Camping

Yeah so last weekend I went camping. Again. And as most people know, it was below freezing that night. Yes I was very cold, and I even remembered my pillow and sleeping bag.
We went camping at Camp Patton, a scout camp that is way out of the way. It was a stake wide campout that the stake president asked us to do. We figured, hey, if the Stake president asked us to do it, we should. And we were blessed. It only got down to the teen's, instead of the possible below zero temperatures.
So anyway, we got there at about 6 pm or something. We found a spot to camp, and set up our tents. We ended up picking the spot that had the smallest firepit, so we ended up making a fire in our wheel barrow, and cooking in that. At about 8:30 or so, we ended up having a flag retirement ceremony. By that time it had gotten down to almost freezing and we were probably out there for an hour. It was a nice ceremony, but took forever because they had to cut each stripe off instead of just folding it up and burning it. It was still nice, even though I could no longer feel my hands.
After the ceremony, we went back to camp, ate dinner and tried to stay warm. Then at about 10:00 some boys from another ward came over and we played capture the flag til twelve. It was crazy because the whole time we played, I felt perfectly fine, but when we finally stopped, it was very cold. after the game, we climbed into our tents and spent the rest of the night trying to stay warm. I was perfectly fine, except for my feet, which had a pair of normal socks, my soccer socks, and a pair of wool socks on, and my head, which started hurting half way through.
We ate breakfast, which was french toast, at about 8, and then at 8:30, everyone came together to start the days activities. They had set up a problem-solving and orienteering activity for us to do. We sang happy birthday to Dave and Patrick, and then started our activity. We got grouped with the albany ward, and got the problem solving task first. Our first problem was tying a overhand knot. Sound simple right? That's what we thought. The director had all eight of us hold seven ropes between us, and we had to tie the knot in the middle rope between the fourth and fifth middle guy, without letting go of our ropes. It took us a little bit to figure it out. Everyone kept trying to throw in their ideas at once. i let them get their ideas out and try it, but none of them worked. So I decided to take charge. I had them start back, and then step by step, I had them go through. it was all about visualizing everyone as part of the rope, and then visualizing how to tie the rope. We were able to get it tied, and then we had to untie it the same way. It was easy to untie it because we just went in reverse.
After that challenge, we had another problem where we had to get everyone across a gap. We also had to get a magnesium stick across with us. The rules were that, in order to walk across, you have to be carrying the stick. Once you walk across once, you cannot walk back. It sounds complicated but it wasn't that hard. We figured out that people were going to have to be carried across. The problem was that two people had to be carried at once, and we were a group of extremes. It was either big, heavy guys, or really small, light guys. It was hard but we were able to get across.
After that challenge, we did a orienteering course, that I failed miserably on. Lets hope you never get lost in the woods with me as your guide. We will end up dead. The only way we made it through the course was because we followed the people in front of us. At the end of the course, we got asked how we could compare how we did to the liahona. I didn't want to answer because that would mean that the liahona gave bad directions and got you lost, which of course it didn't.
So after the courses, a guy asked us to help find wood so that we could build a fire for the next troops to use it. That was fun. We went into the woods and started grabbing branches and logs to buile it up with. Thats when I found this enormous vine. the vine stretched all the way to the top of a tree, and was strong enough to hold my weight. i would of climbed it but, everytime I moved it slid a little bit. I wanted to pull the vine down so badly, but if I did it would fall and I would have no where to run. After that we went up and everyone came back together so we could bury the ashes from the flag. That was a neat experience. It really made me feel important. They even let us keep rings from the flag, which are supposed to bring good luck. i got two so I should have extra good luck. After that we went and broke down camp and came together so that we could end the camp out. We prayed and some other stuff, then most everybody left. Except for us and the Valdosta ward.
We, the tifton ward and Valdosta ward, ended up palying Ultimate Frisbee for two hours. That was the best game ever. It was also a brutal game. I got elbowed in the head, slid many times, and got lots of scrapes. But my worst, and most amzing fall, was my diving slide. I was defending a man and the disk was thrown to him. I ran at him, trying to block the frisbee, but missed. I ended up falling to the ground, and sliding on my knees. Then, while still sliding I ended up rolling onto my back, and sliding a good ten feet, only to be stopped by a tree hitting my side. I hit the tree so hard, it rolled me onto the tree and I almost broke it. I was able to come out of the slide with no cuts or bruises, but it was still awesome. After the game, we finished the last of our packing and left. But the ecxitement didn't end there. Just down the road, around some extremely scary curves, there laying on the side of the freshly paved road, was a whole carcass of a deer. It was awesome. We got out and looked at it. There was still skin on it. Then fifty feet away, on the other side of the road, we found a part of its backbone. It was sick. After that everything was pretty uneventful, just Brigham wanting to take some old Mcdonald's signs and me half falling asleep.
It was freezing cold, but still a fun camp out. I wouldn't do it over again if given the chance, however.

