Marathon Madness

One of our last posts was about Jules and Alex enjoying the arts.  We have now moved to forays into athletics.  Our latest adventure was participating in the Kansas City Marathon a few weeks ago.  Jules participated in the half marathon while Alex ran in the team relay for the marathon.  Here are our respective accounts of the event.

Jules dictating to Alex while cooking:  This was my first road race ever, and of course I decided to start big with a 13.1 mile half marathon. This might not seem logical except that I have never walked/jogged more than six or 7 miles at a time.  If I had started out doing a 5 or 10K, I probably wouldn’t have been able to work up the motivation to do a half-marathon.  So, I went with the mantra “Go big or go home.”

As all serious runners know, the pre-race meal is vital. We were not serious runners, so I joined Alex’s family for dinner the night before at Stroud’s, a restaurant in the area specializing in fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and cinnamon rolls.  Our conversation came around to the topic of running.  During the Chicago Marathon the weekend prior, a lady ran the race and gave birth within hours of finishing.  We were discussing about what an amazing feat that is and Alex’s brother (note from Alex: my brother is known for his sympathy and understanding) stated, “Well, it did take her over 6 hours to finish 26 miles so she wasn’t going that fast.”  We all about choked on our food while laughing at this outrageous statement. 

Since I have cheered my roommate Alex and our friend Jessica when they ran two half marathons, it came as no surprise to me that we would have to get up early.  But we had to rise even earlier (5:15 AM) for Alex to make it on a bus to her designated starting point for her leg of the relay.  Fortunately, Alex’s brother was willing to drive us there and contend with the crazy pre-race traffic.  We found a place to park at the Liberty Memorial and then had a nice downhill warm-up jog to where the starting line was.  We failed to figure in that this would mean we would have an uphill trek after the race when our muscles were throbbing. 

Lining up at the starting line with 8000 other runners was such an experience with everyone crammed like sardines, trying to find the area for their predicted paces.  Luckily the music at the start did help rev people up for the race, so it wasn’t such a drag to start at 7 AM.  I started next to an older lady, probably in her 60s, who was a fellow walker/jogger.  It was interesting to see everyone ditching extra layers of clothing and then homeless people walking around “shopping” for what looked good.  It was an absolutely gorgeous fall morning to tour Kansas City by foot.  It was fairly enjoyable until about mile 8, and then I started to feel it in my quadriceps (fortunately did not hurt anywhere else during the race).  So I ended up running more than I thought I would since it hurt less to run than to walk.

 There were interesting people along the route cheering on the runners while shaking cow bells (this seemed a little out of place while running through the Plaza).  Around mile 9 there was a guy doing flips in a park which provided some entertainment to break up the monotony.  And then shortly after that the first marathon runner passed us and he didn’t even look winded.  I was also inspired by a soldier who was walking the race with a full pack and gear.  I finally crossed the finish line and was rewarded for my effort with post-race chocolate milk and some bread.  Afterwards I went to Panera for lunch and ordered a huge salad and soup and therefore got a funny look from the cashier.  I felt slightly like a pig when it took a couple trips to take my two trays of food to my table, but I felt I had earned it.  It was also nice to have the entire weekend to recover and eat whatever I wanted and not really get full.  The soreness hit right after the race, and I couldn’t walk straight for a couple days. While I may not take up a career in road racing I am glad I did the half marathon on a gorgeous fall day.

Alex: For the team relay I ran the final 6.4 mile leg to the finish line.  Supposedly it is an honor to anchor a relay and get the glory at the finish line.  However, when the team decided I would run last I don’t know if they meant it as an honor since I found out later that the first three miles of the leg were all uphill.  Our team name was The HasBeens which was pretty appropriate.  We were all runners in high school but then have gotten older and therefore slower.  It was fun to be a spectator and watch part of the race before having to run in it. 

When I got the hand-off the people I was running with were all running the full marathon.  I felt slightly guilty for passing them since I had only ran a half mile and they were chugging away at mile 20.  I then felt even worse with some of the marathoners were passing me—nothing is worse than getting passed by old guys in a road race, especially when they have already been running 2 hours before you started. 

One of these guys ran with me for a while and we chatted before he left me in the dust.  I simply asked him how many marathons he had run previously- simple running conversation but I didn’t expect the answer I got.  He was running his 148^th marathon.  He had run one the weekend before but couldn’t pass up the chance to do another.  For some people running a marathon is a phenomenal challenge, and even being a runner myself, it is a challenge I really have no desire to take on.  And then there are the people who seem to be freaks of nature and running marathons is simply child’s play—this isn’t natural and maybe on the verge of crazy.  However talking to this guy was a great conversation which made one of the miles fly by and I even had to pick up my pace a little bit to stay with him. 

The HasBeens finished 4^th in the Coed division- just shy of the awards.  My older brother who also ran on the team tried to convince me that if I would have pushed a little harder at the finish we might have been able to catch them (the 3^rd place team beat us by 10 minutes).  The HasBeens may have lost our speed but we hadn’t lost our competitive spirit. 

Quotes

During a discussion about a social outing and why Alex wasn’t attending:

            Alex: I’m not against social activities, I just don’t really care for the social aspect.

            Jules: So, basically you just go for the food.

While talking about a new recipe for grilled cheese sandwiches a kid in Alex’s Sunday school class shared with her.

            Alex: What does it say about my cooking if I am getting cooking advice from a first grader?

The Gridiron

There is only one movie that makes me cry.  In the movie Rudy, I always get misty-eyed during the final scenes when Rudy finally gets to play after all the years of hard work.  While Rudy is probably my favorite movie, there are several great football movies.  This weekend Julianna and I have having a football movie marathon.  We started out the evening by tailgating in our kitchen- hot dogs on the George Foreman, chips, and root beer floats.  After our first movie- The Blindside- we had hot apple cider during halftime.  We finished off the evening with Remember the Titans.  One of my fall traditions is to spend an evening watching the best football movies of all times and usually my friends are somewhat willing participants (Julianna spent the evening knitting). 

Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons in the fall were made for playing football.  (I have attended several football games where the conditions have been less than perfect but we don’t need to go into that right now.)  As a little kid, my older brother put my younger brother and I though summer football camp so we would be in top condition for our family flag football games against our parents on Saturday afternoons.  In high school I watched most football games from the percussion section of the marching band.  When a touchdown was scored, fireworks were shot off, and the band played the fight song.  While in college I loved going to K-State football games.  There is just something about the atmosphere and all the fans coming together to cheer for the Cats.  For a person who doesn’t like to sing, I can’t help myself when it comes time to belt out Wildcat Victory.  As an athletic trainer I also got to spend a fair amount of time at football practices and on the sidelines of high school football games.  While this isn’t the way most college students would prefer to spend their Friday nights I enjoyed it (my Friday nights are usually pretty lame anyway).  Also in college I played on the Boyd Hall intramural flag football team.  I was the quarterback (if anyone has seen me throw a football this will give you a clue about how competitive we were).  We had some great victories- probably more moral victories than actual victories.  A great bonding experience with the other ladies on my floor and we still love sharing memories about our glories on the gridiron. 

So if anyone is looking for some great entertainment- you are apparently desperate for a good time if you are reading this blog- a football movie is always a wonderful option.  Here are my top 5 picks:

1.      Rudy- As previously mentioned, this is my favorite movie.  It is a great story of someone who is willing to dream big and work hard to achieve those dreams that everyone else has told him are impossible.  Watch it with a box of Kleenex.

2.      Remember the Titans- This is a very close second.  This is the story of a high school football team that is formed during the integration of a black and white high school.  There are also some great quotes in this movie such as “Your overcookin’ my grits, Coach” and “Jump on that ball like a starvin’ man on a Christmas ham”.

3.      We are Marshall- Based on the true story, it is about the challenges faced in rebuilding Marshall’s football program after a deadly plane crash. 

4.      Facing the Giants- A good movie that focuses on the fact that real success in all about honoring God.  The head coach of the mediocre team decides to change his coaching philosophy and encourages his team to praise God no matter what the outcome of the game.

5.      Possums- So this movie is a little different and corny but still fun.  The high school hasn’t won a football game in years.  The school ends its football program but the local radio station continues to broadcast the games which the announcer makes up.  The imaginary team ends up making it to the state championship.  

   **So this post was actually written last fall but never made it out of the depths of the files stored on Alex's laptop.  Even though it is a year old all the information is still good and K-State football is even better this year. 

Symphonies, Speedways, and Salsa

Jules and Alex are reunited again!  Though Alex has returned from the Alaskan wilderness, new and different adventures are waiting in the Big City.  We have taken it upon ourselves to be more sophisticated in our adventuring which has led us to explore the arts.  

The location of our first adventure was Shawnee Mission Park which is usually the site of some of our best outdoor adventures in Kansas City.  However, on Labor Day we went to the park to attend a free concert by the Kansas City Symphony at the open air theater.  It was an absolutely glorious evening and we even got to see part of the sunset.  We joined hundreds of other patrons of the arts (I guess instead of fans people who like the arts are patrons) sitting on blankets listening to strains of Tchaikovsky floating through the air.  Another highlight to this concert was that a few of the selections were movie scores such as the Death March from Star Wars or the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean.  Finally, the other reason why this was so wonderful was the entire concert lasted less than an hour- the perfect length since we enjoyed the performance but it wasn't too long (We enjoy fine art to a certain extent but also have our limits.)

Our next outing was to the Plaza Art Fair.  Each year hundreds of artists set up booths in the Plaza to display their art and everyone and their dogs (literally) enjoys wandering around the Plaza being artsy (we pretended).  Again it was a beautiful fall Saturday morning (I think the weather has a big part in dictate how much we enjoy these events) as we strolled along discussing our favorite pieces.  There was some outstanding photography and paintings as well as some “art” that we weren’t quite sure what it was or what a person would do with it.  After fighting the crowds and walking around we were inspired by the art to go back to our quiet apartment, eat lunch, and take a nap.  The other adventure associated with going to the Plaza Art Fair was driving there.  Alex loves city driving anyway but decided to take on the challenge to driving to the Plaza, navigating the one-way or closed streets, the hordes of cars and pedestrians, and parking in a parking garage (this was better than the thought of attempting to parallel park).  

On a much less (I really mean very much less) sophisticated scale, Alex had the pleasure of working at the Kansas Speedway parking cars for the NASCAR event.  It was a fundraiser for her physical therapy class and required getting up at 4:30am on Saturday and Sunday to attempt to tell NASCAR fans how to drive and where to park.  The highlights of the day was getting to go stargazing and watch sunrise at the same time.  Over 130,000 fans were expected to attend the race on Sunday.  I noted quite a difference between crazed NASCAR fans and the patrons of the arts.  After standing for nine hours out in the clouds of dust and getting my first sunburn of the year I decided that there is a good reason why I am spending so much of my time going to school just for the fact that hopefully I won’t have to park cars for a living.  Although it was slightly enjoyable to tell semis were to park or tell an RV they need to move just because I had the authority of wearing an orange vest and waving my handy orange parking flag.  

Finally, we celebrated Columbus Day with a party.  (Basically this part is included in this blog just so the title can be an alliteration.)  We had enchiladas, chips and salsa, and mango fruit drink.  We listened to salsa music via Pandora radio.  (Pandora makes perfect dinner music or sound tracks for any occasion much easier now).  Now I realize some of you might be wondering why we were celebrating a holiday remembering an Italian by eating Spanish food instead of spaghetti.  The main reason is because enchiladas were already on the menu and spaghetti wasn’t (I don’t deviate from what is planned to be spontaneous even in the event of a celebration).  Also, Columbus sailed for the King of Spain so it still works (kind of) and we got to have a good time without being bothered by the minor details such as nationality. 

Lessons from Life Beyond the End of the Road

Now that camp is finished for the year I am headed back to my ‘real life’ in Kansas City as a student in grad school.  I will shortly be spending most of my days in a classroom gathering knowledge from textbooks and lectures.  However, before I jump into that I thought I would reflect on some of the lessons I learned this past summer.  To steal a quote from one of my past employers in regards to college—“Don’t let school and classes get in the way of your education”.  

I learned a few practical skills such as how to build a fire using only one match.  Another skill was perfecting the perfect roasted marshmallow for s’mores.  I also discovered I have hidden talents in making shadow puppets and reading children’s stories with fun voices (Meanwhile Back at the Ranch was my personal favorite this summer).  I learned that Alaska's governor is Sean Parnell (that's right, I was able to redeem myself from my earlier Alaskan government faux pas in a later round of Quiz Quest).  Additionally, if a person has to stand in the ocean while putting a canoe in the water and the waves happen to go over the top of their boots, the boots will be soaked.  One of the best ways to dry out said boots is stuffing them with newspaper.  Newspaper is a hot commodity for this reason and since it serves as excellent fire starter.  Also it is possible to live only with the possessions that fit in 2 duffel bags and a backpack for quite a while-- I don't even remember why I need a closet.

