Five days and I'm gone.

Escape From Blah Blah

As many of you who can read know, I'm going down to Texas to visit Anna and to volunteer at the training center where she works. I'm also leaving very soon. So before I left, and for James birthday, Mom took Evan, James, and Myself snowboarding yesterday. We started early in the morning and I drove to Timberline. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful, the sun was out and it was over sixty degrees. Evan and I took turns staying with James and teaching him, and under our top quality schooling (which we don't charge very much for) he is really getting better. I went over quite a few jumps and landed nearly all of them. I also went on off some freestyle rails for the first time and only crashed on the one that I didn't intend to go on. I was coming down the hill and I saw a mound that I thought was a jump. When I got to the top, and there was no chance of stopping, I saw that it was a rail. I rode the rail successfully but when I landed I caught the front edge of my board and ended up on my belly. All in all everything was great.

On the way home we got the great idea to stop somewhere for dinner. We knew that Adam was taking the other kids out to BurgerVille so we called home trying to hook up with them. They had already left so we were on our own. James and I didn't really care where we went as long as they served food but Evan was feeling the need for pizza. Mom had the great idea to go to EFNY (Escape From New York) Pizza in downtown Portland. We got there, ate, and then left. It really hit the spot. A perfect way to end a perfect day.

John

The Long Way Home

I head out for Texas in 6 days. Until then I have to have as much fun as I can.

In the mean time, tomorrow morning Mom, Evan, James, and I are going to be going home. But this time we are taking the long way home. On the way we are stopping at Timberline and going snowboarding all day. (For all of you who don't quite get this, we are just going snowboarding tomorrow. I put it in interesting terms for your reading enjoyment. If you still don't quite follow leave a comment, send me an email, or give me a call, I would love to enlighten you.)

John

Finally Having Fun

Well, I had a crazy weekend, but nothing a party guy like me couldn't handle. I started it all off on Thursday by heading down and helping out at the senior car wash. I helped the whole time from 10 until 4 and we raised over 400 dollars. I specialize in cleaning wheels.

On Friday I did normal stuff most of the day, including taking down a big Oak tree in our backyard, but ended it all off well by heading down to REI and J. Crew. I love to spend money and this time I came home with a new shirt from J. Crew and climbing harness from REI. Looking forward to accruing all the gear I need to go climbing.

Saturday was great day, starting at church getting the ground there ready to have new bark dust laid down for Easter. Evan, James, and I devoted our time to removing two large flax plants. By the time we were done all that was left was two craters and a big mess. Upon completion of our duties we headed straight over to Southridge were we commenced an the most amazing Ultimate Frisbee game I have been to in a while. My team ending coming back from 7 to 14 to win the game. We scored 8 points in a row. After frisbee, we played football but I was having a hard time getting into the game. It didn't rain on us while we played frisbee but for the last hour of football the heavens opened up and all manner of things began to fall from the sky. Thoroughly soaked, Evan and I headed home to get ready to go out to Red Robin with Kevin, Hannah, and Katey. Hilarity ensued while we spent two hours at the restaurant. The word 'Fun' does not do justice to what all happened there while we inhabited the premises.

Sunday was mostly normal for me, starting in the morning waking up. Next I went to church and then came home. After lunch I rode my bike to Barnes & Nobles and spent some time there with Luke. That finished, I rode on home and got ready for evening church. After church, Mom and I went to get James, he had gone to the zoo with some friends for a birthday. Driving my car was great, especially since it was night and the bad drivers are few and far between. When I arrived safely home I went to bed.

Today was a good day too. After waking up and all that shenanigans, I did school, which comprised sitting on the couch reading textbooks and practicing my piano. Then Evan and I went out for a little shopping. I can't tell you where we went because while we were out we stopped and bought Anna's birthday present. After that we went to REI and I bought another pair of Smartwool running socks(the most comfortable socks ever). I have had a gift card so I couldn't resist. After dinner we were going to go see Shooter but I couldn't because I'm only 17 and it's rated R. Now I'm here at the end of the day. Now I'm gone.

Snowboarding on Thursday. Texas in 8 days.

John

Flying Monkeys

I leave for Texas in 11 days. But I'm kinda sad because I'm going to miss the senior trip to Sun River.

Red Rogues

After a completely successful day of ultimate frisbee (and football, which isn't as good as frisbee), Kevin, Hannah, Katey, Evan, and I all went to Red Robin to hang out and have dinner. It was so much fun! I cannot not tell you how much fun it was. They were about to kick us out when we decided it was time to leave. (Not really, but I know it would have come if we stayed much longer). Anyway, O m goOdNesS. This is Fun and this is Red Robin. Fun < Red Robin. If you want some good stories your just going to have to ask me in person.

