I'm back from an extremely busy weekend. I had a lot of fun, so let me recap the details...

After Justin got out of his history class, Laura, Jenna, Justin, and I headed to Jenna's house in Shellsburg, PA. It is a small town located near Bedford, PA. On the way, we stopped in Claysburg and had dinner at a local pizzeria. At Jenna's house we watched some TV and the recently released movie, Accepted. It was a great movie and we all shared many laughs. After watching them, we decided to head to bed.

On Saturday, we left Jenna's house at 8am. It was a nice drive and we eventually made it to Hershey around 10:30. When we got to the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, we were amazed by the sheer size and beauty of the hotel. After figuring out where we needed to go, we registered with some pirates...The theme was Pirates of the CUREabbean. We made our way back to the front desk to see if our rooms were ready. The room Justin and I were sharing was ready, but Jenna and Laura's was not. We decided to unload all of our bags in our room, and then we would move their stuff to their room later. The hotel room was amazing. They had two large, queen size beds, a fridge, and a TV, just to name a few things. Since this was Hershey, we each got a Hershey bar, and a bar of soap with chocolate mixed inside of it.

The event itself was amazing and exciting. We received our lunches inside of boxes, but we were delighted to find gourmet food inside. The sandwiches were great, but the water from New Zealand topped it all. I even brought one of them back to school for decoration. During the opening session, we were entertained by the dancing of "dead pirates." It was very amusing to watch their bodies jerk back and forth, as they made their way to the center of the room. Everyone introduced himself or herself and then we learned a little bit of history of the Relay For Life. After that, we all split up into our own breakout sessions. My first one was "Captain's Crew," or Team Development. My second one was "Walk the Plank," a session describing the leadership qualities involved in Relay. Both sessions were interesting and I learned a lot of information. Afterwards, we moved Jenna and Laura into their hotel room across the hall. Then we headed to dinner. The food was great, but I really liked the little bottles of Heinz ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard. I had to take one back to show my little brother.

After dinner, we were all split up into groups for a scavenger hunt. Our team was the first one back to the main room with all of the puzzle pieces. As a prize, we won $5 to use at the Relay for Life store. I bought a T-shirt with my winnings. After the hunt, they held Aaarrgnival, which was a little carnival. They held a dance off, concert, and had games for all of us to play. It was awesome. Laura and Justin got their groove on as I took pictures. After busting a move, we all decided to call it a night, and we headed to our rooms. I took a shower and then jumped into the nice, soft bed. I don't think I have ever fallen asleep so quickly before.

Well, I need to get some reading done for tomorrow... I will finish my story a little later...

John