Other lessons were more difficult.  One week I had a camper in my cabin who pushed me to the edge.  She was disrespectful and disobedient and working with her was a constant battle.  We talked about how we needed to show this girl unconditional love but after two days I was out of love.  At one point she asked why the other counselor and myself didn’t quit and just go home.   I told her we couldn’t because we cared too much about her.  Through this experience I grasped a better understanding of God’s unconditional love.  How often do I flat out tell Him no and run away or refuse to listen.  I lost my patience and got frustrated but God’s love is steadfast and never-ending.  His love and patience with me last much longer than two days.   Also, no matter what we do, God will not quit on us- He loves us too much.  (Another lesson I learn with this camper is how to quickly extinguish a flaming napkin at the dinner table in a glass of milk.  I guess this is what happens when a table full of 8 year olds get birthday cake with candles.)

I learned a few other lessons working with the campers.  I think I got the 'opportunity' to practice my patience daily this summer.  I hate being late to things but I always had one or two campers who would lag behind the rest of the cabin so I would have to wait on them.  Often I was impatient but a few times I realized it was an opportunity to spend time with them one-on-one as we went to the next activity and those discussions were much more important in the long run than being on time.  I didn’t have this attitude all the time so this is a lesson I need to continue to learn.  God also taught me this summer that sometimes I don’t get to see the results and I just have to trust that He is working.  As a physical therapy student who loves objective measurements and documenting progress with patients this was hard for me.  However, occasionally I got to a chance to see how God changes lives and was amazed.

After listening to several campers share their stories and some of the staff I got a better picture of the brokenness that exists in our fallen world.  However, I also saw that despite our brokenness God still chooses to use our lives.  So many times in the Bible or even today God picks those of us who are unqualified- basically the rejects who would get picked last for a game of dodge ball in PE- to be on His team.  In our brokenness we have to depend on God since we can’t do it on our own so all the glory goes to Him.  

Living at camp this summer I had the unique experience of working, playing, eating, and worshiping with the same group of people for three months.  While I had to leave behind my family and friends I developed a new family of friends.  I learned a lot about the importance of Christian community and what it looks like.  Our faith isn’t meant to be lived out alone but as a whole group of believers.  

The final lesson I learned was about serving others.  I realized that service is all about doing what needs to be done when others don’t want to and sometimes involves getting down and getting dirty.  For me this included cleaning some outhouses or getting all the gunk out of drains.  It’s all about serving out of gratitude to Jesus for rescuing and redeeming our lives.  What better role model of the heart and attitude of a servant than Christ himself.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Every Sunday before lunch at camp we gather in a circle around the dining hall and sing the doxology.  This is something we all look forwards to every week.  I thought I would use this post to share a few of my other favorite little things about this summer.
- I love seeing little tiny Sitka spruce.  I am fond of evergreens to begin with from my past summer jobs working at a Christmas tree farm and these little ones are so cute.  I am trying to figure out how I can sneak one in my luggage.
- Lighting a fire in the wood stoves in the cabins (especially if it only takes me one match to start it) and then falling asleep listening to it crackle.
- There is a great patch of wild strawberries near the zip line so I love to stop there on when I run and eat a few (or a lot).  They are tiny but oh so sweet.
- Baked oatmeal for breakfast.  Probably my favorite meal at camp and I look forward to it all week if I see it on the menu.
- Taking a shower- this is enjoyable for a few reasons- it's a luxury here at camp so I only get one if the date is an odd number and not around meal times, it's always great to clean some of the dirt off, and it is a chance to be alone for a few minutes and away from kids- this is also a luxury for a counselor.
- If you get mail at camp you have to sing and dance to a song called Gray Squirrel but since mail is our primary form of communication with friends and family we all get excited whenever mail makes it out to camp.
- One of my favorite activities on work staff is washing dishes and trying to beat the dishwasher by having another load ready before the dishwasher is done- it doesn't take much to amuse me.
- A few of my counselor friends and I poke one another just to say "hey, how are you doing" since during camp sometimes there isn't a chance to actually talk to one another since we are trying to prevent chaos.
- I celebrated Christmas 4 times in July.
- One person on work staff each week is the laundry queen who does everyone's laundry.  It is great to drop my laundry off and have it nicely folded on my bunk later that day usually with an encouraging note included.
- The horses at camp roam free during the evenings and weekends so sometimes a group of horses is just running down the beach, grazing on the sports field, or hanging out by the creek.
- One of my favorite activities and where I spend a lot of my free time is hanging out on the beach sitting on a piece of driftwood.  I never get tired of the view or just watching the activity on the water- fish, birds, seals, whales, and boats.
- The free corner is where all the leftovers, mainly desserts, are placed when they are up for grabs.  This is usually one of my stops before going to bed and usually there are a few others gathered around so we discuss the day's events over leftover cookies.
- I'm always excited to climb into my fluffy down sleeping bag at the end of the day.
- Besides loving my sleeping bag, I also am crazy about my hiking boots and hiking pants.  My boots are waterproof so I can stand in water ankle deep and my feet stay dry which is wonderful around here and my hiking pants zip off into shorts which is handy if I don't have time to change and they have lots of pockets for holding my camp schedule and other random items.
-Game time is one of the best parts of each day.  Perhaps I shouldn't get as much satisfaction out of nailing kids with dodge balls as I do but playing is one of the ways I connect with kids.  On the last day of camps we don't have game time so 2 other counselors and I get up and play basketball at 6:30am just so we get our game fill.
- Each morning I get up at 6am which I love since camp is so quiet.  I get ready for the day and do my devotions looking out the front windows of the dining hall.  What a great way to start each day before the chaos of camp hits.
- On weekends I get a chance to go running around camp.  There is a great mile loop which includes the landing strip overlooking the beach, a trail through the woods, and a view of the creek in the valley- sure beats the city streets of KC.
-I have a confession to make- as much as I dislike singing there are a few songs at camp I really enjoy- secretly.
-On Sunday evenings a few of us get together to play badminton.  I played a lot in college but haven't gotten the chance recently so I was excited to find people who also enjoy playing.  Our games get pretty intense with a lot of yelling at times.
- It's a great thrill whenever I see rest time on the schedule.  The kids are also worn out enough that they want to take a nap too.

The A Team

Note from Alex:  I know several people were wondering what happened to Alex.  Did she have a more serious run-in with a bear?  Did all the kids drive her crazy and she ran farther into the wild to escape being around children?  No, none of these things happened.  My reason for not posting in a while is much less exciting: I had limited internet time since there were several days the internet was turned off completely so I used the time I did have access to work on my online class.  However, now that I have returned to the Lower 48 safe and sound and internet access abounds I will share more about my experience.

