And just so you know, all my memories are jumbled so sometimes I can't tell which day is which. Like it matters, but still.
First Day (Monday): We drove to Tooele, and into Camp Wapiti (which is where Hobe is held). We got to our cabins and spent part of the day brainstorming cabin names, doing relay races against the other cabins, and eating. We went to activities such as drama, field games in which we played capture the flag, swimming, and more. We learned that the camp theme this year was Road Trip Around the U.S.A, so a lot of our activities had to do with that. By the end of the day, each cabin had a name. Ours was called the Ninja Vanishers. I didn't come up with that, just so you know. But we were totally ninja. And we also played Ninja Destruction, the game where you slap hands.
The cabin names go as follows:
- Youngest girls: The Audacious Dozen
- 2nd youngest girls: Buffafros
- My cabin: Ninja Vanishers
- Oldest girls: Thing 15 (which is a take off of Dr. Seuss)
- Youngest boys (Aaron's cabin): The Lost Boys
- 2nd youngest boys: Los Muchachos
- 2nd oldest boys: Awkward Silence
- Oldest boys: The Fellowship of the Lele (A take off of Lord of the Rings--and using the last part of the word Ukelele)
That night, an improv comedy group came to perform for us. Laughing Stock, they were called. I'm not going to lie, they did make me laugh, but I'm more of a person who laughs at life. At serendipitous happenings in life. :) (More on that later...)
Then we went to bed and I couldn't fall asleep until 1 o'clock a.m. First of all, it was roasting in the room. I was chicken in an oven bake. Plus, I had to go to the bathroom really really bad. I was hoping and praying that someone would need to go to the bathroom and ask if anyone would go with them. At 12:52ish am, Lillie--thank you, dear--whispered into the dark: who needs to go to the bathroom? I jumped up for joy and said that I needed to go, and after that, I fell asleep. Finally.
Tuesday: We had a few different rotations on Tuesday. We went to the music rotation and our group (I was always with the older half of the camp) learned a medley of songs that have to do with road trips or the US. Some songs included "California Gurls", "Proud to be an American", "Life is a Highway". And we prepared these with choreography and all to make sure we were ready for the music battle we would be having with the younger group that night or Wednesday evening. I had lots of fun with that.
Another rotation was the high ropes coarse. Kevin hooked us up to a zipline when it was our turn and we rode down it. I've never been scared of it...only a little, maybe. :) But this year I wasn't, because I had done it many times before.
I didn't swim that day...I was too cold, so we just sat on a table outside the gates and colored in coloring books. I had to release my inner-child. :)
The thing that was probably my favorite part of the day, however, was Hobe Forever. It's just a time for those of us who want to go to reflect on life and think about people who were once in our lives but aren't anymore. Or to think about things that are important to us. In a quiet place in the woods, we can got to the middle and plant a flower for something like that. I bawled as I explained what I was planting a flower for: Camp Hobe, and all the other things in the world that make our burdens lighter. For those of us who could eat cookies and milk--I couldn't because I'm allergic--they supplied root beer float milk, cookies and cream milk, and yummy-looking cookies. I loved that moment.
Later that day, we had our daily relay races with the whole camp, each cabin against each other. There was a flippin' hard potato relay I could not do...it involved jumping around a hula hoop with a potato between the legs. And to insert the potato, you couldn't use your hands or arms...you had to use your legs and such. Fun, but hard.
We also had field games, but I can not for the life of me remember what we did for that. I could kick myself. ANYWAY...rotations were normal and fun, but that night, it got even more fun. And funny, if you ask me. Last year a hypnotist came to do a hypnosis show for us. He came back to do it again this year, and he chose a girl from my cabin and a few other people. He did the same stuff as last year, but the show itself was different because the volunteers did stuff differently. I laughed. Hard.
Then we went to bed.
Wednesday: I woke up early in the morning to go on an optional hike with people from the camp who wanted to go. Last year we hiked up the huge mountain hill thingy. Due to construction up there this year, we had to hike through the woods on the opposite side instead. :( But that was still cool, because I didn't get tired the whole time! On the way down, I went up to the front of the line with Aaron (Chipper) and his buddy Oliver. We were just sprinting down basically, while everyone else was yelling at us to slow down. :) That's a first-timer for me!
