[CeeAreEx90]

Well, its good to be back... temporarily. Being the young idiot I am, I got caught up in some things with some of the wrong people, made a few mistakes, and it ended up coming back to bite me in the ass. I got scentenced to 3 months in a wilderness program, I've been there for a month and a half and I'm on a homepass for the weekend.

I spent 2 weeks in the residential program at Tressler Wilderness Center, followed by a month of the Wilderness Challenge, which envolved tons of hiking and rock climbing. The group was outdoors for a month straight, we camped out every night no matter how cold it was. Some of the nights I could barely sleep because it was so cold. It snowed and rained quite a bit too, which didn't make it alot of fun. I've never been so exhausted in my life. It sounds like a camping trip, but hiking 13 miles through the mountains in pouring down freezing rain with a 65-pound pack on my back and no dry clothes to change into isn't exactly my idea of fun. I'm glad I got that over with, I just graduated from the Wilderness Challenge on Thursday morning. It felt really good to accomplish somthing, and as much as I hated doing it, I learned alot. You really start to appreciate the little things when you're taking 3 showers a month and you're physically and emotionally exhausted. I've never been so happy just to be indoors.

Once my homepass ends on Sunday, I go back to the residential program for another month and a half. I was in the Wilderness Challenge over Thanksgiving... my Thanksgiving dinner was celery, carrots, applesauce, and a Nutri-Grain bar because I couldn't get a fire started to cook my food. Like I said, I really learned to appreciate everything that I would normally take for granted. Hopefully I'll get a Christmas homepass. My 18th birthday is this Tuesday so I'll be in the residential program for that. I'm just trying my best to learn from my mistakes to make sure this never happens again, because if I don't start getting myself together than I could end up somewhere alot worse. I know I have no one to blame but myself for ending up where I am, so all I can do now is learn and hopefully use this time to benefit myself. Just wanted to let you guys know why I haven't been around. I still have the CRX, once I get out on January 25th I plan on changing the brakes and finishing the clutch. Anyways.... wish me luck for the rest of my time. What doesn't kill me will only make me stronger, so I'm ready to put this all in my past.

 

[Krix]

I thought you had been kinda quiet lately. Well glad to hear your ok and hope you get what you need to do taken care of. Just do what you have to do and move on. I know it sounds cheesy but, it makes life so much easier....trust me. Hope you get everything worked out.

btw...Happy early Birthday!

 

[crxfisher]

Well, the good thing is that you sound like you know you screwed up and are taking responsibility for it. As much as it sucks to get your brains beat out of you in the middle of nowhere, hopefully it will have a good outcome like you said. It sounds like you're tough enough to take it, and hopefully it will turn you arond and get you on track. You're way too young to mess up this early. You've got a lot ahead of you. Good luck.

 

[toxiclows]

youll do fine Aaron... Good to hear from you.... thought you left the face of the earth . . well glad to see that you are taking all of this in stride...
hope everything works out well for you . .
take car man. . . Chris

 

[stick]

Every action has a consequence...sometimes good, sometimes bad. I'm glad to see that you are taking ownership and responsibility for your circumstances. As sucky as the camp sounds, it's the crap things in life that make you appreciate the good stuff even more. I'm glad you're remaining postive. It sounds like you're focusing on the good that can come of this. We all look forward to your return.

 

[scramblerman]

First of all, dont take this the wrong way.

As wrong as it sounds, Its probaby good thing you got caught. Seems you've learned a lot from the experence and appriecate the things you used to take for granted.

Remember, once you turn 18 its a whole different deal.

Hope everything works out well for you. Keep in touch

 

[CeeAreEx90]

Thanks for the support guys, it means alot. Hopefully the rest of the time flies by.

 

[CeeAreEx90]

Mark: I know what you mean, there were times when I actually enjoyed myself out there. Most of our hike was on the Appalation Trail which goes from Maine to Georgia. We actually stopped at Center Point Knob, which is the exact middle of the trail. When we were in Virginia, we were at the highest point in Shenandoah National Park, 4,000-somthing feet above sea level. The views were beautiful... as tiring as the long hikes would be, the views made it worthwhile. We also did alot of rock climbing and repelling, a great experience but I'm terrified of heights so I don't think I'll ever be doing it again.

I bet you've been to alot of nice places, I know theres alot worth seeing out in the Northwest. My mom's boyfriend has backpacked alot out there, I've seen alot of beautiful pictures.

The instructors always told us that we should appreciate what we were doing, because there's people out there who would pay thousands of dollars to do what we were doing.

Oh, and what I did to get where I am... I got Theft By Unlawful Taking charges, which is a 3rd degree felony. I was guilty by association, because I wasn't envolved in the actual theft but I was there while it was happening. Money was taken from a local franchise, and now we're all doing time along with restitution costs. I really need to stop hanging around certain people... to bad it took somthing like this to realize that. Hopefully I can get it exponged from my record.

 

[Krix]

You werent too far from me if you were in the Shenandoah part. Im a little further south in salem. My g/f used to work at a hotel that was damn near on the trail. Hikers always showing up and getting a room.

 

[CeeAreEx90]

Well, I'm back for my Christmas homepass. 2 months down, 1 to go. I'm actually doing pretty good.

Mark: We started in Cumberland county, PA which is where Tressler is. I lost about 10 lbs., but I gained it back as soon as I got back to Tressler, because the meals are huge.