Camp helper

I am so glad I went! I didn't end up helping with the Daisy troop at all, but I did work with the 4 special needs Brownies. My head is killing me. I have just woken up from a 2 hour nap. :) I'm now watching probably one of my favorite movies and a movie I consider to be terribly underrated October Sky. I first saw it when I was teaching and we did a big field trip to the movie theater with the classes. You know, know I'm a sap for those underdog uplifting movies, but this one is also about a NASA engineer and when I was little I always wanted to be an astronaut. ANYWAY...

I headed out to Carnation at 8:00 this morning. I stopped at the McDonald's up by my house. Here's what I learned about McDonald's on First Hill at 8:00 AM... It is full of wackos. I don't suspect McDonald's employees are paid enough to put up with the loonies that were in there. The drive out to camp was quick and painless. Completely unlike last year's drive to Camp Robbinswold. It only took 40 minutes which was nice. Just long enough to get into CD 1 of Pearl Jam's greatest hits CD. Got there, parked, found the lodge. Up a big fucking hill. Really, Indiana just beckons. Helped set up tables and went to flag ceremony (down the big fucking hill. Then back up the big fucking hill to the lodge). Met the girls I was going to be working with. So freaking cute. We sat and made edible fires. Then foam picture frames. We then worked on paper knives. We were going to do knife safety, but that was not really in the cards. Had a baked potato for lunch and did some singing. They laughed at the Sharp-toothed buzzards song and liked my version of Old McDonald. Then went canoing. Lucky us, down the big fucking hill, then back up to get our gear and head home. I was lucky enough to get to go into a canoe with 2 of the girls (twins) and their co-leader. It's amazing how quickly the canoing skills come back. My arms may not forgive me tomorrow though. :) It was such a good time. The girls were fun. One of the twins became my buddy and wanted me to hold her hand when we walked and help her with her lunch. Her sister was frightened of me, but what can you do? I rented a car to go, the amount I had to pay for the insurance portion was twice the rate I was paying for the damn car. Eh, not the best fiscal idea, but a good journey for me. I'm really glad I went...




The enterance to Camp River Ranch. The little white 'snow' are those little daisies that when you're a kid you can play the 'momma had a baby and her head popped off' game. At least that's what we did. :)



The fireplace in the main lodge. It made me think back to camp in Arizona. We would sign the staff cabin with our initials or name or pithy saying. I sometimes wonder if it is still there. The oars on the back wall were done by various groups of camp staff. The camp in Alaska, wasn't owned by Girl Scouts so there was never any permanent history like that there.



Canoes! It has been years since I canoed, but it was so fun. It all came back to me quickly. The girls really enjoyed it. Although it would've been much easier to canoe without their 'help.' :)



I just loved all the greens in the forest at the camp. The green was so vibrant and just amazing.




These ferns grew in circles. They started out flat but naturally circled themselves around. I wonder why they grow that way.



Notice the 2 braids. Michelle, Matthew, Volodiya (and probably many others) are not fond of the 2 braid look. I LOVE the 2 braid look! Too bad for them I say. :) One of the little girls was fascinated with them and during singing before lunch she kept wanting to touch one.



It took me 3 tries to take a picture of this damn building. I didn't realize that the words on the sign were very reflective so the flash kept going off and causing the sign to glow. I had to move over and get a different angle to make it work.



You know how I love little secret spots. This little bench was surrounded by trees and bushes. I thought it would be so nice to sit in there and read or write or draw.



The Tolton River, which obviously is where River Ranch got its name. You could tell the water level is way down.



This farm is just before the entrance to River Ranch. I took a picture of this just because it reminded me so much of Indiana actually or maybe Kentucky. There were horses in the pastures. Big shock since the farm is for horse riding.

And that's all she wrote folks! Have a good Sunday.