"What are these things called kilometers?"

If you know anything about Katy Branston you know that Katy doesn't stop. So of course as soon as I get to Missoula Katy is ready to show me a good time. We spent the evening in downtown Missoula attempting to drink local beer(I stuck with bud light lime), hitting up local food vendors, listening to local music, so essentially soaking up the culture. We ended the night dancing until all my travels caught up with me, and I almost passed out on the dance floor.

I spent the next day sleeping and relaxing while Katy went to work and played with kids all day. Then we hopped in her car (yay automobile) and headed toward Revelstoke, BC. Katy was my inspiration to play ultimate frisbee so what would be a more perfect way to spend our weekend together than at an ultimate tournament in BC?! The drive there was unbelievable. The most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life. Not to mention we rocked out to Avril in honor of being in her homeland (poor Ryon who had to ride with us). Once it got dark and we still had 4 hours to drive on the winding roads in the mountains we decided to find a cheap hotel in Radium, BC. Ryon and I competed to see who could get the cheapest room in a strip of about 8 hotels... he turned on his charm and won by getting us a room for $65. Pretty impressive, huh? And oh what an awesome hotel it was... shag rug, 70s chandelier, and of course a bottle opener by the toilet. Once we settled in, we decided to check out the night life in Radium. We headed to the closest bar and they enjoyed a BC beer while I tried out a delicious Palm Bay vodka cooler. After trying to learn some Canadian lingo from the nicest bartender in the world, we had the privilege of witnessing a Canadian bar fight. Don't worry, they hugged it out in the end.

The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast and continued our gorgeous drive to Revelstoke through Glacier National Park of Canada. We arrived at the fields just in time to stuff some food down our throats and start playing (492 mi/796 km, 9.5 hrs). If you never have experienced an ultimate tournament I highly recommend it. Now, don't get me wrong, I do not condone all of the activities involved, but it is an experience like no other. The actual game of ultimate is basically an afterthought to themed teams, crude cheers, after game spirit awards and activities, drinking, food, and of course the tournament party. As the only American team of the tournament we appropriately called our team South of the Border and not so appropriately dressed up in sombreros, fake mustaches, and panchos or plaid red shirts.

It didn't take long to warm up to my Missoulian teammates who welcomed me in by calling me Kristen (miscommunication that caused me to answer to a new name for almost a week) and serving me a frozen margarita by 2 o'clock in the afternoon. That's right, someone brought a gas powered blender to the fields. After waxing 4 teams and making 8 players play pin the tail on the donkey after taking a shot of tequila and being spun around we made our way to the indoor pool/slide/climbing wall/diving board. I haven't felt more like a kid in years. The evening consisted of Little Caesar's pizza (katy and I wouldn't have it any other way) and then dancing like a hippie at the Revelstoke music festival.

With a 9 and a half hour drive looming over us, Sunday was a little less exciting. We pulled out wins in the quarter and semi finals and then crumbled in the finals. I still have yet to win a freaking tournament. Katy and I recruited two of the other girls, Martha and Leah, to ride with us on the way back. We stayed entertained by chugging energy drinks, putting "Kristen" in the hot seat and asking her every question imaginable, eating everything in sight, and watching Super Troopers in the back seat. This was test two for my faith... Telling these girls my dad is a pastor at a mega-church in Memphis, TN and that I do think sex should be saved for marriage is like telling them I could shoot rockets out of elbows. They were anything but judgmental, but they asked some tough questions that made me question how well I really understood my own faith. You just don't think about these things when you live in the bible belt your whole life. In some ways it was very refreshing.