angel81chick
Abuelita
I have no clue as to how I agreed going to PaM this year, but my assumption is that it must have been during one of those nights when you used to be able to find me in chat. I’m sure it went something like Marty calling me a Beyotch, and vice versa, and then him asking if I wanted to come out to PaM. With Scott helping Marty’s cause, I suppose I said OK, and so my TR begins…PaM II….
I PM’d all the girls I knew to see if they would also be attending PaM, but to no avail….was I seriously going to be the only girl going? As luck would have it, Baby Cougar agreed to go as well…I’m sure it was because she wanted to see me as she loves me so, but whatever the reason, there was now going to be another female in tow!
Flight arrangements were made, and after 5 or 6 or 10 flight changes, I was scheduled to leave on the last flight to Midway in Chicago Wednesday night, right after work. The flight in itself was uneventful, yet enjoyable as I was reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I finally arrived in Chicago, not realizing that they were only 2 hours ahead of LA, versus the 3 that I am accustomed to when traveling eastward. Hmm…come to think of it, it is called the Mid-West…but blah! Details, Details! LOL
It was around 1a when I arrived, and although Baby Cougar and I were scheduled to arrive within 10 minutes of each other, my flight was early and hers late. Off to the baggage carousel I went, after greeting and talking a bit with Marty who decided to wait for Baby Cougar. We had chatted for so long that by the time I went to get my bag, one of the SW workers was grabbing it to claim it for herself…or rather, for SW airlines as unclaimed or lost baggage. Phew….great I got there in time. As I sat there waiting and waiting, I had completely forgotten the plan that Marty and I had devised for BC’s arrival. You see, she had no clue that I was arriving Wednesday night. The last she had heard what I was arriving Thursday afternoon. In the end, Marty called to see where I was so that he and BC could walk by, and sure enough they did. BC was so concentrated on getting on the airport (because in all honesty she looked horrible) that I had to yell out her name. Her face was priceless! She was so shocked and in disbelief to see me there, that it took her a minute to process, but once she did realize what was going on, she ran over and gave me a big hug. Aww….how cute right? We then started gossiping, to which I am sure, Marty was annoyed.
We took to the shuttle to our hotel room, talked for a bit, and crashed.
As I am sure I have mentioned before, I have quite the temper when someone wakes me up before they are supposed to. To avoid any wrong doing on my part, I put my phone on silent and set up a wake-up call. Boy, do I feel sorry for even having set that up. As Van was to arrive around 11:30a or so, I had to be ready and all packed up to head out to get him. We leave for the airport in Marty’s gigantic truck, which seems to be the theme in his life…GIGANTIC! Doh! I forgot my pillow….I ask Marty if we can go back, and seeing as how Van still has not yet received his luggage, he obliged. Yay…I got my pillow, or as some have said…her pirrow. At this point, Van was out waiting for us and we headed off to meet Scott at Giardano’s for some “stuffed” pizza. Talk about being so west coast…I honestly thought that when Marty kept mentioning stuffed pizza, it would be like Pizza Hut’s Stuffed Crust Pizza or something to that affect. Boy was I completely wrong…..As you will see, it just has mounds of cheese that’s melted along with your “toppings.” It was sooooo delicious, but I could only eat one slice. For one, the slices were huge, but two, I had forgotten my lactaid tablet. Oh well, yet one more reason for me to go back.
Finally, we hit the road at 1p, on our way to Marty’s cabin. We had 2 – 3 stops planned on our way over there, which would get us to the cabin around 6p. What we didn’t have planned is Marty’s endless driving in circles trying to find the one toll road he needed. Though he won’t admit it, Marty completely got lost. Our stops included Love’s, Super Wal-Mart, some ATV place and then another grocery store. We nixed the second grocery store and finally made it to the cabin. At some point, late in the night, Rich aka Ricardo, showed up to the festitivites.
Once in the cabin….it was then that I realized it was a house built for Giants :evillaugh All this time, I was under the belief that Giants were fairytale creatures and did not exist. This cabin proved me wrong. I needed a stool to brush my teeth in the sink, to get a spoon our of the drawer in the kitchen, just about everything
Van grilled up some burgers for everyone, we ate, played Wii, roasted marshmallows and called it a night.