The Wonderful Cat

So as everyone who has ever had a cat, and maybe even some other people, cats love to come up and just snuggle in your lap. Especially when you are trying to do something else, like read a book, fold clothes, or do something on the computer. Well, good ole Morpheus/Shanks/Cat didn't let me down.

For the past few nights, the cat and dog have been in the computer room with me. This causes a problem for the cat. She can not go off and sleep somewhere comfortable because the dog would bother her if she moved. She she had to settle with either sitting in my lap while I'm typing, Standing in front of the screen when I'm playing a game, or chasing the cursor around, trying to figure out how to get it.

One Word

So, Jen and Mom has done this thing where you try and describe this year's goals in one word. I've decided that my word is Strength. This refers to my physical goals and my spritual goals. This year I hope to lose some weight and gain some muscle, and I also am going to strive to be as spiritually strong and righteous as I can be.

Hold on, Spider monkey!

So everyone knows about the pecan tree thats in the front yard. The one that is the source of money in the fall, acts as a second player in volleyball, is the place where everyone meets in case of a fire. Well, since I was, I don't know, 9-10 years old, I have always wanted to climb that tree. I would stare at that tree, seeing the perfect hand holds and foot holds sticking out, and think, " One day, one day I will climb that tree." I would try and try, reachnig up, and grabbing the limbs, but I was never tall enough and couldn't pull myself up. Well that changed today. I went out there, rope in hand, at noon. I tied the rope around those stubby limbs, and hoisted my self up. Slowly I worked my way around to the fork in the tree, and sat down. Then I stayed like that for three hours, enjoying my accomplishment. I finally scaled the great giant. Since three, I have been going up and down the tree over and over, perfecting my climb. I now can climb like a spider monkey up the tree. All I need now is some boards, nails, and food, and I could live up there. I looked like I was an extreme tree hugger, stradling the tree limbs. Here are some pictures.

