The Misadventures of Lake Powell 2010

So my most recent adventure to Lake Powell was a combination of hilarity, dreams of mice, sunscreen, water floaties and banana hammocks saturated in booze and tossed onto a houseboat that by day two reeked of septic backup. Here are a few highlights:

While some people fly pirate flags, our crew in true Nebraskan fashion flew a Husker flag. That’s right a great big ass red flag with a white N. There was no question where most on this boat hailed from.  And if that wasn’t enough to proclaim where the patrons of that boat belonged then the giant “N” that we was resurrected at our first docking spot definitely was.

And just when I thought I was finally too old to get obscenely drunk and pass out in an odd spot I do, but at least I can blame it on The Man.  Pomegranate Pearl Vodka and a little Sprite Zero go down way to easy! Four ridiculously strong drinks later and a realization that I’ve become a pansy since leaving college, I took a look at the bottle and suddenly felt myself hit a wall. My drunk sea legs weren’t going to cut it anymore.  I was done. Out for the count. So what do I do? I crawl up underneath the 8 plus inflated floaties in one of the staterooms and proceed to take one the of best siestas of my life. Only to wake up with a fairly significant buzz hours later. That’s right. I can’t hang like I used to.

Also, there is nothing quite like resurrecting a game of truth or dare. Thanks to that I’ve seen a drunk guy sing I’m a little teapot while twirling around on a cooler, friends play bucking bull and try to dump each other into the dirt, and just about everyone in a banana hammock (yes, some of the girls too).

Did you know that mice (and apparently other disgusting creatures) will crawl up the lines at night while the boat is docked? All it took was one mention of this and I was dreaming of little mice crawling across my bed every night. While it never happened, the mere thought was enough to have me kicking out randomly at least 20 times per night. Tip: bring something to put on the ropes to fend off the little creepy, disease-ridden rodents.

Oh and one last antidote. When packing of course I remembered all the essentials like sunscreen, bug spray, water floaties and several cases of beer, but who would have ever thought to pack mass amounts of Febreeze? Well, I’m telling you that is another must have with 10 people all using the same crapper, and one in particular dropping 4-6 loads a day. The smell is builds up quick and at a whopping 10 miles an hour cruising speed you can’t generate enough wind flow to carry away the smell.

All in all, it was a hell of a time. What was your favorite random vacation with friends?

Why should I work when I could perpetually be on vacation?

The worst part about any vacation is coming home. I know some people are ready to crawl back into their own comfy beds and gorge themselves on American hamburgers, but not me. Okay, that’s not fully true. I did gorge myself on the Wendy’s frosty/fries combo. (God bless you Dave!) I am already missing you Costa Rica. What more could I ask for from my little adventure then the sound of waves crashing into the beach (off both coasts), several species of crazy monkeys and buttery plantains with every meal.

I know! Another vacation because hey, who really needs to be at work anyways? Definitely not me. That’s right kiddies. I’m off to Lake Powell with the NEB crew. Translation: hello to more sun (Yes, I’m getting seriously brown) and a houseboat full of booze. Ain’t summer grand?

Where would you go right now if you could?

Does this high school grad make me look old?

It’s official. My little bitty baby bro isn’t so little bitty anymore. Yes, I know he has dwarfed me since he was 14, but the kid –ahem, excuse me- guy is finally grown up. I can attest to that since I spent the entire weekend coming to that realization. It didn’t happen right away, it was more like a 12 step, okay 2 step process.

1. The military dress
I showed up in Riverton and caught up with the bro on Saturday, after he had spent half the day on orders, which I learned is what it’s called when you’re on duty for your one-weekend-a-month with the National Guard. Since he was done with his tasks but still technically on call he had to stay suited up in his uniform for the rest of the day just in case the call and need him somewhere.  So when I saw him he was still in uniform.
That’s when it slowly began to set in. Yes, he did really sign up for 8 years in the guard and he is going to basic training next month. Sure, I’ve seen pictures of him in the gear, but it’s not the same as seeing it in person.

2. The cap and gown
Sunday came and so did graduation day. In Riverton it took place in the gymnasium since that’s the only place big enough to hold all those people inside – hey, its Wyoming and you don’t hold anything outside in May. It may very likely snow. As we sat down I quickly realized I hadn’t seen the inside of a high school gym in 9 years. It was a little awkward being in one again and you think I would have remembered how wood bench can make your butt numb in 2 minutes.  I seriously wish I would have thought of bringing a blanket, pillow, butt donut, anything to sit on! I digress…

With an 8 year difference, I’ve always seen Chans as my baby bro, but in a cap and gown my thinking really had to start changing. After all he was done with school and taking the diploma. Funny enough when they began playing the senior video and his face popped up and he waved at the camera I got teary.  Awww! It was ridiculous. I didn’t get teary at my own graduation, was actually rather nonchalant about the whole thing, but his I got a little choked up. Don’t worry I quickly recovered.

Congratulations Chans! May  your road never be too rocky, may you always appreciate each and every success, and may you always remain as humble as you were that day.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

Hello Costa Rica!

Image by Salvatore Vuono
Costa Rica, my friend, I love you! God bless 80 degree days filled with humidity. I know that sounds weird, but toss in a little trade winds and I’m in paradise – or better yet Costa Rica! New Orleans, don’t be jealous. I still love you too!

