Rather than going on the trip to North Carolina that weekend, Mike, Kelsey, Chelsea, Logel and I decided to stay in town and embark on Florida-inspired adventures. We started off the weekend with a few rounds of foosball and XBox at Mike's apartment. I have since learned that I am terrible at both of these games. I can only play defense in foosball and even that is rather weak. I got really into the XBox zombie game we were playing but I also got injured and died a lot. It was still a blast (though kind of graphic).
The next morning, we met up at Logel's to go off roading in the Ocala National Forest. Apparently there are a bunch of jeep trails and Logel has a jeep. We drove around in the forest for a while before trying to cross a big puddle and getting stuck. Logel kept trying to get his jeep out but his tires were spinning, digging a deeper and deeper hole. Mike and I were both on the right side, where the wheels were digging in, and e both started to notice water coming through the door. Soon, we were up to our ankles in muddy swamp water. I tried to grab my belongings (a purse and backpack) but only managed to grab the purse. I also could only find one of my shoes, so I left them for dead and we all climbed out of Mike's window. I was barefoot, wet, dirty, and carrying an expensive leather purse. I was a walking contradiction. We all ate some lunch and then ventured toward cell service and civilization, my bare feet artfully stepping through pine needles and grass.
We happened upon a nearby farm and tried to get help. An older woman answered and let us into her home, offering water and a phone. We had already called AAA but the problem was that we were off the road. The woman called the owners of he farm in hopes that we could access our car more easily but no such luck. We finally started walking up the road, debating whether or not to hitchhike to Gainesville and hoping AAA would be able to help us.
Soon thereafter, a redneck in a huge SUV pulled up with his girlfriend, asking if we were waiting on AAA and stating he was there to save us. We hopped in the backseat and it didn't occur to me until later that he had actually been sent by AAA. We led him about two miles into the forest and he set up chains on Logel's jeep. Luckily for us, the jeep started up despite being submerged in water. We were able to get it out and headed toward Gainesville, bailing out all of the water and sitting in it for the ride home.
Events Occurred: August 30-31, 2013
Due to the persuading of Mike (and me, a little bit... at least, I like to think), Logel decided to actually come to Florida to visit for once, bringing his brother and two friends, Windham and Joseph. They were expected to arrive around 2 AM Friday night/Saturday morning, so we decided to stay up and play foosball in anticipation. However, when Logel informed us that they would be arriving around 5 AM, Kelsey and I decided to go home and sleep.
The next day, we met Logel and crowd for breakfast in Gainesville and then headed to UF's Lake Wauberg for some sailing. I hadn't been sailing on a Hobie Cat before and I was in for quite the adventure. My first round was with Mike, Logel, and Kelsey. The water was chilly and the sun was playing coy with us, so getting soaked was not as fun as I anticipated. We almost flipped the Hobie several times and I seemed to get the brunt of the waves smashing into us. Suffice to say, I looked as if I had been swimming by the time we circled back to shore. Bevin's Hobie Cat was having rudder issues, so I volunteered to go in her boat and give the others a chance. I was with Bevin, Vlad, Kelsey, and Logel, Mike had the other three. We raced each other around the Lake and Mike's boat kept trying to jump onto ours. We ended up at one point with six people on our boat, swapping Logel for his brother and Windham. Bevin kept trying to get Kelsey and I to swim and she eventually elbowed me out of the boat. I flew over the edge and fully submerged as they sped away. Mike and Logel came to get me and pulled me out of the freezing water. We played around with the boats for a while longer before going to get ice cream nearby and then hiking to Paynes Prairie.
That night, we invited over tons of OAR people to Mike's apartment and challenged each other to rounds of foosball. I'm absolutely terrible but it was a lot of fun and I practiced with Bevin until we both were pretty decent. We moved the foosball table into the hallway and tried to drag random passersby into our games. Few complied but the ones that did seemed to have fun. Then we headed to Shotgun Hole for a night of caving and swimming in the springs. The next day, Logel and his fellow North Carolinians joined Mike and I in Jacksonville for further adventures. We went to Mike's house and paddled his Hobie Cat (rather than sailing it, the mast was difficult to deal with) to Exchange Club Island. We walked around and explored the island some before paddling back. I steered the boat in for a perfect landing and then we piled into cars and went to my house. There, my mother prepared a chocolate fountain party for the six of us and I was impressed with the guys' ability to eat through a majority of the food. We then went to Mike's parents' for dinner, at which point I thought my stomach would explode. Then the Logel group headed back home, a nice weekend on the water in the middle of February.
Events occurred: February 22-24, 2013
The next morning, we met up at Logel's to go off roading in the Ocala National Forest. Apparently there are a bunch of jeep trails and Logel has a jeep. We drove around in the forest for a while before trying to cross a big puddle and getting stuck. Logel kept trying to get his jeep out but his tires were spinning, digging a deeper and deeper hole. Mike and I were both on the right side, where the wheels were digging in, and e both started to notice water coming through the door. Soon, we were up to our ankles in muddy swamp water. I tried to grab my belongings (a purse and backpack) but only managed to grab the purse. I also could only find one of my shoes, so I left them for dead and we all climbed out of Mike's window. I was barefoot, wet, dirty, and carrying an expensive leather purse. I was a walking contradiction. We all ate some lunch and then ventured toward cell service and civilization, my bare feet artfully stepping through pine needles and grass.
