Lean Forward!

This weekend was the best I've had in a long while. I went to Jessie's lakehouse and snowboarding with Jessie L, Maggie C, Bryan D, and Graham D, with Jessie's parents. It started on Friday, where I was completely distracted from school because we were leaving at 6:00p.m. that night. The school day went by so quickly that I couldn't even describe it if I tried. After school, however, I rushed home and quickly finished packing by dumping my bookbag of all of the books and binders that I despise and filling it with clothes for the next three days and snowboarding clothes. I grabbed the snowboard and boots that my best friend Alex B let me borrow for the weekend and place it with my bag in the den, all set to go. I called some of my friends to tell them goodbye and then just waited for time to tick by. I arrived at Jessie's a few minutes late because I wanted to eat dinner with my dad to have that last little bit of bonding time. If you know me then you know I'm big on bonding time. Once I showed up at Jessie's my luggage was immediately put in the back of the limo-van that we rode in which was one of the coolest vehicles I've ever rode in. It had lights that we could control that looked just like limo lights, and it had T.V.s added with immense room to sit in. After my dad exchanged emergency numbers with Jessie's parents we were off for winter paradise! The seating arrangements were Jessie and Maggie in the middle two seats and Graham, Bryan, and I on the back seat. I sat in the middle which I actually enjoyed because I could see everybody and talk to them all easily. The seats were very comfortable which was nice for the semi-long ride. We passed the time talking of nothing particular and eating Gorp (Trail Mix) which Jessie mistook for onions because she was talking about them which gave everybody a good laugh for awhile. We continued to nag her about that for the duration of the trip. It was a non-stop trip until we got into Boone where we stopped at Appalachian State so that Maggie could borrow her brother's board and some of his gear, which Graham used so he wouldn't have to wear his bibs. After that short stop we drove the rest of the way, also non-stop, into Tennessee and the lakehouse.
The much talked about lakehouse lived up to every expectation I had and more. It was nothing short of miraculously breathtaking. That house was the most gorgeous piece of architecture I've ever stayed in. We went into the garage first and then walked down some stairs into the laundry room. The laundry room was connected to the kitchen which had an island bar in it all with marble counter tops. The kitchen was openly connected with the dining room, which had a table big enough for ten people, and the living room. The living room was gigantique! There was a fire place, two leather chairs, a couch, and a loveseat all surrounding a table with a oil lit candle. The living room had six windows in it that were massive at the smallest point, all which overlooked their dock and the lake. A door could be taken to lead out onto the upper level of the deck which wrapped around the house. Back in the living room, though, the master bed room connected to it along with a half-bath. Stairs leading up to the loft also led to some bed rooms and a full bath. Next to the stairs leading up was a door with stairs leading down to the lower level. The lower level had a living room with a widescreen T.V., a foosball table, and a billiards table which some complete with bar-room style lighting over the top of the table. The play room had a hallway which broke off that lead to a full bath and two bedrooms with three beds a piece in them. You could also take another door from the play room out onto the lower level of the deck. My shoddy verbal tour really doesn't do this beauty justice. It really has to be seen to get the full effect of it.
Upon first arriving all five of us sit at the bar and relax after the long car ride and just chat it up for a few minutes. We then start to play some music through the surround sound speakers in the living room and start having fun and taking pictures. We had a dance party/slide party/tic-tac-toe party all in one. I was actually allowed to pick Ex's and Oh's by Atreyu as the last song to be played which made me happy because nobody really likes that kind of music that were there other than me. After our small party we travelled downstairs and just relaxed for a bit until we went to sleep. Graham had the full size bed, Bryan had the lower twin size, and I had the top bunk. We were supposed to get up at 6:30 and leave around 8:00. Good thing that I was on this trip or else nobody would have woken up in time! The power had gone out in the middle of the night so all of the alarm clocks got reset and were flashing. I woke up at 6:00 like always and just walked around the house for a bit. I ate breakfast and played three games of Solitare until it was 6:30 and then woke up the guys and the went upstairs to wake up the girls. The girls asked to sleep a little later so I went back up there to get them up at 7:00. Everyone got their snow clothes on and we were out the door at 8:30. We first went to a ski rental store so Jessie, Graham, and Bryan could rent boards and everyone could buy lift tickets. After everyone was fit for boots and bindings we went to the slopes.
