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My
Spring Break with Keith St. Onge
by Nolan Lough |
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| When:
March, 2005
Where: Tampa, Florida |
 I started out camping out Lake Sam Rayburn with my family. Mom and Dad drove me to Houston to catch a plane to Tampa to Ski with Keith St. Onge. That was my Christmas present. The flight from Houston was good. Keith picked me up from the airport and we went out for ice cream. We went back to Keith’s house and we got settled in and there I got to meet Swampy and the dogs Ranger and Annie. I went to bed early so I would be ready to ski the next day. I couldn’t wait to see where we would be skiing and check out skiing behind a Mastercraft.
The next morning we got up and had breakfast, got our gear, and went skiing. It was raining so we drove to the Land O Lakes and skied there. Keith didn’t want to pull his new boat in the rain, so we were in his yellow Mastercraft. We skied with the local Mastercraft dealer and two of his sons and
one of their friends. I started out backwards on the boom and shifting my weight so I could learn back one foots. I did a lot of basic tricks to get back in the mode.
Day two we woke up early grabbed our gear and hooked on to the boat. I thought we were going far but the river was a few blocks down. I couldn’t believe how fine Keith’s new boat was. Bright orange
with lots of space. That day I worked on back one foots and backwards behind the boat, which I’m still having trouble with. I also learned Keith’s signature back one foot and one hand in the air pose. I worked on my turns and Keith made it so easy for me to understand.
Wednesday, I worked on the same things and got a little stronger. Keith has a way to help me understand. Like on my turns, he would say make like a statue and do chicken wings. It sounds crazy but it was so much easier than I was doing them before. Today I started learning back toeholds and did a couple. That night we went to
the best arcade I have ever been to. It was called Game Works. This place rocks!
Thursday, the weather was really bad. It rained and thunder stormed all day so we didn’t get to ski that much. When I did ski I got up behind the boat on shoe skis and did a front to back so I could get the feel of skiing backwards behind the boat. I skied a good while backwards. We watched a lot of skiing videos and did dry land practice. Dry land practice really helps a lot.
Friday, we woke up extra early and went to a News Studio. Keith was being interviewed for the Tampa Boat Show. It was so cool to be there watching all the different things they had going on. They had someone cooking and we got to taste what he cooked. We left there and went skiing with Char Portman. She was so cool she gave me a neck massage. She worked back deeps. I really wanted to go over the jump and my mom never would let me until I had professional help. Keith pulled me over the jump and I thought it was really fun and exciting. We went and ate at a Mexican restaurant on our way to the boat show. The food this week was really good. Keith
fed me well. We arrived at the boat show and talked to the Mastercraft dealer and Zane Zwenk, a professional wake boarder. He was really cool and told me he used to barefoot. We also watched a magician do cool tricks like catch a bullet in his teeth. Keith gave me the bullet and I even got it through security at the airport.
I really learned a lot this past week. I hope I get to go to ski camp again. Keith is a really good teacher and cook. I had a great time with Swampy, Ranger, and Annie. Swampy told some good stories about Keith when he was young. I want to thank Keith for showing me a good time and putting up with me.
Ski Ya Soon,
Nolan Lough
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