Weekend in Review By Blair Claypoole

Weekend in Review

Pictogram; Can You Picture This?! 

Can you picture this? Two suitcases, two duffle bags, 4 backpacks (one for each kid, including me), and 6 people buckled in a van. Saturday morning we packed everything but the kitchen sink and headed to the Mountains . It has been a while since I have traveled with a family, since I spend most of my road trips on a bus with my volleyball team (and we all catch up on sleep while traveling), the car ride was nothing less than eventful. We played name games, sang the latest Adele songs at the top of our lungs, stopped for gas/bathroom break, and eventually made it to a cabin at the base of the Andes Mountains. I am instantly greeted by the family friends to whom the cabin belongs.

So, 10 of us for the weekend adventure! Including this little guy, one of my new favorites! Maxi!

       The kids escort me to the river side, which is a short hike down the back side of the cabin, and the adults start up the BBQ for dinner. YUM!

Riverside I am halted by the cold and don’t even dare to touch the river.

My Nikes just couldn't do it...

Making it back to higher ground we are requested by the BBQ pit for appetizers. I’m no hotdog expert, but I’m pretty sure this one ranks in anyone’s top 5.

Following our friendly meal, Mother Nature decided to take a turn for the worst and let out buckets of rain on us all night. We made lite of the situation and opted for a family game night. Picturika is up first. No language barrier because we only had to look at the pictures for directions. Nice warm up I guess you could say. Our second game was like Taboo but you move a piece along a board until you get to the end with your partner. Major problem; you can only describe, with words, what you want your partner to guess and at times everyone can guess what you are describing.  Also, the words I needed to describe are in Spanish. This was going to be a fun challenge! My family and friends so graciously made accommodations for me to be able to play. My Chilean dad and I were partners, because he knew the most English, and we both sought the aid of my Spanish/English dictionary. (Many thanks to my brother for reminding me to pack that. Not one day goes by without me using it!) Everyone doubted us; we were the underdogs in the eyes of our competitors. 

            To all’s surprise we prevailed and won! Game night was so much fun! I learned more Spanish while my host family and friends learned more English. Mission accomplished! Can you picture that?

Mountain Side Maybe?

Sunday we woke up to snow coming down and thickly coating the cabin grounds. The Andes were calling our name! We had plans to enjoy the hot spings and venture out on a canopy for some zip linning, but mother nature had other plans. Take a look for yourself!

Climbing the mountain side!

Icy roads kept us from the top!

But we had fun anyways!

Climbing the mountain side!

Mountain side traffic...

Yes that is a snowed in car...Yikes!

Snow throw!

World's largest snow ball!

Time to start week 2!