So it really wasn't a summer vacation, but it was quite an adventure. My oldest son and a group of BoarderX teammates went to Farnham Glacier in BC last week to do some summer training. The boys had the most incredible week, training alongside the Canadian National Boarder X team and the 2010 Team.

The camp is a 5 km hike in from a 53 km forestry trunk road (aka the tire killer). One of the members training up there is 37 years old and trying to make the National Team. My son said he has a killer body and is quite the Nutrition Expert. He follows the method of eating only what is grown or picked in season and stays away from anything that is white or sugary. The kids were running late one morning (up at 5 on the cat by 6), so Brenden grabbed some scrambled eggs to take with him in the cat. The other kids took the bread route. The nutrition guy took one look at Brenden's breakfast and told the other kids, that's what they should be taking for breakfast rather than the "white" approach. Of course Brenden was thrilled, and couldn't stop talking about Don.

My big adventure started when I had to pick up the kids from the Glacier. I took my husband's Armada with the 4 wheel drive and 18" rim wheels (better clearance over the rocks and downed trees). The safety officer that leads the drive up to the glacier told me there were at least 1-2 flats during a trip. (I knew then, it wasn't going to be my day).

The drive up was incredibly dusty and long (1.5 hours) and I was dodging big shale pieces, but I make it up. The 4 boys loaded up the truck and it was really heavy with 3 snowboards per kid, bindings, helmets, spine protectors, boots, shoulders pads and clothing for 1 week. We drove about 5 km and the front right tie blew (2 cm crack in the tire). As we changed the tire, I noticed the left rear tire started to go down as well, but we were 20 km from where a tow truck could drive in!!!

We made it 15 km down the hill and the next tire blew. We then drove another 5 km on the rim of the 2nd flat until we reached an area where a tow truck could make it up and turn!!!

It was 42C when we stopped and the boys were really hot, uncomfortable, and hungry since they had already hiked down from 11,000 ft, so I sent them down with the safety officer. I then spend an hour trying to get a cellphone signal. (Close to a bunch of ditch daisies with one foot on a rock, head at a 45 degree angle).

The tow truck driver came up around 2 hours later, loaded the truck and then got me a rental car to take the kids back home. We got home at midnight (around 6 hours late).

So how did the eating go through my bad day? Well I decided I wasn't going to stress about the food, and I totally junked out, Miss Vickie's plain chips, a milk chocolate bar, and some taco chips with about a gallon of water and almonds, I was on my way to have a sore and stiff back and legs the next day.

On Monday, I had to pick up the truck with new tires in tow, so the boys and I drove 3 hours west again in the tiny rental car with 3 new tires. The plus is the people who helped us were absolutely incredibly kind and geneours with their time and contacts.

On the way home, we stopped at the Radium Hot Pools and had an incredible soak in the sulfur pools. The park service had an acting troop on the pool deck that performed little skits about the ecosystem and history of the area. Of course, the dumb actions of parents astounded me once again. The hot pools are 40C and full of minerals and there are warnings everywhere to watch your kids because they shouldn't drink the water or get their heads under for long periods of time. One 3 year old went under 3 or 4 times, before mom even bothered to look at him. The lifeguards were right on it, and the mother seemed to be oblivious to her kid!!!!

Even though the weekend was a write-off, our Monday day trip was fantastic to Radium.