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Cabin Day Fun

June 30, 2010

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Camp girl riding horse back

Wednesday at camp follows a different schedule than other days of the week. It starts with the campers attending their regular activities, the set they signed up for on opening day. Kathleen, our camp photographer, spent some time down at the Equestrian Center (or simply “The Barn”) taking pictures of the different lessons going on. Today our farrier was there as well, so the girls were able to learn a bit about shoeing a horse. Cara led one of the classes that was working on drill team riding. In the class, she had 5 riders, plus herself, making 3 rows of 2. They worked on staying in formation and spacing as they walked and then trotted in a figure-8 pattern. By the end of the lesson they were really doing well, starting and stopping on command perfectly. Good work!

Camper girl playing in the lake at summer campFor lunch, Rick and his crew had homemade macaroni and cheese for us. The girls absolutely gobbled it up, though were less enthusiastic about the steamed broccoli! With the salad bars, it was a yummy lunch. Oh and today’s muffin flavor (for our “muffin break” at 11am) was chocolate chip, made from scratch by our baker Liz. Boy, those were popular. After rest hour, we began “Cabin Day,” a special time on Wednesdays that replaces the regular afternoon activities and allows each cabin group to do something together. It might be a group craft project, hike to Rockbrook Falls, or baking cookies, but the cabin group decides. We also sometimes plan something for an entire age group, like today when the Juniors had a Beach Party down at the lake. They pulled out all the lake toys, swam and played a bunch of relay games like the classic greased watermelon, and a funny game that involved blowing through a straw to move a small ball across the water. With beach music and bright sunshine, it was a great afternoon “mountain beach party.” To cap it off, we all made a quick trip to Dolly’s Ice Cream stand for a sweet treat.

Camp girls sliding down the rock in the waterLater, all the senior girls took a trip to Sliding Rock. This always means big excitement for the girls. The water is so cold and the anticipation of the final plunge into the pool below is so great, you hear plenty of screaming as the girls slide down the rock. Coming up from the water below, there’s even more urgent screams of “Ah, Ah, Ah, It’s so cold!” But as they hop back in line, you also hear, “That was sooo fun! Let’s go again!” Most everyone slides once, but I think some went 4 times in all. Next stop? Dolly’s again. Pulling out of the forest, we stopped so everyone could enjoy a cone of their favorite flavor, like “Rockbrook Chocolate Illusion” or just some soft-serve Vanilla. Dolly’s ice cream is legendary at camp (“This is the best ice cream on earth!” one Junior put it to me), so everyone loves a trip there. Don’t be surprised if your camper asks to stop by on the closing day of camp. It really is good stuff.

Campers on the Move

June 18, 2010

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Girls Camps shooting archeryThe weather has been absolutely perfect these last few days with bright sunny skies, lower humidity, and milder temperatures. First thing, we all layered up with a fleece or sweatshirt to temper the fog and cool 65 degree morning, but later happily swam in the lake and relaxed in the sun.

Today the kitchen crew made us all a delicious lunch of tilapia tacos, homemade guacamole, rice, beans, salsa and cheese. With corn chips, our regular salad bars, and the peanut butter and jelly station as an option, everyone was nicely stuffed for rest hour. Dinner was also excellent. We had baked chicken breasts (or tofu) and basmati rice, Otis’s amazing peanut Gado Gado sauce, spinach salad, and brownies for desert. Oh, by the way, Otis says fresh lime juice and coconut is the secret to his sauce.

A group of the senior girls took an all-day kayaking trip to the Nantahala River with Clyde, Kelsey and Christine. This is a more advanced kayaking river, so these girls knew their stuff. They are comfortable in their boats, know how to catch eddies, ferry, and handle the class 2 and 3 rapids of the river. Back at camp, we heard that the trip went great with everyone making clean runs, and no one flipping their boats. Another, very different, trip also went out today: Juniors rock climbing Castle Rock, one of the huge rock faces on the camp property. Katherine took them up to hop on the route called “Bam.” This is the longest and most exposed route. Towards the top, you can turn around and see the French Broad River Valley from what looks like 1000 feet up (even though it’s really about 80 feet from the base of the rock). It took a while to make the climbs, but even these 2nd and 3rd graders could tackle this climb. Pretty cool.

Riding Equestrian Girls CampThe afternoon riding classes enjoyed bareback riding today. The girls love this because it allows them to ride several horses in the same lesson (musical horses!), and to really feel their horse while riding. Cara, our Riding Director, plans this every so often to mix things up a bit, and because it helps the girls work on their balance while riding.

A short walk from the center of camp is our “Outpost” camping area where our juniors can sleep out. Tara took 2 more cabins out there after dinner. This is big fun for the girls. Imagine a slumber party with sleeping bags all lined up, pillows, a couple of stuffed animals, card games, flashlights, and lots and lots of giggles and chatting. Now imagine it out in a dense forest on a tent platform under a tarp. They build a campfire, roast marshmallows, and of course sing songs and tell stories into the night. Everyone’s a little tired when they get back to camp in the morning, but it’s the “good” kind of tired we thrive on at camp.