Day 2 at the OTC

Day 2 at the OTC! Today in a nutshell: 1. Quick bite for breakfast. 2. Bobsled 101 with the men's and women's head coaches 3. A little more breakfast 4. Push cart intro in the gym. 5. Lunch and hanging out in the caf 6. More push track and assigning of nicknames 7. Dinner 8. Head into Lake Placid 9. Hang out in the caf 10. Sleep! There are 22 rookies: 8 girls and 14 guys. I can't name us all yet, but I've got the girls down. Todd is the new women's head coach. He's great and we're having a great time learning. He told us this morning that even if we don't get to stay for push championships, there is a good chance we will get invited back on October 10th for opening day on the ice. They are really short on girls right now, so our odds just went up. There are 5 drivers, and they'd like at least 2 breakmen for each driver. They currently have 13 girls total, so they need bodies at this point. Also found out that as soon as I score 600 I can stay here for free whenever. Sweet! That means if I get invited to train for a few weeks at a time I won't have to pay living expenses at least. I can be saving up money for all those plane tickets. My roommate, Val, and Britt are already great friends. I haven't laughed this much in a long time. And I know most people wouldn't say this, but I'm really liking this dorm setting. I was telling Val tonight that I loved the dorms because you basically just hung out with your friends all the time. They all live right down the hall, so when you get bored, you just walk down and chat it up with whoever. This is just like that without all the studying. Aka the perfect grownup kid college experience. I had all the sports but none of this free time to just hang out. I think I've spent more time in the cafeteria than in my room. Our adventure in downtown Lake Placid was fun. Saw the building where the Miracle on Ice was played. Goosebumps! Bought some bobsledding gear and took random pictures. At the end we were sitting at the bus stop waiting and some guy pulled up with his window rolled down and said, "Hey, shouldn't you guys be training for the push championships?" We had no idea who this guy was, which he must have gotten from our confused faces. He said, "I'm a biathlete," and drove off. Random. We told this story to the guys asking how he knew us. They got this look on their faces and looked at our legs. To which Val responded, "What's wrong with having big legs?" "Nothing. Nothing at all." Cop out answer, but it's good to know there are a few guys out there who can appreciate a strong girl. We even had a guy walk by us in the hall today and sarcastically say, "So you are all gymnasts, right?" I answered, "Rhythmic gymnastics." He laughed at that answer and walked out the door shaking his head and muttering, "Bobsledders." Apparently we're really recognizable around here. So tomorrow we head out to the push track in the morning and again in the afternoon. That is the bobsled on a rollercoaster track. Should be another great day of learning and hanging out with potential future teammates. I'm looking foward to it. Check back tomorrow to here all about it. I'd type more but it takes way longer on this little phone. Call me if you need more details than this. Gotta get to sleep. Talk to you all tomorrow.