On a rainy day in Palmer, Alaska, we all were enjoying a pool party at the city pool. Some of us were swimming around lazily or jumping on the diving board while the rest of us were in a hard-core beach ball war against each other. We were chucking inflatable beach balls at each other’s heads. Soon we discovered that we had some hidden talents. Laura Genise has a pitcher’s arm, which she used to pummel people ferociously with beach balls. Also, Ryan Tobin set the record for most consecutive hits to the face.
      Right as we were all having a blast, the lights suddenly got brighter. No one took any notice of it, until suddenly they all went black. The sounds of panicked screams and lifeguard yells filled the air. We were all forced onto the cold benches while the lifeguards tried to figure out the problem. Everyone was frightened and things got a little hectic. We were all freezing and some us (including me) forgot our towels! Talk about bad luck!
      We were soon informed that power was out all through the valley and wasn’t expected to come back on for several hours. More bad luck! This made a lot of people mad. Of all the times for the power to go out! We only swim in this place three times. We went back into the locker rooms and attempted to dress in the dark. The only light source was Mrs. Lowell with a heavy-duty flashlight. Think about that many girls with one flashlight packed into one tiny locker room. Not a pretty picture.
      Not everyone came out with his or her clothes correctly on. Shirts were on inside out, and pants were on backwards. We finally saw the light when we made it outside (conveniently, Alaska has almost 24 hours of light in the summer). We were all relieved and happy to be out of the poolroom and into the fresh air.
When we finally were all back at the church (clothes right-side-out) we were so exhausted, but still no power! It had been out for quite some time. No one knew when it would come back on, either. We all ended up just going to bed after a great pool party, despite the small problems.

     “Good morning! It’s time to wake up!” Hannah Richardson said outside each of our tents. Slowly climbing out of our tents, everyone got ready for another delicious breakfast of cereal or oatmeal.
      Breakfast was soon finished, and all you could see were people trying to quickly pack up their sleeping bags and anything else in the tent. Tents were speedily dissembled and thrown into the back of the vans. Once everyone was packed and ready to go, everyone loaded into the vans and got ready to head to Palmer.
      To break up the boring routine of just sitting in the van for hours, we stopped for lunch in Talkeetna. Sandwich-making supplies were pulled out of the food van, and the AGLP group lined up for a quick lunch. Lunch was quickly eaten so there would be more time for shopping.
      While most people headed out to Beadberry Patch (the bead store), others headed out to get junk food our go souvenir shopping for themselves or for family members. We only had about 45 minutes of free time, so shopping was done hastily. After everyone was back and loaded in the vans, our twelve vans left Talkeetna and got back on the road towards Palmer.
      The church soon came into sight—people grabbed their belongings out of the van and ran into the church. They began sorting out their dirty laundry and organizing their bags, since we would finally be able to do laundry in the morning. Our fancy dinner of roast chicken and mashed potatoes was soon prepared and everyone eagerly lined up to get some.
      Dinner stuff was cleaned up, and our group got ready to head out to the pool. We were all excited about going because we would be able to take a free shower and get some swimming done.
      Everyone was enjoying the pool and having a lot of fun when suddenly the pool area went black. The lifeguards ordered everyone out of the pool and back to the viewing area. Everyone wrapped themselves in their towels and sat down waiting for the power to come back on.
      The lifeguards came back with bad news telling us that we wouldn’t be able to continue swimming and would have to grab our stuff and leave. In small groups people went into the changing rooms and quickly rinsed off before changing back into clothes. Most people ended up deciding not to take showers because we only had a little bit of time to be in the locker room.
      When everyone was gathered and back in his or her vans, our caravan left the pool and headed back to the church. Power was out all over the city, so all the participants quickly got ready for bed in the dark bathrooms, and then climbed into sleeping bags. Soon everyone was asleep, trying to get some much-needed rest before being awakened early the next morning.