Spring Break Shenanigans

Spring Break 2006 has come and gone, and it was absolutely the best one yet

Note: Mal's posted many of the pics from the trip on her latest post, and she's also added a link to the Facebook album that has ALL of our Spring Break photos. So if you want visualizations to go with what you read in my post, open up a new tab and scroll through Mal's blog. Definitely make sure to check out the Facebook album. Don't worry, you can still access the pics even if you do not have a Facebook login(just click each picture to go onto the next one)...

So yeh, Trevor and I packed up and headed to Chatt-town U.S.A. early Saturday(the 11th) morning in my mom's bitchin van. We made a stop in the Big Ham so I could do look for some new swim trunks for the summer(yes, I was successful); we also stopped to eat(twice) while we were in the mall. We arrived in Chattanooga around dusk, and Mal, Alicia, Trevor, and I went to this nice(and evidently very popular) Italian restaurant. The highlight of the meal was my daring Trevor to drink the rest of the melted butter that was in the bread roll holder. I offered to pay his way for the movie, and he accepted the challenge. He shot the butter with no problem, but he did feel the after-effects throughout the night. After dinner we(just Trevor and I...the girls had to pack) went to see The Hills Have Eyes. Definitely one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. Trevor says it's nothing compared to Hostel, so I'm making a point of checking that one out when it hits the dvd shelves.

Our whole ski group congregated Sunday morning at the parking lot near Mal's place. After some creative packing, we were off in 3 cars toward Snowshoe, West Virginia.

.......8 hours later.......we arrived at what we were hoping to be snow-capped mountains and slopes. Unfortunately, just the slopes were covered, and worse still, it wasn't the "real" snow. Our spirits weren't broken, though, and we proceeded to check-in at the bottom of the mountain. This is where the trip took a turn for the better. Mallory and Alicia, with their amazing powers of persuasion and charm, were able to turn a mistake made by Snowshoe(not making one of the rooms available) into an SUPER sweet deal for us. Mal and Alicia ended up saving everyone about 75$, and they were able to make it where the entire group was housed in one 3 story-condo. Needless to say, at that point we were all very, very, very excited.

We headed up the rest of the mountain pass, checked-in(again), and moved into our freakin' sweet condo. This place was awesome: huge kitchen, plenty of space, too many rooms to count, fireplace, great balcony view of the valley and mountains, 3 bathrooms, and a living room made for Spring Breakers. After we got settled in, we headed to the Village area of the resort to get some grub.

That night was occupied mostly by a game of Catch-Phrase. Basically, it's like Taboo, except a little more mobile in that you pass around a device that displays the word you need to describe. Unfortunately, at a point about midway through the night, my brain had a fatal memory lapse. The Catch-Phrase gizmo came my way, and I was charged with starting the round. I pressed(what I thought to be the "word" button), but in reality, I had pressed the "category" button, so the display of the device read the category of the words that would follow. There is the Sports category, the Around the House category, etc. etc. When I pressed the button it happen to show the category "History Buff," which is, as you guessed it, a category of historical facts and notes. At the instant I see the words pop on the screen, I start describing "History Buff" perfectly, and within mere seconds, my team had correctly guessed it. I then passed the device over to CG, who was on the other team. It didn't take him long to realize that I had read the category instead of the words, and he made that fact known to the whole group. About 2 very very very very long minutes of laughter ensued. Of course, I couldn't help but laugh too, as it was one of the dumbest things I think I have ever done. I can guarantee that most, if not everyone there during that trip, will make sure I remember that deed.

Trevor and I woke up really early on Monday to get a jump-start on the skiing. The only person awake before us was Tyler, who had the day's forecast laid out on the breakfast table, as well as a fresh pot of coffee going. Trevor and I were on the sloaps no later than 9:30. It had been 7 years since I last skiied, but Trevor was very patient to help me rejog the skills Gabi had taught me in Switzerland. After about a half hour, we were bolting down the slopes. Granted, these were Green(as in difficulty, not in color. They made sure there was enough fake powder mixed with the real stuff) slopes, but even Trevor admitted that they were some of the more fun ones he had tried. From that point until 4:30 that afternoon, all we did was ski(with a small lunch in between). It SO kicked ass...

That night we all went to eat at the nice restaurant in the Village, the Bistro. Mal and I splurged, ordering the Filet and Beef Tips Special respectively. Our waitress was also very sociable and fun, which just added to the already great evening.

We returned to the condo to start up a game of Turbo Cranium. We had 3 teams, with Mal, Trevor, and I composing one team. Without going into the details, I'll just say that we had no trouble at all in winning that game. I'm willing to bet that that triumvirate is unbeatable........It will be interesting to see how good Mal and I are come August this year, when we go to the beach with my family. Will/Andrea and Carolyn/Richard are sure to be awesome at Cranium, so we'll definitely have our work cut out for us. You hear that, Caro and Rich? Start brushing up on your Cranium skillz, haha. (If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about Horne Beach Party 2006...but that's another post for another day)

Tuesday was CONSIDERABLY colder than the day before. Whereas the high on Monday was around 75, the high on Tuesday was closer to 36. Yeh, that's about a 40 degree drop. Yikes. Nevertheless, we were all out at when the slopes opened, and it was another glorious day of snow skiing. I even attemped a dreaded Blue slope in the earlier part of the day. It was very icy, but I managed to go through some moguls without TOO much difficulty. I felt I improved my turning and sharp stopping skills during the second day; I just need to do this ski thing on a more regular(yearly) basis, and I think I can get up to Trevor's skill level in no time, haha.

A myriad of games were played Tuesday night at the condo, and it sucked that the trip had to end. Tyler and I woke up on Wednesday to about a foot of fresh powder that had fallen the night before. We couldn't believe it. The day we leave is the day the best snow comes. Grrr.

We were cleaned up and out of Snowshoe by about 10:30 local time, and we were on our way back to Tennessee and beyond.

So that about sums it up for my Spring Break. Again, head over to Mal's blog for more pics and funny captions.

As for the rest of the break...

Trevor and I saw V for Vendetta at the new Madison theater. AWESOME place to see movies. It's closer to our house, uses digital projection, has huge screens and one MEGA screen for some movies(like the one we saw), and produced some bombastic sound. Absolutely breathtaking movie experience. Can't wait to go back :)

Found out Mike Griffin(aka Administrator of NASA) is coming to MSU a week from tomorrow to speak on "Leadership and Space Exploration." This is part of a new Lectureship Series created by some professors and alumni here at State. It's pretty cool that we get such a bigwig as Mike himself to come. I'm definitely going to attend and here what he has to say. I saw him speak at JSC last fall, but this time promises to be a much less-crowded affair.

Uhm...we kick ass at baseball. The defending SEC Champs(that would be the Mississippi State Bulldogs) are 15-0, the best start in school history. Better than the '85 Palmeiro/Clark/Brantley team even. Kick ASS. We wooped up on some Vols this weekend taking 2 out of 3 before the finale was cancelled today due to rain. Definitely picking up some tickets before this season is over. Omaha-bound, anyone??

School starts tomorrow....bleh.

-H