So the adventure begins!

Around 1pm, all the youth congregated at Clarence Rogers School with varied forms of sleeping bags, blankets and bookbags. After some strategic packing, we were off to Norfolk, CT! It's about a two hour drive, but we managed to get lost, get lost again, then get lost some more, so we made it in 3 hours. Maybe 3 and a half. Some youth learned why, sometimes, you just have to use nature's bathroom.


Hiking to the campsite

When we finally arrived after a short hike to the campsite (Great Mountain), we got to work setting up tents. Surprisingly, the girls camp was up much faster than the boys camp. Actually, that doesn't surprise any of the staff. The girls were very organized and had everything just so. Although, to the boys' credit, they did have to put up one dysfunctional tent, take it down, and set up a new one. The camp cook, Dawn (the mother of Randall, one of the campers) started grilling the several pounds of hotdogs we cooked up. Youth were very hungry and gobbled down tons of hotdogs, potato salad and fruit.


Setting up tents

After some down time, youth sat around the fire as the sun went down, roasting marshmallows and telling stories. It just so happened that a meteor shower was occuring that night, so youth looked for shooting stars. When it was dark enough, the youth set out on a Night Hike with Joanne (Executive Director) and Rosana (Assistant Camp Director). Youth saw how Lifesavers Wintergreen mints sparked when crunched (because of the wintergreen oil and sugars in the mints rubbing against each other). They also learned a little bit about how a camera works by creating a negative on the film. They were asked to stare at each other and close their eyes once they saw a flash. They could still see the other youth with their eyes closed because the flash made the image on their retinas. They also stared at each other in the dark until their partners' faces "ghosted" away. Try all of these tricks, because they are definitely awesome!

At the end of the hike, the youth had the choice to walk a short way alone in the dark to reach the campsite and the intern on the other side. Many youth took on the challenge and felt proud of themselves for doing it. Once we got back to camp, the youth had half an hour to get ready for bed.


Roasting marshmallows by the fire

Of course, no one actually fell asleep when they were told to stay in their tents. Youth played games (Uno was a favorite), told scary stories (although we asked them not to), chatted and generally goofed off.

Adult staff slept around the fire, but the noise didn't die down for hours. I wonder what the kids will feel like in the morning?