As I yell, "Slow down! Slow down!" I realized that my good friend Ben is about to see his life flash before his eyes. He is in fourth gear on his four-wheeler, running approximately forty-five miles per hour as he declines down a hill toward a massive mud hole at the bottom. Knowing what is about to happen, I wave my arms in a downward motion in an attempt for him to slow down. Because of his speed he had no choice but to just go for it. He hit the bottom of the hill and about three feet from the bottom is where the mud hole began. He hit the mud and traveled about four feet before flipping the ATV and flying over the handle bars, with no grace whatsoever, looking like a turtle flying through the air because of the backpack he was wearing and the mud filled helmet. Immediately I rushed to his aid, but once I heard his contagious laugh I knew all was well. I started my way back to my ATV so I could pull his out. This was a great start to a fun-filled weekend. Although we dreaded every day that had to pass before we left, we were ecstatic on our departure day.
Three weeks before the trip, I turned sixteen and received my driver’s license. My friend Ben and I had been planning a trip since we were little boys, one we could get away from the house, ride off-road and just have fun. We knew that there were two places we could go. A place in South Georgia called Durham Town or a place called Hatfield McCoy trails in West Virginia. We chose Durham Town because it was closer to us and they had their mud bogs at night.
We spent a solid week preparing for this weekend trip and making sure Durham Town was the place for us to go. If there was any preparation that could be done for a trip we made sure it happened. Weeks before this we made a...
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... just to hear each other talk. Once back to camp we pitched our tent and called it a night. The following morning we made a fire and started the day all over again. Although Ben and I thought we had done it all and knew everything about each other, we learned a lot by just being on our own and taking care of ourselves as we had fun. We learned how each of us handle angering situations, when getting stuck in the mud along with managing defeat when one would win a challenge or a race over the other.
I never thought a weekend could be filled with this much fun and freedom. Being away from parents and out on my own with a friend doing what we love to do. I had never been sore from riding, but by Sunday on the dreaded ride home I was feeling the beating we had taken throughout the weekend. It was a sense of a battle scare from a story we could tell when we arrived home.
We sat there for a few more minutes then I got up and yelled for everyone to get ready to start moving again. I donned my pack and tightened the straps, and after making sure everyone else was ready, started off down the winding trail to the night’s campsite.
Road trips are known to be fun adventures. When someone says they are going on a road trip people expect them to go and see amazing places and then come back. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck and On the Road by Jack Kerouac are about road trips but these trips are not about the adventure. Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Sal from On the Road and Steinbeck from Travels with Charley all go on road trips because of the American drive. I am also on the road and even thought it is not road trips I am moving around and it is because of the American drive. The American drive is the need to go and to be on the move and it started because people were not happy about their current lives and they wanted to do more. They went on the journey to find happiness and success.
Going to the neighbor's land about two miles down the road, my dad, Kurt, had made this trip several times before. Driving along the dirt roads of good old Oklahoma, my dad was making his weekly trip to the neighbors to bale hay. Still slick from the days before, the muddy roads gave no mercy to a passing car. Gripping the road, his tires had never failed him before, but with the road in this condition, he began to slide around. Anyone who has driven on a muddy road knows that if you start to slip, you should turn your tires towards the way you are slipping. Thus, swinging your hood around and safely rolling into the ditch. In Kurt’s position, his tires were facing the wrong way and still proceeding to go farther that way. By the time he, at least, straightened them out, it was too late. The weight of his car shifted to one side and it tumbled into the ditch, rolling about four times before slowing to a rocking motion. In these scary moments, gravity proceeded to break his back and ruin his wrestling career once and for all. In the hospital in very unstable condition laid my dad. After several weeks, his health slowly got better. As soon as he was in stable condition, he insisted on going to therapy to regain his strength and his confidence. Deciding to give up wrestling was a very hard decision for him. He switched to
It took about an hour to climb to the top of the mountain because the higher we got, the steeper it was and the more challenging it got to climb because of the loose gravel and rocks. Once we reached the top of the mountain we sat down on the floor to eat some hot Cheetos and drink some of our Gatorade. After catching our breath, we began to take pictures and we saw a skunk on the opposite side of the mountain away from the park. We had never seen a skunk before so we were eager to take a picture with it. As we began our journey down towards the skunk, there was a huge rock on the edge of the mountain that I wanted to stand on and take a picture so that I could capture the beautiful scenery in the background. Smiley wanted to take the same picture as well but when he stood on the rock, it tilted over and rolled down the mountain along with my brother. He was holding the lantern when he fell so I no longer had any light. The only light source available was the screen on my phone and the flash on the camera. The first thing I did was take a picture of the bottom of the mountain to see where my brother was at. To his luck, he only suffered a broken leg. So he wouldn’t think about the pain,
So we headed back up to camp with our flashlights tight in our hand. When we made it up we all went to bed, the parents slept in a cabin and all five kids slept in a large tent besides my little sister who begged to sleep with my mom and
It’s May 5, 2012. It’s a Saturday night after a stressful week of school. It’s an ordinary spring day. We had been at Truman Lake on the water all day, looking forward to a great night of racing. The sun rose up, the heat was reaching the upper nineties, and conditions were beautiful for a night filled with racing. My uncle had box tickets to the Impact Night at Wheatland Speedway. My mom, dad, brother, and three of our family friends all piled into our seven passenger SUV to head down to Wheatland, MO. Little did we know what was in store. The races started off intense and every race had at least one wreck. After a long day, we were driving home. Exhausted, I had just dozed off on my mom’s shoulder when out of nowhere on Highway 83, we swerved off the road to avoid getting hit head-on by a drunk driver. Sliding every which way through the ditch, we hit a school bus sign; only feet away from guard rail. Thanks to my dad’s retired dirt track racing skills and someone watching over us, everyone in that car is alive today.
