Christauphany

I just got back from a church retreat in the Poconoes. It was pretty good. We stayed up for the weekend. On Saturday we had four stations: the art shack where we made prayer mats, the comic relief where we reenacted the show "Who's Line is it Anyways", the Cruising to Equity where we made a bag of stuff for a foster kid, and the Powere swing where we were pulled up about 40-50 feet and let swing. It was crazy. My roomates were pretty cool. The one named Corey and I had a lot in common. We had a lot of free time when we plyed knockout a lot. We had a church "service" every night. We did Stations of the Cross. Overall, it was a pretty cool weekend.

Baseball

School - Going well so far. I got an A on my math test and and A on my History test, and I have yet to get my science test back. We just finished our second game this week out of three. We won for the second time this week. The first game was yesterday, which was a makeup game for rain. We played Reading Southern and beat them 14-12, a real pitchers' duel, lol. I went 3 for 5 with 3 runs batted in. I was happy. Today we played Antiedem. We won 17-5! It was my best game yet. I went 5 for 5 with 3 doubles, 4 runs batted in, and 2 runs scored! I was extatic! The whole team was at it's best. Our next game is on Friday at home against Reading (some direction). I looking forward to it.

The Trip

The Trip was crazy!!! I have some details below:

Day One:
Pick up at The Double Tree Hotel in Grand Junction and the drive to Moab (one of the coolest small towns ever!). Turns out Niki and Nancy are our guides again! They're awesome. So we get to the shop and we get to meet all of the other people on the trip, a total of 7 plus 2 guides. There was a couple from NY, another father - son(15) pair from OH, a guy from D.C., and me and my dad. It was really cool. So we went on a ten mile ride (too short :-() on a slick rock trail in Canyonlands to start the week off. Then, we set up cam in BLM land in this sweet campsite with a GINORMOUS rock island in the center the you could explore. That ended the first day.

Day Two:
We did a twelve mile hike in the Needles District of Canyonlands. It was a very strenuous hike but it had great views. Nancy's brother, James (19) joined us. It was a really long but awesome day.

Day Three:
Today we got to rock climb! We drove into one of the world's most famous rock climbing spot in the world - Indian Creek. It was crazy! I was stoked when I heard the Collin was going to be our guide because I know him and he is an awesome guy. We climbed face climbs and crack climbs, and I made it to the top of the couple. Then, in the afternoon, we biked The Slickrock Trail. It was extremely difficult and everyone quit after the practice loop except me. Niki and I went off on our own and she taught me a few really cool climbing techniques.

Day Four:
Today was Canyoniering. We got to hike for a while then we got to some scramble climbing. We then slid into a slot canyon where there was waist deep FREEZING water that we had to wade through. I cut a bunch of fingers climbing down the tree into the slot but that was ok. Then came the repelling. The first repel was about 40 feet. It was pretty easy and a lot of fun. Then, we hiked a bit more and came to a 110 foot repel with a free fall about a quarter of the way down. It was soooo fun! Then we hiked back to the van. I forgot to tell you that it was Jeep Week in Moab which means that there were a ton of Jeeps in the city. They come in on Saturday and stay the entire week, doing trails like Lion's Back, Hell's Revenge, and Potato Salad Hill. So, after the canyoniering, we picked up some ice cream and headed over for a swim next to Potato Salad Hill to watch the Jeepers. Only one didn't make it up and had to drive away in shame, lol.

Day Five:
Today was the hike in Arches National Park. We did a very short, but steep, hike that was 3 miles to see Delicate Arch. This is the arch featured on the Utah License Plates. It was beautiful. After that, we stopped at a place called Balancing Rock. As you can derive from the name it is a rock that is perfectly balanced on a butte. Then, we headed over to the Colorado River to do some Ducky riding. The water was freezing, but we had a good time anyways. The rapids were pretty small and there was a huge headwind. We were very wet afterwards. That night we played a game called Chubby Bunny, where you have to see how many marshmellows you can stuff into your mouth and still say "Chubby Bunny." Greg won.

Day Six:
Today we got to bike in a place called Bartlet Wash. It was SWEET! The whole place was like a terrain park! We practiced in chutes, jumping ledges, and wheelies the whole time. Then, at the end of the ride, Nancy, LP, and I tried to go down an EXTREMELY STEEP hill called "The Boat Ramp." Dave bet LP $100 to do it! Nancy and LP made it. Then, it was my turn. I got have way down and hit a bump and flipped right over my handle-bars. I skidded down the rest of the hill and caught my bike just before it hit me. It was very painful but not too bad. Then we had lunch and headed back to the shop, Moab Cyclery. The group split up from there, Dave, my dad, and I droveback to Grand Junction with Nancy and took the scenic route. It was soo beautiful. That night, the three of us went out to a Nepalese restaurant which was excellent. After the meal we all went off to bed.

Overall the trip was a blast! I had a great time and can't wait to go on another Escape Adventures Tour again!

Grand Junction

Hey! I am in Grand Junction, CO at the moment, so I can't blog for long. I am about to head out on a 6 day adventure of mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, and whitewater kayaking on the Colorado River. I can't wait for it to start. So spring break has officially started, and I don't have any homework. Happy about that. I aced my Clauses test in English. Well, I got to go, because I am using the hotel computer. Hope to talk next time I get a chance to be in a room with a computer, lol.

Not bored, just busy.

School - Just had my test on the Miracle Worker play about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. It was actually a very good play, and I liked it a lot. The third quarter has already ended, and this quarter I am in a class about Microsoft Word and also back in Investigative studies. In that class, we are doing three mains things. The first is the reading of the book The Giver which I have read before. It is a very good, but fast read. The second project is called a character study where I have to type 500-750 words and "paint" a picture in words about someone. I chose my dad. It's going pretty well. The third part of the course is an advertising unit. We get into groups and pick a cause to support and sell to the public (a selection of teachers who are also the judges). We have to create a billboard, magaazine ad, a radio add, and a Television add. Then, we are judged on how good our project is. It actually pretty cool. Baseball is going pretty well. We have to run a LOT because we goof off a LOT. But, other than that practice is going well. I am a little disappointed in the way I am hitting the ball lately, though. I wish it were better, my bar is raised extremely high because I have been working all off season, going to Grand Slam once a week whenever I could and getting lessons. I expect more of myself. Oh, well. Just have to concentrate and work harder. But, baseball is MY sport and if I'm playing at all, I'm happy. So, I'm very busy, again. I wake up at 6:18 A.M., go to school which starts at 7:34, finish school at 2:15, get changed in the locker room, wait for the bus. Get on the bus at 3:00, get to practice at 3:15, practice for two hours, get home by 5:30, eat dinner, do homework, and go to bed. That is my schedule. It busy, but that's kind of the way I like it:

Not bored, just busy.