Day Two: The Goodfellas
Written by Caitlin Lukin
We all slept late today and let the alarm clocks run. Raean survived the creepy corner mattress. Nathan, Chrisbill, and Lauren were the breakfast crew and made everyone chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. They also packed lunch for everyone, assembly line style. Morning sweatshop!
Fun fact: If you bite into a carrot, it's shaped like an eye and it's good for your eyes! Same for kidneys and tomoatoes with livers and hearts, respectively. Carrots are also high in fiber… thanks, Nathan.
On the way to LBL, we took the scenic route! Twice! While it our site leader Matt's navigational skills put us back on our schedule a bit, it did allow for us to get a real taste of rural Kentucky. Our alternate drive took us through Pigtown USA. Cadiz, Kentucky is a charming little town with pigs in front of every business and giant bear-dogs on roofs. Pigtown also houses the world's coolest treehouse. Pigtown was bumpin'.
We circled LBL to get back on track. A note of clarification - we were totally and completely not lost in the first place says Matt. We met our contact, Emily. Emily is a character. This is a paragraph dedicated to Emily, because she deserves it. We are now experts in Emily's life, pets, and fiancé. She's also excellent lunch time conversation. While sharing fun facts, we discovered that our glorious trip leader, Max, transcribes and saves ALL of his text messages in a 700-page document. We also discovered that Raean hates lizards, even cute broad-headed skinks that sneak up on her.
We painted two paper machee crtitters, Boris the bat and Durtle the turtle. Cayla was the master of Boris the Bat's wings. A few of the less artistically inclined turned into the cutters, who carefully cut out star charts for a summer camp that Land Between the Lakes puts on. We painters had a bonding moment by finger painting when there weren't enough brushes to go around. Note B: even though previous alternative spring break groups built the base and started the paper machee for these animals, ASB Kentucky takes full credit for making these creatures and reserves all rights. While there, we picnicked lunch outside and everyone got sun burnt…except for Cayla and Max.
LBL treated us to VIP treatment; a free show at the Golden Pond Planetarium, which sadly turned into nap time for lots of us. They also gave us free tokens to explore the Bison and Elk preserve. We pulled a Jurassic Park and sat in the open trunks of both vans. Some ranger poh-poh followed us for a while, but we were cool. We treated the bison of LBL to some chill tunes and kicked it with the elks. Editors note- Bison can go from not moving to 35 mph in a matter of seconds, and they will kill you. This terrifying, pre-safari fun fact was brought to you by Emily.
One slightly more efficient car ride later, we got back to our home base, the Wolfson House. As soon as we got home we turned around and headed to Murray for swim suits and fishing licenses. Girls gonna be fly in our Walmart swimsuits.
We had tacos, a communal bowl of green beans, and Power Ranger juices boxes for dinner. We spent the rest of the night playing Mafia a card game that brings everyone together by making them figure out who in the group is in the Mafia and should be sentenced. There were many bodies, tears, and lies, but we all grew and learned. Emily, one of us Mizzou students—not the Emily who lead our group today—wins points for most improved poker face throughout the night. Cayla had a crash course in shameless lying, we all learned to spot each other's tells, and we discovered that Mitch is always suspicious. Always.
Tomorrow we look forward to a day of more physical labor and more adventures on the Land Between the Lakes National Park Reserve. Though we're still not quite sure what to expect, we know that it's going to be an awesome time (which is doubly so knowing Emily will be leading us again!).
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