National Lampoon's Spring Break Vacation

Yes, yes, it's been 12 days since I've done this. I'll try and fit all those days into one post...

Spring Break

As I've stated on here before, I took nine other people to Minnesota of all places for Spring Break with me. It was awesome, to say the least. The drive up began at 6:30 on Saturday, March 3. A mere 17 1/2 hours later, we were at our final destination. The "cabin" was gorgeous as usual, and there was a fresh blanket of at least 18 inches of fresh powder waiting for us.

Ben arrived Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis, so Matt and I drove to a family gathering in Cambridge to meet my sister, who had picked Ben up from the airport. I got to see a spattering of relatives on my mom's side, and we departed after about an hour there. Upon returning to Gull, we figured out our meal schedule for the week, had dinner, and concluded the evening with a viewing of The Prestige, which was quite good, even though I had it figured out about 45 minutes in.

Monday was another light day. Matt, Ryan, and Lee went to Danielle's house in St. Cloud to use her snowmobiles for a couple hours, while the rest of us stayed to play in the snow, which included digging a fort, tossing a Frisbee, a mild snowball fight, and throwing people in the air on the lake (Lots of snow on the lake, so it wasn't painful). My parents had everyone over for dinner Monday night (delicious), and we played two rounds of Battle of the Sexes, which we split.

Skiing on Tuesday meant we were on the road at 7:30. A light snow persisted all day, adding three inches of snow to the already impressive totals, and making the roads a little slick (which resulted in a nasty spill for Tim that left him at the cabin for the day). Wild Mountain had hardly anyone there, which made it that much better for the people that went skiing. Jess and I didn't really want to ski, so we stayed in the chalet until lunch, then went over to spend the afternoon on the tubing hill, which we found out was closed during the week. Thus, we ended up back in the chalet, which allowed Jess to take a much-needed nap while I began reading Harry Potter for the first time. The first car left Taylors Falls at 4:30, the second at 7. We relaxed that night, and watched Stranger than Fiction, which I liked a lot.

Wednesday was our day out at camp. We slept in and arrived just after lunch, beginning with the sliding hill. There was so much snow it was hard to get going, especially at first, but we slid for an hour before things dissolved into a mass snowball fight. Eventually people got cold, so we went to the gym and played basketball, floor hockey, and carpet ball. Then, we climbed the Ice Tower, which was a ton of fun, and four of us even made it to the top (me not among them). That night I went to hear my dad preach at the Assembly, and came back to play Pinochle with Ben, Julie, and Jess.

We spent Thursday at the Mall of America, which went by really fast. I picked up a shirt, a pair of shorts, and a 9000-piece puzzle (which is ridiculously huge, and will not be started until we're in a new house). Sarah and John had everyone over for dinner after this, and then we went to see "Triple Espresso", which included a unscheduled pre-show tour of downtown Minneapolis. The show was hilarious, as usual.

Friday was the day everyone recharged. 6 people went to the casino around lunch, while the rest of us went into Brainerd to get groceries for our Italian feast a la Jess that evening. My family came out for dinner too, and we all had a great time and great food. The rest of the evening was spent cleaning and prepping for our departure, which we all agreed came far too early, and if I was not in school and had a job that would allow it, I would have stayed another week just to chill.

The drive back on Saturday was faster than the one there, and was thankfully uneventful.

I have to go to Showdown now, but I will be back on to talk about the last couple of days this evening.