Adventures with the crazy, redheaded J's

Our friend RE first introduced us to the crazy, redheaded J's. They are a half-Canadian half-American bundle of energy super close family that we have gotten to know and love. The oldest, P, is a mechanical engineer working in the cities. Next is brother M, who is an electrical engineer working in Duluth. After that comes sister C, quite possibly the craziest of all, who is an architect in Chicago. And last but certainly not least is brother G, who just got his degree as an electrical engineer. If you can believe this, at one time all four lived in one house during college. Now, just G lives in town and we're thankful that he is continuing his education so we have some entertainment still for a while. His whole family was in town for his graduation this weekend. Thus, the adventure begins...

We decided to go mountain biking. With my new bike, I was superpumped. It was a b-e-a-u-tiful day - not too hot but sunny and lovely. We rode to Turtle River with P and C. C was suffering from, ahem, that special time each month - she was suffering very loudly and publicly, so I'm not worried about posting about it by the way. Finally she said, "JJ, you're going to be a doctor, what should I do?" Her brother P chimes in, "Well, you could just get knocked up and that'd take care of it." I just had to quote it because it exemplifies how they are not quite your ordinary family. : )

So, we get to Turtle River, get all checked in and stretched out... (I even have a picture of G stretching on P.) Then, we actually have to start biking. We start out pretty nice and easy. I'm really enjoying myself. Then, all of a sudden, an incline. My first one. No one tells me about switching gears or any of that jazz. I get to a point where I can't peddle any more. It's kind of embarrassing to have to get off of my bike and walk it up the rest of the way. I don't feel so bad when I see others doing it from time to time. Buddy JP especially sticks with me and offers tons of encouragement. Constantly, I just look to make sure I can see her bright blue shirt up ahead of me. Then, under the direction of GJ, JP and I accidently get on a different trail. It's really difficult. Like too difficult for my first time. I start kind of having anxiety attacks as I look doooown to my left and then to the little trail to my right. Eeks. I start slowing down, which makes turning trickier. (side note: When I had gotten out of this trail and could clear my head a bit - I compared it to snowboarding. Like I tell newbies -- you just have to go fast. It's so much tougher going slowly.) I seriously almost wiped out majorly twice. One time I ended up hanging on to a tree - otherwise, I would've gone dooooown the side. Another time, I started falling down - but was able to get off my bike in time to let my bike lay down so I could get back up to the trail. So, I make it out of the trail. JP does the thing that is the deal breaker for me. She offers sympathy. That just opens my flood gates and I start bawling. It was so embarrassing. G felt like a Jerk (with a capital J) and I felt really bad. Even P was a bit caught off guard. Poor guys. So, I compose myself and we set out to find C and JJ, who had taken the easy trail to the side of this advanced one. We find them tooling around and later JJ asks how things are going. Of course the floodgates open again. Grrreat. But, after some better (read: easier) trails, I regained some confidence and am really excited to get out there and try again. The J's mother had made a full homemade delicious dinner and we were invited over to eat. What a great end to a wonderful, albeit emotional day! Then, we got to see P and C load up P's camry with two motocross bikes and one mountain bike. Did I mention they are the crazy redheaded J's?

And can I just say that really? Really is Coco Crisp his real name? That might be my favorite name next to Lovie Smith.