 The A Team hit camp this week like a whirlwind- a cleaning force to be dealt with.  The A team was comprised of those in Group A on work staff this week and we took it upon ourselves to battle all dirt, grime, and messiness at camp-- and had a good time doing it.  We raced to clean bathhouses, tackled mountains of pots and pans, jammed out to tunes while painting bunks - that's right, more painting for me this week, and joked around while sweeping, mopping, and hauling firewood to stock cabins.  I feel like I have almost lived in the kitchen this week- so maybe not but considering how much I love being in kitchens I have hung out quite a bit in one this week.  For each meal there are dishes for 150 people and all the pots and pans needed to feed them.  I'm pretty sure that in one day I washed more dishes than I do in an entire year for myself.  Of course when I go back to my apartment in KC I'm going to miss the industrial size dishwasher .  One night we had ice cream sandwich cookies for dessert.  One of the other counselors and I decided to split the last one and clean out the melted ice cream in the bottom of the pan just using our faces.  It was a great time and we did such a good job that it almost didn't even need to be washed.

This month during camp the kids have gotten breakfast in bed the day after playing Mission Impossible so they get a chance to sleep in.  On Saturday The A Team decided to make breakfast in bed for all of the staff.  We got up early to make a killer pumpkin cream cheese coffeecake and bran muffins.  Yes, I even helped cook and bake and nothing went wrong.  We had a few hitches when we couldn't figure out how to get the food processor to work or where to find the bran for the muffins (a slightly major ingredient) but all in all I thought it went well for my first attempts in making a recipe that feeds 50 people.  We then loaded everything up in the back of a golf cart- coffeecake, yogurt, buckets of fruit, thank you cards, and coffee- and drvoe all over camp delivering trays of breakfast.

As for entertainment this weekend it was decided to have a barn party.  Everyone found a flannel shirt (these are pretty easy to come by at camp) and a cowboy hat (also not rare on a ranch) and we had a party.  There are several barns at camp but we decided to go to The Loft which is the counselors' hangout.  We turned up the country music and played a few games of Texas Hold 'Em using the left over silver treasure coins from pirate month as poker chips.  Saturday afternoon the counselors loaded up in the Blondina and headed an hour away to Antler River for kind of an end of the summer bash.  There is an awesome sandy beach (real sand and not rock or gravel) so we all relished taking off our boots and frolicking in the sand.  We played Ultimate Frisbee on the beach until the tide came in and flooded one of the end zones.  Before we started we took a moment  to just marvel at the location we were playing in- a beach in the Alaskan wilderness with mountains towering all around us and ocean waves rolling in.  For dinner we had brats (as in bratwurst not brats like whining kids- we had some of those too this summer, just not for dinner) on  a camp fire and had a picnic on the beach.  Afterwards we went on a "bear hunt".  With 15 people tromping through the woods seeing a bear is pretty unlikely but we were well armed with bear spray, knives, and guns.  There are also moose that live near Antler River which is what we were all hoping to see even though it was very unlikely.  We ended up seeing lots of bear and moose poop (I guess scat is the appropriate terminology) plus 2 porcupines.  Our boat ride back to camp was right at sunset so we sat on the edge of the boat talking or singing as we enjoyed a glorious Alaskan sunset cruise Echo Ranch style. 

Celebrate Good Times

It's been another quiet week at Echo Ranch, my home for this summer.  Actually, I'm not sure it could be even close to quiet when 90 high schoolers show up for a week of camp.  This month the theme for camps is holidays so each day is a different holiday- Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc.  It's been fun to dress up for each holiday and the party never stops.  This week my co-counselor was a mechanical engineer.  For talent night each cabin had to do a holiday themed skit.  We decided to do a skit about National Pi day.  We dress up as nerds (tweed jackets, plaid ties, crazy hair, and huge glasses) and talked about math which we thought was great.  The skit ended by pieing a few counselors in the face-- who didn't see that coming with Pi day?  This week for Crud War it was a huge birthday party.  We basically made birthday cakes on our faces.  Our ammunition included pancake batter, chocolate syrup, eggs, flour, glitter balloons, and whip cream.  It was the sweetest Crud War ever- literally and figuratively.  I enjoyed licking the crud off my face this time and eating the ammunition.  And in Echo Ranch tradition it ended with an exhilarating polar plunge into the ocean.  On Wednesday we celebrated three holidays in one day- Halloween, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve.  I dressed up as a tiger and we had penguins, cowboys, Spider Man and Batman, and a lot of other random costumes.  That evening we had a block party and stayed up till midnight to usher in July 21, 2011 and watched the ball drop-- add in party hats, snacks, and good music and it was quite the party.  Christmas Day was pretty much amazing.  It started with getting breakfast in bed since it was delivered to our cabins- this meant we got to sleep in which is a wonderful gift in itself during Sr. high camp.  We also went "sledding" Echo Ranch style on the slip and slide.  That evening we had a banquet and several counselors dressed up to be a living nativity scene.  I played the part of a sheep.  It was possible the warmest I have ever been during a living nativity scene- I guess that's what I get for wearing a wooly jacket during July.  The evening ended playing Mission Impossible searching all over camp for gold, frankincense, and myrrh and following a star to find the baby Jesus at the barn.  It's so great that I only have to wait a week to celebrate my birthday and Christmas again.

While this week of camp was a lot of fun it was also probably the most challenging week as well.  Most of the girls in my cabin come from rough backgrounds and had a lot of different struggles.  The first few days it was difficult to connect with most of them but finally towards the end of the week they started to open up more and share their stories.  It was great to see God work but always difficult to see the kids get on the bus and head back to their lives in the real world.  But God has the power to change lives.

Painting is the Lord's work

Certain verses from Ecclesiastes describes my past week (July 6-10).  Eccl. 1:23 says "Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.  What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun."  I spent this past week "toiling" on work staff at camp.  A lot of my time was spent sweeping, mopping, and doing dishes.  My attempt was to clean but in all truth I think achieving "clean" out here is somewhat futile.  There are pine needles and sand that get tracked everywhere especially when it rains like it did this week.  There will always be dirty dishes to do and once something does get washed it will be back in the pile in a few hours after the next meal.  Actually I had a good time on work staff.  I love the adrenaline rush of trying to have another load of dishes ready for whenever the dishwasher finished or the joy of sweeping up mounds and mounds of dirt and knowing at least you removed some of it.  Our other task this week was painting.  We were priming and painting all the bunk beds in camp.  I enjoy painting but after trying to squeeze under the bottom bunks and attempting to paint with a roller it became slightly annoying or the paint fumes finally got to me.  I'm convinced that painting is truly the Lord's work.  No matter where I serve God painting is usually involved in one form or another.  God must really appreciate when anything in His kingdom gets a fresh coat of paint.