Camp-out

So yesterday I went on a camp-out with the troop. We went over to Florence Marina State Park and Providence Canyon State Park. We got there and then went around and explored the Marina.After that, we went and set up camp and then prepared our dinner. We had fresh fish brother Thibault had recently caught. And when I say fresh, I mean with scales, guts, and everything. We learned how to scale and clean a fish. It was quite gross. And then it started.
Heavenly water started falling from the sky. It was raining. At first it wasn't bad, and so we went to the campsite and got the fire going. Once the fire got going, we prepared the second part of our dinner. We had hobo dinners, which is meat, with vegetables mixed in, wrapped in tin-foil. All you have to do is just wait for 15 minutes, and you have a perfectly cooked peice of meat. While we were waiting for our food to cook, Bro. Burns was frying the fish we cleaned. After everything was done cooking, we ate, and boy did we eat. The food was great, better than some food you get in resteraunts. After that, the rain really started coming down. We went out and was playing in the rain, but after a little bit it was getting to cold for everyone but me. I took my shirt off and kept playing in the rain. Although, because of serious back problems I'm suffering through right now, I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted. Oh, by the way, this brings up one of my pet peeves. At the park, every wherever you look, all you could see was white. Big white things with wheels and windows, and satellites sticking out of roofs. That's right, im talking about RVs. Gosh I hate those things. No, actually I hate the people that use those things. They say they're camping, but all they are doing is staying in a temporary home. Seriously, why do people even buy houses, when they have RVs? That is not camping, that is luxury hobo living. I thought of all this when I was sitting on the back of the truck looking in the window of a person's RV, trying to figure out what they were watching on TV. (By the way, it was the news.) So after we spent some time out in the rain, I decided to finally go to sleep. It was 8:30ish, and because of my back, I couldn't really do anything, so i got changed and was ready to lay down. That's when I realized I didn't have my sleeping bag. I didn't even have a blanket. So I had to curl up on the hard dirt, and use my bag as a pillow. It didn't work well. So I was lying down for about three hours or so, never fallnig asleep, when it really got exciting. Two of the scouts got a little wet surprise when they climbed in to bed. At about that time, the rain was coming down hardest, and it ended up getting under their tent. Everything they had was completely soaked! I was lucky and got a spot that stayed completely dry. When we took the tents down in the morning, there was a big rectangle of dry ground under where I slept. They ended up getting Bro. Thibault's tent, and Bro. Thibault slept in his truck. I had been thinking about getting in the truck or in the Scout trailer, but never did. So from 12:30 to about 3:00 it was kinda quiet and I think I dozed off a little bit then. But that was the only sleep I got. At 3:30 or so, I kept rolling around trying to be comfortable, but just couldn't. So I decided I would go out and make a fire, and just sit out there. So I grabbed my knife and fire starter, put on my hats (note the plural) and put on my three pairs of socks. I walked outside, and Bro. Thibault was out there too. We got the fire started, and then sat in front of the fire for a little bit. After a while, Bro. thibault got up and climbed into his truck again, and went to sleep. So I curled up and closed my eyes, hoping to fall asleep, but evertime I did I had this overpowering urge that something was right behind me, and I couldn't fall asleep. So from about 4:00 to 7:30, the onlything I did was wait for the sun to finally rise. After everyone was awake, we ate our breakfast, and prepared to leave. I walked into the restroom building,(which is also a laundromat, so sickening) and discovered Heaven. There right against the wall, was a huge, very cushiony couch. I could of come in there and gone to sleep. I was upset, to say the least. So after that, we left and went to Providence Canyon, and spent some time walking the trails, and exploring. Then we left and finally headed for home. Needless to say, I slept the whole way.

Bloody mess

Well, as you porbably haven't heard, or you might, I wouldn't know I hurt myself Tuesday morning. It was at the beginning of Weight training, and Coach had us run a lap. Since it was football day, when didn't have a time limit. I was walking down, and then this kid runs by and says," Haha, I'm going to beat you!" Of course, I Jed Seaman, had to take the challenge. I never allow myself to give up a challenge. So I took off, running on the balls of my feet. He was about twenty feet ahead, but I was able to catch up to him quickly. We full out ran, heading for the stairs. We reached the stairs still running, and he jumped to avoid the ditch. Since he jumped, I had no where to go except to run through the ditch. So I stepped so that I could run up the hill through the ditch, when my foot landed on a slick spot of grass. I slipped, still going extremely fast. I fell and skidded across the concrete. I rolled over a stood up, laughing and my mis-step. Thats when I noticed that there was a hole in my knee. The hole was about a half centimeter deep, two centimeters long, and about half a centimeter wide. I could see the white flesh under my skin. I poked it to see if it was a hole, and it was. I didn't feel anything, and it hadn't started bleeding yet, so I figured it was fine. But then it did start to bleed. It never bled a lot, just enough to cover the wound. I went to the bathroom, looking for paper towels, but there were none, so I settled on toilet paper. I went to the coach and should him, and he sent me to the nurse. She looked at it and said it probably would need stitches. Around that time is when it finally started hurting. It was burning like crazy, like someone had a hot knife in my knee. She was cleaning it, and what was funny was that, I saw her rubbing stuff on my leg, but I never felt it. After she put the antibiotic ointment on, she put on some butterfly bandages to hold it closed, and wrapped it up. I then had to leave the bandage on for 2 days, and couldn't take it off, even for showers! It was horrible. So all in all, I was pretty lucky. As a famous person would say, "It's just a flesh wound!" I still haven't gone to the hospital for anything serious. If I had to say what the worst part of the whole experience was, I would have to say, taking off the bandages. That was twice as worse as getting the wound. This is one of the times I kinda wish that it will scar. I have this thing about scars. I think they are cool, unless they're from something stupid, but never want to intentionally get a scar. of course, if I did scar everytime I got hurt, I probably would have scars all over the place. But anyway, I just wanted to keep ya up to date, so bye.

