Camp Bighorn Day 24 7/13/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 24 7/13/2010

The adventure continues. I woke up at 7:15 am. We all gathered for active devotions from 7:30 to 8:15. After devotions I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. The Administration team had a meeting at 8:45. After our meeting I got the mail out before breakfast. Then I headed into the lodge to get some food. After breakfast I came back to the office and began sorting and organizing pictures. I posted a blog entry for the day before, I Checked some things on my computer, and answered phones. I made some photo albums of the pictures for the camp facebook page. I spent most of the morning in the office working on the picture project. We all gathered in the lodge for lunch. It was nice to catch up on what people had been up to in the morning. The store was open after lunch. I helped Sarah run the store. I took care of the tabs for the people who have them. The store was very busy with all the campers and staff we have here this week. The store was open from about 2:30 to 3:30 pm. It was fun to help in the store once I got the hang of what I was supposed to do. When we finished in the store for the afternoon I headed back to the office to finish working on organizing the pictures. I got everything on the camp hard drive organized and put into albums on facebook. I really enjoy looking through all the pictures and organizing them into folders and albums. I was pretty much in the office from 4:00 pm until dinner. I answered phones and took a few messages. Judy went through the camp mail and found letters and donations for me from five people. It was nice to get that mail. I will work on the thank you notes for those people as soon as I can. I listened to music on my ipod. I played some games on my computer. I went out side for a little while to get some fresh air. Then it was time for dinner. We all gathered in the lodge for some great food and fellowship. The store was open again after dinner. I helped Jeremy run the store this time because Sarah had already gone home for the day. The store was packed with people again after dinner. The store was open from about 7:30 to 8:30 pm. After we finished in the store I went to get a soda and some candy for dessert. There was a junior high chapel up stairs in the lodge so I went up stairs to join them. Everyone had a great time at chapel. The kids talked about some of the challenges they faced in the events they participated in for the day. It was interesting to hear what some of the kids thought about what they had been through during the day. After chapel I came into the office to call home to talk to my parents. We had a good talk. They seem to be doing well. My parents are really great people. It is always good to talk with them. When I got off the phone with them I came back to my computer and checked some things on the internet. I am now typing up my blog entry for today. It is about time for me to head to bed. I wonder what is in store for all of us tomorrow More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 23 7/12/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 23 7/12/2010

My day began with devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the devotional reading for the day. After devotions Luke announced what everyone’s jobs would be for this week at camp. After announcements I went back to my cabin to get cleaned up and ready for the day. When I was ready for the day I got the mail out and then headed to the lodge for breakfast. After I ate I came into the office and waited for the administration team meeting. We met around 10:00 am to go over our jobs for the week. I will mostly be taking care of getting pictures and organizing and posting them on facebook and the camp website. I will also be answering phones, taking care of the mail, and helping with the camp store. My job description does not change much from week to week. It’s fun to be involved with some different things around camp. After our meeting I sorted and distributed the mail. Then I came back to my computer to work on organizing pictures. I got all the pictures on my computer organized and sorted into folders. For most of the day I sorted pictures and posted some of them on my facebook page. I worked on the pictures until lunchtime. We all gathered in the lodge to get some food. After lunch I came back to the office and worked on pictures for a while. Then Sarah and I went to the camp store to restock some things. It’s fun to help in the camp store. Sarah showed me how to use the store tabs for the people who have them. When we finished in the store I came back to the office for a little bit. I went to my cabin to take a nap around 4:00 pm. It was nice to get some extra rest. I woke up at about 5:45 pm. I came into the office until dinner. I finished putting all the pictures I was working with on the camp hard drive. Then it was time for dinner. We have three groups coming to camp this week. All of these groups arrived in time for dinner on Monday night. We have two camps going on this week and a work group here for the week. The lodge was full of people for dinner. It was great to see so many new faces here at camp. After dinner I got a soda and came back to the office and typed up a blog entry for a previous day. When I finished my blog I went back to the lodge to see what was going on there. The Junior High group was having chapel upstairs in the lodge so I joined them. It was fun to observe a new group of campers. The whole group was really excited to be here. They have never been to Bighorn before. They played some games and then talked about some of the goals they had for themselves while they are here at camp. It was great to hear most of the people who commented said their goal for the week was to get closer to God. After chapel I went to my cabin to get ready for bed. It was cold and windy all day and so I wanted to bundle up in some warmer clothes. When I was ready for bed I came back into the office and typed up my blog entry for the day before. I also checked some things on the internet. When I finished typing my blog I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. Before I went to sleep I talked with some of the girls in my cabin. We had a nice talk. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for all of us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 22 7/11/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 22 7/11/2010

