Day 3, Wind and Dislocation

January 8, 2009    Category: Albino Bowler   No Comments »

    Well today these guys didn’t make me do P90x, which was cool since I really have nothing to stretch out anyhow – I mean seriously, these guys are a little whacky. Regardless, we hit the mountain earlier this time to try and get first tracks. Paul packed me in his down vest, which is warmer and more comfy than his shell and we headed out. When we got started we soon found out that only Swifty was open because there were 80 mph winds at the top of the various peaks. These dudes fallen in love with this Pow stuff and left me in the jacket while

they played all AM. I know they filmed a bunch though, so you should check out their blog to get any details http://brightonboys.wordpress.com.

   I did get out for lunch, which was cool. Check out these nachos man, Jay was not happy that I was stealing his chip but these things were the bomb. Speaking of bombs, whew – I’ll leave that one alone. After lunch dudes headed back out, got one run in and they shut the whole thing down. Before that was done I jumped into Jay’s binding on his board and rode a little. NOT a good idea, I totally jacked up my surgically repaired arm – I think it’s dislocated. I don’t know what to do, Dan is going to have to seriously consider Duke, Vandy or maybe that dude in Birmingham who repairs all the star athletes arms. I could probably get in there – I am a professional bowler.
   Anyhow, they got some shots of me hanging out in the snow – yada, yada, blah, blah. They did get a couple of more runs in and the funniest thing happened. They had to ride the kids/beginners lift because it was the only thing open. So they found some powder and one of these kickers that throws you into the powder. Jay hit it first and Paul followed, problem was Jay landed and stuck in about 3.5’ of snow – oh boy it was funny. Dude was stuck for like 5 minutes trying to get out – on the beginners slope. Anyhow, the bottom line the day was over. These dudes did a little shopping and then we headed out.

  Jay hit the hot tub without Paul. Dude totally jacked up his heel on his right leg – rubbed raw from his boot or something. He figured it

would be good for anyone to get in the hot tub, so he sat in the room, got caught up on email, etc and got ready for dinner. These guys took me back to the Corral but forgot to take any pictures!!!! It’s cool though, I slept in dude’s coat while these guys ate like pigs. I woke up smelling the steak though – whooooaaa, made me hungry. Dude’s turned in early tonight because they had to be up at 3:45 MT to catch their flight.

    They packed me back up in my bed and headed out in the AM. Really the whole thing was pretty uneventful – well, expect that the people in Bozeman’s airport security were really confused about me. Paul left me in my bed in his bag, so they called a bag check on him. Paul had to explain who I was, but it was cool – they let me through. I think they felt bad because of my arm.

    So the trip is done. These dudes are back to Knoxville tonight and I am back to Dan at some point, ready for my next adventure. This was a great time. I got to fly again, sleep a lot, play in the snow, eat nachos, workout with some P90x and generally see some of the coolest terrain in the world. I am a fortunate plastic figure athlete. Until the next time – thanks!

 

– Paul Sponcia

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    Well today started out with a call to arms, these dudes woke me up and put me to P90x StretchX. Now, StretchX isn’t a hard workout from what they tell me. Supposedly it’s the “down day” workout, just to keep the muscles loose and limber. I have to tell you, it was tough for a dude who is plastic, especially with a broken shoulder and no joints. Regardless I suffered through it and made the best of it.We hit the mountain shortly after and I got packed in a pocket again. They never got me out though. When I finally was pulled out dude told me it was just too epic to consider stopping to take photos. From what they said there was powder everywhere, they call it “Pow”, and the turns were unreal. It was cool by me though, I don’t mind staying warm and just relaxing. After all I don’t have any winter gear to wear and with all my injuries I’d rather not risk breaking into pieces, especially after the fiasco with spare parts dude.

    As we were leaving these guys let me play in the snow. It was very cool, well very cold actually, but the snow was a blast. The stuff is deep and I’m thankful there are humans in the world or I would have been stuck.

    When we got back Paul and Jay hit the hot tub and left me in the room to relax and warm up. They didn’t take me with them to dinner either. But, it’s all good – I don’t eat anyhow so it’s not like I was missing anything.

    Day 3 on the mountain is coming. There has been a winter storm warning from 12N today until 12N on Wednesday so these guys should be able to get into some more of the POW. Regardless I’m having a good time and enjoying the mountains, the snow and the overall trip. It’s a great time and I highly recommend Montana to anyone who likes mountain sports. I’ll get another update out tomorrow. Peace out!

– Paul Sponcia

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    Well, I’ve made it to Big Sky country with Paul and Jay. It was an uneventful trip – but loooong. We spent roughly 12 hours in airports and airplanes then another hour drive up to the place we are staying. I know one thing, Montana is COLD!!!!! When we landed it was 3 degrees and it only got colder. Thankfully Thrifty hooked us up with a brand new 4-Runner and off we went. There were many pictures of my travel time, check out my Facebook page to see them. I had to doze off on the drive up to Big Sky as it was way past my bed time – Montana is on Mountain time so two (2) hours behind Knoxville.

