Wild Wednesday - Camp Style

Ok, so this happened last week, but it is so WILD Wednesday that I had to post-post it.

We have a Canoggan at Camp. For those who don't know what that is... its a Canoe on Wheels with steering levels and "a brake" that we pile counselors and campers a like in and go cruisin'.


Well, I was assigned to accompany one of the Pine (younger boys) cabins for a ride. My first time ever in it. Their counselor was at the steering levers in the very front. There were 5 young boys and me on "the brake". I was told that the brake is really for aesthetic purposes and bringing a little comfort to the nervous. Well, I for one was a little nervous. I had seen others ride in it and even seen a crash. Actually given the choice, I don't think I would have gone in it, but I wasn't asked. So, we all put on our helmets and knee pads and elbow pads and wrist guards. We piled in and off we went down a winding path.


Having never ridden in it before, I didn't know what was "normal" and had to put my trust in the person steering. We were swerving quite a bit, but I thought the driver was doing it on purpose to make it more fun for everyone. It was fun until we approached a steeper slope and started to go much faster. Still trying to trust it was under control, I said the driver's name to express concern and then waited for a cue to brake. We were going fast and swerving down this winding path and all of a sudden....we flip. Screaming. Me and one of the boys face planted in the dirt. Ah, the gritty taste of dirt. Me and a different camper ended up in the ditch of sticker-y plants. We were all mangled together with the Canoggan on top of us. The Canoggan was lifted off of us and we crawled out of the ditch.

My injuries included a banged up knee (internal only with only bruising visible), a scrape on my hip with quite a bit of bruising, a couple cut toes and some minor scratches. The worst injury was the camper in front of me who's knee pad must have slid down. He ended up with a big hole in his knee. It was pretty gnarly. A few of us took an after photo and we all stopped by the nurses cabin to get fixed up.


A few days later, another counselor gave us each a bracelet for 'surviving the canoggan with Ronnie' (that was the counselor driving). It was definitely a bonding experience for us all.

Canogganing. Only at Camp Augusta!

Summer Camp photos

I've been feeding the goats a lot in Plant and Animal Farm (a clinic I teach to the campers).

this is Taco

I was put on kitchen duty for a few hours and literally washed dishes for my meal :)

I tried the throwing range and hope to teach it soon. It was a lot of fun, though I tend to stick 'em slanted instead of straight up and down.

Ah, the food. I didn't think to take this until I had already devoured most of it. Chicken, rice & shredded carrots, hummus, guac, and my new favorite thing (that I thought I didn't like at all) BEETS! yum!
French Toast with Bananas & Maple Syrup and veggie patties.

With one of the cabins (Manzi 2), I joined in on one of their cabin activities. We have a Giant Swing where you get hoisted up by the others in your group and when you want to stop you yell down to stop pulling. Then you squeeze the release and go flying through the air. The girls decided to bring up paint bottles and spray the others down below. Everyone took a turn. It was my first time on the swing and it was awesome! Next time I'm going all the way to the top!

(Gracie is the one swinging in the pic)

Thursday, I spent a little time at Hot Rocks (though we spent it in the shade).

We do skits to 'sell' certain activities and I was a cave-woman... go figure :). So I tied a stick into my hair and kept it for the rest of the afternoon cuz it looked cool.

Yesterday, Session 2 ended and I had to say goodbye to all the campers I've gotten to know over the last week and half. Manzi 2 adopted me into their cabin and oh how I'll miss them.

back row: Catherine and me

front row: Gracie, Claire, Maggie, Apple (Isabel), Izzy

I finally cleaned the Yurt (phase 1). Then I grabbed an inner tube and floated on the lake for about an hour. Hung out in the kitchen with other staff and then around 11 pm or so, a huge group of us did the 80ft Zip Line in the pitch black

As you can see, I was super excited. I had to restrain myself from jumping up and down on the platform. This is us up in the air, sitting over the edge.

It really was AMAZING and so special to share it with a great group of people.

A fun night off.

New Campers Arriving shortly!

Wild Wednesday - Camp Style

I woke up early today and figured I'd utilize my time by posting a few pics of camp. Typically I'm not thinking about my camera throughout the day, so there is soooo much more I could have captured. The camp has multiple camera's of it's own that everyone uses so there are lots more pictures 'out there', I just need to figure out how to share those with you. In the meantime, here are some of my own.

As a village activity last Friday, we created a carnival for the Manzanita girls. It's on my top 10 funnest times at camp list. My favorite part was apple bobbing.

Some girls really got into it!


I felt like a little kid again. I laughed so hard. I'm proud to say I got my apple in 5 secs (of course, after I watched everyone else's technique).

This is a typical day at camp. Oh, lets paint one of the counselors. Btw, that's tempera paint not face paint. Her face, arms, and even her shirt were painted. Crazy campers. :)


If that's not wild enough for you, we built a giant phoenix that we shot flaming arrows at during our 4th of July celebration.

the archers

Ah, Lazy Dog. I've been hearing lots about it and finally discovered why. It's so delicious! I chose a peanut butter drumstick (not your ordinary drumstick, this puppy was huge) dipped in dark chocolate.

This is the daily menu board and I just thought the Limerick was cute ... plus you can see a sampling of what we eat around here.

Off to check the schedule and see what I'm doing (and eating :) ) today.

My first day @ Camp Augusta

Wahoo! I arrived at Camp Augusta late last night (11ish) and didn't want to wake anyone so I hauled my belongings into the lodge (building used for certain activities) and decided to crash there. All the doors were open so I closed them and just happened to trap 2 bats and a mouse in there with me. I immediately opened the doors back up but the bats kept coming in and out, flying around and squeaking... *shiver*. Yes, I was complete inside my sleeping bag, head and all. I was tired enough though and fell asleep fairly quickly.

My phone battery had died and the only clock I could find was not working so I had no idea what time it was this morning when I got up. Ended up being way too early for anyone but the kitchen staff making breakfast. I'm enjoying the healthy food here and hope to snag some photos of the kitchen staff and food. I need to remember to bring my camera around with me. Sorry for the lack of pictures on this one.

Sleepy time. Oh, did I mention that I am sleeping in a yurt? Yep. At least for now. It's super messy so I'm rallying a cleaning party.