My Camp Bighorn adventure continues. I woke up at 8:00 am and got cleaned up and ready for church. Then it was time for breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge to enjoy some time of fellowship around the table and some wonderful cinnamon rolls. After breakfast I finished getting ready and went through my devotional reading for the day. We all piled in the vans and headed to church around 10:30am. Most of the camp staff went to the CMA church. When we got to church the first person I saw was Cathy Logan. I had not seen her in a long time. It was nice to catch up with her for a little bit. Cathy and her husband Todd worked at Camp Bighorn for many years. Todd was the cook and Cathy was in charge of the dinning hall and I think she ran the camp store as well. As I walked into the sanctuary I saw Todd standing in the back talking. I waited for him to finish talking and then went over and said hi. It was really great to see Todd and Cathy. They are two of my favorite people. Church was good. I really enjoyed the worship time. The sermon was also good. The pastor talked about what the bible says about government. When church was over we all waited around for the vans to pick us up and go back to camp. While I waited I talked with Tom and Terry Collins. It’s always good to see them. After a little transportation mix up we all got back to camp. I went into the lodge to help get lunch ready. I got the tables set and the dishes and silverware and water out. Then it was about time for lunch. We all gathered for sandwiches. After lunch my team met up to divide up the work for the rest of the day. After our meeting I went to my dorm to take a nap. It felt good to rest after a busy morning. I woke up around 4:45 pm. I checked with Josh to see if it was ok for me to go into plains to the grocery store for a little while. He said it was fine. I headed to the store about 5:00 pm. I had a little trouble finding the store. So I was gone longer than I intended. When I found the store I went in and bought some soda. Then I headed back to camp. I got back to camp at about 6:40 pm. I pulled in behind the lodge to take the soda I bought to my fridge in the basement of the lodge. While I was putting my soda in the fridge Jake came down and asked if he could put some soda in the fridge. There was a little bit of space left, so I told him he could put his soda in the fridge. When I was done with that I went and parked my truck in the staff parking lot. Then I headed to the lodge for dinner. After dinner I got a soda and came into the office and typed up a blog entry. When I finished I walked around camp for a while. People were playing games and talking. I came back to the office and called home to talk to my parents. We had a good talk. It is always nice to talk to them. They are both really glad to be home from their trip. We talked until it was about time for me to get to bed. After I got off the phone I went to the lodge to see what was going on in there. Then I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us in the days ahead. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 21 7/10/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 21 7/10/2010

The adventure continues. I had the day off so I slept in until 8:45 am. It was nice to get some extra rest. I got up and got my stuff together for getting ready for the day and went to the guest room to meet up with my parents. My parents were already up and ready and packing the car to go home. I left my stuff in the guest room and went to take care of the mail. I got the mail out before breakfast. Then I headed to the lodge to get some food. I met up with my parents for breakfast. It was nice to have them here for a short visit. After breakfast my parents got ready to head home. They left camp around 10:00 am. We said our goodbyes and they were on their way home. After they left I felt a little bit homesick. I really wanted to go home with them. Fortunately the homesickness did not last very long. I got the mail sorted and distributed and then I went and got cleaned up and ready for the day. I had a very quiet day at camp. When I was ready for the day I came into the office and worked at my computer for a while. I checked e-mail and facebook and some other things. I wrote up two of my blog entries for previous days. I listened to music on my ipod. After I finished typing up my blog entries I checked some things on the internet. I played some games on facebook. I talked with some people in the office. Then it was time for lunch. We all gathered in the lodge to get some food. After lunch I came back to the office and used my computer for a while. I read a new Ravi Zacharias book my parents brought me for a while. The book is very interesting. After I read for a while I went to my cabin to take a nap. I had a very restful day. It was very nice. I woke up around 5:30 pm. I was pretty much in and out of the office until dinner at 7:00 pm. We all gathered in the lodge for dinner. After dinner I came back to the office and typed up my blog entry for the day before. When I finished typing up my blog I called home. I talked to my mom for a while. She was glad to be home after being gone for two weeks. They got home on Saturday afternoon. We had a great talk. After I got off the phone with my mom I headed over to the lodge to see what was going on there. I talked with some people outside for a while until we were sick of the mosquitoes. We went inside the lodge. Samantha and I sat down at one of the tables in the lodge and had a good long talk. We talked about the camping trip we had all just come back from. It was fun to talk about our different experiences on the same trip. I told her about some of the challenges I had when I was a kid. I told her about having back surgery when I was nine years old. We talked until it was time for me to get to bed. It was nice to talk with her for awhile. After we talked I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what adventures were in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 20 7/9/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 20 7/9/2010

The adventure continues. The last day of our camping trip began with devotions at 9:00 am. It was nice to sleep in a bit. After devotions we all got packed up and ready for breakfast. When breakfast was ready we all gathered to get something to eat. The rest of the group was going mountain biking for the day. Beth and I headed back to camp early because she had an appointment that afternoon and my parents were coming to visit me later that day. We got all packed up and ready to head back to camp. I was supposed to drive one of the vans to a check point for the bikers. However, I was really not comfortable doing that. I have never driven a fifteen passenger van before. I was also not comfortable driving on dusty, narrow, mountain roads. So I told Andrea I was not comfortable driving. She said that was not a problem. She talked to Luke and they came up with a different plan. Beth and I headed back to camp around 11:00. We had a nice trip back to camp. We talked a lot about running and coaching track and cross country. It was nice to get to know each other a little better. Beth is a really cool person. We got back to camp a little after noon. I got all my stuff out of Beth’s car. She helped me get my stuff back to my cabin. I got settled in a little bit. Then I went and got cleaned up. It felt good to get clean after our adventure packed camping trip. When I was cleaned up and ready to go I went to Subway for lunch. I was so hungry by the time I got to Subway. My BLT, chips, and soda tasted great. I had a nice relaxing meal. It was nice to have some down time after going non stop for the last few days. When I was done at Subway I headed back to camp. I got about to camp around 3:30 pm. I got all my stuff put away in my dorm. I came into the office and called my parents. They were about an hour and a half from camp. When I got off the phone with them I typed up a blog entry from a previous day. I checked e-mail and facebook and some other things. My group got back to camp about 5:00 pm. So I met up with them. They were getting everything unpacked and put away. My parents got to camp a little while later. It was great to see them. They were on the way home after a two week road trip to Colorado. They spent the night here at camp and would go home the next morning. They brought me some things I forgot at home. They met some of the people I a working with. We had a great visit. They brought me some gifts from some friends they visited in Colorado. We got all caught up with each other then it was time for dinner. At dinner I showed my mom some of the pictures I have taken around camp. It was fun to share those pictures with her. After dinner my parents and I visited with some of the other staff. We had ice cream for dessert. It tasted great. I had a short meeting with my group to decide who was going to help with breakfast and lunch on Sunday. After my meeting I caught up with my parents and we talked for a while. There was a movie playing up stairs in the lodge. My mom and I watched the movie for a little bit. Then we went into the guest room where they were staying and talked until I had to go to bed. My mom and I had a great talk. I have really missed her. She is one of my best friends. I can talk to her about anything. I had a great talk with both my mom and dad. They are really great people. After we talked for a while I headed to my cabin to get some sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what adventures were in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 19 7/8/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 19 7/8/2010

Day two of our wilderness adventure trip began with devotions at 8:30 am. We went through the reading for the day in our devotional books. After devotions we all got our stuff packed up and ready to go. Then it was time for breakfast. We had blueberry muffins, fruit, yogurt, and hot cereal for breakfast. It was all great. After breakfast we gathered up the rest of our stuff, cleaned up the camp site, and piled into the vans to go rafting. The drive to our put in spot took about an hour. We were all very excited to go rafting. We rafted down the Alberton Gorge. This part of the trip was much more relaxing then the hike the day before. We used four rafts with five people in each raft. Everyone had a great time. We got on the river at around noon. Everyone else paddled the boats and I sat in the middle of my boat and took pictures of our adventure down the river. I did not want to paddle because I was not sure I could keep up with everyone else. That was ok with everyone. So I became the trip photographer. We started down the river and hit the first set of rapids pretty quickly. I had never rafted in really big rapids before. It was very exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Every time the water was quiet we would all gather up in our boats and someone would start a water fight. I got caught in the crossfire of every water fight because I was sitting in the middle of the boat. As we continued down the river through the rapids I got pummeled by at least three huge waves that came right over the top of the boat. I also got hit be waves on either side of the boat throughout the entire trip. There is something exhilarating about being hit by huge waves of ice cold river water. This whole trip was so much fun. On one of the last rapids we hit right before lunch, I got knocked backwards into the boat by a huge wave. I tried to maintain my balance, but I was not successful. The corner of the boat I was sitting in tipped up and I got thrown backward, the next thing I knew I was on my back at the bottom of the boat. Then I heard Andrea say, “We’ll get you up in a minute Sara.” I said I was ok and I just sat in the bottom of the boat for a minute. Then I found my way back to my seat. After that we stopped for some of the people in our group to go cliff jumping. When people finished cliff jumping we continued a little ways down the river and then stopped for lunch. We stopped for lunch at a small river creek. We all ate and rested on the beach for a while. After we rested a while it was time to finish the rafting trip. We switched up who was in each raft and headed back down the river. On the last part of the trip a huge water fight / war broke out between the four boats. I also got caught in the crossfire of this “battle”. People were jumping from boat to boat and trying to get others in the water or in other boats. I tired to stay out of the way of all of this. However, I got stepped on and one of the guys almost fell directly on me. It was fun to watch everyone attack each other with water. They all had lots of fun. I wanted to go swimming for a little bit so I got out of the way of everyone and jumped into the river and went swimming. I told my mom I would go swimming for her. After I was in the water a few minutes I was ready to get back in the boat. Andrea tried to pull me back into the boat by my arms two different times. My momentum was not quite right so that did not work. She pulled me up by my life jacket and got me back into the boat. It was great to get back into the boat after swimming in the river. We rafted a little farther until we got to the take out point. That whole rafting trip was really fun. We got all of the rafts out of the water and back on the trailer and headed back to camp for dinner. When we got to the camp site I got changed into some dry clothes. When dinner was ready we all gather to get something to eat. It was fun to eat and talk. We roasted marshmallows and had smores for dessert. They were great. I sat around the camp fire and talked for a while. Then we got the air mattress ready and I set up my bed. I was ready to rest. I went to bed around 10:30. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…

Camp Bighorn Day 18 7/7/2010

Camp Bighorn Day 18 7/7/2010

The adventure continues. My day began with devotions at 7:30 am. We all gathered in the lodge to go through the devotional reading for the day. After devotions I got cleaned up and ready for the day. I went back to my cabin to pack for our three day camping trip. The staff was broken up into three groups for the trip. My group was hiking first. I got packed and got the mail out before breakfast. We all gathered in the lodge for some food. After breakfast we packed up the vans and headed out on our trip. My group drove to the Idaho/Montana state line to hike the state line trail down to the Bonanza lakes. The hike was six miles round trip. It was harder than I thought it was going to be. The first two miles in were not that bad. I was feeling pretty good about the hike in the beginning. It was fun to be on the trip with some of the other camp staff. We stopped every once in a while to rest and take some pictures. Everyone was have a great time. The first two miles of the hike took us about two hours. We stopped for lunch at the two mile point. I was already feeling tired at that point. It was nice to rest a while and get something to eat. After we ate lunch and rested we hiked the last mile down to the lake. That is when the hike got more difficult. That part of the trail is all down hill going to the lake. The terrain is very rocky and somewhat unstable. Andrea Underhill helped me walk down most of that way. My legs and ankles were really tired and sore at this point. It was fun to be out with everyone, but I was getting really tired. We finally got down to the lake. I was ready to rest for a while. Some people swam in the lake. Others tried to do some fishing. Some of the guys built a raft. They paddled the raft across the lake. It was falling apart as they were trying to cross the lake. When we got to the lake I wrote up my blog entry for the day before. I would type and post that entry when I got back to camp. After I finished my blog entry I went back and sat by the lake for a while. We stayed at the lake until about 5:00 pm. Then we gathered up and headed back to the trail to hike three miles up from the lake. The first mile going back was mostly up hill. I had a really hard time walking the second half of the hike. We had not been hiking very long when I had to stop and rest. Everyone was behind me, so I felt like I needed to move a bit faster. I told the people behind me that they could go around me if they wanted to. Eventually people started getting around me. Everyone was very accommodating and encouraging to me. I am used to getting left behind in situations that require athletic or physical ability. I was not left alone on the entire hike. It was nice to feel like a part of the group even though I was so tired. I honestly thought I could not go any farther. I got really discouraged and said I can’t do this. I knew I had to get back to the beginning of the trail. I just felt so tired I did not know how I could. By the grace of God and through strength that only came from Him I was able to finish the hike. Once we finished the first mile back out and got to the top of the hill the last two miles were not that bad. I was still moving pretty slowly. I was trying to focus on the scenery and the conversation going on behind me and not on the pain I was in. We finally got the beginning of the trail. By then I was more than ready to sit and rest for a while. Sarah took a picture of me with my walking stick I used for most of the hike. Jeremy, Sarah, and Andrea were all very proud of me for finishing the hike. I gave Andrea and Sarah hugs and Jeremy a high five. I was also pretty proud of my self for accomplishing that difficult task. We all piled into the vans and headed to our camp site for the night. We got to our camp site around 10:00 pm. We had dinner between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. I was so sore I could hardly walk. I hobbled around and got my stuff out of the van and got ready for bed. I shared an air mattress with one of the other girls on summer staff. It felt really good to lie down and rest. Beth and I talked for a while until dinner was ready. We had hamburgers and chips for dinner. They were very good. I ate my dinner on my bed because I could not get around very well. After dinner Beth and I talked for a while then went to sleep. I went to sleep thinking about what was in store for us the next day. More on that later…