John

Hey

Evan and I moved an entire delivery of lumber into the new sanctuary for Mr. Dutton yesterday.

Then I went to piano lessons.

I'm leaving for Texas in 2 weeks from today.

Went on IMPACT Outreach.

Going Bowling.

Woot. Leave me a comment. It makes life exciting.

John

Elephant Tea

I know I haven't blogged in a while, about nine days, but now I'm back feeling kind of good about taking a small break. Things that happened while I was "away:"

Tim came over and spent the night.
Playing frisbee in the street.
Going to a big airsoft game at Splat Action.
Finishing my Physics.
New Shoes.
REI membership.
Trying to spend money.
More firsbee.
Lovely Weather.

In less than three weeks time I will be leaving for Texas on my first plane ride by myself. I'm really feeling good about it and I'm really looking forward to visiting Anna and meeting all the people at DTC. I feel kind of like this is just the beginning for me branching out and slowly being released from home. Not that I just want to leave, but that I'm excited about growing and having new freedoms and being able to put to use everything I've learned as a kid and growing up. 20 days until I leave.

John

Bit By Bit

I hope you all enjoyed my Snow Trip entry. Unfortunately, because of the nature of things, all my interesting little stories cannot be included for sake of space and that I do not remember them all when I'm writing. Plus, trying to incorporate many of them into the story format would have been difficult. Consequently, you find little pieces of a greater picture revealed slowly over time. I'll start things off right now by giving you a glimpse into what made this such a great trip for me.

Friday afternoon, riding back from Bachelor, we needed to stop at Safeway to pick up some wine for dinner. We had just come from the slopes so Luke and I are still wearing our snow pants, tromping around the store. While Mr. Nutter and Mr. Gaffney talked with the wine guy Luke and I wandered around the store looking for something the satisfy ourselves by. In the back, behind the produce, I found a fridge unit with Odwalla, SoBe, and many other drinks and juices. I really like Odwalla so I went over think I might buy one. Odwalla cost too much and I wasn't interested in spending that much. My eyes began to rove over the case. They rested on the SoBe. A little tag beneath them reads: 10 for $10. According to my math that means they're a dollar a piece. That's a great price, and I do dearly love Lizard Lightning, which they had, so I grabbed two. I told Luke to grab two and I would buy all of them. Feeling quite satisfied we headed to the front, keeping our eyes open for Mr. Nutter. After walking the line of registers we found them checking out. I placed the SoBes on the conveyor belt and pull out my wallet. But as I was to pay, Mr. Nutter included my drinks with his wine and payed for the whole thing! Four dollars isn't that much, but paying nothing was great. I wasn't expecting him to pay for my drinks but I wasn't going to stop him either. We head out to the truck. I'm just enjoying everything.

John

What A Novel Idea

Thursday morning, two weeks ago, marked the start of my incredible journey with the Nutters. The Nutters were going on vacation to central Oregon to meet old friends of theirs and to go on a ski trip to Mt. Bachelor and I was going along with them. I was so excited but I didn’t even know all that was going to unfold on our trip and stay at Eagle Crest.

The morning before I left I knew I had to get a lot of things together and ready to go and I only had until about 11:30 to do it. I had loaned my snowboard out to a friend with my old bindings on it and I wanted to put the new bindings back on it before I left. I started my laundry and got right to attaching my bindings to my board. When I had finished with my board I set it against one of the chairs in the living room. I check my watch; it reads 10:30. I only had an hour until I’d like to head out the door to the Nutter’s house and I still had a lot to get ready. I head upstairs to get my snowboarding gear together before I pack my bag. The duffel I was going to use was in the attic so I went out to the garage and climbed the ladder into the storage. When I got there I remembered that the light was out and needed a new bulb but I didn’t want to replace it right then, I just wanted to get my bag and get back to packing. I feel my way around on my hands and knees until I came in contact with the object of my search. I turn around and head back down the ladder. Back in Mom’s room, where I store all my gear, I start to pack all my gear into the duffel. I keep my snowboard boots, helmet, goggles and sleeping bag all in the same place so those all get packed quickly. My hat, gloves, jacket, pants, and thermals are all very accessible so it doesn’t take long for my gear bag to completely packed. All I have left to do is pack my clothes and my camera. Laura helps me by being my gopher and running for things that I need from downstairs. By now my laundry is finished and I finish packing my bag. I finally get dressed after wearing my pajamas all morning. I carry my bags downstairs and put my stuff in the entry, ready to go. A minute later I put everything in the back of Evan’s car. Moments later Mom is driving me to the Nutter’s.