The only thing I hated about his day was the fact that it was chilly, wet, and cold day. It was supposed to be 90 degrees outside, but I don't think it even came close to that. And it was our water games day! We went to the field and played a game called Drip Drip Drop. It's like Duck Duck Goose, but you use a bucket of water to drip on people for duck, and then drop on one person for goose if you're it. The person you dump the bucket of water on is supposed to chase you as usual, but everyone gets a turn to be it. Unlike the original game, you want to be it so you can drop water on people. It's hilarious, but freezing.
Other water activities included scuba diving in the pool, in which I was frozen as well. It was cool because my ears didn't feel like they were going to explode like they did last year! But I was still an icicle, so we went and took hot showers. Then I was warm.
Until...
We had another relay rotation with the whole camp! And it was water-based. I was so warm and cozy, but then that relay ruined it for me. I was cold the rest of the day.
That night, a loud and obnoxious band came and played for us. They were called Hobe Jam. They performed songs by Bon Jovi, apparently Journey, but I heard NO Journey whatsoever, and other classic and heavy rock materials that I would have enjoyed had they turned down the volume a little. Seriously, I would have been dancing like a lunatic with everybody else, but I could not get close to the band--my ears were going to literally blow out. So I sat by the warm fire with earplugs in. I even had a nice discussion with one of the nurses there...she was such a good listener, and I really enjoyed talking to her. But then Kelsey and Sirenity came and made me dance, so I did for a little bit. But I had to return to the fire.
Then we went to bed.
Thursday: I kept telling my cabin mates how my whole week was ruined because this was our last full day before we left. I was seriously depressed, but I was trying to make the best of the day.
In the morning, we hung out with all the girls, and the boys hung out with all the boys. We were supposed to swim early in the morning, but I just sat on the edge because I didn't want to get my hair all chloriney...we wouldn't have time to shower and I'd look bad for the camp pictures.
After swimming, the same lady--Big Al--who taught us the music medly taught us the Thriller dance, and then a dance to "I Will Survive". I had a good time because I could totally pick up the choreo really fast. (Thank you, Company!)
After that, I believe we did the high ropes coarse, but we did the big swing instead of the zipline. I went first because I was ready to fly!
Schmatt came and got us for the low ropes coarse...we did a thing called baby shark island, and we had to swing across the "shark infested waters" on a rope swing. Then we went and did rock climbing with people from the National Guard. I climbed all the walls I could, and then I did the white tape challenge. Certain rocks were marked with white tape, and in order to succeed, you were not allowed to touch the white tape rocks with your hands OR feet, and you weren't supposed to veer to far off the course. I did it! With some help from the people down below. I couldn't see where some of the tape actually was. But the real feat was accomplished by one of the guys from the National Guard. He scaled the whole wall blindfolded, while doing the white tape challenge, and when he reached the top and pressed the button, he sang "I'm A Little Teapot". That was all upon the request of the Thing 15 cabin. I was impressed.
Later that day for field games, the whole camp played Pickpockets. We each got a little flag to hang out of our pockets off of our belt loops, and we had to run around dodging people while trying to steal their flags. The last man standing was most likely to have the most flags at the end, but if they didn't and someone else did, that someone else won. Aaron/Chipper won the first round, and then the winners were different each time, almost.
We ate lunch, and then we did our daily relays.
At the end of the evening, we had campfire. (That is something we do every night. We sing camp songs, do cabin skits, etc...) But this night was special. Throughout the week each of us signed the spirit stick, a stick that we burn at the end of the camp week. But we don't burn the whole thing. We save a part of it for the kids next year at camp. It's just a special tradition. SO, we passed the stick around, and if we wanted to share something special from camp, then we could when we got the stick. I got the stick and mentioned how I LOVE Camp Hobe, and that I've never laughed so much in my life. I was worried I was going to cry again, but this year it was in such good humor that I just laughed.
After that ceremony, we burned the stick and went to the dance. We danced until midnight. And then we went to bed.
Friday: We mostly packed up and cleaned. I did low ropes course with some of my friends later...we did the Eskimo blanket, and I was totally like Cat Woman landing on my feet each time. ;) Then we did the climbing wall where we had to get the whole group up the straight and steep wall without any help from outside sources. And then we did the trust fall with the Eskimo blanket...one person would fall off a tall post backward as straight as a stick, and we would catch them in the blanket. When I fell, it was scarier than you would think. But I did it!
We ate lunch, had our closing campfire--singing and doing cheers for our parents, then we went home. And I didn't cry. I felt like it, because that's how sad I was to leave, but I had done enough of that at Hobe Forever.
I love Camp Hobe! It's better than Disneyland. It's the happiest place on Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment