Wednesday, August 30th

About 8:45am and about 76˚f – About 8:50 pm and temperatures unknown

Getting on the bus with my pillow and string backpack, I sat three seats in front of the back. As we drove into a hurricane, pretty much oblivious until the last twenty minutes, the bus ride, two hours, had brought talking, laughter, drawing, and so many snacks. For the last twenty minutes my eyes were on the sky looking at the rain and looking behind me where the conversations were. After arriving, in the pouring rain, we were rushed to grab a bag. It didn’t matter which bag we grabbed as long as we got it to the pavilion. We were gathered in a way you would in an amphitheater. Except the fact that this wasn’t an amphitheater and we were in a rectangular space. Group by group we were called by cabin. My cabin, cabin two, consisted of the girls in my advisory group, the girls from an advisory group from across the hall in school, and two girls from an advisory group from across the campus. We scavenged for our stuff and walked into the rain. 

The girls’ cabins were to the left of the dining hall if you faced it head on from the front and I later found out that they were to the north. We were cabin two, so not too far from the food but still far enough the walking the path took approximately a minute and a half. As soon as we got in the cabin, I claimed the top bunch closest to the door. While everyone else put their stuff on the floor, I set mine at the foot of my bunk. I slipped off my shoes, made sure not to touch the ground, and climbed up. Only after that did I realize that I had forgotten my sleeping bag at the pavilion. And I had to run back and get it. When I got back I climbed up, same procedure, and opened my sleeping bag all the way open. And I mean the whole zipper. I had my sweatshirt on and my cap. I slung my string backpack over my shoulder, since one of the straps was broken, and sat on the edge of the foot of my bed waiting for everyone else. Oh, and I also went to the bathroom.

When everyone was finally ready, I got down and we walked up to the dinning hall. Our lunch consisted of a turkey sandwich slider, some water, and optional salad. Personally, I liked it. But not everyone did. After lunch, I can’t really remember what we did. We might have gone back to the cabins. Wait, we did. We went back to the cabins and I sat on my perch. I probably went to the bathroom too. Then we went to the flagpole, which was outside the dining hall, and waited there to get the groups we would be staying with for activities. My group was group three and we went to the pool first. Everyone had to take a swim test, that I didn’t take because I didn’t go in that day, and wait for everyone. I sat to the side for a little while until I got bored so I sat at the edge of the pool and got to talk to people. I also got wet (which is a sentence I will use a lot throughout this report) because some people just have natural splash abilities. After the pool everyone went back to their cabins to change. I didn’t need to change but I went back to the cabin anyway. I sat on my perch and waited. After everyone got changed we went to the flag pole to regroup. My group went to the kanga jump, which was this – kind of balloon in the ground thing. It was slick and very bouncy. I probably could have jumped over a person a few times. It was a lot of fun. After that, we left sandy and wet. By then it was raining. My group went to a soccer field and played this game of assassins. I don’t really know what it’s called but the name I gave it pretty much sums it up. We did this for a while and afterwards headed back to our cabins. After that my shoes were wet for days.

 

At the end of the day we ate dinner and went back to our cabins. After that we had a choice to play dodgeball in the pavilion or watch a movie. Dry. But I chose to do dodgeball. And got soaked doing it. Even after I’d taken a shower. We had snow cones and eventually everyone was huddled inside watching the Lorax. Group by group we were called to go back to the cabins. Lights out was 9:00. And we all fell asleep to the sound of a hurricane outside.

Thursday , August 31st

About 6:30 am, temperatures unknown – about 9:00 pm, temperatures unknown.

I woke up first. * shrugs *I had to use the toilet. After that I couldn’t go back to sleep. I put a towel over my head and turned on my flashlight to read and draw. I did this for about thirty minutes before more people started to wake up. We all got ready and went to breakfast at eight. After we ate we went back to the cabins and then we went to the flagpole. My group did nature lessons first. I can really remember what it was called. We did learn a lot of interesting things about trees, though. After that we played board games in the teachers cabin. And I stacked dominoes on top of people’s heads. After that I think we did orienteering. We probably ate lunch after. After that we did the Kanga jump again and played volleyball. By then the first ray of sun came out through the sky. And we all cheered. I don’t celebrate like sunshine but I love this. Afterwards, we went back to the dinning hall and did team building games. We got to hit tables and send secret codes. And then my favorite part happened. The V swing. The V swing was a clip that went high in the air and you pulled a rope… and flew. The fact that I was last, made it ten times better. Afterwards we went to the pool. I got in late because of some poor decisions, but I got in and floated because I had a life vest. It, was, awesome.

As soon as we got back to the cabin I wanted on the ground to go take a shower. I was not about to get chlorine into my bed. I took a shower and washed all the chlorine off. After we went to the dining hall for dinner and after wards we went back to our cabins. I got to go outside and draw. It was really nice being able to be alone even though I loved being with everyone. It was nice to have some quite.

Afterwards we all headed to the front of the dinning hall to an outside seating area that looked out over the lake. We all saw a very big spider and a legless lizard. Both times people screamed. And I sat there calmly. We were arranged by advisory this time and extended that way as well. My advisory walked back towards the cabin that my group stayed in. We gathered around a small fire pit and talked about our best experiences. We also got to see an owl.

After we were led to eat marshmallows and a fire. Almost the entire time that was happening I was looking at the stars. There were so many. Other than that I was looking across the lake where we had left cabin lights on.

When we got back and almost went straight to bed.

 

Friday, September 1st

About 7:00, temperatures unknown – About 12:00, temperatures unknown

I woke up later that morning. Still I got ready and packed all my things up. We went to breakfast and afterwards went canoeing. I had to sit in the haul first and it felt like we were going to tip more than ten times before me and my friend switched spots. When we got back, we zip lined over where we had canoed and after that we want to see a small pig named Bubbles. We played ga-gaball and after that we ate pizza.

We were sent back to our cabins to gather our stuff. And after a bit we got on the buses and left.