So Saturday night was parent's day for the Northwest Youth Corps. Originally the G-man had broken the news to me in his oh-so-subtle way that he didn't really want me to come to it. "It's gonna be too hard for you Mom" I believe was his excuse. Turns out the big guy had a big case of the homesick blues, and he was hungry and had run out of cash, but that is besides the point :) I arrived early and had to wait just a bit for all the buses to arrive from the Saturday rec trip. As soon as my boy saw me he gave me a huge hug and I think we both had a little tear in our eyes! I had brought him a watermelon, a loaf of banana bread, a giant bag of Lays BBQ chips (his personal request), a dozen cupcakes, glow stick bracelets for his crew, a couple of books (Stranger in a Strange Land, John Cheever's short stories and something else I can't remember), a ball with a tail, cash and some lollipops.
I saw his tent and immediately started hyperventilating!! (Think 14 year old boy mess times 5). We spent a couple of hours just holding hands and walking around the area. He told me all about his experience so far. The work hadn't been nearly as hard as he thought it was going to be. He mostly gets along with everyone. He spent a good deal of his money on toilet paper and paper towels. (If you know my son you will believe it!) He had been more homesick than he thought he was going to be.
Garrett had earned several nicknames already...Tex was the one I heard a lot of his friends call him. He also was stylin' a pretty fancy Mo Hawk that his crew leader Brentley called Garrett's Curly Hawk! The story goes that Garrett bet his crew they couldn't do the dishes one night in less than 10 minutes! They finished in 9 minutes 45 seconds....Brentley gave him his curly hawk with his leatherman!!!
A couple of crew members made dinner for the group, asking Garrett several times to help because he has earned everyone's respect as a bad ass chef! We all had dinner together, than were treated to a talent show followed by a group circle where the kids took turns telling everyone what they thought were traits of good leaders. It was an excellent night and I was thrilled I got to partake.
The following day I had made a reservation on a shuttle to do the Mckenzie River Trail, one of those epic mountain bike rides you are supposed to do before you die. The ride was incredible! It had all the things you want on a trail...single and double track, small ups and lot's of downs, lava fields, pine forests, a view of the river almost the whole ride, waterfalls, crazy blue lakes and more. The ride was about 30 miles and took me quite a while. After, I made my way to Terwilliger Hot Springs to soak my neck which was talkin' after carrying a pack on a bike all day. The springs were beautiful and apparently a 'clothing optional' area :) though I can tell you that there were no cute naked girls but an over abundance of fat naked men...go figure!!
I camped along the river last night. Made a cozy fire, drank an amazing IPA from Eugene, had fresh organic baby tomatoes with crusty bread and hard salami. Fell asleep in my tent without the rain fly watching the stars. It honestly was a perfect day!
I am in Bend today doing a few errands. The G-man wanted a hacky sack and since the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I am on the hunt for a leather, not woven, sand or dirt filled, not bean filled hacky sack! I also think I am going to do a run along the Deschutes today...just feel like it! Tonight is ladies night at 10 Barrel Brewery and that looks like fun also. I will start heading back towards home tomorrow and any fun along the way!
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