there was a leader, who got caught in an undertow, and Cameron did too, so the lifeguard comes flying out to Cameron, who was not struggling at all, and probably could have made it back himself. On the other hand, the leader was falling under the water, and no help was coming to him. I was close to him, but something told me that I couldn't do much to help him, since I'm not a strong swimmer, and am pretty lightweight. But, luckily, there were a few others who went out to help him, and finally the lifeguard came over to help.

Friday, we went to the beach again. This time, I didn't do much swimming and riding the waves 'cause the night before I had the most horrible headache I have ever had, which kept me up for atleast an hour. So, I just sat under the umbrellas and slept. And then, I went home with the early group, and sat around camp not doing much-just a little volleyball.

So, later that night, we had a testimony meeting, and a lot of the boys really didn't want to come, but decided that it was one of the best trips they've been on. So, I was telling Cameron that it looked like this was the first week-long campout that I've been on without any rain. Haha, cursed myself. That night, I was in one of the largest thunder storms of my life. Thunder struck, and woke me up. So, I'm sitting in the tent, listening for a bit, and hear no rain, so start to go back to sleep. But then thunder comes again, and I start to hear it, the patter of rain on the ground. So, I quickly unzip the tent, don't throw on shoes, and hurry outside, running around like a maniac in the rain trying to get my backpack which I left outside. So, I bring it back in, and notice that there's another backpack out there, so I go and grab that one too. I scramble into the tent, and it starts pouring down. And the lightning strikes were so bright, I could see all the way to the end of the camp, which was like 500 feet away. And the thunder was so loud, you could scream and still not be heard by the person a foot away from you. But, it was fun to be out in that huge thunderstorm, and luckily nobody was hurt.

The next day, we packed up, ate a quick breakfast, and were on our way home. But, while in Penn., we made a pit stop, and do you know where that was? A fireworks store. A huge one. So, were all excited, and I thought I'd be coming home without any money at all, I was going to spend 20 bucks there buying fireworks. But we get to the door, and the people working there tell us we have to be atelast 18 if we have an out of state license. Total crap. And it just so happened that it was the 6th, exactly two months away from my 18th birthday. So, I give 5 bucks to a guy who went in, and he got me some roman candles and a huge pack of bottle rockets-144 to be exact. But, I have no idea where I'm gonna shoot them off, since I live right on Main Street. But, hey, I have fireworks-how much better can that get.

And that is that for the Palmyra Stake Youth High Adventure Trip 2005. And the next one they'll have, I'll be on my mission, so I'm gonna miss out. But it was fun, I enjoyed it. Almost as good as the white water trip we went on two years ago. I made some great friends, and hope that I'll still be able to see them every once in a while at stake events and such. But, thanks for a super mad awesome trip!! I loved it. And goodbye until next time!!