On Saturday afternoon I hiked out to the Point with 5 guys on staff.  The girls were getting hair cuts and watching a chick flick but I declined so I could hike instead- not a tough choice.  Most of my hiking experience in life has been done with guys.  My brothers have left me on the side of a mountain a couple of different times (once I was having an asthma attack so I was slowing them down- at least they left me with granola bars).  We started out by canoeing up the beach so we could canoe across the creek.  The plan was to canoe up the creek but they forgot to figure in the current of the creek plus at low tide all the water is being sucked out of the creek making it pretty hard to paddle-- especially if the water is only a few inches deep.  After struggling for several minutes paddling as hard as possible without making much progress we pulled to the bank and hiked from there.  This hike would probably take over an hour at the most but a few guys carried full packs just because they could.  I should also mention I was the only one who neglected to bring a pocket knife, hunting knife, or machete.  I brought the first aid pack instead (which was good since one guy about dropped his knife on another guy's hand).  It was determined early on that trails are for sissies so we headed off through another meadow.  Eventually we got to the beach and caught the trail.  Once we got to the Point we sat on the rocks and watched salmon, seals, sea  lions, and ducks.  The conversation then turned to what type of knife or gun they would like to have with them if hunting a certain animal.  Finally it was time to head back so of course in typical male fashion we had to time it to see how fast we could go.  When we reached the woods the group decided that we could either take the boring trail around the beach or use the machete to bushwhack through all the devil's club in the woods- the decision was unanimous- the woods.  We found the canoes again and raced the 10 minutes back to camp.  It was a fun hike with a great group of guys- I felt like I was almost right at home with my brothers.

Saturday evening we hung out at Wilderness camp.  We not only ate s'mores but experimented with deluxe s'mores including peanut butter and honey, marshmallows stuffed with snickers and then roasted, and much more.  We played some whiffle ball and tossed around the pigskin a bit but the real party was down at the creek where everyone was fly fishing.  The salmon are coming upstream so it's like fishing in an aquarium.  These guys catch 15 a piece most evenings.  They kept a few so I watched them filet and cook the salmon.  Nothing beats an evening around the fire eating salmon and s'mores-- very Alaskan.

4th of July

This is the weekend we have all been waiting for- our return to civilization.  For over 5 weeks we have all lived just a few miles beyond where the road ends.  At camp there is no pavement, phone service, vehicles smaller than 4x4 truck, or shopping besides the Trading Post’s offering of Echo Ranch sweatshirts and candy for the campers.  Needless to say the excitement this past week about making the 40 mile trip into Juneau was high.  We boarded the Blondina, the camp’s landing craft, with a float for the parade, 40-odd people (you can interrupt this as an estimate over 40 or that it’s a group of strange folks- either is correct), and backpacks and sleeping bags for the weekend.  In town we split into shoppers and hikers- guess which group yours truly was a part of.  We headed out to hike up to Mendenhall Glacier.  In true Juneau fashion it rained steadily the whole time.  Juneau is in the middle of the Tongass National Forest which is the largest rain forest in North America getting an average of 90 inches of rain a year. (I’m sorry to share this with everyone in Kansas during the month of July).  Since there is plenty of rain everything is lush and bright green.  After awhile the well groomed trail stopped and a sign was posted saying “Hazardous Unmaintained Trail”- just what we were looking for,  We had to scramble a ways up some steep rocks which were fairly slippery but at the top was an incredible view of the glacier and the lake below.  It was impressive.  When we finished we looked like wet dogs, were muddy and tired, but it was well worth it.  Next we headed downtown to the docks where there were 4 cruise ships in that evening and ate at The Wharf with a view overlooking the channel.  A few other counselors and I wanted to try some seafood so we split an order of Alaskan cod and a halibut salad—after all we are in Alaska just for the halibut (that joke never gets old around camp).  We drove across the channel to Douglas island to watch the fireworks.  All along the beach people had bonfires blazing and were setting off fireworks.  Some more Juneau background info is needed here.  There fireworks are set off at 12:00 in the morning on the 4^th since it doesn’t get dark enough before midnight.  Also it was 50F and raining so I watched fireworks in a long sleeve shirt, fleece, and rain jacket (Once again I’m sorry to all my readers in Kansas in the triple digits- it topped out at 75F last Monday and I about couldn’t stand the heat).  The fireworks are set off on a barge in the middle of the channel so they reflect on the water ant the sound echoes back and forth in the mountains surrounding town which is kind of eerie.  The next day- July 4^th everyone from camp walked in the parade.  I’m always surprised by Alaskans and I wasn’t disappointed.  The local dance studio had a float so all the girls were in tutus and XtraTufs- such a classy look.  Instead of tractors, many floats consisted of truck hauling boats on boat trailers.  Echo ranch had a float so we handed out candy and fliers about the upcoming camps, sang camp songs and danced, and had a lot of fun as usual.  Another great part of the parade was seeing previous campers who ran up to greet me or seeing the positive response from the adults since they went to Echo Ranch 40 years ago.  There was a great turn out for the parade and beautiful- no rain.  The route looped through downtown and in front of the cruise ship docks.  Afterwards we spent some time downtown which was crowded from tourists.  They always ask entertaining questions.  The best one is when they ask what elevation Juneau is at after stepping off a boat--- sea level might be a good guess. 
Our final stop was Fred Meyer’s which is kind of like a supped up Super Wal-Mart.  The store itself is over a quarter mile long- Alaskans just do everything on a grand scale.  Hopefully we all got stocked up on everything we need for the next 6 weeks.  Spending some time in Juneau was great since it provided a nice break, we got to see a ton of kids who have already come to camp, and also get a better idea of what Juneau is really like so we can relate to the kids a little bit better. 