Friday was the first day planned with full ATV riding. BC and I got ready, as we knew we had to dress down, but no need for us to look like complete tom boys, hence the decision in wearing whatever bottoms, but bathing suit tops, as over the months, we kept getting warned we would be so muddy that we would have to throw away our clothes; we figured why not our bathing suit tops. Easy to wash and rinse, and no need to throw them away. We get ourselves ready as the boys, and by now it was Marty, Scott, Van and Ricardo, were out riding already. We come outside only to see that Scott, in all his infinite glory, was wet and a bit wet. Turns out he fell, which in turn, caused Marty to require all of us to ride with a helmet on. (Scott, thank you for your fall, for had it not been for you…who knows what further injuries could have happened)! We get a mini-lesson from Marty, and we’re off ATV riding.
At some point, it is decided that we should go ride one of the trails. The trail was awesome! Puddles, bumps, you name it, it had it. Scott, once again, being the clever one tried to splash me in this one big puddle we had to go through…instead, he hit something and went flying off the atv…again! :evillaugh I looked back, as we rode in a single file: Marty, myself, Scott, Haidy and Van. Haidy and Van were lucky enough to witness his second fall. I suppose that is what he gets. We continue on the trail and ride to the BunkHouse bar….though, Haidy and I were strongly opposed to entering as we were completely filthy, Marty convinced us to go in as that is what this bar was designed for. A pit stop for all the dirty, muddy ATV riders. We had ourselves a few beers, which I think definitely were the reason for the events that occurred on the way back…
Not sure what point I realized I was flying into the brush of the woods, but all I remember was thinking, “Please don’t let the ATV fall on me, please don’t let it fall on me!” I thought I was being gun-ho, as it seemed that I took to ATV riding naturally, enough that I was trying to keep up with Marty the whole way down. I don’t know when I realized it was a turn I was heading towards to, but I was obviously going way too fast. I didn’t hit the break until after I took down the sign, and that’s the last that I remember. The next thing I know, I was on the ground, in the brush, in complete pain. I hear Haidy, Van and Scott asking if I was ok, and although I said yes, I felt every bone in my body. I tried to get up, but to no luck. They told me to stay put and not to get up until I was sure I could. I have no sense of time, so my apologies for not being able to let you guys know for how long I was down, but it seemed like a long time. I think I was so shocked by the events that had just happened to me that I got up, and though it hurt like hell, I didn’t feel anything to wrong with me. That is when they pointed out the gash in my knee and the blood running down my leg. No tears and no sense that I was that badly injured. Marty finally came back, and according to him, he lost 4 years of his life of how scared he was for what could have happened to me. Turns out, it is also the same spot where his son had fallen off his ATV as well. I regained my composure, covered my wound, and hopped back on the ATV, after they pried it out of the forest.
I had a headache, so I wasn’t riding too fast, and Marty slowed down. Then, all of a sudden, I see Marty tumble over. At this point, I am in such disbelief that all I can do is laugh. Laugh at the disbelief that in no more than 5 minutes after we left my crash scene, we had another one down. Thankfully, Marty wasn’t seriously injured, and we decided to head back to the cabin.
I haven’t cried by this point, even when I washed my wound out with water, no tears. And yet, as soon as Van mentioned the idea of me having to get stitches, and Al and Ricardo agreeing, that is when the tears came. I am so afraid of the pain I might feel, that regardless of whether or not it would, my tears finally started rolling down my face. I did not want to feel the sting of a needle in my wound, or them washing it out further. I was already in enough pain, why did I have to go through more, especially when I had never gotten stitches before. I was finally convinced of it, and so I showered got ready, and was off the hospital. Limped my way into the ER, where the doctor put in 7 stitches to close up my wound. Once all was finished, I was sent off, with no drugs may I add
The only thing that bothered me was that they kept asking me what I was doing there? Who I was with? Why was I there? Geez…talk about feeling welcomed. The only thing that bothered Marty was that he didn’t get to see the stitches put in, well that, and that they assumed I needed financial assistance to pay for this ER.
