The Long Christmas Post

Dave says: I finished a final paper just in time to send it off and jump in the car to head down to Cedar City. On the way, I stopped to buy some ski gear for Daniel (at the request of my mom) and to pick up Parker in Provo. The driving was only half over when we reached Cedar City as we hopped in with my parents and headed to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

The next morning (Friday, Dec 18th), we hiked down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to Phantom Ranch. On the way out to see us off, my 85 year-old grandpa Ivan slipped on some ice and tore his hamstring. Fortunately, he is recovering quite well.

The trip to the bottom began in the snow as we headed down the Bright Angel trail. We had lunch at Indian Gardens where the snow was long gone and as we headed into the inner gorge, the temperature climbed up to the mid-50's. After a late start, we made it to the bottom with just enough daylight and didn't have to wait long before it was time to head to the mess hall for beef stew.

Going to the Grand Canyon with my family over Christmas is a longstanding tradition. It seems that we go at least once every three years and on this trip, we stayed in the same cabin that we rented two years earlier. The only missing member of the group was Alisha who unfortunately couldn't get a week off work to make the trip.

The next morning we took a day hike from Phantom Ranch up the Clear Creek trail to get some good views of the river and the inner gorge. Daniel and Katie spent the afternoon getting their junior ranger badges and I was glad to be a bit too old to participate. Breakfast was at 5:30 am the next day and we had to go back to the cabin afterwards for a bit to wait for the sun to come up. We hiked up the Kaibab trail at a slow, steady pace and arrived on the rim by the afternoon. On the way, we saw a big horn sheep that crossed the trail only a few feet in front of us.

Our timing was excellent as the weather turned colder and dumped snow during the night. The next day was like a blizzard outside and I spent the day at the visitor's center, the store, and back at the room playing Mario Kart DS with Daniel. I also played in the snow with Kaylee who is now two and a half and likes to knock down icicles from the roof and stomp on snowballs.

After a day inside, I was ready for some more adventure. Christine and Parker missed the first trip down to the bottom and wanted to do it as a day hike. We blazed down the Kaibab passing a mule train and plowing the way through fresh snow. After lunch at Phantom Ranch, Christine led us up the Bright Angel at a brisk pace.

We headed back to Cedar City on Christmas eve after Parker and I played a complex game of tetris figuring out how to load everything into the back of my parents' suburban. I arrived at Alisha's parents' house just in time for dinner and was excited to see Alisha after a whole week apart.

We are lucky to have parents living in the same place as we were able to spend Christmas in two places. Both families now have young children that are just starting to understand what Christmas is and are a lot of fun to be around. We also played a bunch of fun games with Alisha's family which has practically become a tradition at her house. Another delicious tradition is steaks for Christmas dinner. We drove home yesterday and I am now enjoying two more weeks off before school begins.

(Best picture of the trip: The Bezansons Unplugged!)

*Note: We sent out our Christmas card via email but discovered that some of the email addresses we have are old and don't work. If you didn't receive our card, it's because we don't have a current email address for you. If you would like to leave your email address as a comment we will make sure to send you a copy. Thanks!

Cross Training

Dave says: Does DDR count as cross training? I hope so because it has been unconscionably cold in SLC this week. On Saturday we never left the house and that is definitely a rarity. With temps in the 20's, I initially thought it might be a good day to bust out the MTB's to keep the speeds a bit low. However, as we were getting ready to leave the house, the snow started falling and whatever small bit of motivation I had to attempt a below-freezing ride was gone.

Instead I spent the day staring at the TV screen. First it was an hour and a half of DDR (which is still a lot of fun even if it's been around for awhile). Alisha said that I wasn't allowed to take a picture of her dancing in her pajamas for the blog. Then, I watched the first half of the Florida/Alabama football game while riding the trainer. Alisha was "watching" the game while listening to her Ipod to avoid too much commentary from me as I watched the Gators go down in flames. After a brief attempt at studying, I was pleasantly surprised to discover more football on television and watched Texas barely beat Alabama (whose defense got the team closer to scoring than their offense).

Alisha has already done some 3 hour blocks on the trainer which is tough stuff, even with the 2009 Tour de France on DVD. My own favorite form of torture is currently the 6-8 hour blocks of studying for finals in my chair by the window (writing this blog is today's break at hour 4).

However, last night we enjoyed a bit of respite as Alisha scored us Jazz tickets from a coworker and we watched the Jazz claw back from quite a deficit to beat San Antonio. We took a brief walk through Temple Square to see the lights on the way to the game. Today I awoke to several inches of new snow. From my chair, I am enjoying the occasional drama of a rear wheeled car unsuccessfully attempting to drive up our street. Right now the snow makes me a bit more happy. If I've got to sit in my chair for 8 hours, it might as well be a blizzard.

Thanksgiving

Dave says: We headed down to Cedar City last week for a great Thanksgiving full of food, family, and fun. This is an important time of year to remember all the things we are grateful for and the people we appreciate. We had thanksgiving dinner with Alisha's family at her Aunt Corinne and Uncle Rod. The food was awesome and included some tasty smoked meats from her Uncle Jim.

We also got to undo some of the Thanksgiving damage with some long rides in St. George. On Thursday, we went around Quail Lake and Sand Hollow before eating Thanksgiving dinner. Then, on Friday we rode from Coral Canyon out to Gunlock, Veyo, and back for a good four hours. On Saturday we met up with some of the Color Country Cycling Club for a ride out to Zion. As always, an "easy" ride with Lasse inevitably turns into a showdown. By the end, we were trying to rip each others legs off and I was absolutely fried after three big days.

I love the riding in St. George and miss the warm weather in the winter. We have been riding outdoors in SLC and it has been cold. We dodge patches of ice on the road but it is better than the trainer. Yesterday we did a loop out to Saltaire and the Great Salt Lake and we also frequently go up Legacy Parkway to Bountiful. However, today the temperature dropped down into the low 30's which is about as cold as we can go on the road bikes.

We also had a fun time seeing family on our Thanksgiving trip. All of the kids are growing a lot. The last time I saw Quinn he was a newborn and now Brody runs around the house and talks. We had some fun times playing hide and seek and banging on things. He particularly liked riding the horse when I tried to tip him off from side to side. As always, we also enjoyed hanging out with Wayne, Debbie, Shane, Mandy, Amber, and Devin.

Now we are back and into our usual routine. Alisha has been waking up at 5:30 to go to the gym. We go riding right when she gets off work at 2 pm and finish right as it is getting dark. I'm getting ready for finals which is always a busy time. Last night we took the young men and young women to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. Since no one got lost or run over I'd say it was a moderate sucess (I only heard "I'd rather be playing basketball" about a dozen times).

Bat-O-Lanterns

Alisha says: This year for the Halloween pumpkin contest at work I decorated three mini pumpkins as bats.

Part of the Work Crew
Alisha (Pirate), Heidi (Flapper), Lynda (Graduate), Rosie (Caution Girl), Mary (Santa Clause)

On Halloween Tayler and I ended our ride at Wheeler Farm in time to watch the cross races. It was such a nice day and the races were really fun to watch because a bunch of the racers dressed up for the occasion.

Dave as Himself

Teammate Skunk Chantel

Baby Bart and Ali

Cross Dresser Clint

In other news: SLC got its' first snow storm in the valley last week and then this week it almost feels like summer again. Weird. In this picture I am wearing almost all of my cold winter gear and yesterday I rode Emigration without any arm or leg warmers, it was awesome!

Mud in My Teeth

(Thanks to MTBRaceNews for this great photo of Tom and I that seems to really capture the essence of this crazy race and for providing great coverage, as usual, despite the weather!)

Dave says: Dark clouds rolled in over last Saturday's cross race in Draper. However, the rain held off until 2:10 pm. Unfortunately, we started racing at 2:15 right as rain and hail began to dump. I got a good start and ended up behind Bart in 2nd when we hit the craziest part of the course. It was a downhill, off camber, slightly turning section where the mud made it like a sheet of glass. I literally held my breath and slid down it sideways without an incident (this time) while riders behind went flying (check out the huge glob of mud on Alex Grant's head).

It was a slop-fest where your bike sounded like it was about to break, your tires slid sideways in every corner, your sunglasses were so dirty that you couldn't see, and your hands were so cold and wet that you couldn't feel them. This is "real" cyclocross at it's best. I worked with Reed Wycoff for awhile in the middle of the race. His brakes were basically non-functional and I watched him slide out right in front of me. On the next lap, I went around him right before the tricky hill and then promptly crashed and dropped my chain. As a result, my face was covered with a little extra mud for the rest of the race.

The crash through off my groove as I slid out again a bit later. Near the end, I worked with my teammate Tom before he dropped me at the end and I took home 6th. I have mixed feelings about whether it was fun or not. On the one hand, it was one of the craziest races I've done. On the other hand, no one should ever be riding a bike under those conditions. Check out this sweet video of the race (which regrettably shows mainly pavement sections) and you'll get an idea of what cross is like.

Fall Break

Dave says: It was fall break this week and so Alisha wrote me a chore list to keep me busy. However, the weather was so nice that my list is only half done. Instead, we did a long ride on Monday (see previous post), and some hiking on Thursday and Friday.

Alisha took the rest of the week off the bike to rest up before her structured training begins again in November which meant that by the end of the week she was antsy to get outdoors. Our Thursday hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon took us up into the snow by Dog Lake. On Friday, we spent a couple hours on the shoreline trail by Red Butte Garden checking out the fall leaves.

Two long hikes right before a cross race is not a good idea but I don't take cx that seriously. Even worse was helping some friends move from their third story apartment on Saturday morning. I showed up at the race in Heber feeling as tired as if the event was already over. However, I managed to pull together a pretty good 60 minutes in a chase group of six following the two leaders. With about 2 of 9 laps to go, I noticed that my front tire had lost some air and was starting to roll on the corners. I was pretty tired anyways but had to back it off and lost my chance to sprint it out in the group. However, I was pleasantly surprised that things turned out decently well under the circumstances.

Exploring on Columbus Day

Dave says: I think a new Welsh family tradition will be to go explore somewhere new on Columbus day. We rode from Park City through Brown's Canyon, past Echo Reservoir, up and over to East Canyon, and back to Jeremy Ranch. It was a 70 mile loop with the last 10 miles on a pretty little dirt road that a road bike can handle. This is a very low traffic loop and we were passed by probably a dozen cars in 4 hours. We also had a blustery tail wind that put us up near 30 mph for about two hours of the ride. Of course, the other two hours were right into the wind at 14 mph but what can you do.

Dave says: We did our last road race of the year up city creek canyon on Saturday. It was a pretty low key event with lots of recreational riders but Chase Pinkham was there and eager to shatter the course record. As a result, things went quick right from the gun. Chase finally got rid of me about a mile from the finish but it was still a good race for me. Alisha was fourth overall and the first girl and shattered her old course record by over a minute (22:59).

Today was perfect for a fall walk up around memory grove, the capital, and city creek. That's about it for the week except for a bunch of fun little things like seeing the new Harry Potter movie (now somewhat old and in the cheap theater), going to Costco (yum), hanging out at the Pie with friends from school (also yum), doing homework, working at the bank, etc.

A Bit of Cool Weather

Dave says: Alisha was out scraping her car windows today for the first time this year. It was General Conference weekend as well as the start of cyclocross season so we had plenty to do. On Saturday I raced 'cross at the Weber County Fairgrounds. The flat bar, single ring, ghetto tubeless bike setup is going to be great. However, I still am not very fast on and off the bike in jumping barriers. The atmosphere at a 'cross race is pretty sweet though as there are plenty of spectators and lots of excitement. On Sunday, we went for a rainy day hike up Emigration Canyon between sessions of conference and found some really pretty fall colors.

PCIM Team Pics

PCIM 2009: Nisie, Chantel, Tayler, Kelsey, Kirsten, Jillian, Alisha, Jenna (front)

Alisha says: Now that the season is over we finally got all the team together for this little photo shoot a couple of weeks ago. Talk about a bunch of fit women. We had a fun season full of lots of racing. Thanks to everyone on the team who helped me out. I learned a lot from everyone and loved having KK as our team leader in races to help with the tactics. Harvest Moon Crit was last weekend in Ogden and was the last race for points in the UCA series (There were only three of us). It was a great season as I won the women's overall and PCIM won the team competition. Go PCIM!!

At the beginning of this season, I never would have imagined all the incredible opportunities that I have had this year. I am so appreciative to the many people who helped me out: my great teammates, parents and other family members, Kelly, Michael, numerous neat and talented athletes I have been introduced to, and last but not least my super husband.

I have been blessed to have been able to work with the US Women's Cycling Development Program this year. They are a great resource for women just getting into the sport of cycling. I wrote an entry for their blog on Cycling News that was just published that talks about my transition to cycling. It sounds like I am betraying my running roots but don't worry, running will always hold a special place in my heart. http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/us-womens-development-program/shoelaces-to-wheels.

Vegas

Alisha says: This past weekend was great! I headed south to see family and race. I made the trip solo because Dave was doing a collegiate mtb race and had to do some major studying time. I rolled down I-15 with my favorite tunes blasting on Friday and spent part of the night at my parents. We were up before the crack of dawn and rolling down I-15 to be in the Vegas area by 7:00 am.

I raced the Mt. Charleston hillclimb, 17.5 miles 5,357 ft. elevation. A hillclimb in Vegas? Well, it's a ways outside but in the general area. I had a fantatsic race. I felt really good and finished in 1:29.08, seven minutes faster than last year. There weren't too many women, but I had fun racing the men. I was 13th overall (7th in Pro men, 2nd in Cat 3's) out of about 250.

Awards were absolutley ridiculous. I'm a fairly patient person but it took over 3 hours for them to put together results. By this time it looked like it was going to rain and so rather than post them and have the 15 min. protest time they just started anouncing them. Of course they did the women very last and then they announce first place and it wasn't me. Several people knew that I had won so we told them they were wrong and we had to get the officials involved who at first insisted that the results were correct. I knew what my time was so then we had to look at the footage and there I was with my number clearly visible. Somebody made the comment that they must have left me off because they didn't expect any women that early or they though I was a guy. By this time it is raining and everything is being packed up. I had to find another guy who pulled this humongous trophy out of a box and that was that.

My parents were quite the troupers to come with me and I was greatful for their company. My dad got home from work at 2:30 am and was back in the car to go with me at 4:45 am. I love hanging out with family. My mom sent me home with a back seat full of delicious garden produce.

Dave says: I did a bit of collegiate mtb racing this weekend at Utah State. Mitchell and I made the trip together and the U represented well. There's still not too many collegiate riders in Utah but it's nice to see the IMCCC conference coming together.

Nine Hours

Dave says: So I chose not to do Lotoja this year because ten hours on a bike seems about twice as long as I'd like. Nevertheless, Labor Day rolled around and we decided to do the Alpine Loop with Tyler, Norm, and Steph. It was a nine hour trip from SLC to Park City to Sundance over the top to American Fork and then up again over Suncrest and back (7:30 of actual ride time).

It turned out to be a fun time and I was quite impressed that we held a high tempo the entire ride. In fact, for awhile I was the weakest link after eating a footlong sub right before climbing Suncrest.

During the week we've enjoyed a bit of post-ride Vuelta coverage while eating dinner. Alisha has been watching the mountain stages closely and has been pulling out some fierce attacks on me during our weekly rides. I also managed to capture a rare photo of her on the mtb. We've been doing an occasional off road trek together for a bit of variety in addition to our regular diet of pavement.

Today we decided to brave a bit of questionable weather and made it all the way up emigration canyon before it started pouring. It was one of the worst rain storms I've been in on the bike but still probably a bit better than spending the afternoon on the trainer.

In other news, we have a new young men's president which is a big relief for the rest of us. Last week I ran all over the place during capture the flag (right after a good bike workout) and was shot for the next two days.

The Curse Continues. . . But Still A Fun Day

Alisha says: So for the third year in a row I have taken second at the Climber's Trophy race. The best part is that each year a different person has beat me (today it was Nicole). I was bummed that my time this year was slower than last year (even on the same course it is sometimes hard to compare times because the conditions can vary so much from year to year.)

This year it was a little cooler and there was a slight drizzle of rain. The race was time trial style and I was the first to go. It is good that I like to get to races plenty early because today I was almost there and realized that I had forgotten a key piece of equipment, my helmet, and had to drive back home to get it. I'm glad that the race didn't start too far out of town but it still stressed me out.

Dave says: I was the support crew again today. My form was way off in August but I am healthy again and trying to get back in shape for cyclocross. After the hill climb, we decided it was time to redeem some of Alisha's previous winnings. We went to Porcupine Grill (courtesy of the Porcupine hill climb) and then to Octoberfest at Snowbird where we rode the chairlift up to the top of the mountain (thanks to the Snowbird hill climb). We went on a fun little hike in the mountains and only got a little wet.

Then, tonight we went to our ward's centennial celebration where they removed a time capsule from the cornerstone of the church that had been there for exactly 100 years.

Sanpete Road Race

Alisha says: Today was the last road race of the season, kind of sad, kind of glad. The race was pretty lame during several sections as we leisurely cruised along in group ride mode. The course was mostly flat, although most of the time it felt like a gradual downhill so it made attacking and getting a break to stick kind of difficult. It came down to a field sprint with Nicole taking the win and I felt pretty lucky to have come out of it with second and teammate Tayler was third. The best part of the race was that basically the whole PCIM gang was there (Kirsten, Nisie, Chantel, Kelsey, Tayler and me). They are a great group of girls and super fun to race with.

In family news, Friday after work Dave and I drove to Price to visit Amber, Devin and Quinn. Quinn is my new nephew who is 12'ish weeks old and this is the first time that we have seen him. He is a cutie with lots of rolls. Devin cooked the biggest hamburgers ever for dinner, they were intense. After eating mine I was a little worried about how it might affect my race the next day but I felt fine, I still am fairly certain that I won't be making it part of my pre race routine though :)

Snowbird

Alisha says: I got to do two races this weekend. The first was Snowbird Hillclimb up Little Cottonwood. 10 miles 3300 ft. elevation. Local Pro Nicole (valueact) was lined up on the starting line. We went out hard and kept a close eye on each other, each following moves the other would make. With just under two miles to go I looked back and noticed that I had a little gap. I was able to hold it until the finish and take the win by 29 seconds.

The second race was a criterium that was in conjunction with the Tour of Utah. We got to race the same course just a couple of hours before the pros did. The forecast called for a chance of rain so I did not pre register. The ground was wet when I woke up, but the skies didn't look too threatening so I suited up and registered. There was a good field that included the local pros. Just as we rolled up to the starting line it started sprinkling which made me a little nervous and the race a little interesting with the wet roads and all. It seemed to me that we were either dawdling or flying. I would get impatient and bored when the race would get slow and attack. They had a ton of prime laps that Tiff P. made quite the haul on. She is so strong. Heather Albert punched it with just over a lap to go and got a good gap on the field. Tiff put in a nice pull to bring her part of the way back and then it seemed like the field was just going to let Heather take the win. I was the sucker who thought "heck no" and took the bait to reel her in coming into the final turn giving the real sprinters a nice lead out. I was toast and managed a fifth place.

We hung around with all the cool people from the cycling community to watch the pro race. Now those guys are fast.

Dave says: I woke up sick at the start of a three day camping trip to Affleck Park that I was in charge of with the young men. The trip had a rough start as some hiking followed by a dispute over a bag of chips almost led to a brawl. However, with the help of some others and a bit of fortitude we made it through the entire trip and enjoyed hot dogs, canned beef stew, marshmallows, and all the other delicious scouting foods. Friday's activities included a downhill hike (pictured above) which went much better, swimming in East Canyon Reservoir, capture the flag, and even some good spiritual stuff as well.

Family Fun

My Uncle Robert, Aunt Lorrie and their family

Brittany, Brody, Mandy and Mom

This is how we found Brody in the morning

Alisha Says: Yay, this weekend I got to spend time with lots of family. I haven't seen them for a while and it was fun to have them stay at our casa. My Mom, Dad, Mandy, and Brody came up on Friday. Richard came over and joined us for a gourmet dinner that my parents helped cook consisting of grilled corn, halibut, shrimp, salmon, and baked potatoes. Yummers! After dinner Richard (using his trusty iphone told us that there were several geocaches in our neighborhood. So our after dinner activity was a nice walk to find them.

Saturday we got up early and attended the wedding of my cousin, Shaylee and her groom, David, in the Salt Lake Temple. It was raining when they were trying to take pictures so they probably won't get the wedding photos they always dreamed of. Weddings are always fun and always remind me how lucky I am to have married my Dave. That afternoon we did some shopping and went to the wedding luncheon. I love shopping with my mom, she can always find the cutest clothes.

About 20 minutes after my family had departed Dave's family arrived at our house. They were traveling home from Yellowstone and stopped by for a visit. We ate at Chili's. It was fun playing with Kaylee and Rachel and getting beat by Daniel in Mario Kart. Family's are the best!!!

The OTC @ Chula Vista

Alisha Says: So a couple of weeks ago I got one of the coolest emails I have ever received inviting me to attend the US Women's Talent Identification Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. I was super excited and a little nervous. This was the first time that I have ever had to fly with a bike. I borrowed a bike box and Dave explained what bolts he was undoing and parts he was taking off to fit it in the box. I tried to remember everything because I would have to be the one to put it back together all by myself when I got there.

I made it to San Diego and waited impatiently for my bike to be delivered to the baggage claim area. Finally it came and I found my shuttle which was a van with a big USA with the Olympic rings under it on the side. I was transported by a cool guy who volunteers at the center. When I got there I found several other girls unpacking and building their bikes and so I went over and joined them. I was happy that I was able to put my bike back together all by myself. We checked in and met everyone. It was a super small camp, only five super neat girls (Elspeth, Kendee, Yasmin, Mary, and myself) and two staff (Corey and Clay). That afternoon we went for a ride. I was really hoping that my bike would stay in one piece and that I didn't accidentally not tighten a bolt or something but it did! You can practically see the border from the center (I think it is only like three miles away) and while were were riding were passed by at least seven border patrol vehicles which continued to be a trend on all of our rides. That night after a delish dinner at the dining hall (lots of healthy choices) we had Kristen a sports psychologist talk to us. It was such good information.

Day 2: We went for a 3:30 group spin out and around Coronado Island. We rode on a bike path for quite a long time. It was a little questionable because it involved passing countless people and animals. One time we passed a lady being pushed in a wheelchair and I think that we scared her from the noise that she made. Another crazy lady yelled at us both times that we passed her for going to fast. It was a fun ride and I got to talk with Kristen and ask her lots of questions which was cool. That afternoon we met with a nutritionist followed by Corey talking about power and explaining the field tests that we would be doing. The dinner break was followed by a really interesting talk by the USADA (US Anti Doping Association) because sadly this has been a problem in our sport of cycling.

Day 3: Field test #1. This was the short test, it sounds easy but it was not. A simple 2K all out on a medium incline. Think all out sprint. After lunch Clay talked to us about track riding and racing in Europe. After dinner we played a mean game of Mad Gab where team Clay, Mary, Yasmin, Alisha took home the gold! Then Clay entertained us for quite some time with his many great stories from traveling abroad with a bunch of cyclists!

Day 4: Field test #2. This was the long test, it sounds hard, and it was. It was a 20 minute time trial up a pretty good climb. I love climbing but it still hurts, especially when you want to do well. I felt okay and really focused on not going too hard at first. I still think I went a little too hard and the last couple of minutes when I really wanted to be flying I was hurtin'!! On the ride back Mary, Corey and I started attacking each other, it was really fun. After dinner we met individually with the Coaches and they told us the results of our field tests. The tests were to figure out your watts per kilo for certain amounts of time which they can compare to other cyclists. My results were good and the coaches said that I have potential.

Day 5: We got up early today, ate breakfast, loaded our bikes in the van and drove to Torrey Pines for a nice three hour ride. We had an incident where we were riding on a four lane road that wasn't very busy and had a bike lane. Clay and I were riding double and chatting when a guy came up along side us and not so kindly and using numerous profanities to ride single file. Clay told him that there were two lanes and he could drive in the other one. Words were exchanged and the guy slammed on his brakes. I thought that he was getting out of his car. Clay got out his phone to take a picture of his license plate and then he sped off running a stop sign and into the curb. Ummm, good times. After lunch Mari Holden, a national, world, and Olympic medalist came and talked to us. She was super stylish and gave us tonnns of good advice. That night we went to the movies and saw Julie and Julie, super lame, don't waste your time or money.

Day 6: Nothing much happened on this day. Everyone left at varying times to catch their flights. Elspeth and I had a couple of hours to kill in the morning so we went and watched the BMX athletes practice. I recognized a few of them, like Mike Day, from watching the Beijing Olympics on TV. My flight home was nice and I was able to find the car that Dave had left for me at the airport. The camp was a super neat-o experience and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go!!!