Over Em's birthday, we returned to the West Piney lodge.

Last time we vacationed here, I dared to ride the Death Slide. We had done it when we were really little, and I'd done it a few times early on the trip. Dra and I wanted to go down one time really quick before we left for boating. I donned my swimsuit, shorty-shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops, but never thought twice about my attire. Three fourths of the way down, my flip flop jammed in one of the cracks on the side of the slide, forcing me to flip off the slide, consistently flipping my way down the mountain. Scary as hell, but being the superhero that I am, I was completely unhurt. Shaken of course.

We told James and Jackie the story, James didn't understand how that was possible. Fortunately for him, later that night I got the guts to re-try the slide. James and Jackie stood at the top and cheered me on, congratulating my courageousness. Wowser, I did the exact same thing again. Only this time it scared me more, and my leg was really stiff. I laid in the poky bushes for awhile, listening to James calling to see if I was alright between his fits of insane laughter. It took me about half an hour to climb back up to the top because I had to go so slow, and James was still laughing. I was nervous that I'd have to go to the doctor. I didn't tell anybody what happened until later that night. I sheepishly told my dad that he might have to take me to the hospital in the morning. Miraculously, no pain in the morning.

Don't you worry, I successfully went down the slide again this time, the red stairs had been added, they were a lot nicer to climb up. This lodge is amazing. We played softball, soccer, bowled it up ...