Bear Hunt

We are finished with the first month of camp.  Overnight the dinning hall was transformed from a pirate ship back to a regular dinning hall- I kind of miss the gang plank.  Camp went well- we played Crud War again and this week Mission Impossible took place in the rain so it was almost dark at midnight—almost.  I spent quite a bit of time hanging out on the beach supervising canoeing this week.  One day it was raining pretty hard so I decided to take a nap on a pile of life jackets in the canoe shed which was great.  I spent one day dressed as a pirate and wore a Hawaiian shirt another day.  I love camp dress code- anything goes and we have some great costumes.  Some downsides of the week was getting booed by all the Jr. High campers during a quiz game since I didn’t know the governor of Alaska—if you guessed Sarah Palin you’re wrong too.  I also got a fat lip since my co-counselor accidentally punched me in the face when she gave one of our campers a hug—there’s a good reason I don’t like hugs.  My other “shining moment” this week was during a relay race where you spin around with your forehead on a baseball bat.  I spun and then the world spun as I tried to take my first step and I totally wiped out.  I jumped up (dazed and confused) and took off running across the field in a not so straight line and proceeded to wipe out again.  I finally finished and have had several requests for a repeat performance-luckily for those wanting an encore performance we play that game every week.  I’m really enjoying the fact that at camp I can act younger and even more unprofessional than I really am- and it is strongly encouraged.

I have been in Alaska for 5 weeks and have yet to see a bear.  Actually the last live bear I saw was in the Omaha zoo.  I thought it was pretty funny that Jules wrote about the possibility of more bear sightings due to flooding.  Maybe I didn’t have to leave home after all to see a bear.  Anyway, a few others decided this weekend that if the bears won’t come to use that we would go find them so I joined in a hunt to shoot a grizzly bear (with cameras- although in hindsight a gun might not have been a bad idea).  The group consisted of 2 Kansans and 2 from Ohio so we have a ton of wilderness experience.  At least one has worked at camp several years and the rest of us have pretty good bear knowledge from watching nature specials on public television.  We hiked out to Wilderness camp and crossed the creek.  Since we wanted adventure we decided to break our own trail instead of taken the beaten path.  We started off crossing what appeared to be an open meadow to get to the tree line on the other side.  The grass was at least 5 feet tall so our heads just bobbed over the top.  This prevented us from seeing the marsh and pond until the leader of our group stepped into it.  All Alaskans were boots called XtraTufs that come up to your knees all the time—fishing, hiking, playing tag, going to church, etc.  We all had these on which is always a good idea when wading through a marsh a foot deep.  Most of the time the ground looked solid until you stand on it and it’s just a clump of moss on top of the water.  It was like walking on a waterbed and you would start to sink if you didn’t move fast enough.  There is nothing more exciting than tromping around marshes.  We came to a point where there was a beaver pond we couldn’t cross so we had to retrace our steps back to the main trail.  We  took the trail for a while and then decided to cut back towards the creek and camp.  Once we started bushwhacking through several clumps of blueberry bushes we started to keep our eyes on the look out.  We got down to the creek bed and in the sand we saw some rather large grizzly tracks from earlier that morning.  We were running out of time before we had to return to camp so even though we were hot on the trail—kind of, we had to find a place to cross the creek back to camp.  We didn’t find an option that would keep us from getting really wet so we stood on a sand bar for awhile.  At that point we were surrounded by the creek we couldn’t cross and a dense thicket of trees that was probably home to whatever bear left the tracks we found so we didn’t really want to hike through there—we weren’t that desperate yet.  We were just about to resign to hiking the long way out when the silence of the wilderness was broken by the sound of a boat motor coming downstream from Wilderness camp.  Perfect timing.  We stood on the bank and hitchhiked a ride back to camp on the river skiff.  We had to admit defeat since we didn’t find a bear but we also realize if we had come across one where we were at it could have been either really cool or turned out really bad so we were okay to miss out on too much excitement.  While I was somewhat doubtful we would see a bear I’m all about enjoying the journey and this journey was a unique experience.  There’s not many times I’ve been up to my knees in water with grass almost over my head surrounded by majestic mountains looking for grizzly—I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore. 

So after writing this I went on a trail ride out to Wilderness camp and saw a bear wandering through the meadow when we crossed the creek at the same point we were saw the tracks on Saturday.  Finally, a bear sighting.

Keeping everyone up to date on what's going on in Kansas City

For the most exciting news:  My brother Ryan and his wife Lydia are moving to Wichita in a few weeks, and I am going to be an aunt!!!!!  I’ll get to meet my niece or nephew in January.  Already have a blanket done.  And I am saving up vacation time, too.  

For other news, I’ll start with cooking.  I really haven’ t done as much as I thought I would since Alex has been gone, but I did have a mishap  with making her favorite granola recipe. I let it cool & harden too much on the pan, and my attempt to remove it resulted in about ¼ of it flying all over the kitchen and the counter.  I’m still coming across some  of it.  I also decided to try to eat out once a week, and I have had some excellent Chinese and Vietnamese food and eaten at Jacks Stacks twice.   

One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most this summer is the beautiful flowers that cover our balcony.  Here is a picture of them:  Miss Patty Petunia, Betty Begonia, Elephant Ear Earl, and the others I was too Impatient to name. Unfortunately, the indoor plants, especially Nort, need some more TLC.  

 

I also met some people at a musical at Midamerica Nazarene called  “the Pastor.”  It was about the man & his wife who started Voice of the Martyrs after being imprisoned in Romania when the Soviets invaded.  It was very touching, and I am going to get a dvd copy of the performance, too.  

I also saw  Les Miserables with some folks at the Theatre in the Park (something they have at Shawnee Mission Park every summer).  That was fun, and we did some frisbee throwing before the show began.  The performance itself was so so.  They left out some of the story and spent too much time on certain nonessentials.  

There are a few things that I have enjoyed doing that Alex would be glad to avoid (besides the Chinese and Vietnamese food, of course).  I watched a couple good foreign films.  One of them, The Classic, will be on my list of favorite foreign films.  It’s about a girl who falls in love, and while reading her mom’s letters the film flashes back to her mom’s story of when she fell in love.  Other favorites:  Life is Beautiful, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and Vivah.  

My mom and I went to go see the Princess Diana exhibit at Union Station.  Something else  Alex would rather skip.  We purchased the tickets to it but had to wait 3 hours to get in, so we wandered around a bit before deciding to go see the World War I Memorial.  Unfortunately, the memorial closes pretty early & all we had a chance to do was go up in the observation tower.  And since I had to climb up a rather confined, winding stairway, the claustrophobia started to kick in.  And I don’t really like heights unless I am safely behind glass.  

