Hockey 2010/2011

This hockey was probably the most anticipated ever. Not only did it promise hockey fun with cousins, but we were visiting Camp Luther beforehand. The Green Bay Speckhards were leaving for Mazatlan, Mexico immediately after hockey, so they decided to get out of the house and give Aunt Heidi a chance to pack. They invited us, as well as the Racine cousins, to go to Camp Luther, in Thee Lakes, Wisconsin, for two days.

The long ride was fun, and we were soon driving through the breathtaking wilderness of Northern Wisconsin. The caravan of cousins reached Camp Luther at dinnertime, so after unpacking our bulging bags, we feasted on pizza in the warm, cozy cabin.

That night was the most fun I've had in a long time. We tubed down long, frozen runs on black tubes, more times than not crashing into the snow banks and receiving a face full of cold, stinging snow. Id' say tubing in the dead of winter is more fun than in summer.

We walked back to our cabins drenched but boiling hot (lugging those tubes up the trails is hard work).

The next day we toured the extensive camp, admiring the wooded ravines and frozen lake. We played board games and ping pong in the rec room for hours on end.

That night, our last at Camp Luther, we played hockey and broom ball on the ice rink. Broom ball consists mostly of slipping and falling, since players aren't allowed to wear skates. The objective of the game is exactly like hockey, except you play with short, plastic sticks, a lot like brooms in shape.

We had McDonald's that night, while enjoying a toasty fire and doing Mad Libs.

The following morning, we partook in the enjoyable activity of packing. This was particularly frustrating, because most of our stuff was soaked.

We left Camp Luther at around 9:00, and had elevenses at a Three Lakes McDonald's. After our mid-morning meal, it was off to the cottage.

True to hockey spirit, we spent most of our time playing CLUE and reading Calvin and Hobbes or Foxtrot on the couch, not to mention playing hockey on a rented rink in Shawano (the ice on the lake and pond wasn't good enough to skate on). We spent the evenings at Freida's, as always.

We cousins didn't exactly acknowledge bedtime. The earliest time I went to sleep was 1:00 AM. New Year's Eve was much the same. Everyone went to the Monroe's for fireworks and champagne, and returned home at around 11:00. None of the uncles stayed up until midnight, so our celebration (if you could call it that) was a bit boring and dull. In fact, we were a bit startled when the clock above the mantelpiece struck 12, and 2011 had begun.

We left the cottage on the 2nd, after the Green Bay group had left for Mexico. Our return trip wasn't all that bad, especially since we stopped in Valpo to watch the Pack beat Chicago.

Camp Luther and hockey were unforgettable. Have a wonderful 2011!