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Published: March 29th 2011
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That's right.. it's exactly what you think... well maybe not quite.
Today was "expedition day!" Since our group is a ski-focused group, today we had an all day ski trip! Since the patient I work with has more advanced Cerebral Palsy than the others, we got to take a dog sled to the place where we set up camp. These dogs were small huskys, but they were so friendly (very well trained). She sat in the sled, with the driver behind her.. while I was attached behind them on my skis, holding onto a rope (just like water skiing). It was so much fun! I started out down a hill and narrowly avoided eating my ski poles and from there on it was smooth sailing! When we arrived at the camp, it was at the side of a lake. We were basically setting up camp in a large snow drift, so the chairs had to be dug out and patted down. VHSS has some reindeer hides that they use for sitting, so we spread these out on the "benches" we made out of snow, and had a fire in the middle. There was also ice fishing on the lake, because Jonny,
Camp
taken from one of the ski holes one of the other leaders had gone ahead to set them up. I am not entirely sure about the privacy policy, so I will hold off on posting the pictures for now, but I have some of the camp and the dog sled team. There were also little sleds you could take to go tobogganing. They were like mini plastic shovels, where you sit on the bottom and hold the handle between your legs. Very fun! We set up camp and passed around some hot chocolate. Since they had instructed everyone in Norwegian to pack their own lunches.. someoneeeeee was left without food... because they didn't speak Norwegian.. no names mentioned... but everyone pitched in a bit and I was fed wonderfully.. don't anybody worry. Half way through our stay (right after we decided to give up on ice fishing) another group shouted from the ice holes that they had a fish. Being used to catching little perch ice fishing, I was very surprised when they pulled out a Salmon!!! it was great to see! Overall, it was a perfect day. Sunny weather, and there was always something for the kids to do. As always, I was impressed and amazed
Tobogganning
with the shovel-sleds at the organization of the center. There was a job for everyone to do, there was accommodations for every kid so that everyone could participate... and they made sure they thought of everything when packing and preparing. After every day we have a "debrief" to make notes on each individual patient, as well as the overall day. I just want to say again how well this place is run and how much it benefits the kids. You don't need to speak the language to watch them grow and to watch them succeed despite physical disabilities. It really is amazing to watch.
Yesterday I went on another ski around the grounds, while it was snowing quite hard! so enjoy more pictures of the grounds!
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Mickey
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So fun
Kirb. That sounds like so much fun!!!! When they do a trip like this, do the kids/patients get to be involved in the planning and preparing or do you guys do it? Who harnesses and drives the Huskies and where do the husky's live? Like...do they hire out a dog sled service or are the dogs on site in a kennel or something and the care taker of the dogs gets them ready and drives them?