MLK Weekend adventure

This past weekend was Martin Luther King weekend, and as such we, as cadets, all had a three day weekend with no training to make the most of. And that we did.

As I mentioned somewhere previously, I am from the desert. Now, I pride myself at being able to adapt rather well to new environments, in other words, put me just about anywhere and I'll do alright (it's nothing too special, anyone in shape and not lacking in common sense should be able to adapt well to just about any new situation). I may not have mentioned earlier, however, that I often volunteer to put myself in situations that make me appear rather awkward and out of place. Well, I do that also. I spent this past weekend in New Hampshire with some friends from the Academy.

I've been to his house before, it is set in the rural, mountainous land which gets snow almost every day. Last year I loved it, and this year I expected nothing less. After a 2 hour train ride, and another hour or so on a crowded bus (complete with unceasing baby yelling) we finally arrived in a town near his and were brought to his house by his father.

Saturday morning we woke up to the smell of chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes, prepared by his mother who, by the way, is an outstanding chef! We soon set out for Mt Major, an easy two hour hike to the top. This was a great climb, not necessarily difficult, at least it shouldn't have been, but I am completely new at climbing on ice. I've always climbed toes-in, because on a rocky hillside that is the best way to control your balance and grip. On Mt Major I did nothing but slip all over the place and nearly slid down a 50ft ice face. One of my friends told me I should start using the sides of my feet instead, and that made all the difference. Too bad he told me when we were nearly at the top.... From the top, a vast view of the famous lake, Lake Winnipesaukee, nearly took my breath away. It was amazingly beautiful, and well worth the hike. The return trip was nothing to write home about, just making our way down the side of the mounting, doing some controlled sliding here and there, and all around having a great time.

Our next stop was at the GunStock ski resort, and although we didn't ever strap on skis, we took full advantage of the snow by doing snow tubing. What a blast. I mean, tubing on water is a lot of fun, but this was crazy. Our group of four went all at the same time in one lane, each of us on our own tube, barreling down the side of the mountain! It was great. Cold, but great.

Sunday was a bit less eventful, but just as much fun. We started off the day with some shooting. I sighted in his scoped air rifle and we played around with that for a while. A little later he brought out his single shot 12 gauge and we blew stuff up with that as well. At one point we put a slug through a brass plate. Pretty incredible.

Later on Sunday afternoon we took their white German Shepherd for a walk in the woods. We crossed a newly-unfrozen creek, hoping from ice to rock, to pallet, to more ice. We chunked rocks at the ice trying to break it in the solid parts, but to no avail. We pressed on, deeper into the woods. Further on we came to a frozen swampland and investigated a wooden birdhouse located at the edge of the swamp. This is pretty much how the whole trip went, lots of investigating, exploring, and all around having a nice lazy walk.

Monday we didn't do a whole lot, we left for the Academy pretty early in the day because all of the roads had been covered in about 12 inches of snow the night before and we had no idea of gauging how long it would take to return. They turned out to be alright, we made it back with plenty of time to spare.

All in all, it was an outstanding weekend! Great food, great adventures, and plenty of time outside in the wild, fresh, crisp, snow-covered outdoors. My only regret: it was too short! Ah well, we have decided to make this trip again next year!