Summer Vacation

Well, here it is. You guys have all been waiting patiently and impatiently for my trip to Canada. For those of you who didn't know, I went into the Atlantic Providences of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. This post is coming straight from my journal, because that's the best way to remember. So here it goes, my trip to Canada:

June 13, 2008

So, I know I haven't written in a while. I should though, so much has happened since last time. Right now I am in Canada!! Finally out of the country!! Too bad the way through wasn't too good. (By the way, I'm with the Thibaults, surprise. The boys are driving me crazy, but I'm still sane.) So anyway, we started on our trip on like the 8th. We rode all the way to Tennessee and visited the Stephens. (We got there at half past one.) The next day, I played Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the best games ever, all day at the Stephens. After that, we rode up to Pennsylvania. I was finally heading to the last place in the Contiguous U.S. I have not been to. We stayed in a hotel there. Also on our way through Penn. I had to take a little detour that ended us up driving through the middle of nowhere just for me to go pee on a bush. After Penn., we rode up through New York and all those states. By the way, from Tennessee to New York, in the Appalachians, everything is so green. And there were huge houses. And other giant things, like a cross that could fit an elevator inside it. Then once we got out of New York and its traffic, it was a smooth (or not so smooth; people can't build roads right in New England,) ride to Rhode Island. Once there, we bunkered down in the Thibaults' grandmother's (or whatever relation they were, it was all confusing) house, and stayed there for a week. And went sightseeing and stuff. We went to Beavertail Is. a little island off the coast of Rhode Island. I got some beautiful sunset shots and rocks for mom there.

I also got my first taste of clams, which I caught myself. We went clamming for quahog clams, a huge native RI clam species, and I was able to catch 9 of the 15 or so that we caught. Mine were the biggest of them all, and it was my first time. The process of clamming is a very simple process, but can cause pain and needs lots of concentration to do. what you do is walk out into the mud with your bare feet. Careful where you walk though, there might be rocks or sharp shells. you dig your feet down into the mud and feel arond. They are usually a couple inches under. Once you feel one you have to reach down and pull it out. It was fun. Plus it was too cold for jellyfish. after that we got Del's lemonade, the best lemonade in the NE region. That week we also did yard work, during the unreasonably hot heat wave. The whole week temps. were at 99, ridiculous. So anyway, after the week, we prepared to leave. We first headed up into massachussets, and got a tour of Fenway Park, baseball stadium for the Boston Red Sox. By the way, random thought, but I have a problem with too small toilets. Well guess what, I was stuck for a week in a half with not being able to empty my system. It totally messed up all my systems. Anyway, after Mass. We went to Maine, and drove around there. We stopped at this truck stop, that had a restaurant in it. I got a surf and turf dinner. Best steak I ever had!!

I aslo got my first taste of lobster there. It was sweet, but still had little taste. I still choose shrimp. Plus they also had this dessert called an eighteen wheeler, which has 18 scoops of icecream in it. so after that, we stayed at this nice motel, called the Bar Harbor motel (which is pronounced something like Baw Hawbaw; you don't pronounce "r"s in NE region). Then at 4:00 a.m. the next day we got up to see the sunrise on Cadillac Summit in Acadia National Park.

