Bonsai + Bee + Booze = Fall Fun Fest

Fall Fun Fest participants=ramshackle group of hooligans


Four Square Team Photo

Urban Lake Kayak Race

Race Champions (James' face is priceless.)

(James...this post is for you my friend.)
"We are contractually obligated to attend Fall Fun Fest," I told Shannon.
Blank stare.
"What I mean by that is,...we should go...it'll be fun."
Blank stare.
"There's going to be kayak races and kick ball."
I knew this was the hook, line, and sinker.
Shannon's eyebrows narrowed and she got that look in her eye. "I'm holding tryouts for my kickball team," she told me. I knew she'd probably make me try out and I also knew that she was 'in'.

Shannon and I were Fall Fun Fest newbies. What is Fall Fun Fest you might ask? After participating in one, I'm still not sure that I can answer that. I think if you could pinpoint Fall Fun Fest on an evolutionary chart it would be somewhere between boxed wine and a bulldozer. Fall Fun Fest is your best friend and your worst enemy (Carrot Top). To the best of my recollection Fall Fun Fest involves a season somewhere between summer and winter, lots of friends, lots of friends drinking, and some activities (all of which do not involve Nathan Todd). Oh, yeah, and there are lots of references to things from North Platte, Nebraska. Okay. That should clear up any confusion about Fall Fun Fest.

Fall Fun Fest was to be held in Oakland California and being hosted by my long time friend James. Fall Fun Fest worked out perfectly for Shannon and I as we had been making our way down the West Coast. Fresh from wandering through the Redwoods and escaping DEA helicopters (another story), we arrived in Oakland greeted by beers, yelling, hugs, and laughing. We fell asleep with visions of an urban lake kayak race dancing in our heads.

The morning of Fall Fun Fest dawned like any other except you could smell the anticipation in the air (and by anticipation I mean booze.) Shannon, new to the phenomenon known as Fall Fun Fest, showed up in true form donning her bumble bee costume. "Yes!" I thought. Then I thought about it some more, recalling previous experiences with Shannon's alter ego 'The Bee.' Then I thought about my previous experiences with this group of friends. I suddenly wished I had a helmet, a saline IV, and a lawyer.

We all made our way to the urban lake where an impromptu game of four-square, a trip through a bonsai garden and an intense kayak race ensued. James and I captured victory in the kayak race (you really can't argue with raw, untapped talent and athletic ability), 2/3rds of us aquired avian bird flu from the lake, and the bonsai trees looked on with disgust. Much to Shannon's dismay, the game of kickball never materialized. Instead, we returned to the apartment where we learned just how many times Bryan Mohr could play the Husker Tunnel Run song before someone ripped their hair out. The rest of the day will forever remain a secret...even to the participants.

The morning after Fall Fun Fest, Shannon and I said our goodbyes and received our "You Survived Your First Fall Fun Fest" merit badges. (Okay, that's not true...but come on James...how about some patches this year!)

Mission Project

We entered our trip into the Mountain Hardware Mission Project contest and won First Prize!! You can read the entry here: http://blog.mountainhardwear.com/mission_project/2007/12/two_girls_and_one_mission.html#more

Thanks Mountain Hardwear!!

The Demise!

Three things that led to the demise of our blog entries:

1. our computer broke
2. Katy randomly lost all abilities to communicate (don't worry, she is currently being outfitted with a voice box and enrolled in a program which is teaching her to combine fridge magnets to form phrases and sentences that will help her complete daily tasks.)
3. Our trip actually ended....oops, did we forget to mention that?


I don't want anyone to fret about this...our lives will go on post "chix rock climbing tour", well, at least we hope so. In all actuality our trip ended a couple of months ago and we have been in 100% denial...hence complete avoidance of all things that would make the end of our trip known...like, i don't know, a blog site formed around the existence of our trip, for instance.

So, even though our blog entries were the one thing that continued to make our trip tangible; as the end of our trip neared, our money dwindling as we headed west towards the setting sun, we retreated from the computer in attempt to make the trip last longer. I am still not sure I have come to terms with a life that does not revolve around my best friend and the camaraderie that develops between car-mates, climbing partners, and giggle infested tromps through the mud in search of the elusive turtle. But my spirits are high as the daily phone rants between Katy and myself consist only of a road trip east, our reappearance at Sturgis, and a plane ride across the ocean for a climbing/adventure destination not yet known (set to take off in fall of 08').

So, keep checking back (if you haven't already given up) for details about the end of our trip. I can't guarantee they will ever come, as we may choose to live in the everlasting glow of this adventure. But, there will be more adventures to come, outcome sure to be the same (read: too much fun and laughter, ridiculous blog updates and stories, denial towards the inevitable ending, the end, recuperating, then more plans for another trip....and so the cycle repeats).

Until then, friends.