Though after the five and half hour red-eye flight and the annoying guy who got up to pee 6 (yes 6!) times and still insisted on having a window seat, I required some much needed ZZZs . FYI – I never got the expression red-eye till now because that is definitely how you look after one of those flights. Thank god for super early check-ins and really friendly front desk people who tolerate exhausted Americans trying to speak Spanish, but are too tired to form actual sentences in my first language.

After several hours sleep I woke up refreshed and ready to explore the city that was bustling just below my window. That’s when I realized that in our sleep deprived state earlier we hadn’t been given any instructions for the next leg of our adventure. While I’m fine with winging things most of the time, The Man definitely is not, so we’d arranged a travel package that would take us from one stop to the next and several tours at the various locations.  Not an ideal situation.

After several attempts to reach someone at our travel companies local office who knew what was going on (it was lunch and siesta hour and the poor girl who answered the phone didn’t speak that great of English and my Spanish isn’t good enough for that conversation) we had a time to meet the guide tomorrow and still half of the first day to catch some of the local sites in San Jose.

So here is to 10 days filled with nature, culture and adventure!

Life isn’t about finding yourself, It’s about creating yourself!

You ever hear people say “I’m finding myself”? Well, I absolutely hate that saying. It’s ridiculous and makes no sense. How can you find yourself? It’s not as if you were somewhere then whoops turned around and you’re gone. You didn’t misplace yourself somewhere. No one is going to hand you a map or plug the coordinates into your GPS and presto! There you are. It’s you! The one you’ve spent all this time looking for.

In life we don’t find ourselves, we create ourselves!

We have never been here before and we will never be here, in this moment in time again. With every choice, every action, every thought - we create. We Hope. We dream. We embrace. We cry. We fall. We love. We lose. We explore. We live. 

Our life and the people we become are our creation.

I believe I’m still creating myself. The self I want to be. The better me. The more involved me. The more humble, more compassionate, more dedicated, more inspired me.  Every day I continue to work toward creating the me I want to be. 

It's not about being content with who you are, but continuing to strive to achieve a better you. Everyone of us is beautiful in our own right. We do not need to find ourselves, for we are already here. We already know who we are. The question is, "Is this the best person I can be?" I resoundingly say NO!

Because of this I will never stop creating. Never stop evolving. And most importantly never stop learning. I learn, I live and I create. 

May you always appreciate the you, you are and you, you are creating. Who will the you, you create be?

A head full of useless facts & absurd skills

Sometimes I wish I could delete all the useless information that has accumulated in my brain over the last 26. Out with the old and in with some stuff that may actually be useful!

Most importantly I would delete the ability to say the ABC’s backwards. There was some very stupid myth in the 90s that cops would make you say the ABC’s backwards if you were pulled over. At the ripe of 11 I decided that I better learn how to do that. I was terrified of being hauled off to jail on suspicion of a DUI when I was only speeding all because I couldn’t say them backwards. The things kids will believe.

Fifteen years later it is more of an inconvenience than anything. I do now have it on good authority that cops will not ask you say your ABC’s backwards for any reason. It’s apparently not a common thing people can do. Plus it screws me up when I’m trying to figure out what letter comes after which. I actually have to stop and think (okay, yes and sing a little) is it N-O-P-Q or Q-P-O-N?

Amazingly being able to recite every state in the US alphabetically still comes in handy! I’m keeping that one. Thank you 5th grade! Everybody sing it - Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas….

So with a head full of useless facts what is a girl to do? Looks like I'll just have to stick to rocking at trivia games.

If you could purge your brain of useless knowledge what would you delete?

The Almost Vacation -But Not Quite Here Yet- Blues

It’s official. I’m finally going to get another stamp in my passport! The St. Lucia stamp was starting to get lonely, so what else could I do but give it a little company? The bad thing about scheduling a vacation is that the waiting period suddenly becomes so much longer. May 28th why, oh why, can’t you just get here?

If you know me then you know that when I get an idea in my head or a notion to do something I do it. I don’t sit and talk about how I would love to do this, or it would be so fun to do that, or I’ve always wanted to try… I take charge, pull the lever and send myself in there guns blazing. I’m proud of the dedication and determination I have to embrace every opportunity and challenge. Without it I would never have rode waves of the coast of Hawaii, jumped out of an airplane on a beautiful October morning, or had the courage to explore school again and a change in career.

Yes, I admit that sometimes things can go awry. Otherwise I would never have had the pleasure of cruising through airports in a wheelchair on the way back from New Orleans. But to me it was completely worth it. When else would I have randomly stumbled onto a pirate’s convention and spent the weekend hanging with swashbucklers?

You see, one of my biggest goals is to truly see and do everything. Anything from cruising the canals of Venice in a gondola, and eating native nuts with the Pigmies, to fishing the anchovies run in South Africa and even seeing that damn 5 legged calf in Kansas. Yes, everything. The important thing is gaining the experience. Feeling something, learning something, exploring my understanding, expanding the mind and embracing another day that could have and would have just gone by.

As with anything, the key to reaching a goal is to make that first step. So, here I go again taking another step.  This time I will be stepping into Costa Rica where I will spend 10 days touring the canals in the rainforest, hiking up volcanoes, sea kayaking along the coast, and embracing the local culture from the Gulf side clear to the Pacific. Who knows, with a little luck I may even get the chance to put those surf lessons to good use again.

Now if only I can make it the 3 weeks till I take off for some vaca time.