    We are staying at Bucks T4 Lodge. We have no idea why it’s called T4 or what the heck T4 means and no one else seems to know either. We got settled and Paul and Jay woke me up to go get a beer before turning in for the night. The place was crazy with all kinds of locals partying. Since Paul and Jay are old they didn’t even want to consider hanging, so they turned in for the night and so did I.

    The day started at 5:30AM Mountain time when I heard Paul rustling around. Actually he got up like three (3) times to take a potty break. He drank like 50 gallons of water on the trip – so as you can imagine I didn’t get a lot of peaceful sleep. Regardless, we went to breakfast – which was a lovely continental breakfast provided free by Bucks – and then back to the room to get ready. These guys are P90x fiends so guess what; they did StretchX to get things rolling. It was kind of funny watching two grown men roll around, stand, squat, stretch, etc all while watching it on a 4” screen in Paul’s iPod touch. Oh I laughed a lot watching these two clowns.

    I rode with Paul, tucked inside the front pocket of his nice down vest jacket. Honestly this was a comfortable spot – warm and out of harms way. My first shots came not too long after they got on the mountain as you can see me here with Paul. I got to actually ride the lift too, which was a bit – well FREAKY. I mean this thing is a long way off the ground and I don’t exactly weigh too much and the thing has no way to strap me in.  So, Paul had to put his hand behind me to make sure I was safe. Anyhow, it was a neat day. I got out again when they had lunch and talked to the waitress. She was pretty cool, hardcore snowboarded from South Africa via Oregon.  Those pictures are on Facebook too. It never got above 13 degrees today and it snowed about six (6) inches, but I managed to stay
warm in the jacket and really just took at easy while these guys tried to figure the mountain out. The place is almost 4000 acres and has a lot of variety so they spent most of the day checking out every lift and run they could get access to. This way they will have a game plan for the mountain.

    When we got back they were dying to get in the hot tub, but I wanted to try and make a snow angel. I tried, it was
OK, but with my arm the way it is and the fact that I am a plastic action figure it was challenging. So, rather than freeze I hung out on the side and actually got in the water as well. It was really toasty, which was nice. I didn’t go all the way in, just got my feet in the water. So, all in all it was a cool day. I was pretty whipped too so when they went to dinner I asked if I could just hang at the hotel and watch football. They forgot to turn the TV on though, so no football for me.

    When they got back they started working on their snowboards, catching up on emails and they also dove into a study on Worldliness. These guys are pretty cool in that they try to tie in their
faith with these trips. They tell me it’s a chance to not just go have fun with a hobby, but appreciate God’s creation and have intentional time to focus on God’s word so that they can grow as a part of their trip. Pretty cool – I learned a lot of stuff I didn’t know. If you want to check out more then check out their blog at http://brightonboys.wordpress.com.

   That’s it for today, day one. I hear tomorrow they are going to get me out and hit kickers with me. I have no idea what that means but apparently it will require them to hold me in their hands while they try to jump off something and the other guy will take a picture. I guess we’ll see how that turns out. I will tell you this, Montana is a beautiful place and I can’t wait to see more of it tomorrow.

– Paul Sponcia

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   Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you all had as exciting of a year as we did in 2008!  The Albino Bowler traveled to two new continents, tagged along with lots of new people, was entrusted to a non-Claris employee… attended concerts, went to lake parties, went scuba diving… WHEW! Awesome!  As mentioned in a previous post, 2008 was not the best year for the Albino Bowler’s health.. or at least his bowling arm.  When last we spoke, he was in several pieces, not to worry though, he’s all back together now.  No trick photography here, it’s really attached and moves again.  For how long, no one knows though.  ;)

   Myself and the rest of the Albino Bowler team anxiously await what 2009 has in store.  The glue was barely dry on his arm before he was on the road again.  This time he’s off to Big Sky, Montana to do some
snowboarding with Paul Sponcia and Jay Norris.  It’s the Bowler’s first time traveling with them, so it should be interesting to see what they come up with (pictures are already showing up on Facebook).  Since he’s going to be involved in some extreme sports, we went ahead and gave his shoulder a good wrap so hopefully there won’t be any arm malfunctions on this trip.  As for the rest of the year?  Well… who knows.  Hopefully he’ll add another continent to the travelog (how about a trip to Asia, Africa…. Antarctica anyone???), or maybe a country or two that he has hasn’t visited yet.  Whatever happens though, I’m sure it’ll be entertaining.  The web site has also gotten a slight upgrade with the addition of a photo album.  Several readers suggested it, so we made it happen.  It’s quick and dirty for now, but watch for this to become more organized here in the future.  We’ll keep the most recent pictures first though for easy viewing.

   From all of us, to all of you, have an AWESOME 2009… and happy travels!

– Dan Thompson

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