Yesterday we took a road trip down to Lewes, Delaware for the 2011 Polar Bear Plunge! We each had to raise $50 to support the Special Olympics but ended up giving them almost an extra $50 each because they didn't have our fundraising pages updated and we wanted our free sweatshirts. Plus it's for a good cause, so you can't complain!
bam. check that out.
So yesterday around 9 a.m. myself, Becky, Jamie and our friend Eamonn piled into Jamie's car for what would become a very eventful road trip.
We started out happy and care free. We played the movie game, the rules of which are as follows:
1. One person starts the game by naming any actor/actress or movie
2. If the first person named an actor/actress, the next person has to name a movie that actor was in.
If the first person named a movie, the next person has to name an actor/actress that was in said movie.
3. The third person continues the cycle going around the circle naming an actor, then a movie, then an actor, then a movie. Think of it as the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon game.
4. If you do not know an actor that was in the aforementioned movie or cannot think of a movie that said actor was in, you can challenge the person before you to see if they can come up with anything. If they beat your challenge, you get an M, but if they can't come up with anything either, then they get an M. Each incorrect response warrants another letter, similar to the basketball game HORSE, until all but one person ends up with MOVIES.
It's a really fun game...I hope you play it next time you go on a road trip!
So the beginning of the trip was all fun and games...until we realized we were lost. Now I'm not one to point fingers...but Jamie probably should have had the GPS actually directing us somewhere, and Becky, as co-pilot, should have been paying attention to where we were going considering she's been to the Delaware beaches the most. Again, I'm not one to place the blame on anyone...but we did end up closer to D.C. than to Rehoboth Beach and went about 2 hours out of our way.
After some sibling rivalry and a lot of yelling, Becky put the address into the GPS and we attempted to get back on track.
Unfortunately, in our eagerness to arrive at the beach in time for the plunge at 1 o'clock, Jamie didn't see the cop waiting on the side of the road (even though I said "Jamie, there's a cop up there") and we ended up getting pulled over.
The funny part is, the cop blew his transmission trying to pull us over! And we explained to him that we were late to a charity vent, and it was Eamonn's birthday! But the cop would have none of it, even though he seemed like a jolly fellow, he still gave us 2 tickets for basically the same thing. One for going 17 miles over the speed limit, and a second for excessive speeding. Call me crazy but I think those are the same thing, we didn't need 2 tickets. He was just trying to pay for his blown transmission.
To make a long story short, we didn't make it to the plunge on time. It started at 1, and as you can see, we were still in the car at that point.
Then Becky's bladder nearly exploded and she had to literally run into Taco Bell before she peed her sweatpants.
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| This is her pre-plunge outfit of sweatpants, a bandana and rain boots. |
Fear not though my friends, we did eventually make it to the beach! And we stripped down to our bathing suits and customized polar bear plunge shirts and asked a nice man to take pictures for us!
He even took pictures of us running in and out of the water. He went above and beyond his duties as an innocent bystander.
51. Do the Polar Bear Plunge!
Without any time to think about what we were actually about to do, we linked hands and headed toward the ocean. As you can see, Jamie was the smart one who let go when Eamonn started running too fast.
He held onto Becky and I until the last minute when a wave was coming and pulled both of us down into the water. I lost my balance and fell head first into the FREEZING cold water. I don't really remember anything except that I was cold and the only thing I cared about was getting back out of the water.
We survived the Polar Bear Plunge! Nobody's heart stopped, nobody got pneumonia or frost bite and it was actually a lot of fun!
Survivors!
The Go Getters!
Eamonn and Becky ended up dragging Jamie back into the water again for another dip because she only went in up to her knees! What a baby, I think they got her in all the way up to her butt.
Once we were all out we immediately put on sweatshirts, robes and towels, whatever we had handy to get warm again. The weather was actually pretty pleasant and warm for February, but the water was less forgiving.
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| This is the face of hypothermia setting in. |
They were really nice and we caught them just as they were packing up. We told them about the cop pulling us over and jumping in by ourselves and wanting to make sure that they got all of our money. I think they appreciated our spirit.
After all the hooplah we tried to take Eamonn to Hooters, after all it was his birthday. And I could have crossed it off the list too because I've never been there! But alas, to our dismay, it was closed. :(
Eamonn took it pretty hard.
But we ended up going to Grotto's pizza instead...and they were good sports about doing something super cheezy for Eamonn's birthday. They surprised him with a song and a balloon when he walked out of the bathroom! It was definitely better than anything you could get from Hooters, right?
Well Eamonn looks pretty happy about it.
Then it was a long drive back home to Jersey for the Super Bowl party at Jamie's house. And we vowed that next year we wouldn't get lost and we would actually make it to the BIG PLUNGE. But we'll see, I think our way was more fun anyway.
So until next time, good luck exploring the infinite abyss.
Love Always,
The Go Getters
