12.12.07 - 10:49 am

DAY 1
everything was packed and left at the house. i drove ashton to newberg and dropped him off at school and then proceeded south to corvallis to pick up sphinx and tim whilst julie took my roommate and my sunriver supplies eastward. after the gathering of their bags and boards we hastily made our way east, albeit with the sphinx behind the wheel. after nearly three hours of driving already that day, i did not want an additional three more under my belt. i wanted naps and zuma.

sphinx likes to tailgate others with snow and ice on the ground. tim, weary and bored, slept.

conditions were decent on the way up: misty. wet. snowy. icy. cloudy. inspite of having fully functional windshield wipers, sphinx neglected to use them for most of the drive over the pass. he also wore his sunglasses which neither of us noticed until an hour after he commented on how dark it was up in the mountains.

we stopped for food and alcohol in bend. vital supplies necessary for the next several days. six pack of fat tire. thirty six budweisers cans. eighteen bud lights. a bottle of red wine. and that was just what we brought. in all there would be a handful of assorted beers from tim, a bottle of jose cuervo, some vodka, and two more bottles of wine.

we arrived just after russell and julie, even though sunriver is a maze of snaking roads, turnarounds and ice. in the dark the place is like a giant snow maze for cars, with death as the reward.

the house was quaint. adorable and well put together. there was a metal spiral staircase that lead to the upstairs: a small area with a queen sized bottom bunk bed and a twin above. another twin pressed against the wall, and to the back a small bathroom and shower. below was the kitchen. in the back of the house was another large bedroom complete with washer and dryer. a wood stove sat beside the large entry way which allowed passage into the room of julie and myself: large bed, large bathroom with stone shower and most importantly, access to the back porch and hot tub.

mancala started off the evening of tim and jordan. budweisers were present. soon sphinx joined the game. then russell. then finally julie fell. i think i lost nearly every time. russell and sphinx would get into highly strategized games. the men eventually migrated outside to the hot tub, which was immensely enjoyable. it wasnt long until two out of the five of us were naked within its 105 degree chamber. at some point, two of julies friends arrived. they were not very comfortable around us. correction: around sphinx. after a few beers julie and i retreated to our abode, leaving russell tim and sphinx to fend for themselves for the rest of the evening.