To Finish

So its only been a month and two days since my last post.... and what a crazy month!

To finish off my Wales trip-

IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!!!! I climbed a mountain. Me, my cousins and my aunt and uncle made it all the way up. We started at 1000 or so feet and went to the tip top which took 3 or so hours. The mountain, Snowdon, is the tallest in Wales. It 3000 something feet. That may not sound very big, but when you are almost at sea level its really tall.

I am so glad that I was able to experience it. The way up wasn't tooo bad. We ran into the clouds not long after we started our climb so we had no good views. That was very unfortunate because apparently the view is spectacular.

The way down was a lot harder. For the first 45 minutes or so (I had a hard time keeping track of the time) we went down this terrible steep part. Not only was it really steep, but there were a lot of loose rocks that slid out from under our feet. My younger cousin looked like a mountain goat. No matter how many times he was told to slow down and just walk, he still kept leaping down the hill. My aunt, my older cousin and I went on a much more sedate pace. A pace that led us to lose sight of my Uncle and my younger cousin. We did not have much visibility, so it looked like we were walking in a completely white world. All we could see was the rock under our feet and a few meters in front/behind us.


We walked all the way down that mountain, right to the base. While the way up was full of people, the path we took down was almost empty. Of course my aunt would trip and fall right in front of the only large group of people we saw. I got so scared, but she was okay, just a little embarrassed.

When we got closer to the base we saw some beautiful landscape. Everything was green and growing. There was a river that people were jumping into and riding the current. They would jump off the small waterfalls and just float along. I wouldn't do that, even with a helmet on like they had.

We were all sore and tired by the time we got to the bottom. Our feet had blisters and our knees ached from going constantly down hill. And our youth hostel was still a mile and a bit away. My uncle decided to go and get the car and drive back to pick up the rest of us. I offered to go with so we went off walking quickly. I got kudos for doing that.

The rest of the time passed quickly. I managed to stay awake for a good portion of both car rides. I got to see my first Welsh built castle which was super cool. It was so old! From before the 1100's.

We got back home and then it was time for me to say good bye to the boys and finish packing. My uncle said goodnight around 11, but me and my aunt stayed up late talking until 1:00. Then she went to bed, but I stayed up making a card and talking to Hollis on Skype. I slept for a half an hour and then it was time to get up!

My uncle drove me to the airport where I struggle to stay awake. I just managed it. I had such a hard time believing that I was leaving this beautiful country and going back home to Minnesota.

A few hours later, I was on the plane. And I didn't sleep for longer then a half an hour. Grr. Saw a few good movies, wrote some things and read a bit. Ate some decent plane food amazingly enough. And then all of the sudden the plane was in Minneapolis. I was home.

I collected my bags and walked out the door and I could see Hollis and my brother waiting with their back to me. They later told me that they had been trying to figure out how to surprise me. They were so busy doing that that they didn't realize that I had walked up beside them. It was my turn to surprise them!

And that was my wonderful, amazing trip to Wales. My uncle wrote up a summary of what I did each day, so I will post that later today. And I still have to let all of you guys know how college has been! Good, by the way.

I cannot wait to return to Wales. Perfect company, and awesome adventures. Of course I have to go back!