In June, I went to a Tai Chi Camp on Orcas Island, which is one of the islands in Washington State's Puget Sound. The camp was a lot of fun and I learned a great deal of the form I study there, but getting to the camp was an adventure of it's own. I live in Montana, so I would have to drive over 900 miles to get there. I checked airline tickets and costs between a flight and driving were comparable, at least $500.  Then I checked Amtrak.  The cost was about half of an airline ticket, so I decided to take the train.

The first part of the trip involved driving from Billings to Havre, MT, where I could catch the train. The drive was through scenic rural Montana, with several Montana ranges in the distance and a quick hop across the Missouri breaks. I made it to Havre with an hour to go before the train arrived, so, naturally, the train was three hours late. I took this opportunity to go see some of the local historical sites and grab a steak dinner. After killing the time, the train arrived and I found a seat on board. I had made a reservation, so I was on the upper level of the train. Let me tell you, I was looking forward to relaxing on the train, and it was a nice time. We came to Glacier National Park right around sunset.  It would have been nice to come through a little earlier but it just wasn't to be.

We made it to Whitefish, MT about 11:00 PM, and there they announced that BN was going to close the tracks for maintenance and we would be riding a bus from Pasco, WA. I'm thinking to myself "That's going to suck, I took the train because riding the bus really sucks." But I go to sleep and quit worrying about it because it's outside of my control anyway. We get to Spokane, WA early in the morning, and there is an announcement that we will be going straight through to Seattle on the train.  That's great news to me, because I really didn't want to ride a bus!! We continue on and I wake up in the morning as we start into the eastern part of the Cascade Mountains. It's beautiful and sunny here.  We get into the mountains, and eventually enter a tunnel called the 8-mile tunnel.  When we come out the other side, it's overcast and gloomy, which is typical western Washington weather.  Through the night, we've picked up a couple of hours and are only an hour late getting into Seattle. This is kind of bad for me because I was walking to the convention center to catch my shuttle bus. I was hoping for a leisurely walk but now I'm rushed, and I'm not going to have time to get lunch like I planned.

So, now I'm walking through downtown Seattle, and I've got a nice flat map to follow. Unfortunately, I get to first street and, all of a sudden, the streets start going up and up and up. It's a long trek uphill to make it to the convention center. At least I've got a backpack and not a suitcase. I keep trudging up and up and up, finally getting tired and deciding to shortcut through this park (which isn't on my map) and when I come out of the park, it's the convention center. I'm actually on the 4th level of the center, and the bus pickup is on the first level. At least it's all downhill from here, and escalator, no less. I take off down the escalator and get to the place where I catch the bus with a couple of minutes to spare. Naturally, the bus is late (20 minutes) and I could have got a sandwich, but I couldn't know the bus was delayed. We get on the road, and eventually get to the place where we transfer to the smaller bus that takes us to the Anacortes ferry station. When we arrive, a ferry is loading, but it goes to a different island because the ferries are running late!! At least there's a sandwich stop in the ferry terminal. I get a late afternoon bite to eat, and catch the ferry to the island.

When I arrive at the island, I have a short walk to the Orcas Island hotel, where I'm staying for a couple of days until the camp starts. I had called and changed my reservation from one day to two when I decided to take the train, but they had lost the change and only had me for one night and the hotel was filled for this night. Luckily for me, they also rented a cabin for the owner's when they weren't on the island, and they but me up in the cabin for the first night. It had all the creature comforts, including the full DirectTV package. I enjoy the evening, and rent a moped to do some sightseeing the next day. Later that day, I move my stuff to the hotel and then spend the evening relaxing, taking some time to practice Tai Chi on the lawn outside the hotel. The next morning, I have to wait to catch my ride to the camp from the hotel. Of course (it's the theme at this point) the ferry is late! My ride is on the ferry, and we don't have any problems finding each other, especially given the vague description the driver had of me. It helps that I was the only one with a backpack waiting for a lift to camp out at the corner. And thus ended my adventure getting to Tai Chi camp.

Hi All,   Here are some random thoughts I have on training and learning the form, from my experience as a beginner.  This first thing that will help you learn the form is to practice regularly.  The importance of practice can not be stressed enough.  If you don't practice on a regular basis, not only will you not learn the form, but any parts of the form you have learned you can easily forget.  If you don't know the whole form, practice the parts you know, even if it is just the first couple of moves.  Then when you attend your next class, you should strive to learn just one more move in the sequence.  Don't worry if you sometimes don't pick anything up, just continue practicing and it will come to you, sometimes without even realizing it.  The important thing is to get up and move, relax, and enjoy the benefits of practicing Tai Chi.  Remember these words from T.Y. Pang in your practice:

To master Tai Chi Chuan

is not an easy matter. 

But you do not have to be a master

to enjoy the beauty and benefits of

Tai Chi Chuan.