Thursday, July 9, 2009

TREK...

So, I went on Trek this week. Here's another big catchup session. YAY!

TREK DAY ONE
So, dressed all pioneer-ish, our stake (tiny, but that's all right) meets at a ward building with all of our belongings (at least, what's going on the trip) shoved into 5-gallon laundry buckets. We all pack on a bus. It is, in fact, a Le Bus, which has a TV, footrests, and a bathroom, which is pretty much the most technology we're going to see in a while. But, skipping ahead to the actual walking-trek part...
At the site, we are assigned to families (JACKSONS RULE! Who cares if we trekked slow, we had a heck of a lot more fun than everyone else). We pack our buckets into a handcart. We start pulling.
Pulling a handcart is a heck of a lot harder than people think. There were so many hills. And so many rocks. And so many hilly rocks. And the handcart enjoys getting stuck on hilly rocks. Especially the big ones that stop the wheels and make you feel like your arms are about to fall off.
Those rocks.
But all is fine and dandy for day one. We get catered food (poor guys have to drive like two hours to get to us through all that darned nature... kidding about the darned, nature I love you), and we sit on our buckets and talk until it's time to set up the tents.
Ah, the tents.
The tent... is a tarp. A big one. We stuck a really big stick in the middle to hold it up.
Oh. And it's Co-ed.
So, boy's on one side, girls on the other. Interesting.
But, like aforementioned in parenthesis, my family rules. No one else has members that count sheep. Out loud. And name each one. It was probably the most hilarious thing ever, except I think that maybe I fell asleep at sheep number four.

DAY TWO
So... I'll summarize.
We wake up at six a.m. and the guy sent to blow the bugle at us laughs his head off first because all of the guys are too tall for their sleeping space, which results in several pairs of feet sticking out of the tent. I would've laughed too. I love those guys.
Then comes the women's pull. A long, rocky, steep hill that all the girls have to pull the handcart up... by themselves. The boys have to stand at the top and watch.
But... to the part of the day that pretty much changed the way the rest of the Trek went for me.
I have knee problems, which caused me to have ankle and hip problems. We're halfway through the Trek when, as I'm pulling the cart, it rolls forward and knocks into my side.
My hip pops. Really loud.
It really, really hurt.
So, I stumble pathetically out of the yoke. I am trying really, really hard not to cry. I'm failing miserably. Everyone in my 'family' is freaking out a little. But, in the spirit of Trek, I decide to keep going. We get to a river crossing, where the guys carry the girls across. Afterwards, I sit on a rock and, yes, I cry. And feel really, really stupid about it.
And guess what?
One of the boys in my 'family' (who I apparently knew in preschool... I had no idea until my mom told me when I got home) forces me onto his back and carries me a mile and a half until we reach the checkpoint for the day.
And carries me around camp, too.
I think I owe him the biggest favor EVER.
Oh, and we told scary stories in the tent. No one thought I could be scary, but... well, I freaked 'em all out, that's all I can say.

DAY THREE (LAST)
So, we wake up at six again. Boy's feet are still peeking from under the tent after another night of naming sheep.
We start hiking. I'm doing okay... buuuuut not okay enough.
I got carried pretty much the whole way.
That guy deserves the biggest hug in the universe.

Soooo, that was my Trek. In Sparknote form. Especially that last one. Now... I think I'm going to bed.
For a long, long time.

2 comments:

  1. I am glad you made it and that this boy was there to help out. (cute boy?*wink*) I wish I could have come, and that you could have come with us to camp! Don't worry we will still do a slumber party. What are you doing next weekend the 17th? Talk to Becca and the other girls and let me know. And don't forget about So You Think You Can Dance next Wednesday

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  2. Two Years Older Than DirtJuly 30, 2009 at 9:59 AM

    Imagine pulling a handcart for over 100 days the way the handcart companies did?

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