I did go back this weekend, and it was interesting to go through the museum and see the timeline (by month) of the war’s events.  My dad and I were surprised that one of our favorite authors, J.R.R. Tolkien, fought in the Battle of the Somme.  Other interesting facts/thoughts:  almost half of the people who died from the U.S. died from the Spanish Flu, and 20-40 million people died from that epidemic in 1918-19.  Did you know that Japan entered World War I against Germany?  

I also enjoyed refreshing my memory on historical events, especially since I am reading the latest bestelling biography on Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was executed after opposing the Nazis.  Bonhoeffer lived in Berlin during World War I, and it is interesting to read how it affected his family and Germany and precipitated WWII.  

As for other events in the Midwest, I was just watching the news the other night, and they were discussing flooding in Missouri and Kansas and Nebraska.  With all the melting snow in ND, there have been quite a few levee breaches and towns evacuated along the Missouri River.  I-29 has been closed north of Rock Port, MO.  Not sure how far north it’s closed.

Anyway, they showed a local news clip saying that all the flooding may increase the chances of encountering a bear while camping.  It just struck me as ironic as I’m sitting in Johnson County.  And I don’t think I have ever heard of bear encounters anywhere between here and Omaha.  

Other atypical events for Johnson County:  We were under a boil water advisory for the past two days after a water main break.  They determined the cause to be a racoon who chewed through electical wires at the water treatment plant, causing a loss in pressure. 

Yes, things here don't quite compare to Alex's adventures in AK, but I kept reminding her before she left that the heat and humidity when she gets back will just be another adventure for her. 

Crazy Quotes:

Since Alex has been gone, this section is quite short; however, I do have one from a while ago when I was riding with Alex to the store.  I was obviously pretty tired.

Jules rambling about nothing:  “This shopping center has the Green Apple (frozen yogurt place) and Applebees.  Now all they need is Ray’s Apple Market.”  

Alex vs. Wild

Before I left the lower 48 my older brother decided that I needed to be prepared for surviving the Alaskan wild.  So we watched an episode of Man vs. Wild where Bear Grylls conquered glaciers, forests, raging rivers, and inevitably ate something disgusting.  Because of this training I was sufficiently prepared for my adventure this weekend.  We were going to climb a mountain near camp but we woke up Friday morning and it was cloudy so we didn't since there wouldn't be a view from the top. (I'm all about enjoying the journey but the rest of the group wasn't willing to inflict personal pain without reason).  Instead we decided to canoe and kayak to a waterfall.  Thirty people showed up on the front beach ready to board our vessels- 6 kayaks and 9 canoes- for a 3 hour tour.  It was about an hour paddle across the bay to the cove by the waterfall.  My paddling partner sang the entire soundtrack from Pocahontas which seemed appropriate.  We did see some whales across the channel.  We usually see quite a few whales in the area we were paddling through and canoes don't make for the best close-up whale watching.  Once we arrived we dragged all the boats up the beach since tide was coming in.  We then hike a short distance up to a waterfall.  We bushwhacked through Devil's club- this is a plant with prickles all over so you don't want to get too close.  I learned this from Man vs. Wild and personal experience.  We climbed above the falls and crossed the creek on a log that spanned it.  About half way across all of us were wondering what we were doing on a log 6 feet over a freezing rushing stream with 20 feet of log to go still.  I was just hoping my rubber boots didn't slip.  The waterfall was impressive.  If I were Bear Grylls I would have tried climbing down the wet rock face covered with moss or just jump form the top and get soaking wet but a 30ft fall into rock and rushing water didn't seem that appealing.  We trekked back to the beach and began heading back to camp.  We had some amazing rhubarb bars for dessert from lunch that I had stashed in my pocket so I enjoyed it- much better than eating reindeer liver as suggested on Man vs. Wild. 

While we were at the falls the wind picked up and tide same in so there were white caps forming on the water.  We were going to have to paddle back into the wind and waves.  I was in a kayak for the way back and we just got to the edge of the cove ready to round the corner into the bay but decided to turn back since canoes don't handle ocean waves very well.  Anytime a group of 30 20-something year olds who are adrenaline junkies get together we are all looking for adventure but we did have enough sense to stop before we ran into hypothermia out on the ocean (do you feel better now Mom?).  We radioed camp and the glorious Blondina (the camp's freight boat) came and loaded all of us stranded paddlers up.  We were also able to get all the canoes on board as well.  Going back we were crossing 3 ft swells which made for a bumpy ride and I think everyone was thankful not to be in those waves in our metal canoes.  Our trip ended happily as we arrived back at camp just in time to eat grilled chicken for supper.

Horsing Around

I thought I was prepared for horse camp since I had my wilderness kit, hiking whistle, and can of bear spray but I'm not sure there is any survival equipment for spending a week with a bunch of middle school girls who are crazy about horses.  If there is any repellent for constant giggling I could have use it this week- not for myself but for my campers just in case anyone was confused.  Horse camp is located a mile away from base camp and the cabins and dinning hall look like an old western town with a hotel, bank, and jail- including hitching posts out front.  All of our meals were cooked over the camp fire for the most part- nothing beats sitting around the fire chowing down on grub after a long, hard day.  Most of the time we hung out around the barn at base camp where the girls learned to brush, tack, and ride horses.  I think the girls were slightly shocked I couldn't memorize or identify all 27 horses by the end of the week.  In the evenings at base camp we ate dinner, had chapel and devotions and then spent time around the fire eating smores or playing games.  Of course swarms of the Alaskan state bird, the mosquito, usually joined us in these activities. (I guess this could be an improvement over the horse flies at the barn).  Camp ended with trail ride on the last day.  My horse's name was Blaze- a classic horse name in the same category as Dusty or Lightning.  (Although I've always wanted to ride on a horse with no name).  We forded across the creek just like in the movies and rode across meadows of wildflowers.  As we came over a hill the mountains and ocean cam into view- it was absolutely spectacular.  We ate our sack lunches on the beach.  Blaze wanted to share but there was no way I was splitting my granola bar with a horse.  On the way back we rode along where tree line meets the beach back into camp.  It was an incredible way to end the week.

Purple Stew and Crud War

In keeping with tradition of this blog, even my posts from camp have a common theme of food however with a slightly different spin.

