This was quite the weekend. I’m really not sure I could have packed any more into it. I had a lot of fun, though, so I’m a happy boy.
It all started after work on Friday afternoon. I signed my time card and left, hurrying home for a quick bite. I had fairly old leftovers for lunch, and they hadn’t taken to microwaving very well, so I was starving. After I ate, I went to a club called “The Jungle,” though it might be called “Club Paradise” now. It’s changed management a few times, and it’s hard to say what exactly this establishment is named. Anyway, the point of my going there was to do some ballroom dancing. From 6-9 pm the floor was given up to the ballroom folk. I had been dancing at another bar in the Tri-Cities with a different group of people, but they were all older, and I wasn’t learning any new dances from them or meeting any people anywhere near my age, so I was trying something new that night. It turned out that the crowd was hardly different, though it was different people. They were all older than me, but they were a lot friendlier, and I ended up learning some new moves. I think I may continue to go occasionally on friday nights, but the chances of meeting someone my age are really slim, and the chances of learning new moves are fairly low, so it’d really just be to practice my dancing and maybe improvise some new moves. I really need to be in a bigger city to enjoy dancing more.
As the dance was rounding up, I got a call from Josh, who invited me to his apartment to chill before the next engagement for the evening. Around 10, we met up with a slew of friends at the bowling alley for some cosmic bowling. I had a hard time throwing consistently and was slightly frustrated that perhaps I had used up all my grace at the dance. Nonetheless, I had fun with everyone and eventually got home a little after 1am.
The next morning I was up by 8. I had a quick breakfast and shower, then drove over to the Richland Airport. Nick was already there wrapping up his lessons. This was his first skydiving, so he had to have a few hours of training before jumping, but I just had to show up. A few of our friends showed up later and brought a wide variety of expensive cameras to document the occassion. The training class had 6 people, and the plane takes 3 at a time, so I would have been on the 3rd load. Nick had a good first jump. He enjoyed it, which is the important part, so I convinced him to come up with me for his second jump and my fourth. Apparently he had an interesting landing and came uncomfortably close to my car, but I haven’t seen the pictures yet, so I’m not yet uncomfortable. I made my jump, and it was great. I had a nice stable exit and arch, and my chute deployed just fine. I had my first line twists, but it was no trouble to kick out of them just like on a swing. I mostly guided myself down to the ground, checking the altimeter frequently and making turns a split second before the guy on the radio told me to make them. I landed in the pea gravel in the center of the field, and on my feet, flaring at just the right time. The only downside was that after I landed my chute collapsed on top of the jumpmaster that had reached the ground before me, but it was hardly a problem and was actually a little funny.
A successful jump under my belt, I went home with the intent to work and instead took an extended nap and watched my latest from Netflix. Then I was off to a party at Josh’s house. He’s moving to Seattle in a couple weeks, and this was a sort of going-away party. We had drinks and barbecue, and we played games and talked and generally had a really good time. It was convenient that he lives in the same apartment complex, so I had no problem getting home late.
A short sleep later, I was up and getting ready for white water rafting on Sunday. At 10:15 Nick and Carolyn picked me up in Nick’s mom’s minivan. We picked up some other people and the six of us headed first to Yakima for lunch at Miner’s (huge hamburgers), and then to the Tieton river near White Pass and Naches. We met the rafting people up there, got in our gear, and headed onto the water. In September they release a lot of water from a resevoir to irrigate the Yakima valley, and the creek that is the Tieton mutates into a swift beast. It only took us 2 hours to go 15 miles and descend over 600 feet. The water was constant rapids, and we were soaked. It was a lot of fun. I really like sitting in the front of the boat. Afterwards, they served us a barbecue, and we drove home in tired silence, arriving at my place at about 7.
Once home, I grabbed a package of fig newtons and went in to work. I worked on a white paper for one project and a paper for another project until midnight. Tomorrow I have a few meetings, a presentation, disc golf, and a barbecue of sorts at a friend’s house.
I really should get some more sleep.