Rocky Mountain Camp, Numero Tres

(this should make up for the shortness of my last blog :) )
This weekend I took my youth group up to Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp for the high school retreat. The whole weekend was a blast. My youth members had an amazing time, made some great friends and bonded together. For me, the best part was an evening where a youth member opened up to me, leaving us talk till 1:3o in the morning. I was blessed by the conversation we had and the connection we made.

Being at Rocky Mountain camp meant I got to participate in one of the greatest things.... broomball! This was my second attempt at playing the game. The ice was much more coarse this time, allowing for quicker running and less falling :)

The band playing at camp was actually from Newton, Kansas. In the band was one of my friends, Jesse, a house mate's cousin, Graham, and the poor girl that had to travel with them all weekend, Kelsey. At the end of camp Jesse, Graham, and Ke lsey came to stay with us in La Jara. Nate appreciated having two more males around :)

The following day the four of us traveled back up to San Isabel, CO. Our destination: Bishop's Castle. The interesting thing about the castle: it's being built by one man. For over 30 years Jim Bishop has been spending his free time building a castle from rocks and iron. The caste itself is an adventure. We ran around different rooms an d climbed up the eery towers ... the boys also found a few other things to climb ;)

From there we followed our trusty GPS to find a place to eat. We ended up taking a little detour through the national forest. One windy road downhill, wild cow crossing signs, "posted" trees, and no clue where we were going. It was an adventure none the less. We eventually found all our options for food. One was closed for the season and the other, not open on Mondays. Deciding to settle with snacks, we headed to our second destination. Hiking and rock climbing. Kelsey and I choose the slower and more leisurely route, while Graham and Jesse geared up for the rocky route.

The weekend was full of ambitious rock climbing boys, Disney sing a-longs, laughter, and amazing memories. A weekend that won't soon be forgotten.

Toas, New Mexico

Our house took a trip to Taos, New Mexico along with some neighbor's we've gotten to know.
First stop... The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. Known as the "most beautiful steel bridge" it is also the 5th tallest bridge in the US, standing 650 feet above the Rio Grande River. It was a beautiful day, with a gorgeous view!

Our day consisted of the men going hiking and us ladies bargain shopping. Sadly, the shopping was a complete fail. After shopping we went to a "tea cafe" a cute little place where we literally sat, drank tea, knitted and talked. Something I've never done before... but really kinda like :) Our day ended at an organic store where we drooled over all the fruit and homemade goodies!

Oh, Cow Tongue!

While taking a walk (way back when house sitting) we came across a frozen water trough. Seeing that it was basically frozen all the way through, Mary Jo and I decided to climb on. Once on, we quickly found that it wasn't indeed frozen solid, and we were standing on a large ice cube in a bowl. We quickly gained our balance and posed for our picture. However. However :)

During the picture I looked over and realized... Mary Jo was on higher ground, she was higher than I. As logic kicked in I looked down. Sure enough, glancing down I could see the water seeping in around the edges, coming in at a rapid rate. Then the common sense kicked it. Just as I looked down, my nerve system met my vision. My feet were submerged in ice cold, cow backwash water.

Behold. Wet shoes, wet socks, and long treck back to the house.

Insulating Attics

Being one of the smallest people in our house, I was nominated "the chosen one." Now, at first, the chosen one sounded good.. that was until facing the challenge for the chosen.

My challenge: insulating attics. Our house has two attics. The first is a medium sized attic, on which you can hunch over and step around in. Andy (unit leader's husband) told me the basics. Where to shoot the insulation, how much, and the most vital part. Don't fall. "Step on the frame boards/beams. Don't fall. You fall, you go through the ceiling." It's amazing, given that fear, when I would lose my balance, there was a new "reflexive balance" that kicked in.

The first day of insulating wasn't too bad. Yes, admittedly, coming down the ladder my legs were shaking. It was like a two hour wall sit. I figured the second day would be easier than the first, being told it was a smaller attic. Smaller... it's one of those words that can be interpreted differently. In this case, smaller meant a space which one couldn't hunch around in. Small meant a crawl space, where one, while laying on their stomach, couldn't lift there butt up to crawl. It meant I endured an hour and a half of supporting my body purely on my ribs. Working my way through the attic by pure arm muscle and small push offs from my toes.

The next few days the labor started to show on my body. The bruises began to form on my arms, hip, and legs. Battle marks of the trade :)

Crane Fest

The crane fest is one of the highlights of Monte Vista. It happens every year, where thousands of sandhill cranes travel to the valley for "spring break" before heading to Idaho for the summer. The festival draws bird watchers in from all around. We came across people from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Iowa.

After our crane watching, we went to see a local comedian. His performance was to be over, nothing other than birds. We quickly found his act was more of an informative, nature like presentation, holding little humor. However, even with his lack of humor, we found many laughs watching the people in the audience. Especially when the comedian had us all stand and "act" like we had wings, flapping them about in peculiar manors. Lil old ladies exerting so much energy waving their arms about .... rather entertaining :)

Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp #2

It was our first night at camp and as games, laughter, and the fire began to die down, Mary Jo, Kiley, Kiley's sister, and I decided to head to our cabin. It was a uphill hike, winding around the road, up the track, and over the wood steps. As we stepped out of the lodge into the midnight, we quickly realized, no one had a flashlight. Brave enough to continue, four girls began the hike in the black night with nothing but a cell phone light. We made it only two minutes before hearing one of the girls shriek. Slipping on a patch of ice, she went down. The rest of us, turned in response to the plea of help, however, glancing around, we could not find her.

Imagine three girls, slowly looking around, by the light of a cell phone, in attempts to find a person. As eyes adjusted a arm could be seen, and we found our fallen friend. Sadly, she was only but six feet away from us. After recollecting, we continued our hike up to the cabin. Arms linked together, stumbling alone, as if Dorthy and friends on the yellow brick road.

The next day of camp was full of activities. Beginning with worship and quickly transitioning into free time. The four of us girls, finding it safer to stick together, joined many others in hiking up the mountain to "The Craigs" (only a hour-so hike). After lunch we had another exciting activity. Broomball. Its basically like hockey. Except, while on the ice you are just in tennis shoes and instead of a stick and puck, you play with a duck taped broom and a soccer ball. I spent quiet of bit of time slowly shuffling across the ice, as well as a good portion laying on the ice. The next morning was full of soreness and the discovery of my "reaction" or "caution" muscles.

(I'm sorry to say I haven't received the hilarious Broomball pictuers yet... but they'll be coming soon!)

Update

No worries you'll hear the stories of camp. I'm waiting on pictures and working out wording :)

Until then... I uploaded new pictures. You can see then on the right side bar, or by clicking, viewing then in full size.