Week 2 Senior High Camp
Senior High camp is designed to be intense and this week it was.  My cabin consisted of a group of girls who were serious about camp and we had some serious fun.  They were the 3 time defending champions at a game called Mission Impossible.  This is an Echo Ranch favorite that involves sneaking around camp in the "dark" completing tasks without getting caught by the guards (the camp staff).  We played from 11:30pm to 1am and it was never actually dark.  I have never watched sunset before at midnight-- it possibly could have been sunrise.  My cabin dressed in all black, we used black face paint, and even sported Amazon woman hairstyles.  With stealth and speed we completed everything and were the first team to report again this year.  They also brought a small arsenal of supplies to prank other cabins.  I must say I was impressed with the leadership, organization, and teamwork that went into this project so I think it was a useful learning experience.  They of course needed adult supervision so I found myself sneaking around camp armed with water balloons in my pockets at 1:30 in the morning.  Some of you may have noted the amount of late nights I put in this week- it's tough keeping up with these young'uns.  Another cabin bonding activity was learning how to punch through boards.  The other counselor I worked with just happened to have a black belt in tae kwon do so we spent the week busting boards with our bare hands- as if the other cabins weren't intimidated by us enough already.  In addition to Mission Impossible, another Echo Ranch tradition is Crud War which is basically a giant food fight.  I was covered with spaghetti, oatmeal, apple sauce, refried beans, and shaving cream all in the name of serving the Lord.  Sometimes I am floored by what God gets me into to serve Him.  The day's lesson was about sin and it was great to talk about how messed up our lives are from sins with speghetti and oatmeal smeared in your hair and face.  We plunged into the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to clean up.  I enjoyed the ocean the rest of the week since I was in charge of canoeing.  Not many high schoolers were interested so I got to be a beach bum for a few days and just stare at the beauty of God's creation- there are some upsides to this job when not covered in crud.  While this week was fun I also got a glimpse of some of the struggles kids in Southeast Alaska face- while probably not that different from teens everywhere it was a reminder of how Echo Ranch is a light in the darkness and how honored I am that God is letting me be a part of His work here.

So at camp we work hard and play hard during the week so the weekends have been a nice chance to relax and rest up.  Our "resting up" has included multiple games of Ultimate Frisbee, an all-camp softball game, horseback riding through the meadow, and canoeing down the creek to the ocean.  To tie into cooking once again this afternoon we went out on the boat to check crab pots and then had fresh Alaskan crab for dinner.  I will admit it was good but for this Kansas girl steak is a lot less work to get into and eat.  Since I am still working towards becoming a young professional I am taking an online graduate course in pharmacology this summer.  I have noticed that it is kind of difficult to switch from kid, camp, and fun mode to serious, studious, grad student mode to do my homework on the weekends.  Sadly the information I learn during the week about Justin Beeber's latest hits are never homework questions.

Week 1 Bronco Camp
During the first week of camp I sung about purple stew, decomposing moose, and crazy acorns.  The song Purple Stew has developed into a love-hate relationship at camp-- the kids love and the staff hates it since it sticks in your head for hours.  For those of you who know me well probably know how I feel about singing, all day long, at the top of my lungs.  Despite this downside, the first week of camp went great.  I had 9 10 year old girls with lots of energy but it was tons of fun.  My week started out with a trek to town to spend the night with a few girls who flew in early and then 30 kids who arrived at 5am on the ferry.  We hiked in from the End of the Road and I kept telling kids that camp was right around the bend in the beach (maybe it was 4 turns away).  This month the theme is Adventure on the High Seas so we have sea monsters, pirates, fishermen, and crazy cruise ship tourists running around camp.  We learned the story of Jonah during the week.  We played fun games and at great food (the food is amazing since I am a counselor and stay far away from the kitchen).  My campers were disappointed since the menu didn't include bear, moose, or rabbit meat but they got over it.  I never know what I will be called on to do at camp-- on afternoon I spent an hour filling water balloons (I decided I could list it on my resume as aquatic ammunition technician).  I have honed my air hockey skills after several hours of practice in the game room this week.  I also had an interview with a cowboy and a pirate and then met a giant penguin in the hall afterwards- you never know what characters will be hanging around here. 

Next week I am counseling at horse camp which is about a mile beyond base camp in the woods.  I'm spending the week with middle school girls with only an outhouse and no plumbing or electricity-- it could be interesting.  I have my radio, wilderness medical kit, and bear spray all ready to go.

Welcome to the Wilderness

As I have mentioned in previous blogs I have always viewed city dwellers as people of sophistication who hang out in coffee shops.  Seattle, the home of Starbucks, seems to be the perfect example of this style of living.  On my way to Alaska I had an extended layover in Seattle so I decided to check out the city.  It has always  been a dream of mine to grow up and move to Seattle and have a job in a cubicle.  My dad tried to steer me away from aspiring to have my own personal cubicle.  So finally I got my chance to taste Seattle for a day.  I managed to use the public transport system like a pro.  (there was one incidence where the ticket kiosk gave me my $18 worth of change in dollar coins so my pockets jingled the rest of the day decreasing how sophisticated I felt.  I check out the Pikes Place market, grabbed a sandwich at a café and ate at a pier.  I hopped on the monorail and checked out the Space Needle and toured the Klondike Gold Rush museum.  Since it was a Thursday every elementary student in the city was on field trips at all the same spots I went to see- this also caused a feeling of diminished sophistication with hoards of 5^th graders running around.  Seattle is definitely unique but I suppose now that I have gotten to experience it I can give up my cubicle dream. 

                My next stop was Juneau where the first thing I saw was a stuffed polar bear and everyone seemed to be carrying fishing rods and wearing rubber boots at the airport.  The camp I’m at this summer is located at The End of the Road (it’s the only road around Juneau-  and then a 2 mile hike past where the road stops.  Depending on tide a 4 wheel drive vehicle can drive around on the beach or the other option is taking the camp’s cargo boat the Blondina.  There is also no electric lines- camp runs on a generator and the cabins for the campers don’t have power so one part of counselor orientation included now to properly build a fire in a wood burning stove.  Mail and groceries come in twice a week from town, there’s no reliable phone service and limited internet.  Plaid flannel shirts and brown rubber boats are cutting edge fashion for any occasion.  Compared to the sophistication of Seattle this is probably more my style. 

                This past week has been staff training and orientation.  We have practice canoe safety and discussed hypothermia prevention.  I am now certified to run the zip line.  Along with other normal comp training one day we got to go hiking.  The weather was beautiful (Supposedly we are in a rain forest but today was the first time I saw rain after being here more than a week.)  We hiked up to Hidden Lake and across the ridge to a cove.  We spent the evening cooking dinner over a fire and hanging out on an outcropping of rocks watching seals, sea lions, whales and bald eagles.  At times when the wildlife wasn’t entertaining enough I just enjoyed looking across the channel that the ferries use to the snow capped mountain range on the other side.

                Our week of training is over so the kids show up next week which means the real adventure is about to begin.