Ryan's Currently Unnamed Blog

Well, 2 weekends ago... I got away from my 'regular' daily life a little bit. Of course, I wanted to write about this weekend MUCH sooner, but life, being what it is, just wouldn't allow me the time to do that. So, digging through the fog as best I can... I'll begin to recount the weekend as best I can. This is probably going to be boring for just about anyone, but I wanted to get some points down so I would have something to remember the weekend by.

First off, shortly after getting into Wisconsin, we were greated by some of the local recreation areas. I knew about all the Adult Book Stores, and Mars' Cheese Castle but I didn't know they were THAT liberal.. LOL Yeah, yeah... its actually not about that at all, I know.. but its still funny! One of these days... I'll really need to take a drive by there and see what its really about!

Thankfully, the trip out there was relatively uneventful. Once I got in the area, there was actually all kinds of contruction and closed roads. Thankfully, my GPS Device was able to reroute me around all the unexpected detours and the (many) missed turns.

First thing that I did when I finally arrived, was get right to work on getting things setup. Its actually quite a bit of work and I wasn't really with anyone that wanted to do the work so I got started on things. After about a bit, we were right back in the car, to head out to pick up some food, beverages, and supplies for the weekend. The first stop was off at a Starbucks though, were I had quite possibly the best Blackberry Green Tea Frappuccino ever! And while we were in the store, we noticed that they had these machines where you can recycle cans and bottles. We had a few bottles and cans, and donated the proceeds to charity. Wasn't much, but made me happy to be doing a little bit of good with something I would have normally just thrown out!

Finally got back to the campsite and put away the rest of our stuff and kinda chilled out for a while. Most of the weekend is a blur as to what we talked about and what we did. At one point, the conversation turned to business stuff, and I actually got quite a few ideas of ways to expand on some of the current ventures. So yay for new ideas! I'm really convinced that getting together with people and brainstorming about things will lead to many fantastic ideas... just by letting the conversation go whereever, and then capturing that information and later reviewing it to determine what makes sense (lol, depending on our mental state... it might not!) and what is feasible to get done. So yay for new ideas. It means I have a LOT more to work on, but the potential is really bright!

Anyway, we hoped back in the car and wanted to get a hold of some gear so that we could climb some of the boulders and more sheer rock faces there. The first place we called said that they would have everything we needed, and to come on by. My GPS got us there with no problems, but as soon as I walked in, some old guy asked if he could help me and I told him what we needed. He just looked at me and said, 'I wish you would have called... we won't have anything until Monday.' This, of course, did us no good since we were only there for the weekend. I politely told the guy that I DID call and that we were told to stop on by. The guy apologized but said there's nothing we could do.

Got back to the car and we noticed a cop following us. Of course, this made us paranoid that we were somehow going to get busted for something, but after about 5 minutes (which seemed like 2 hours) he finally turned away. Not like he had anything on us, just really didn't want to deal with anything. Anyway, after searching through the GPS for some alternate stores to stop by, we finally found one that had what we needed, but they were 30 minutes away, and they closed in 45 minutes. They didn't sound all that convincing and we really didn't want to waste all that time to get out there to find out that they didn't have it. Called them back and they assured us it was going to be OK.

Thanks to the roads being messed up in Wisconsin, we turned off of the expressway when we were supposed to stay on it... but we still made it to the store 5 minutes before they closed. Got our stuff, and headed back.

I really should have taken more pictures while I was out there.. got some videos and some pictures, but nothing that can or should be put out in public. So, sorry about that... I know you're terribly disappointed!

After more chilling out, we decided that we wanted to go get some real food. So, we ended up finding a restaurant to drive to. For being what I perceived to be out in the middle of nowhere, the food was absolutely incredible! I'm not sure if it was the company, or being waited on, but it was definately something that stands out from the weekend.

That's most of the good things that I can remember from the trip. And unfortunately, there was quite a bit of bad too. I had some time to myself, mainly at night before going to bed. Normally, I work until I pass out from exhaustion, and I have little trouble getting to sleep. And also, since I normally keep longer hours then most people, I was on my own. I physically wasn't far away from some of my best friends, but yet I felt isolation and very very alone. Not sure what to really make of it, because its gone now. Maybe its why I keep myself so busy, so that I won't notice that, but I definately caught a glimpse of something that I normally never ever see. And, to make matters worse, when I was breaking down things to get ready to leave, I managed to cut myself. Was a fairly deep cut on a finger near the nail bed. I actually felt it scrape along something, either bone or the nail, i'm not really sure which. It bled for a while, and wouldn't really stop. I don't think I lost that much blood, but combined with a weakened (and probably very dehydrated) state from being outside in hot humid tempuratures all weekend, my body reacted very negatively. I can remember passing out and coming back in a state of terror, unaware of where I was or what was going on. Kinda embarressed to have something like that happen to me in front of my friends and it definately wasn't a fun experience, but at the same time I feel like a new bond was established. I've known for a long time that there are many people who are around for the good times. Its the bad times that expose who your real friends are. The people who are there for you without a second thought. That will drop what they are doing to come to your aid.

A few years ago, i would have laughed theories that the whole world is connected. I, being the logical person that I am, would have scoffed at the existance of something that we can't perceive. I still have the fortune from my fortune cookie... and I thought nothing of the fortune when I first received it. But now, its profound:

"True friends are there for you when they would rather be anywhere else"