HOLDEN ADVENTURE BEGINS

We started off to a slightly rocky beginning with trains being stopped due to flooding on rails and a downed bridge. Instead, they offered to bus us to Minneapolis from Red Wing where we could board the train and all could go as usual... the train was to leave there a little before 10pm. At 1:30am we finally left the station with a little trouble figuring out seating arrangements, etc. and by about 2am, I was fast asleep. I had a cozy journey to Wenatchee (albeit a bit slow due to freight train traffic ahead of us and the need to stop and wait for someone who didn't board the train in Whitefish quickly enough) with a double seat all to myself. I made a few friends along the way including one Mrs. Francis Johnson (a 73 year old baptist from Portland who informed me that "those ELCA-ers aren't so bad!"), Jim (an elderly gentleman from California with a son and grandaughter studying anthropology in Singapore who had traveled the US the past few weeks and knew a lot about string theory and the math behind it), Chase (a Seattle suburban boy who did communication work for the government in Norway and elsewhere, and now plans to become a folk/jazz/rock star, and whose family has a cabin in Chelan), and Amara (from Whitefish, Montana but has been living in Fargo and says she's become quite a hippie since she's been in the midwest). With all the delays, I ended up missing my bus to Chelan and had to take the next one by running to the station with my luggage immediately after stepping off the train at 8am. The bus driver hurried to help me get to Chelan in time to board the boat, but to no avail. I was miserably late. I called local motels and found the best rates (79.99 a night) and called the Holden B&B to let them know I would be joining them a day late. The woman suggested I call a taxi immediately and get a ride up to Field's Point where the boat would stop again before it headed off into the wilderness. I did this faster than I ever could have imagined and two minutes later, there was a woman in a taxi telling me to "HURRY, HURRY!" For nearly $50, she got me to the boat just in time where I met several people on their way to Holden. We talked the whole 4 hours of boat ride and then boarded the bus up the mountain. I arrived to a welcoming party including my friend Caleb who had made a macaroni art sign proclaiming "Yay Lauren! (because nothing says classy like macaroni art)". Within ten minutes of arriving, I had also run into the Crosby family (of my sophomore year roommate at Luther) and a former Luther ECO friend Abbey Dibble. I've started to get acclaimated and have done all of the orientation as well as unpacked my bags and set up my room with my new roommate Rebecca (laundry area head) who seems very nice. Tomorrow I will learn the ins and outs of the Book Shop where I will be the area head for the summer. I went to dinner tonight with a new friend Lara who helped me discover that we have a shared passion for movement and the concepts behind movement and art therapy. She had planned to major in anthropology and ended up majoring in art history (which is comical because I basically did the opposite). I think I'll have some fast friends up here. I've already been implored to join an impromptu theatre group and help do a modern dance performance to the story of Genesis. Hmm... so many possibilities!
Well, all of that is just to let you all know that I am safely here and already enjoying this beautiful little place nestled in the mountains. I'll write more as I find time and stories to share. Feel free to comment or e-mail and I'll get back as I am able.
Love to all of you!
Lauren