TUESDAY
"Does anyone want to quit?"
We were about 10% of the way up the trail this afternoon when the hiking group took their first water break and I turned around and asked everyone the question above. The campers looked around at each other for a moment before one of them raised her hand. Before I could say anything, another camper started talking.
"It's okay, stay with us. Nothing bad is going to happen, everything here is made of plastic and the counselors aren't allowed to let you get hurt."
"Yeah," someone else chimed in. "It's a billboard over there."
"A billboard? What do you mean?" I asked. I thought it was a pretty good question, but the camper who made the comment giggled and then answered.
"That's not a real mountain, its like a billboard with a mountain painted on it."
The conversation quickly started to develop about all of the realities here at camp, and the campers all had ideas about what was real and what wasn't real. One camper told me that camp was like a reality show where no one could see the cameras. Another camper told me that the rocks had been superglued to the mountains by the first director of the camp many years ago. After a brief discussion, they all decided to keep walking up the trail to the top of the mountain.
It takes at least 30 minutes to hike to the top of the trail, and I wasn't sure if everyone was going to make it. I had about 5 campers who were very excited to hike up the mountain, and another 4 who seemed to be going along because they were signed up to do the activity. It was really interesting to see all of them interact and continue to challenge each other to continue every step of the way.
When we hike at camp, we have a few rules.
#1: If someone says stop, we all stop.
#2: We encourage everyone to finish, but you can quit at any time.
#3: Listen to the instructors &
#4: Hydrate frequently and apply sunscreen.
When we finally got to the top, we let all of the camper who wanted to sit on a rock that overlooks the entire camp. I personally get vertigo if I sit on the rock, and even being near it makes me uncomfortable, but all of the campers wanted to try it!
Before I continue, I want to say that sitting on the rock is perfectly safe, and the campers are never in any danger. Just as a precaution I stand next to them just in case someone gets dizzy or can't handle the view. I had one camper who wanted to sit all the way on the edge, but I asked her not too and she listened very well.
Overall, the hiking excursion at camp is a bit tough, but all the campers were able to do it and no one was injured. We show the campers how to hike, where they need to point their toes away from the trail and when they need walk carefully. After the hike was over we all refilled our water bottles and then I handed out the wristbands the campers earned by hiking the Stork Trail.
There's a lot of things you can buy in the store, but these trail wristbands aren't there. Each person who wears one earned it by completing the hike on the specific trail. The hiking is nice, but the conversations we have on the trail are really priceless.
Before I completely forget, here's the entrée list for today:
Breakfast: Build your own breakfast burrito.
Lunch: Enchiladas, refried beans, and rice.
Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan, breadsticks, & peas.
For a full list of what usually comes with each meal, please see the Sunday/Monday post from yesterday.
Today, we also had a group of five campers visit Wet 'N Wild in Palm Springs. I know they had Subway for lunch and that they had a lot of fun. I talked to the boys when they came back, and they told me that the waterpark wasn't crowded and they got to go on all the rides they wanted to try.
Both the hiking trip and the waterpark trip are part of our new Day Trip excursions from PSR Camp that we're offering for the first time to campers. Tomorrow we have thee boys going to Pole Position in Murrieta and we have a group of nine campers going to Lake Hemet Waterpark on Thursday.
It's going to be a busy week here at camp, so I'll make sure to write a post about base camp tomorrow. Today everything went the same as yesterday, with the campers switching rotations, playing games, eating three times, and going to evening program. Camp is very predictable for the first three days, so the campers get comfortable following the set schedule.
Blessings,
-Jeremy
Before I completely forget, here's the entrée list for today:
Breakfast: Build your own breakfast burrito.
Lunch: Enchiladas, refried beans, and rice.
Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan, breadsticks, & peas.
For a full list of what usually comes with each meal, please see the Sunday/Monday post from yesterday.
Today, we also had a group of five campers visit Wet 'N Wild in Palm Springs. I know they had Subway for lunch and that they had a lot of fun. I talked to the boys when they came back, and they told me that the waterpark wasn't crowded and they got to go on all the rides they wanted to try.
Both the hiking trip and the waterpark trip are part of our new Day Trip excursions from PSR Camp that we're offering for the first time to campers. Tomorrow we have thee boys going to Pole Position in Murrieta and we have a group of nine campers going to Lake Hemet Waterpark on Thursday.
It's going to be a busy week here at camp, so I'll make sure to write a post about base camp tomorrow. Today everything went the same as yesterday, with the campers switching rotations, playing games, eating three times, and going to evening program. Camp is very predictable for the first three days, so the campers get comfortable following the set schedule.
Blessings,
-Jeremy
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