*Removed Photo*
I come back to the house only to see Al in pain. Although I felt bad for the guy, I was glad that I was no longer the only seriously injured person in our party. It definitely sucked when he had to go home.
We went to dinner at some Supper Club, which was really good and had some good tasting after dinner drinks. Although, as you will see from the picture, it looked more like dessert than it did a drink. I had the pink squirrel and bc had some grasshopper thing. Marty can let you know what exactly is in it, but as that area is known for them, how could I not have one despite not having taken my dairy pill :evil:
We go back, and eventually I call it a night. Well, tried to at least because in the middle of the night, I felt my knee throbbing. The pain was so unbearable, that I couldn’t get up to get advil or anything. I even thought of yelling someone’s name out, but I refrained. All night long, I kept waking up to the pain of my knee, in addition to my shoulder, my other leg, and the left hand side of my neck.
We had planned to go on a longer trail with the ATVs on Saturday, but no can do. I was in so much pain, unable to walk, that my vacation of being outdoorsy ended that day. All I did was watch tv and read my book. It wasn’t until later on in the afternoon, did I decide I couldn’t be cooped any longer and joined the gang out in the pond. It was sad. The one thing I was really looking forward to, I couldn’t do as the doctor told me I couldn’t get my stitches wet
The rest of the weekend was not that eventful, as my injuries didn’t let me do much. Some of the guys went shooting, others went to gamble. On our final day at the cabin, we rode out to Joliet to meet up with Beach Crazy, and to our surprise, ATCMurph was there as well! It was great to finally meet the wench in person
We stayed at Harrah’s where Angy brought some yummy sandwiches for us. I gambled a bit on roulette, but in the end, I crashed early in the night.
Next day, it was time for all of us to head out, so we went to grab a bite to eat and said our goodbyes.
It was a great experience, despite my knee, I am very glad I decided to attend this year’s PaM activities. I got to meet Denny as well, who is just the sweetest thing! Please note that Marty’s cabin is now called the Infirmary, I need to wear jeans next time (if there is a next time), I don’t mind making breakfast for the boys, and I need stay longer so I can hang out and go shopping in Chicago! The boys were gentleman and took great care of me, and I am so thankful
I PM’d all the girls I knew to see if they would also be attending PaM, but to no avail….was I seriously going to be the only girl going? As luck would have it, Baby Cougar agreed to go as well…I’m sure it was because she wanted to see me as she loves me so, but whatever the reason, there was now going to be another female in tow!
Flight arrangements were made, and after 5 or 6 or 10 flight changes, I was scheduled to leave on the last flight to Midway in Chicago Wednesday night, right after work. The flight in itself was uneventful, yet enjoyable as I was reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I finally arrived in Chicago, not realizing that they were only 2 hours ahead of LA, versus the 3 that I am accustomed to when traveling eastward. Hmm…come to think of it, it is called the Mid-West…but blah! Details, Details! LOL It was around 1a when I arrived, and although Baby Cougar and I were scheduled to arrive within 10 minutes of each other, my flight was early and hers late. Off to the baggage carousel I went, after greeting and talking a bit with Marty who decided to wait for Baby Cougar. We had chatted for so long that by the time I went to get my bag, one of the SW workers was grabbing it to claim it for herself…or rather, for SW airlines as unclaimed or lost baggage. Phew….great I got there in time. As I sat there waiting and waiting, I had completely forgotten the plan that Marty and I had devised for BC’s arrival. You see, she had no clue that I was arriving Wednesday night. The last she had heard what I was arriving Thursday afternoon. In the end, Marty called to see where I was so that he and BC could walk by, and sure enough they did. BC was so concentrated on getting on the airport (because in all honesty she looked horrible) that I had to yell out her name. Her face was priceless! She was so shocked and in disbelief to see me there, that it took her a minute to process, but once she did realize what was going on, she ran over and gave me a big hug. Aww….how cute right? We then started gossiping, to which I am sure, Marty was annoyed.
We took to the shuttle to our hotel room, talked for a bit, and crashed.