After that, we went down into the town of Baw Hawbaw, and took pictures there.

There was a huge statue of a whale,

a restaurant called the Quarterdeck,

giant house on a hill,


big whale watching boat,

a coast guard ship,


a dock of boats,

a sign for sea sick pills.

Once we got back to the motel, we went back to sleep, woke up, and left. We saw more greenery, and beautiful landscapes. We went and saw the whole Acadia Park, beautiful mountains trees, lakes. We also got to see the only beach in maine, with freezing water, and feet being numb in seconds.

So after that we headed up for Canada, finally, but had some trouble. Bro. Thibault was impatient and tried to get Sis. Thibault to go through Border Customs without checking in. Needless to say, sirens went off. I got a welcome to Canada picture right before the sirens went off. Then I became an unaccompanied minor, because of a forgotten permission letter, and had the car searched, and our walking sticks taken away. First Trip in was a little rough. Once everybody got together, we started driving again. All it was was dirt roads and trees. Still not a single moose seen. Moose crossing signs every five feet, but no moose. There were also many other interesting signs in Canada. They had an old man crossing road sign, a truck crashing into road road sign, and road continues to horizon sign. After the excitement, we got to the Hampton, where i am now, and tomorrow I am going to check out the 80' water slide. So until then.

June 14, 2008

Ok, so once we got up, I tried the slide, it was awesome! So after that, everyone was getting ready to leave, I just rode the elevators 15 or so times, cause I was bored. So after that we rode down to the bay of Fundy, which is a place where the tides are most effected. Tides can move water up to 46'! We went at low tide. It was a huge bay by the way. So much beach is uncovered during lowtide. I mean like miles and miles of mud, literally. the water was so muddy, and the rocks were so brown, everthing looked like chocolate. We thought Fundy might be French for "chocolate", but it means "split" because of how the bay splits as you go along it.

So anyway, we went to this place called Hopewell Rocks, where you can see rock formations made by the tides. You can go down to the beach during low tide and walk there. We, being me and Bro. Thibault, walked the whole area, probably ten miles. We saw some amazing views, like trenches usually covered by water.

After that, we ended up going for a few hours through the middle of nowhere(again), but it was well worth it. We ended up at a place called Cape D'Or, on a pennisula into the Bay of Fundy, where its not muddy. You get to see a current where two tides meet and mix in the water, called the Dory Rips. We are staying in a little cottage next to a lighthouse. We ate ate this little restaurant a few feet from the cottage. We got to eat wonderful fresh food made by Darcy, the owner, Sara, and Andrew. Sara is from Alberta and Andrew is from Australia. Anyway, this place is amazing! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

June 16, 2008

Well, yesterday was an interesting day. Once we got up, we ate bacon and eggs made by Sara and Andrew. But before, I did a little rock climbing and exploring. I found a way down all the way to the water and other stuff. After breakfast we left and went to some other places where the tides change drastically. We went to one place where, at high tide, there is ten foot deep water barring you from getting to an island with a lighthouse. At low tide, however, you can walk all the way to the lighthouse.

We also went to a museum, but it was kind boring. It was part of the musee de la novoulle ecosee. I think that how its spelled. Its supposed to be the Nova Scotia Museum. Afterwards, once we got back, me Sis. Thibault, and Matthew went exploring the cliffs at low tide. So much was uncovered!! It's remarkable!. We had 30 more feet between the land and the water. I was able to go way down cloe to where the current was. We also explored along the flat area and made it quite far. Not as far as we hoped, though. But the best part, was when we went to the right of Shark Fin Rock. This moment I will always hate myself for. Why? Because I forgot to bring my camera, and could of gotten probably a once in a lifetime picture of the beach of Kingdom Come while actually being on the beach. The best picture. Ever. This beach I am talking about, Kingdom Come beach that is completely surrounded by cliff, except for where the water is, making it completely unaccessible, even by swimming. If you try to go there, you end up frozen, drowned, or flattened. But at low tide, and I mean real low tide, there is a gap between the cliffs that is revealed. and yours truly was able to climb that gap and gaze out at the beach, at a perspective I doubt many people see. This would of been the most amazing picture ever. The beach stretched on forever, and rocks rich in copper were lined all down the beach. Its like a movie, when the hero steps over the top of the hill, and he sees paradise. Sadly, we did not actually walk on the beach, because we wanted to explore the other parts, and did not want to get stuck out there with the tide coming in.

