There is so much going on that it’s hard to find time to blog! On Sunday, I joined Leadership One on a hike to Mary’s Rock in Shenandoah National Park, led by counselors Dean, Brownie and Steve. It was an overcast day, so the trails were misty and kind of spooky and cool. I overhead the two boys in front of me (who, inexplicably, had tied the strings of their shorts together for the walk) saying random things like “Imagine if mother nature came out of the trees and hugged us.”

We looked at the non-existent view and explored the top of the mountain and ate lunch, then trucked back down and motored to Pack’s ice cream. Zach Wagschal, Eric Morrell, Michael Gross (who goes by the name of Jose, for no reason I can understand), and counselor Steve were in the jeep with me. We talked about Mars for a while, and caves and other random things, and then they all fell asleep. It was a peaceful drive, the fields were like bowls of fog, and the hills were so pretty.

There are a few ‘way home’ traditions on the road into camp. We hold our breath past the cemetery. We look for the spooky little girl in a white dress on the porch of an old house by the road. Everyone woke up in time to make speculations about the girl, and discuss who’d seen her.

A few campers have been showing up for the 7:15 am yoga class. They are: Jenna Ehrlich, Melissa Rifkin, Julia Reifman, and Alyssa Mendelsohn. Counselors James and Adam also came the other morning. And of course, trusty nurse Sue and women’s head counselor Lynne have been coming pretty regularly.

Murder Mystery night was pretty exciting. The campers have to solve the mystery of a humorous murder by going to all different areas of the camp for clues. This year, Maddie Lawrence was the victim – snuffed out by counselor Karina for trying to sneak out. The kids get pretty excited about the night, because it’s always sprung on them by surprise, even though they all know, the moment it happens, what’s coming next. It’s great when a ripple of excitement like that goes through a room of a hundred kids. You can feel it in the air.

So Hershey Park was yesterday, and I’m pretty sure a fun time was had by all. The biggest excitement was when our charter bus gave up on going up the hill into camp. We unloaded the campers into the school buses and brought them the rest of the way up. It was one of those things that felt really camp-y – like everyone was in it together and the counselors were resourceful about keeping everyone happy and guiding them to the buses. It felt like an adventure. I stood in the field with Jerry’s wife, May, and watched the campers trundle off to bed with all their loot from the park, looking so sleepy and ready for bed. This morning, our head cook Debbie had hot chocolate ready to welcome everyone back.

So it’s back to normal activities today, and we are gearing up for the camp play. The last week of camp is always a busy one, with a lot of camp milestones that people talk about for years, like initiation, and color war, and ghost court. Will keep you posted!

Jodi