It Snowed?

A few days ago some friends were headed back to their house in the mountains and invited me to come for a few days. I figured I could use a break and took them up on the offer. They always take the bus that useually is around 12 to 14 hours, but in bad weather it can be as much as 24 hrs. It seemed ok when we left, so we were not concerned. The bus left at 7 at night and was supposed to arrive the next morning.

They usually take a few stops along the way for restroom breaks, but at about midnight we stopped and everyone was asked to get off the bus and gather their luggage. Then another bus pulled up and the conductor told everyone that we would take this bus instead and the passengers on that bus got onto ours. The seating arrangements were different so there were some complications with who had to sit in the back of the bus, but we got under way. A few hours later, my friends had said that it was taking a bit longer thatn normal. Then the conductor told us that there was two feet of snow and the bus could not make it.

So we took a taxi/jeep thing and got stuck in traffic for a few hours so we grabbed our hand-luggage and hired donkeys to carry the rest. (I feel good because I only had a backpack). We walked up hill for an hour and twenty minutes through a little more than a foot of semislushy snow. We got our trek in durring the first day. I forgot to mention I only had sandals with me. The next few days were spent inside, but it was alot of fun do do nothing productive for a few days.

The picture of just the mountain is from standing in their doorway.

Ralph Escapes Again!!!

A few days ago, I was at a friends house along with several others staying with them for various reasons. But this was no ordinary evening. I was in my room minding my own business when I heard a blood-curtling shreik. By the time I got to the scene, several of the others had arrived before me, and after that point, none of our lives would be the same.

Amidst confusion and mass-hysteria, I got the story from an innocent bystander: while a newcomer was in the kitchen cooking dinner, a rodent had reared his ugly head. A crime too heinous to let pass. Shortly thereafter, our small band of 4 men, and 9 women plotted our reciprocation. The plan: Kill the Beast! While armed with small handpowered kitchen appliances and trashcan lids, we set out on our quest to rid the world of this vermin. Or just get him out of the house.

At first, he went behind the refrigerator, then we pulled out the fridge into the middle of the floor, chased him into the hall with no escape and then pinned him under a wicker trashcan. At that point, we needed a moment to stop laughing, and while we did so, the can started to walk away. The next plan was to scoot the can to door, fling him onto the porch into a newspaper and stomp on him. In short, he hit the paper and tore off like he was being chased by a dozen crazed foreigners... oh, wait. He may have been.

I think the funniest part was the differences in the reactions of the girls in the various stages of their 2 year term. The ones that had been here only a month were standing on chairs. 1 year: "you chase him from that side, I'll cover him from here!" 1.5 years: calmly saying "he's too big, he won't fit under your door." 2 years: clamly sitting on the kitchen counter stirring her ramen noodles.

Everything in the story is true except the small appliances and trashcan lids, most of us were even barefoot.