As I am sure I have mentioned before, I have quite the temper when someone wakes me up before they are supposed to. To avoid any wrong doing on my part, I put my phone on silent and set up a wake-up call. Boy, do I feel sorry for even having set that up. As Van was to arrive around 11:30a or so, I had to be ready and all packed up to head out to get him. We leave for the airport in Marty’s gigantic truck, which seems to be the theme in his life…GIGANTIC! Doh! I forgot my pillow….I ask Marty if we can go back, and seeing as how Van still has not yet received his luggage, he obliged. Yay…I got my pillow, or as some have said…her pirrow. At this point, Van was out waiting for us and we headed off to meet Scott at Giardano’s for some “stuffed” pizza. Talk about being so west coast…I honestly thought that when Marty kept mentioning stuffed pizza, it would be like Pizza Hut’s Stuffed Crust Pizza or something to that affect. Boy was I completely wrong…..As you will see, it just has mounds of cheese that’s melted along with your “toppings.” It was sooooo delicious, but I could only eat one slice. For one, the slices were huge, but two, I had forgotten my lactaid tablet. Oh well, yet one more reason for me to go back.
Finally, we hit the road at 1p, on our way to Marty’s cabin. We had 2 – 3 stops planned on our way over there, which would get us to the cabin around 6p. What we didn’t have planned is Marty’s endless driving in circles trying to find the one toll road he needed. Though he won’t admit it, Marty completely got lost. Our stops included Love’s, Super Wal-Mart, some ATV place and then another grocery store. We nixed the second grocery store and finally made it to the cabin. At some point, late in the night, Rich aka Ricardo, showed up to the festitivites.
Once in the cabin….it was then that I realized it was a house built for Giants :evillaugh All this time, I was under the belief that Giants were fairytale creatures and did not exist. This cabin proved me wrong. I needed a stool to brush my teeth in the sink, to get a spoon our of the drawer in the kitchen, just about everything
Van grilled up some burgers for everyone, we ate, played Wii, roasted marshmallows and called it a night. 
Friday was the first day planned with full ATV riding. BC and I got ready, as we knew we had to dress down, but no need for us to look like complete tom boys, hence the decision in wearing whatever bottoms, but bathing suit tops, as over the months, we kept getting warned we would be so muddy that we would have to throw away our clothes; we figured why not our bathing suit tops. Easy to wash and rinse, and no need to throw them away. We get ourselves ready as the boys, and by now it was Marty, Scott, Van and Ricardo, were out riding already. We come outside only to see that Scott, in all his infinite glory, was wet and a bit wet. Turns out he fell, which in turn, caused Marty to require all of us to ride with a helmet on. (Scott, thank you for your fall, for had it not been for you…who knows what further injuries could have happened)! We get a mini-lesson from Marty, and we’re off ATV riding.
At some point, it is decided that we should go ride one of the trails. The trail was awesome! Puddles, bumps, you name it, it had it. Scott, once again, being the clever one tried to splash me in this one big puddle we had to go through…instead, he hit something and went flying off the atv…again! :evillaugh I looked back, as we rode in a single file: Marty, myself, Scott, Haidy and Van. Haidy and Van were lucky enough to witness his second fall. I suppose that is what he gets. We continue on the trail and ride to the BunkHouse bar….though, Haidy and I were strongly opposed to entering as we were completely filthy, Marty convinced us to go in as that is what this bar was designed for. A pit stop for all the dirty, muddy ATV riders. We had ourselves a few beers, which I think definitely were the reason for the events that occurred on the way back…
Not sure what point I realized I was flying into the brush of the woods, but all I remember was thinking, “Please don’t let the ATV fall on me, please don’t let it fall on me!” I thought I was being gun-ho, as it seemed that I took to ATV riding naturally, enough that I was trying to keep up with Marty the whole way down. I don’t know when I realized it was a turn I was heading towards to, but I was obviously going way too fast. I didn’t hit the break until after I took down the sign, and that’s the last that I remember. The next thing I know, I was on the ground, in the brush, in complete pain. I hear Haidy, Van and Scott asking if I was ok, and although I said yes, I felt every bone in my body. I tried to get up, but to no luck. They told me to stay put and not to get up until I was sure I could. I have no sense of time, so my apologies for not being able to let you guys know for how long I was down, but it seemed like a long time. I think I was so shocked by the events that had just happened to me that I got up, and though it hurt like hell, I didn’t feel anything to wrong with me. That is when they pointed out the gash in my knee and the blood running down my leg. No tears and no sense that I was that badly injured. Marty finally came back, and according to him, he lost 4 years of his life of how scared he was for what could have happened to me. Turns out, it is also the same spot where his son had fallen off his ATV as well. I regained my composure, covered my wound, and hopped back on the ATV, after they pried it out of the forest.
