At least I didn't die!!!

So I went on my first High Adventure as YM President and let me tell you, at least I didn't die. We left at 6:30 from my house. I had been up since 2:00. I drove all the way there and felt SUPER tired, but at least I didn't die. Steve Davis and I were both swerving all over the road while the boys in his car rested, not knowing how tired we both were, but hey, at least I didn't die.

We got up to McCall and stopped at the store for some stuff, when we left McCall I made it as far as Warren Wagon Road (outskirts of McCall) and I started feeling stomach cramps and a HUGE urge to throw up. I kept driving in hopes that it would go away...it didn't. At least I didn't die!!!. We got to the end of Payette Lake and I had to stop at the Restroom there. It took a while, and a woman almost bursting in on me since the door wouldn't lock, for my stomach to settle. I went out and walked around for a bit to make sure that I was good to go. We all got back in the car and I made it just far enough to make it stupid to turn around when my stomach pitched a fit.

We got to camp and got it all set up and I ate what I had for lunch, which was a sandwich from Boise that had been sitting in my car, not sure that was the best for my stomach. Anyways, after a few more minutes in the restroom I came out and the boys were ready to go on our bike ride. I decided not to be a pansy so I got ready to go. One of the boys had a horrible flat tire, so we attempted to fix it and finally got it working and we took off. The 2 mile warm up was nice and then we got to the trail that was / <== that steep most of the time and sometimes | <== that steep...at least I didn't die. :) According to the Forest service, the trail is a beginner level 10 mile course that should have looked like ==> --~-~ that.

After grinding my brakes, having everyone but two leaders eat it and having my legs lock up from cramping, we were half way to the half way point but at least I didn't die. Cliff and I ended up taking up the rear and walking most of the hills after that. The downhills were nice, but somehow most of the trail was uphill. To make a long story short, we got to the lake. No one felt like going back on that trail, that is except Steve. He was like an Iron Man. So we talked to some people and they told us that we could go out to the road on an easier trail and then ride the road for ~10 miles. We did that trail and it was WAY easier but by that time I could barely move from the ride in and so Cliff and I took our time. Oh, and at the lake we had 3 flat tires, one that I thought was irreparable. We got past two major hills and the rest was downhill. That was TONS of fun. We were about a mile from the campground when I saw a huge amount of tire SLIME© in the trail. It was Hayden's tire again. He blew his rear tire out completely and we found him pushing his bike not too far down the trail. Let me just say this one thing about SLIME©, it is great for small punctures, but not when your tube gets wrapped around your chain and gets shredded. It just didn't work that well in that scenario. I was extremely proud of Hayden for not throwing his bike into the bushes and walking away. I would have.

We get to the camp and Cliff hitched a ride with some gentlemen back to camp and we all took off riding to try to meet them half way. We felt like we had done that when I rode up on all the boys sitting in the middle of the road. We sat and sat and decided to push on, we made it 100 yards and sat some more. Then we saw Cliff and Gaylan driving up to meet us, at least I didn't die. YAAAAAY!!! was the cheer from all of us. We made it back to camp after our 10 hour bike ride.

Upon arriving we were met by a pungent odor from the RV hookups, at least I didn't die. We dealt with that all night as we ate and had our FHE (Family Home Evening) from the boys. I thought that FHE was very well thought out and put together, good job boys. They talked about Leadership in families with an emphasis on fatherhood. I thought it was a wonderful take on Leadership. Then we played Mafia and I was the Mafia 80% of the time. It was great. We went to bed and I still have a favorite quote from that evening thanks to Conrad Davis. I am sure that he had already fallen asleep and had a thought go through his mind, "What about Breakfast?" I heard him tiredly say, "If someone could get up early tomorrow and make some breakfast that would be great." It still makes me laugh.

So the next day we were going to hike to a lake and go to the hotsprings. We did and it was a great day for two things. Car sized boulders being pushed down a hill, off a cliff and into the water. Ok, I need to add one more thing, Davis' tennis ball canon that Conrad shot, empty of course, directly into my face with no ear protection, at least I didn't die. The boys thought it was so funny but I can still hear my ears ringing slightly. We went to the hotsprings that night and got eaten alive by all manner of biting fly. I am hatching baby horseflies from my back right now, but hey, at least I didn't die. It is kinda funny cause they look like me. We then went back to camp, ate (I don't like to brag about my cooking but it was pretty stinking good), and had a few spiritual discussions. It was definitely good to hear the boys testimonies and know that they are good kids from the inside out. After that it was a blur. I remember a little more Mafia, me being the Mafia a few more times and throwing a fit when I was Mafia to get a new card, but everyone wanted me to die anyways so they claimed I was Mafia right off the bat. That is fine boys, you all have interviews with the Bishop on Sunday.

Sleep :-P Steve snoring in 5 seperate patterns at once. Wake up. Eat, pack, leave.

Rafting!!! That was very fun, but I think the award for most fun has to go to Gaylan. The oldest and wisest of us all knows how to have fun on a river. We had him standing up in the middle of rapids, chanting, boarding the other boat to throw people off and initiating huge water fights where our whole boat stayed dry and theirs was soaked. Cliff has to get the award for colateral damage since I was trying to get everyone in our boat wet and he was always in the way. I am surprised that he didn't attempt to have me walk the plank. The thing that I enjoyed the most was seeing Steve and Garrison get ejected from their boat over a rapid, the second most enjoyable was getting to float the last mile or so in my life jacket. It was so relaxing, and at least I didn't die.

That was our trip. Pictures will come when I get them.