Summer BOW 09

Last February I attended BOW in Big Bay, MI. We had another chance to do it during the summer this past weekend. I couldn't get time off to ride with the moms so they left in the morning Thursday and then I flew to Marquette after work where they picked me up. We stayed at a hotel in Marquette Thursday night.

Friday - we had an early check in at Bay Cliff Health Camp. We had lunch and then introductions. First class was 2-5pm: Treasure Hunting - otherwise known as, geocaching. Our instructors hid 12 caches around the grounds and gave us the coordinates to punch in our GPS. We were off, they were impressed how we caught on so quickly with the GPS. Some people had never used their GPS before and thought it would have been helpful to take the beginning GPS prior to this class. They did just fine and it was fun trying to find the "treasure". After class we had dinner and I had to go to a Firearms Safety class. I felt like Bumby was there. I was taught very early how to safely handle a gun. This class was not just about gun safety, it was about different kinds of guns and at times was more hunter oriented. We were given the opportunity to get certified with Michigan DNR for hunter safety by taking a test Saturday night. It was free so I thought what the heck. It was a long day of traveling and having class. We played UNO and called it a night. I stayed up and read my gun safety manual. Everyone kept telling me that I didn't need to read it because all the questions were multiple choice and very obvious.

Saturday - early start, breakfast was at 7:45am. First class was 9-12pm: Archery. This was beginner archery. Just like with the guns, I have been taught archery by Bumby. Of course I hit the targets every time. The instructor gave me the $400 compound bow to try out. It was nice but I felt like I had more control when I was pulling the string back instead of this tool he gave me to pull it back. After class we had lunch and headed to our next class. Second class 2-5pm: Muzzleloader. There must not have been many people for this class because I ended up getting combined with the rifle class. Again - I am not a beginner to shooting a gun. I signed up for muzzleloader because I actually have never done that. Bumby has one and is building one, but I don't think I have every fired it off. We took so much time shooting the rifles that we only had time to shoot the muzzleloader once. Good thing I made it count :) Dinner was lasagna. They make the best lasagna. Bay Cliff also has their own bakery - they make 60 loaves of bread every day! Breakfast was french toast, lunch was sandwiches, dinner had garlic bread. YUM! After dinner I took the safety test. I was done before everyone else and didn't need any "help". Then I went on a geocache with the instructors from the class. They had already found them, so we were more following than actually looking. The first two were pretty easy, then we had one that had multiple parts to it. You had to do math and figure out dates in history and this made up the coordinates for the cache. The first place we went to had steep hills, a waterfall and a river. Quite the adventure.

Sunday - breakfast was early again 7:45am. It was raining - not a good thing for the class I was about to take. First and last class: Rockclimbing/Repelling. The rocks were too slippery to climb so we repelled instead. There were 6 of us. We were able to get through everyone twice - once down a side that had some obstacles and another that was more vertical. I did much better on the flat surface than the one that had different angles to adjust to. I would have liked to climb, but even with repelling we hit a few slippery moss spots. Lunch was small, as most people had already left. They handed out our certificates and patches for passing the Hunter Safety test. 100%!! and I didn't need any help. They may have helped us with the questions but I know that I aced the test without the help because I was done before they started helping. I also rec'd a bandana award from the Rockclimbing instructor because I made the sun come out - I put sunscreen on even though it was raining.

While I was away - Jon, Mike and Bumby tried to reinforce the deck. Unfortunately it rained all weekend. So they were only able to put the stakes in. Jon and Mike went to Tamara's Beer Bust to help with her fundraiser. I rec'd a portion of the funds for providing some raffle items that were left over from my silent auction. Made $95. At BOW, they allowed me to make another announcement and update everyone on my progress. I got some money from that. Then there was Kristina. She said she would speak on my behalf at dinner on Saturday. After her speech people were giving me fists of dollars, fives, tens, twenties. I ended up with $170. I feel very confidant that I will make the fundraising goal. Now I can refocus on the training.

There are a lot more photos on facebook - just can't fit them all here.