I had a headache, so I wasn’t riding too fast, and Marty slowed down. Then, all of a sudden, I see Marty tumble over. At this point, I am in such disbelief that all I can do is laugh. Laugh at the disbelief that in no more than 5 minutes after we left my crash scene, we had another one down. Thankfully, Marty wasn’t seriously injured, and we decided to head back to the cabin.
I haven’t cried by this point, even when I washed my wound out with water, no tears. And yet, as soon as Van mentioned the idea of me having to get stitches, and Al and Ricardo agreeing, that is when the tears came. I am so afraid of the pain I might feel, that regardless of whether or not it would, my tears finally started rolling down my face. I did not want to feel the sting of a needle in my wound, or them washing it out further. I was already in enough pain, why did I have to go through more, especially when I had never gotten stitches before. I was finally convinced of it, and so I showered got ready, and was off the hospital. Limped my way into the ER, where the doctor put in 7 stitches to close up my wound. Once all was finished, I was sent off, with no drugs may I add
The only thing that bothered me was that they kept asking me what I was doing there? Who I was with? Why was I there? Geez…talk about feeling welcomed. The only thing that bothered Marty was that he didn’t get to see the stitches put in, well that, and that they assumed I needed financial assistance to pay for this ER.
*Removed Photo*
I come back to the house only to see Al in pain. Although I felt bad for the guy, I was glad that I was no longer the only seriously injured person in our party. It definitely sucked when he had to go home.
We went to dinner at some Supper Club, which was really good and had some good tasting after dinner drinks. Although, as you will see from the picture, it looked more like dessert than it did a drink. I had the pink squirrel and bc had some grasshopper thing. Marty can let you know what exactly is in it, but as that area is known for them, how could I not have one despite not having taken my dairy pill :evil:
We go back, and eventually I call it a night. Well, tried to at least because in the middle of the night, I felt my knee throbbing. The pain was so unbearable, that I couldn’t get up to get advil or anything. I even thought of yelling someone’s name out, but I refrained. All night long, I kept waking up to the pain of my knee, in addition to my shoulder, my other leg, and the left hand side of my neck.
We had planned to go on a longer trail with the ATVs on Saturday, but no can do. I was in so much pain, unable to walk, that my vacation of being outdoorsy ended that day. All I did was watch tv and read my book. It wasn’t until later on in the afternoon, did I decide I couldn’t be cooped any longer and joined the gang out in the pond. It was sad. The one thing I was really looking forward to, I couldn’t do as the doctor told me I couldn’t get my stitches wet
The rest of the weekend was not that eventful, as my injuries didn’t let me do much. Some of the guys went shooting, others went to gamble. On our final day at the cabin, we rode out to Joliet to meet up with Beach Crazy, and to our surprise, ATCMurph was there as well! It was great to finally meet the wench in person
We stayed at Harrah’s where Angy brought some yummy sandwiches for us. I gambled a bit on roulette, but in the end, I crashed early in the night. Next day, it was time for all of us to head out, so we went to grab a bite to eat and said our goodbyes.
It was a great experience, despite my knee, I am very glad I decided to attend this year’s PaM activities. I got to meet Denny as well, who is just the sweetest thing! Please note that Marty’s cabin is now called the Infirmary, I need to wear jeans next time (if there is a next time), I don’t mind making breakfast for the boys, and I need stay longer so I can hang out and go shopping in Chicago! The boys were gentleman and took great care of me, and I am so thankful
For some reason, I get this picture of the set of Blues Clues running through my head. In spite of all the injuries, I know everyone had a great time. If you go next year, you can sign me up for the Chicago shopping. 
