Pismo

Words of the week...

loquacious- very talkative

confabulation- familiar talk

So this past weekend I went to Pismo Beach with some friends. It was absolutely amazing. We camped on the beach, away from stress and civilization. The only drawback was no running water but it was so worth it. 

Every day there was some sort of interesting event. The first night, we parked and unloaded and then it was off to the dunes. After many successful tries at hills and things of that nature we go over a short hill only to find one of the trucks in our group sideways in a bowl. The truck was insanely close to rolling over. After about an hour or so, we (and by we I mean I was sitting at the top of the dune watching while everyone else figured out how to help) finally got the truck out by pulling the tail end down the hill. 

The next day, after a longer run, we were going to head back when we found a new area of land that ended up being named "sand acne". These were little bumps in the sand to crawl over. After a while of crawling over these, the driver said "We will get stuck, not by me trying but we will." Not a minute later we were high-centered on a bump and completely stuck. While we waited for another truck to pull us out (thank goodness for cell phone reception at Pismo) We ran up and down the dunes and tackled people in the sand. Ironically, the truck that had been stuck the night before was the one to pull us out of that situation. All was well...

Then the next night ride. Nighttime is not the easiest time to see how steep a hill is or how far down until it's too late. Well at one of the first hills attempted we went over and all of a sudden it was just sand and then Boom! stuffed bumper...and the truck ended up on its side when we were trying to get out of the little valley that we had landed in. It was pretty scary to look out my window and see a wall of sand extremely close to my window while tilting in my seat. Thankfully with a few tries we made it out of the predicament and continues on the ride. 

The next morning, one of the girls went on a quad and hit a hill too fast. She slammed her hip into the handle bars and could barely walk for the rest of the trip. We all went back out again, the girls in the bronco and the guys on dirt bikes, only to find a huge dune. This one was probably the biggest one in the whole place. Our driver insisted we try it before we met the guys at the drag strip. Two tries, no luck. Probably one of the scariest experiences of my life. So we went to the drag slip after two close tries. The scariest part is definitely backing down the hill after an unsuccessful attempt. After some racing and picture taking we mysteriously ended up back at the same hill we had tried earlier. We attempted and came quite close to the top but never got over the soft sand at the top. 

After packing and saying goodbye to one of the best camping adventures ever, it was back to the real world of school and work and all of that stuff. 

Midterms, midterms, midterms...

Words of the week:

pukka- authentic or genuine

descry- to catch sight of

Midterms have all been stacked up on me this week and next.  It has been absolutely insane.  Each class has a different type of midterm and different things to study.  It feels as though my books have become my friend replacements with my lack of a social life lately.  Thankfully I have the ability to take time off of work this week so that I don't completely fail.  I do however plan to prepare for my 3 o'clock midterm tomorrow by stopping by Nordstrom Rack on opening day.  I know my priorities!  It's not like I won't study at all before hand.  I studied a lot today for it so that I could go shopping.  See it's all about time management!  If I study a ton today, all I need is a five minute refresher tomorrow and I am good.  I remember things better that way anyway. 

On another note, I went four-wheeling for the first time last night.  After the first rain of the season, apparently people like to drive through the mud and puddles and up the side of mountains, and other various things.  It was an experience.  It was kind of crazy to be driving up or down the side of a mountain in the dark at 12 in the morning.  Not something people normally do, at least not the people I used to hang out with.  This was just normal behavior for some.  It was fun and I would definitely do it again.  Another side note, no I was not the one driving or I would have just stayed on the road.  I am a total wimp. 

Weekend.

bifurcate- (v.) to divide into two branches

incarnadine- (Adj.) having a flesh or pinky color

This weekend was the high school staff retreat. This annual event is always amazing. We get a lakehouse to ourselves and just get to relax all weekend. We had access to a boat this year and although the water was a whole lot colder than last year, I still got in. I am not one for cold water AT ALL. I was born and raised in Hawaii, so when it comes to water, I am a spoiled brat. Over there, it's normal to be able to see the bottom of the water in which one is swimming. I have an extreme fear of water where I do not know what is swimming underneath me. I also despise cold water. This water was both murky and absolutely freezing. Against my better judgement, a good friend and I decided to go tubing at five o'clock the first night. Wind and freezing water make for a painful combonation when being thrown from a tube from behind a boat. After a hot shower I felt human again only to lose a bet and have to enter the water for another round of tubing on Saturday, an even windier day. Needless to say, it took an insanely hot shower to recover from all of the cold water. It was an amazing weekend of relaxation with a little bit of cold water adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed.