Written by Tiffany Huggins – CatRock Blogger

by Kyron Slater

I can definitely speak for all when I say this snowboarding trip was such a great experience.

Some of the leaders have never been snowboarding before and had to stay on the bunny hill with Mountain Creek instructor Shannon until they learned how to properly ride. The rest of the group were very experienced and took on the more advanced hills and slopes with instructors Homer and Danno.

THANK YOU MOUNTAIN CREEK!!!

-Written by CatRock Blogger

On February 21 the CatRock leadership program attend a snow resort called Mountain Creek.

Also selected CampInteractive student were also chosen to go. The departing time from the tec and treck center was 7 am where they agreed on meeting at 6 45am. A van was rented in order to travel from the tec and treck center to mountain creek and back. No electronics were allowed on this trip. The reason for this action is for the kids can socialize instead of going into there own world with their ipods, cell phones, etc……
When the CatRock leadership team arrived at Mountian Creek after about a two hour drive, they got geared with the necessary equipment to snowboard. They where divided into three groups acorroding to skill level. Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert. One Mountain Creek staff member was assigned to each ground. The beginners received two lessons. One in the morning and a another in the afternoon, after lunch. For the Intermediates and Experts they just snowboarded and had a great time.
Around 1 o’clock CatRock rejoined and went to lunch. At two o’clock they got back together with out their orginal groups and hit the mountains again. After about two to three hour CatRock reunited again. They de issued there gear and got ready to go. When everyone was packed CatRock got into a circle to do high and low, were everyones feelings were listened in a respectful matter. After the circle they got back in the van and conversadited almost the whole way back.

-Written by CatRock Blogger

Check out Mountain Creek – So close to home!

Beauty is a Distraction from Other Beauties

Looking at your dark curly hair, and the shine it gives when you’re near by,
Not realizing that there are so many huge beautiful mountains that are also near by.
Your cheeks resemble rose petals, dark, enriched pink or light, smooth red,
Forgetting that the beautiful, powdered snow is as soft and fluffy as a thermopedic bed.
Lost in your big brown eyes, as you are staring into mine,
Instead of appreciating the sights of Aspen trees and the mountains’ tree-lines.
Your beauty is great it’s almost unbelievable,
But it distracts me, and makes Aspen’s beauty almost unconceivable.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Ungrateful Mind

Wow, that sounds good. I want Burger king,
My mother just spent hours cooking a delicious, warm meal.
Can u just pay for one more bill? It’s just a cell phone bill.
My mother kills herself to pay rent school tuition, and many other bills.
Can I go to Florida with you to go on the cruise?
A kind man has sent me to Aspen, Colorado twice a year since 2007.
You know what? You should come over and chill, and who knows what’s bound to happen after that.
A few train stops from here, there is a girl that is so loyal, and gives me so much love and respect.
Damn! My mother is strict and annoying.
I actually have a mother, and she sacrifices so much to show her love for me.
I want more. I need that. She doesn’t have to know. I know I have that, but can I get…
The Ungrateful Mind.

     The winter camping trip that we had was amazing. We slept in tents in the snow!! I had so much fun out there snowshoeing, building ice caves and hanging out with friends even though it was cold.

The beginning of our trip started December 19th and went to December 21. On the first day, Friday, all the CatRock kids had a sleepover at CampInteractive even though many did not really sleep because they were too busy talking and playing around. That night was fun. We watched a movie called “Seven Pounds” with Will Smith in it. It was so sad yet so nice and funny. Jesus and some of the kids decided to go outside and make a snowboarding ramp by the steps while everyone else was inside relaxing and using the computers.

     The next morning. We woke up at 6:00 am with Craig barging through the door in a one piece red pajama with a crazy colorful hat on. He made our morning funny. I was tired because most of the night i was on my phone talking on aim with my friends.

The next thing we did was pack all our equipment: cameras, tents, sleeping bags, down jackets, bowls, boots, water bottles, rain jackets, snow pants, and long johns. Once we were done we took all our backpacks, snowshoes and poles to the big white van outside the center and the next thing we know, we were on our way to La Casa Harris in Pawling, NY again. We all were knocked out in the van ride up. Everyone wanted to go inside the cabin and relax for a while: I mean we only get to go once a month.

     I felt anxious to be there again, excited to go snowshoeing, be at the cabin and have fun… but then again I’m not a fan of the cold at all.

While we were on the van i kept on waking up and looking around. It was funny because everyone was asleep. No one was awake other than Shore and Craig because someone had to drive. We finally arrived in Pawling which is near the Catskills in upstate NY and i was excited to be there even though getting out of the van was kind of hard to do. It was cold and the snow was up to our knees! That’s not cool!

  The trip taught me how to learn to keep myself warm by not thinking about the cold as much. Every time i thought about how cold i was, i started shaking and getting colder. My greatest success of the trip was building the Quincy with Steven. It was cool when i was inside and warm scratching on walls and digging to make the inside for Craig. It was his own little home, including the fact that he is short and can fit in many places. I was extremely happy about the comments and how happy everyone was to the fact that I had made it and some people took turns to go inside and look at it. 

    I had fun in this trip and i know everyone else did too. The main activity of the second day before we came back home was to go snowshoeing. It was not fun for me at all do to the fact that i do not like going up mountains especially when i do not know what i am stepping on. I also lost my breath while going up. I even cried about it. My throat felt so closed and my glands tend to get swollen a lot so that made my fun mood drop to zero at that point. 

    I had a nice experience and i hope that many other kids get the chance to do what we did next year. Sleeping in tents in the summer is one thing to me. But for the first time since i have been part of CampInteractive we did it in the winter and in the snow. Weirdly I slept nice and warm throughout the night which is something that does not happen very often in any of the other trips that involved sleeping outdoors in the cold or even in a tent. I hope we have another winter trip like this next year.

That day was the first day I saw what everyone has had so many talks and laughs about. That day I felt different. It’s a feeling I cannot always get when I am back home. I can’t lie; I can swear I was excited to be there just like everyone else. Afterwards it was not even excitement; it was an eye opener and a heart mending experience. Not everyone can get a chance to be in the position and place I was those two days and I am glad I was there after three years of being part of CampInteractive.

The first day, was a great day. I laid in a room and wrote my thoughts while hearing music blasting and laughter. No one to yell at me or annoy me put me down or make me cry. I love going on those trips. Laughter is good for me and everyone else. I was able to be me without being and showing anger in the way I speak. I said it the whole first day “I’m just in a happy mood”. To keep me happy I cleaned A LOT. The first thing I did was clean and make the place look a little fuller of life than before. It made me happy to just clean and laugh. I was so tired of being angry and upset and having Sam telling me that I curse too much. I had fun being silly me. I woke up at 5:00am and waited until 6:00am to get up and out of my house. If anyone who reads this notices my thoughts are a little scattered, I have a lot on my mind. As I was saying, I enjoyed my stay at Mikes. My favorite part was the cooking. Man… girls are funny when they cook. They were killing me of laughter. We made some good chicken parmesan with spaghetti, garlic bread, and a green salad. The food was good and everyone liked it. It was like one big happy family.
After we ate we all relaxed, played and bugged out. Then we sat together and learned more about Mike and his life, who he was, what he did, how CatRock began, etc. The conversation was very touching to me. I did not cry but in the end when everyone was done and making smores I just laid there on the floor and thought for a minute. I know that to someone else my problems can’t be compared to theirs, but my problems and the things that sink into my head are just me. I wasn’t how I am now two years ago or even last year. My life to me is so problematic from left to right…but what if I would have met Mike in the sense that Pedro, Jesus, Von, and everyone else met him. Why couldn’t he change my life and let me be someone different from what I am now. Like I say my problems are big to me and I really don’t like how I am unless I am with a really close friend, with my significant other, or anywhere Craig is going to be J. I wanted/want to look at life differently. I could have still been in college and I would have a great job right now.
I remember when I met Mike. Never spoke more than two words to him which most likely were “hello Mike” or my name and how I am doing. I don’t think I wanted to be one of the kids who just heard so many stories of a great man, but I wanted to be a part of it at least and be able to share my story. The last time I saw Mike I think was when I went with Craig, Jesus, and others to see him at the hospital. He just looked calm, simple and happy.
I have a lot of thoughts in my mind and I don’t know what exactly to do with them. I cannot spill a puddle of tears in words in a small amount of time. I can’t be as open as I was a couple of months ago. I am closing up again and those two days kind of changed everything for me. The last time I decided to write like I had done all my life, was last month. I wrote 10 pages or 12 of anything in my mind. I sat in a chair from 1am until 5am writing my mind away and I sure as hell missed doing that because writing how I felt was the old me. The trip, and especially trips to Aspen, make me feel so happy and healthier. I guess I already know that everyone feels the same way about the trips we have. And now CatRock is running again so that is just way better. The trips we go on aren’t just trips. They slowly open your mind to new idea and you won’t really realize it until you sit down just like the last night and speak about the things we speak about when we sit together as people.