We scrambled out of the limo-van with our gear half on and finished putting it all on near some trash can then we tracked to the bunny hill. Bryan picked it up very quickly he was quite the natural. Maggie already knew what she was doing and Jessie knew what she was doing but wasn't as good as Maggie or I. Graham, however, had a hard time getting it. He ended up paying for a lesson for an hour which helped him incredibly. During Graham's lesson the other four of us went up the lift to the slopes and started to make our way down. Jessie's binding was constantly having problems which required all of us to help her get it in. It must have been a funny scene to watch us trying to shove her boot in. After everyone was set we started down the mountain. Bryan was good at everything except slowing down or stopping, so he just fell to the ground after zooming past a lot of people. Jessie fell every once in awhile, but Maggie and I didn't fall hardly at all. I did have one huge wipeout though which hurt, but other than that I kept in control very well. After going down the mountain once we decided to go again before Graham's lesson was over. This time Bryan and I went at our own pace. He made it down the fasted and I followed shortly after. Maggie stayed with Jessie and they made it down shortly after me. Graham found me and then we found the girls. We were looking for Bryan for a long time, and in this time some guy came flying down the slope and took me out at the ankles. I fell and hit my butt on the edge of his board hard. I'll admit that it was funny, but extremely painful. I just don't understand how if he knows he's going to go flying into the crowd he doesn't just fall and stop. After that we found Bryan and ate some lunch. The food there was ridiculously expensive. We also had to eat outside due to the fact that there was no room inside in the warmth. Graham was itching to get on the mountain for his first trip on the ski lift so we quickly ate and left again. Since there were five of us, Jessie had to ride the lift with a stranger. She said the girl she rode with was nice, but wierd. Graham rode with me and I could tell he was so excited and nervous at the same time. When it came time to get off the lift I just told him to try not to fall and if he does to move out of the way quickly. We get off of the lift and he falls and then gets back up and falls again into the trees which was hilarious. We are all up at the top trying to get Jessie's boot in her binding again and then we take off. Graham fell about every six feet or so but he was having a blast. We all went down together this time and took more pictures. Once we got down to the bottom the lift line was much too long to wait in so we decided to walk back up the slopes to the top. We were marching and realized how bad of an idea this was. The boots made it hard to walk since ankle movement was out of the question and the boards seemed so much heavier after carrying them for about ten minutes. Graham stopped about half way up and the rest of us kept on. We finally made it to the top and strapped in and started going down. Maggie and I decided to cut onto the yellow slope (more difficult than the green we were on) at an opening half way down and that was a lot of fun because there was much more space and it was easier to pick up speed. At the bottom we just sat there and talked for a long time because neither of us wanted to move since we had just walked all that distance. Everyone meeted back in the lodge and we just waited for Jessie's parents to come pick us up then.
That night we ate at a convenience store/restaurant that was owned and operated by some nice old people. The food was delicious and it was fun to just goof off with everyone. After we got back to the house everyone was just tuckered out and we went to sleep after watching the first half of the UNC vs. Miami (FL) game which UNC went on to win convincingly.
The next morning I woke up around 6:30 and ate breakfast and Maggie actually got up around 7:00 and came and talked to me and Mrs. Lowe in the kitchen. The others didn't wake for awhile and we had to get Bryan up for breakfast. I had two breakfasts that morning: Captain Krunch and pancakes. Everyone packed up and loaded our stuff in the limo-van and then we started the journey back home. This time Graham and Jessie sat in the middle two seats and Bryan, Maggie, and I sat on the back seat. I still sat in the middle. We watched Spiderman (the best superhero) on the way back home. It was snowing outside of the car during our trip back which was a nice ending I thought. We reached Jessie's house in a timely fashion and then our parents came and picked us up one by one, with the exception of Maggie who walked home. Everyone had the most amazing and dandy time and I think I speak for us all when I say that we want to go back again. It really was marvelously wonderful.