Campout 2009

So this past weekend, our church had its annual campout. This year it was at the San Marcus River Retreat( formerly known as Pecan Park Campgrounds). As usual it was a BLAST! So here I will tell you what we did each day.

Friday:
Arrive, unload. Head off to Kreutz for an AMAZING barbecue lunch, of the best sausage in the world, bread, pickles(nice sour ones!!) and Big Red. Otherwise known as Hot Guts and Red Sody Water :) Our friends the Ricks and John Boriack, joined us for lunch there. When we got back, we set up camp(set up tents, kitchen( which was a canopy with a table under it :) and stuff). After that, my friends, Melody, Molly, Laura, Ashlyn, Marissa, and myself headed off to the river to cool off and have fun! We went swimming for awhile. The part of the river next to the campsite is the BEST place to swim! Its so much fun! There is a shallow part with lots of rocks where all the little kids can play, then it gets deeper with a little bit of rapids where the older kids (or anybody who knows how to swim well) can swim! There are a couple of ropeswings there also. So that is what we did most of the afternoon. When we finally decided to get out, we played frisbee and kicked a ball back in forth. Or at least Molly, Melody, Laura, Kate, Grace, Mr. Humes(Laura, Kate and Graces dad), and I did. Soon after that, Christie arrived! So of course we all went swimming again! Great fun! Pretty soon, it was time for dinner. So we all went to our respective campsites and ate some YUMMY dinners. After dinner we hung out, watched the older kids and parents play volleyball, talked, you know....just hung out! Anyways, later that evening....actually it was probley around I don't know....8:30 we gathered around one of the campfires and sang worship songs to our gracious Saviour! Then, we(meaning most of the kids 12 and up) went a played card games....but we tired of that fairly quickly and changed to Big Llama....which didn't last long at all......to confusing :) So, we just sat around and talked and eventually got to the topic of nicknames....so we went around the circle....or whatever shape it was...and shared out nicknames..... Wow....some of them were QUITE funny! But anyways....time flew by and at about oh I don't know....11:30, maybe 12:00, we decided to head to bed. For me, Ashlyn, Christie and Melody....that meant get our our sleeping bags, pillows, and mats and lay them out on the ground....under what we wished were stars...but alas was only clouds.... We talked for awhile...then REALLY decided we should go to bed for real. So we all fell asleep. Oh wait....I forgot....during our talking in bed we heard a loud rustling in the woods right next to us. We didn't see anything but we think it was a couple of armadillos fighting....Anyways...THEN we fell asleep.

Saturday:
Us girls on the ground woke up at around 6:30 or so....except for Melody anyways...who slept in till about 8:40 I think :) Anyways....Christie and I headed off to the showers( I know...its kinda cheating to have showers on a campout....but :) Not sure where Ashlyn went.....oh wait...dur...she went with me and Christie!!! Haha. So...after that....we had breakfast. Mine was eggs, bacon, and fried onions...YUMMMMMMMY!!!! Then, after breakfast, Christie and I decided to join the game of volleyball that was being played. So we played that until it was time to get ready for the canoe trip. When everyone that was going on the trip was ready and gathered together, we walked up to the Canoe Livery, just next to the campsites, and got our boats, lifejackets, paddles...ect. Except for me, Molly, Melody, and Christie. We used our canoe that we brought. Everyone else rented canoes or kayaks. When we finally made it to the place where we put our canoes in, we all got situated. In our canoe, Molly and Melody started out paddling, while Christie and I sat in the middle, relaxing :) But don't worry we switch later on :). So we did pretty good for awhile.....but....yes, we did have out moments...like when our canoe went sideways...and when we ran into the bridge, and when we got caught sideways on a log underwater and almost flipped, and when our canoe went sideways again, and when the other canoers, who were supposed to help us and make sure us "ladies" were ok :):) splashed us and rammed into us...and made us run into things and stuff.....Yeah...the list of our mishaps....could go on :) But hey...it was fun :) And I think we all enjoyed it alot. There was one part of the trip....where everyone else was WAAAAAYYY ahead of us except for one canoe which was WAAAAAAYYYY behind us....where we were all by our lonesomes..wondering where everyone had gone...but we decided if we just followed the river...we should be ok...right??? haha......during that lonesome stretch, we encounted with many other canoers and kayakers...who weren't "our people" as we described them. They kinda just popped up out of nowhere then dissappeared. It was weird. :):) Anyways, we FINALLY caught up with people whenever it was time to portage our canoes....we pretty much stayed pretty close with them for the rest of the trip....but not always :) Oh yeah...somewheres in there Christie and I switched with Melody and Molly so they could have a break. Also, at one of the places where we had to portage our canoes, it was 3 dams. They were kinda like steps...for those of you who were there...you will know what I mean when I say the Shoots. For those of you who weren't...well, just use your imaginations. Anyways...what I am getting at is that, when we portaged there we got to take a break and go swimming there. So we got our lifejackets and held on to them and went down the "waterfalls" of the dams. It was alot of fun. But too soon, we had to move on. So yeah...that was somewhere in the middle of all our mishaps :) Finally, the 5-6 hr canoe trip, came to an end. We ended up back at our campsites. After we had unloaded all our stuff from the canoes....alot of us went swimming again. Then we decided that we wanted to go back to the Shoots. So eventually we got a group together and a couple of adults to come with us and went back. This time we brought tubes as well as lifejackets. So sometimes we went down in the tubes. I thought it was alot of fun in the tubes :) Well, anyways, I should move on....this is going to be one very long post :) So, when we got back from the Shoots...we played volleyball some more, and Melody, Christie, and I went on a walk in the woods....and we all did some more hanging out...eating....playing games...and such. Then as it was getting darker we decided to play Cops and Robbers, and freeze tag. And games like that. So that was alot of fun... But eventually the games kinda died out and all that was left playing them was the little kids. So all of us older kids kinda gathered around and talked.....As it got later the group got a little smaller as people went to bed. Eventually we moved out into the field and decided to try playing Big Llama again. It worked ok....but we were all tired and kinda grumpy so we gave up after like...5 minutes. Then, we really split up....Lots more people went to bed...so, Christie and I(who were the only ones that wanted to sleep outside again) went and fixed our beds up and went to sleep. No idea when everyone else went to bed. Unfortunatly....that night it rained...so in the middle of the night...I think around 4:30 am. So Christie and I hurredly grabbed all our stuff and made some room in one of the Boriacks tent for us to sleep. We fell asleep fast since we were so tired from our long day.

Sunday:
This time we woke up around 7:15. Christie and I did our morning routine...then sat around the Boriacks campfire waiting for our breakfast's to be done. Finally they were and we ate....then all the familys gathered around again so we could do some more worship and have a "service". That was nice. People shared what God had shown them throughout the weekend, and what they had read in their Bible's recently, and stuff like that. Also, Mr. Anderson(our pastor) told everyone to group up in groups of 5 or 6 or 7, and talk about what we liked most about camping. Then we all came together and shared what we had come up with. Some of the things that people came up with were kinda funny...like the sound of the zipper on the tent ....haha! After that...some of the familys had to leave so they packed up and left, but some like us, decided to stay around for a little while. So I got to go swimming one last time. Along with, Molly, Laura, and Ashlyn. Melody had already left. I think Marissa had too... and Christie was packing up. After swimming I helped my family finish packing up and we left....and that pretty much wraps up our campout....

Kakiedoo