flash back friday

this time of the year always makes me want to plan a ski trip.  the holidays are over and its basically the only thing to do, to take advantage of the cold weather before spring.  

this thought reminds me of a trip my girls and i took around 2004.  jen said her boss would let us use their mountain getaway for the weekend.  on the way in, we laughed, sang to the radio and talked about how awesome the cabin would be.  it seemed that her boss was quite well off and we just knew the cabin would be a treat to stay in.   

we pulled up around 11:00 pm and could tell the place was small and humble.  no biggie though, we were still excited!  as we walked inside and put down our things, we quickly realized we were mistaken.  the place was 2 stories, both of them just one room.  the "kitchen" was downstairs with a stream that ran through from outside ... this was the running water.  upstairs was some really old bunk beds, a full sized bed, a couch that sank in the middle and a tv that didnt turn on (with a screen the size of an ipad).  are you thinking what we were ... where the heck is the bathroom?  well, my friends, it was outside about 1/4 of a mile from the house (maybe im exaggerating a little).  the "outhouse" was the only part of the "cabin" that had running water and heat ... and both of those were broken.  

side note:  jen's boss had warned her that there were coyotes in them there woods.  so even if the outhouse was working, im pretty sure we all would have been too scared to make the trip without some sort of weapon.  

needless to say, none of us showered and we had to be very resourceful when it was time to potty.  we took the picture above on our way out and now refer to that weekend as "raccoon holler."  

after all the excitement, we did not stay to ski.  so we drove all the way to raccoon holler just to get up and drive home the next day.  but i had a blast and wouldnt change the events of this trip for the world.  arent those road trips the best?  the ones where nothing happens the way it should.  

fun memories from raccoon holler: 

• waking up in the middle of the air mattress with christina.  because it had deflated as we slept, we both rolled towards the middle and woke up on top of each other. 
• the mental picture i have of how we all looked the next morning:  badly in need of a shower and all of us uncomfortable because it was now day light and we really had to go to the bathroom without the cover of darkness. 
• jen's super resourcefulness of the "potty issue"
• the pic i have (but cant find) of christina's hair on our way home.  it was so greasy that we made a mohawk ... and it stayed.  

happy weekend friend!