So after that we went in for dinner. It was lobster night, but the lobster wasn't that good after a while. Oh yeah, and another time I wished I had my camera with me happened right before dinner. Holly, Bro. Thibault's aunt, was looking out into the water when she spotted a seal. I rushed over, because I had never seen a wild seal before. We watched it, and then I remembered my camera. I ran back to the cottage, with my back pain and all, grabbed the camera, and then rushed over to the Cape's edge. I lost the seal for a second but soon found it. It was heading for the current, and I knew I didn't have much time. I aimed the camera, but because of the confounded camera light sensitivity, everything was showing up white, I couldn't find the seal to zoom in on. It was seconds before the seal would hit the current, and I had to do something. In a split second decision, I ran to the edge and jumped into the water. The seal hit the current at about the same time as me. We took off, reaching 15 mph in the water. The seal was like a torpedo, never slowing down. I kept up with for a could ten minutes. The only way I didn't freeze was because my body was producing so much heat to make my muscles move. Slowly the seal started moving away from me. I knew I had to get a picture fast. So I raised the camera and took the picture. Somehow the camera had survived the whole ordeal. I was close enough to land so that I could get out before my body started cooling down. Needless to say I had soup that night, along with the lobster. This is the picture of the seal.

So, on to today. We didn't get up early like planned because of the fog. We did see a woodchuck, though. Later, when eating lunch, a tremor shock the room, as a blast of noise went off. The fog horn had sounded. I was hoping it would before I left. It was awesome, and loud. After that, we got ready and left. I wish I didn't have to. Im going to miss that place, the food, and the hospitality.

I ended up feeling sick for half of the day. I don't know why. I drank some ginger ale, walked around Wal-Mart, and felt better. Would you believe they didn't have any Canada Dry ginger ale at Wal-Mart? I had to get it out of a cooler in the van. Later, we went to Prince Edward Island, and crossed Confederation Bridge, one of the longest bridges in the world. It took forever to get across. I finally bought Jennifer something so I was free to buy things formyself now. Although I keep getting badgered about buying other famile gifts. After a while, we went to the area where boats come in, but its not a dock. I bought this awesome necklace that got me hooked onto another Zodiac, the Celtic. I also bought a soda called Seaman's Beverages. So after that it was boring. Now we are back in New Brunswick, and will be leaving Canada soon. So anyway, I'm getting to bed. Oh yeah, I also saw this random sign, at the Spinnaker's Landing place. It was nailed to the ground.

June 18, 2008

Well, yesterday was our last day in Canada. We went to our last places. One was Moncton, New Brunswick, a place called Magnetic Hill.You can put your car in neutral and the car will go up the hill by itself. What is really happening is that it is actually rolling on a slightly downward plane, but the landscape makes it look like it is going up. There are videos, but they have no sound.
Then we went to the St. John City Market. It was crazy. I bought a new, really comfortable hoody there. I also bought some things at Magnetic hill.

Anyway, today we most just spent time getting back to RI. We have just a few more days before we finally leave for home. It was fun, but I am ready to get back home. And find a decent toilet. Unless we were going back to Cape D'Or. Then I would gladly stay a few more weeks.

And this concludes my trip to Canada. I was in RI, a few more days. Nothing really happened, except we did go to a paw (pawtucket) sox game. I would rather not talk about that though. Its a discrace to my name. Bottom line, we lost.