My parents still tell me stories when my brother and I would fall asleep riding with them. When I was five I got a Mini Z 120 that was the best thing a five-year-old could get and let me tell you I rode the daylights out of that. I only hit two trees and one pickup and the house two times, dad was never happy about that, but then again I was only five. Then when I got older I would ride with my dad on the back and tucker would ride his own and then now and then I would drive with my dad with me. Then one day I was riding on my own. I was 13 and we got to Ventura and we had to get gas so we pull into the gas station there was a DNR sitting there. I didn’t have my
We joked around, sung, and rapped to keep each other up, and it was an effective way of keeping everyone happy. When everyone is happy and getting along we walked at our fastest speed and made great time getting to our campsites, and with that we could choose a place to set up tents, tarps, and start food early so we wouldn't have to do that much stuff in the dark. With the food, we had a meal 3 times each day except for the first day where we only had one meal, which was dinner. On the second day an instructor tried to help us cook and got our biggest pot burnt on the bottom which we were planning to use for our macaroni the next day, but instead we had to improvise and use a smaller pot and we made two separate servings.
Here we are, packing in the nice, warm, mellow sun. The sweet-scented flowers of May are blooming. The huge amount of supplies goes into the back of our big, white van. Everyone’s face has a sincerely eager smile. I look at my mom’s smile, and I can swear that it’s as open as a crocodile’s. We’re taking a family trip down to Florida.
He arrived at his first destination after about an hour of hiking. After a short while he figured he had looked over his new found haven enough, he was ready. He started down the grade with a small arsenal, consisting of a shovel, about ten granola bars, two bottles of power-ade, his snowshoes, and what was left in his hydration bladder in his pack. After descending about two hundred feet he came into the clearing he was hoping to find, it was as smooth as silk, twenty inches of fresh powder under his board. Up ahead he say a small but formidable drop off on the mountain, he knew if he was going to escape this with his dignity he was going to have to work some magic, to his success. The drop was approximately eighteen feet, but he was ready for it, he landed perfectly, it was like a dream the poof of snow exploding out from his impact, and the gentle flakes hitting his face. As he continued down the slope he did not realize that his gentle landing had severely weakened the physical structure of the mountain’s blanket, and that any moment he could bring the mass down upon himself at impossible speeds.
The car's V-8 engine roared as the driver slammed the pedal to the ground. A wicked smile graced his lips. In in his mind it was all over. Unable to accept the idea of being roadkill, I did the only thing I could.....I turned the handlebars of my bike with all my might, veered off the road and into a nearby yard.
It was in July, and we wanted to go camping. I asked my dad if we could go up to our family's cabin in Elk Springs, which is near Montrose. He agreed, so Chase, Tyler and I, all sixteen years old, packed our stuff and were ready to go camping. With excitement, we jumped into Chase's truck, and took off to the woods.
...e became more and more overcome with suspense and anticipation. Before we plunged to the bottom, we noticed a kayak broken in two pieces. It had been caused by a collision with a boulder, at the bottom of the fall. We were scared to death, because we thought we would hit it and flip over. However, with the help of our fast-thinking and skillful guide, we were able to make it down the fall safely. All the action was over, so we let out a sigh of relief and allowed our nerves to relax.
I awoke to the sun piercing through the screen of my tent while stretching my arms out wide to nudge my friend Alicia to wake up. “Finally!” I said to Alicia, the countdown is over. As I unzip the screen door and we climb out of our tent, I’m embraced with the aroma of campfire burritos that Alicia’s mom Nancy was preparing for us on her gargantuan skillet. While we wait for our breakfast to be finished, me and Alicia, as we do every morning, head to the front convenient store for our morning french vanilla cappuccino. On our walk back to the campsite we always take a short stroll along the lake shore to admire the incandescent sun as it shines over the gleaming dark blue water. This has become a tradition that we do every morning together
Everyone has a favorite day, my favorite day happens to be at the end of the week. Monday to Saturday I work to what seem to be never ending shifts and go to school. Working all day just go to school at night. The week consist of hard work and hours of studying. When Sunday comes along all of that changes. Sundays are my favorite day of the week. Early in the morning I wake up cold, feeling my partners warm body across the bed. I snuggle up to him for warmth. The movement of my body awakens him. He smiles, he has such a wonderful smile that seems to be brighter then the sun to me. Just like any normal teenage boy would do early in the morning he falls back to sleep. I lay snuggled up to him, hearing every breath he takes, feeling every time his chest rises. I lay on the side of him, smiling ear to ear thinking of how lucky I am to be able to have a relationship like this with someone.