We had a fun filled Easter Weekend. I stayed late at work on Thursday so I would be able to head out a little early Friday to Oklahoma to visit my parents. My dad had 6 tickets to the Oklahoma City Thunder game (former Seattle Supersonics) that started at 7pm.
I got out of work a little later than expected so I gave Dad a call to tell him that we might be getting there right before the game started without much time to spare. He told me he just talked to Emily and she had probably left about 30 minutes sooner so they were going to meet up with Emily and Molly for a quick pregame meal. Well, at roughly halfway after we stopped to fill up the car, I called Emily to see where she was since we all know she has a lead foot. Well it turns out she didn't leave quite when she said she would (I know, what a shocker! just kidding Em, sort of...) so she was actually behind us a few miles...We slowed down a little and they caught up with us for the last hour or so. Anyway, that's enough about the driving, I just wanted to give Emily a hard time.
We met up with my parents and had a great time at the game. The Thunder played the Charlotte Bobcats so it was basically a battle of bottom feeders, but still fun. I impressed my dad with my vast knowledge of Thunder facts (thanks to wikipedia). They game actually ended up being a real nailbiter and was quite fun to watch.
The next morning we headed down to the Wichita Mountains in southwest Oklahoma so we could scope out some places to take a youth group rappelling. At least that was the stated purpose. The real reason was because my Dad and I wanted to go hiking and experience more of this newly found adventure spot.
Here we are at the top of Mount Scott.
My completely adorable niece, Molly.
After a few hours of hiking around, we decided we probably had enough time to set up the rappelling gear and get a few rappels in.
I don't know whether it is greed, stupidity, or chivalry that motivates me, but I always want to be the first one down the cliff to make sure the ropes are secure...
I was expecting it to take tons of pleading and coercion but after only a little bit of prodding, Laura acquiesced and decided to give it a try. For someone who has never really even been camping, I was impressed that she even said yes. I guess it helped that both my mom and my sister also went down. We got her hooked up and I quickly ran down to the bottom to give her some coaching on the way down and to snap some pictures. I was expecting to be down there a while before I would see her come over the edge. But by the time I got to the bottom, she was already over the edge and on her way down! I could tell she was really nervous but she did a great job...except for the last part.
At the bottom of the cliff is an overhang where your feet can't touch the wall and you just have to hang. When Laura got to that point, I called out to her to look over at me so I could snap a picture. I guess with so much going on, she forgot to keep holding onto the rope. Well, your hand in what you use as a brake and is what controls your speed on your way down, so after letting go, she started going down really quick! Luckily, we had things set up correctly and my dad was belaying her so after about 10 feet of pretty quick movement he decided it was moving to quick for a beginner and stopped her a few feet before the bottom. All in all, it worked out awesome. It was a great experience and really helped my mom, dad, and I get ready to take their youth group out rappelling.
Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come up and have a great Easter weekend!