The night before I had received a Starbucks gift card and we stopped by the new Starbucks on the way to the Nutter’s. I went inside and was about to order when I remembered that I had left a few snack items I was planning on taking with me at home. I ran outside and asked Mom if she would quickly drive home and get them. When she had gone I went back inside and got in line to order. I grabbed and Odwalla Superfood from the cooler and stepped up to the register. I ordered and placed the Superfood on the counter. The lady working the counter was new so I helped her remember my order while she called it out to the barista. I pulled out my card and hand it to her with an extra dollar in hand thinking that the total would come to more than the $5 that was on the card. The cashier scans my item and rings up my total: $5:65. She swipes the card and hands it back to me. The receipt prints and she hands it back to me pointing out that their system was down and that the balance on the card wasn’t shown. Another side effect of their system being down was that it didn’t know that my card didn’t have enough on it to pay for the total so I got 65 cents worth of free drink. I was cool with that. While I waited for my drink I noticed two businessmen trying to find a place to sit down; there were no tables available. I suggest that we bring one in from outside. We step out the door and I help one of the men carry the table in and set it in a blank spot on the floor. The table had water all over it from the recent rain showers so I grabbed a few napkins and wiped it off. The men thanked me; I assured them it was no problem. By that time my drink was finished, I grabbed it and headed out the door to wait for Mom. I checked to parking lot to make sure she hadn’t made it back already. She parked there so I walked out to the street to wait on the sidewalk. While I waited I witnessed a car turn a corner and hit a car that was not moving. A few minutes later I hear a horn honk and turned to see Mom waiting at the light headed my direction. I signal for her to pick me up on the curb and get ready for a “tactical boarding procedure.” Mom pulled up to the curb and I jump. We’re off again to the Nutter’s with all my stuff this time with just enough time left to get to the Nutter’s house by noon.

The rest of the drive to the Nutter’s was uneventful. Upon reaching their house, I didn’t grab my gear right away. I didn’t if I should put it straight into the truck or bring it in the house first so I left it in the car. Mom accompanied me inside to talk to Mrs. Nutter before she left. The Nutters weren’t ready to leave right away so I stood around for a little while visiting with them. When Mom had finished talking with Mrs. Nutter and had to go pick Evan up from school. After a while I was about to go move my bags and board from the car to Mr. Nutter’s truck. When I went out to the driveway I encountered one small problem, my bags had left with Mom in the car! I went back inside and called home and left a message for Mom to call me when she got back. I remembered that she had to go pick up Evan from PCC and I hoped she would notice that all my stuff was still in the back of the car between the Nutter’s and PCC and that she would bring it back on her way home. I had left a message at home, so I decided all I had to do was wait. Much to my relief, Mom drove up a few minutes later and redeemed our little predicament. Now, with all my gear packed either in the back seat of the truck or in a black plastic bag in the bed, we were ready to go.

Not much later we were on the road, traveling to Central Oregon. In my head I pictured that it was going to be sunny and warm, for I had only ever been there in the summer time. Once on the road for a while I came to a new conclusion. As we traveled on in the area of Detroit Lake not only was there snow on the ground but also it began snowing. It continued snow on and off all the way to Sisters. My mind was held captive the whole way through the mountain passes at the stack beauty of burned out forest covered in a blanket of pure white snow. I saw there in the forest and on the lakes a beauty like I had never seen in that area before.

I had a great time on the rest of the trip and it was fully relaxing. We spent the afternoon in Sisters and had dinner with Nutter’s friend, Mr. and Mrs. Gaffney, in a cozy booth at the Mexican restaurant in Sisters. The following day we got up early and prepared to go snowboarding at Bachelor. We spent the majority of the day on the slopes and then headed back to the condo at Eagle crest. That evening, Luke and I played video games, air hockey, pool, and ping-pong at the resort clubhouse. We finished the day off by playing games and talking until late. The trip back was equally enjoyable with snow flurries and huge groups of snowflakes clustered together. When we got back to Portland the sun was shining and the air was warm. To end it all off, Mr. Nutter dropped me off at my house and helped me unload my baggage. My trip was so amazing and I’m so glad the Nutters took me along.

John

The Ultimate Game(s)

On Saturday we played ultimate frisbee at Southridge. I wanted a lot of people to come so I started calling them about a week in advance. I also posted it on my frisbee group (groups.google.com/group/blackwatchfrisbee). I never expected what was going to happen when Saturday finally rolled around.

I got to the field at about 5 'til 11, when most of my people were supposed to be showing up. After that people started to come and kept coming all the way along until after 12 o'clock. There were a total of 32 people that day, the biggest frisbee game I have ever been to. There were so many people that we split up all the people into 4 teams and played two games at the same time across the turf field. I ended up playing five games in five hours. It turned out to be the biggest frisbee day ever I've ever played.

John