Whistler Mountain Biking Trip

Ok, here is the epic Whistler story. Lance, Wes and I leave early from work on Saturday so we could make it to Whistler at a decent time of night. We stop to get gas and then get on our way...to bad Lance left his phone on top of the car...it flew off driving across the 520 bridge. We exit off of 520 then walk back to the the phone and when we put it back together it doesn't work. Lance took it pretty well knowing that he had insurance on the phone. We get up there about 9pm but the guys we were supposed to be staying with were gone and because of Lance's broken phone we didn't have a number to any of the guys we were staying with. Good thing Wes and Lance know locals so we met up with some other people, hit up a bar or two then they let us crash at their place that night. The next morning we get up and go over to the condo we were supposed to meet up with last night. We go to breakfast at this place called Longhorns and watch the downhill world championships but Wes and I decided to leave early to go mountain biking.

I have to say, this was the most fun I have ever had on a bike. Hitting speeds of up to 35-40mph down a mountain and flying up to 25 feet off a jump was the coolest feeling in the world. We get back a little later to take a break and find Lance at the bottom of the mountain. He had broken his lower swing arm on both sides of the bike at the weld...on his first run down the mountain. He ended up getting his lift ticket refunded but he was done for the day. We all went back to the condo to eat some lunch then Wes and I headed back out. By this time I was really comfortable on the bike so I started getting more gutsy and hitting the jumps harder and flying higher...that was until I hit a jump so hard and so high that I landed flat and flew over my handle bars doing a sweet tuck and roll and landing on my feet! I hit my sides pretty hard on some rocks while rolling scraping me up pretty bad but other than that I was fine and kept on riding. We did a couple more runs then heading back to the condo to shower, eat dinner, and party with everyone. I was so tired from riding all day that I passed out by about 11pm.

We woke up the next morning to something we weren't expecting. We walked out to Lance's car to start packing it up to leave but when we got there...it wasn't there. His car was towed. We didn't end up getting a ride down to the towing company till later that afternoon and by that time we decided to just stay one more night because we didn't have work the next day anyways. Shannon ended up letting us crash at her place which was awesome...she totally helped us out. Walking into her place for the first time I found a really interesting hat that I ended up wearing for the rest of the time I was there...a bear hat! The last picture below is evidence of that. It was awesome! Even more awesome when you wear it out to a club that night and totally making a fool of yourself doing the worm with the hat on. Needless to say, I had a blast and we didn't get back to Shannon's place till 3...then decided to check out the hot tub. I was more interested in the stars when we got out there because it was so clear and ended up giving everybody an astronomy lesson ;) By the time we got back it was 5am and we all passed out and slept in till like 12pm.

I was still super tired and just ready to get back in my own bed that night. We got up slowly, Shannon made us an awesome breakfast then we all started packing and getting ready to go. To bad about 4pm we were sitting around talking about how much fun we had and Lance and Wes got the bright idea of staying on more night and driving back 4 in the morning to make it to work on time. I tried to convince them other wise but they weren't having it...here comes last night take 3. Out of all the nights there I had the most fun this night. We ended up going out to a club...no cover charge because we know all the right people...and dancing to Dubstep music. It was so much fun! We didn't end up getting back to Shannon's place till 3:30am and since we were planning on leaving at 4am we didn't really sleep...well I got like 30 minutes. We didn't leave till like 5am but we ended up getting to work 5 minutes before we opened...just in time! That day just happened to be our first 10 hour shift so that day was super long, especially with no sleep but I made it through...barely. Below are the few pictures I took that weekend.

In line to go up the mountain for the first time!

Entrance to the A-Line trail

Jump on A-Line

Last night take two

Last night take three

Florida Vacation

Who would of thought that I would of been back in Florida so soon after graduating...well I did it, and had a blast! Ryan called me up about 2 months ago with the idea and we just hit the ground running. I had a free ticket with southwest so once I got the time off from work I made reservations.

I got there Wednesday night and Ryan picked me up from the airport in Orlando. Didn't get back till around midnight so we just stayed up talking and having a couple beers then hit the sack. Torrie and Dustin were awesome and let us stay at their place for the weekend!

Thursday we made our rounds seeing old friends. First we went by the bike shop we both worked at and said hi to everyone there, it was cool to be back, still smelled the same. Then we went to the bookstore I worked at over the summers and talked to people there. Last stop was the school and we went around talking to old teachers and I went over the the detachment to say hi to everyone. We just chilled out until the baseball game for a couple of hours then met some people at the bar across the street until the games started. We all got a beer and ordered some food because we were starving and then we got to talking to the bartender. She ended up giving us free season tickets for the Daytona Cubs (only 3 games of the Season left and they were all that week). The game ended up getting rained out so we had one more beer then headed back to the house, saving those tickets for Saturday. When we got back we played sing star, a PS2 karaoke game, a ton of fun. MY old roommate got back that night as well so I dropped by my old house to see what they had done with the place to to see some old friends. Stayed over there for about an hour then went back at went to bed.

Friday was beach day number 1. To bad it was a little cloudy but the waves were good and we still got a little sun. We went and picked up Kira to go with us and ended up going to a beach up by here house in Ormond. That night we went to dinner at the Ale House then came back and passed out early because the beach really took it out of us.

Saturday was beach day number 2. This day was much better...it was sunny and huge waves. We ended up going south this time down by Ponce Inlet and had a ton of fun. Kira and I tried to swim out the the big breaks (7-10 ft) but the under toe was really strong and we ended up coming back. Ryan and I both put on sun screen but didn't re-apply...bad news bears. We both got burnt but Ryan was way worse off than me.

Saturday was also game night! We got in free with our tickets and then Ryan and I stocked up on our beer for the game with $5 32oz cups of Sam Adams Coastal Wheat...I love this beer. The Cubs ended up losing but we still had an awesome time!

Sunday, Ryan had to leave. We made our final rounds of Daytona and then he was off. Torrie, Dustin, and I were all exhausted so we all took naps that afternoon then we did pizza and movies that night. A nice relaxing evening.

Monday I had to leave :( It was sad getting on the plane but then again, I was excited to get back and boast about my nice tan in front of all the pale seattle people.