It Just Doesn’t Stop!

September 6, 2009

The craziness and the insanity continue to be part of my GA world. With another trip down the Hiwassee, then the Ocoee, the design and completion of the Southern Outdoor Adventure Program (SOAP) catalog, and leading the Nickajack trip for SOAP. I was voted as the leader of this trip because I had been before, once. Originally we were only going to take 24 people; eight canoes with three people in each.

In a whirlwind I still can’t understand, the trip ended up with 51 participants making it more epic than I was prepared to handle. By the time everything got organized, we arrived with the sun setting over the horizon. With a shortage of gear due to the masses, not all of us got a seat in a boat or raft. Instead we walked to the platform by the cave entrance while others gathered on the lake. As those in the boats began to sing praise and worship songs, those of us on the platform watched the full moon

rise over the surrounding hills. A reminder of the greatness of God and a view that only the group of us on the platform got to witness. It was like God was saying “Heather, it was worth all the effort. Enjoy.”

Learning to Fly

August 19, 2009

I have heard the expression many times before “you have to hit the ground running”. When I have started some of my jobs in the past, I have been part of that expression coming to life. My first few days as a Graduate Assistant (GA) in the Outdoor Leadership department at Southern Adventist University have surpassed that expression which I didn’t know was possible. Right now I feel like the expression has turned into “Hit the ground only to run a couple of steeps because you will never catch up running; you have to fly”.

The easiest way to explain this would be to give a play by play of my first three days in Tennessee.

Friday, August 14, 2009

4:30am: Leave for Collegedale, TN from Marion, IN

12:45pm: Arrive at new apartment. Start moving stuff in.

1:20pm: Call new roommate to tell her I have arrived. She asks me to come over the office to meet everyone.

1:30pm: This little meet and great has turned into a meeting

3:00pm: Leave the meeting with the knowledge that in three hours I will be helping lead a canoeing trip on Nickajack lake to go view bats coming out of a cave at sunset.

10:45pm: Return to Collegedale ready for bed.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Find time to start unpacking

Sunday, August 16, 2009

10:00am: Head up to the Water shed to load boats for a white water rafting trip.

11:00am: Leave for the Hiawassee River.

9:00pm: Walk through the door of my apartment after returning from the river. At this point, still trying to comprehend the fact that I just guide a raft down Class II & III rapids for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE. Yup. Zero experience with the driving stick. INSANE!

Made Possible by Tetrus

August 13 2009

Ta-Da! As an avid packer, I consider this my greatest accomplishment thus far.

Will it All Fit?

August 12, 2009

Transition time has arrived once more. My summer at week as support staff; a role I gladly accepted after an intense, non-stop Cheerio Adventures wrapped up with two summer. Some photo highlights:

I find myself now back in Marion, IN staying with mi amigos, Aletheia (pictured) and Kara. I have come to collect my things to make yet another move. I found that the transition from camp to civilization has been harder than I expected. Life all summer has been outside. The only time I ever went into a building with 4 walls was to go to the bathroom or the rare number of times I slept in the staff cabin. Meals were even cooked outside. When I arrived at Lynette and Matt’s house, I found that I couldn’t handle being indoors for a long period of time. Never expected this reaction.

Now I look toward the next adventure to come: Grad School in Collegedale, TN. In two days I will be back on the road with everything I own in my car….well at least that is what I hope. As I look at the mountain of stuff with my name on it in the top of Lynette’s garage, I begin to doubt. I have done it before, true. But since then, I have added little things here and there making me question. Question my packing abilities and what will go if it doesn’t all fit. All will be answered tomorrow.

Camp Thunderbird

July 18, 2009

Here I am, three days after returning from Wilmington being blessed with another day off. This time, the majority of the staff decided to accept an invitation that has been given several times throughout the summer. Camp Thunderbird is another YMCA camp located just across the South Carolina border south of Charlotte, NC. Over the course of the summer, Camp Thunderbird has brought up groups to go climbing or caving. Almost every week we have encountered a group from Thunderbird.

Camp Thunderbird is happily situated on a lake that opens up activities that Camp Cheerio or Cheerio Adventures can’t offer. So today was filled with good times in the water.

Water skiing, tubing, water slides, and the Blob were all experienced on a perfect, beautiful day. This was the first time in a long time when the staff got to just chill, talk, and hang out without having to concern ourselves with kids. Such a great feeling! With a stop at Dairy Queen on the way back, I could not have cooked up a better day off if I tried.

At the Halfway Point

July 15, 2009

Over the past two weeks, I have reached the halfway point at Cheerio Adventures. Exhausted is the only word that comes to mind. Having already co-lead two trips in 27 days and only having one day off was beginning to take its toll. For week four I was assigned to be on support staff. What this meant was that I would work with any contract groups that were coming throughout the week. In my mind I was thinking, “Yes! I will finally get a little break. My work load should be a little lighter.” Well, by the end of the week I was working with two different groups each day and then found myself getting ready for a 3 day/2 night Parent/Child backpacking/rock climbing trip.

Having a little variety during the week was a nice change, but by the end of the backpacking trip I just wanted to fall over and not get up for days.

Salvation came this past week in the form of days off; 3 whole days to be exact. The timing could not have been better. So Andy, Carlie, and I hopped in my car and set our sites on the Atlantic. Along the way, we stopped at Ginger’s house for the first night. Being in a house again felt like I was walking into a foreign land.

The next day we made it to Wilmington, NC with cloudy skies and consistent rainfall. Our visions of lying on the beach, basking in the sun were beginning to diminish. Instead we sought shelter on the U.S.S. North Carolina., a battleship that fought during WWII.

After a mosquito infested, warm, muggy night; our hopes were lifted as we woke us to a beautiful morning. The sky was clear so we decided to head to the beach first thing. There we stayed for the rest of the day soaking in the sun and playing in the salty waves. Feeling satisfied with our day in the sun, we decided to start heading back toward camp stopping at my friend Alicia’s house for a great night’s sleep. Before giving way to exhaustion, we discovered that the basking in the sun turned to baking for some of us as Andy’s back had the same coloring as marinara sauce. Still we made it back to camp the next day feeling rested and ready for the next 3 weeks.

Seekers

June 21-July 4, 2009

Seekers was the name of my latest trip. 2 weeks of jam-packed activity. My Adventure Challenge partner and I were reunited for this adventure. The challenge of this new adventure began before even the kids arrived. Nate started the first week off with a fever.

I sat and watched him fade in and out of awareness wondering if he was going to make it through 4 days of backpacking in North Carolina with 8 teenagers. Overwhelmed can hardly begin to describe how I felt as I tried to remember every

thing that I was hearing about the days ahead, the markers we need to look for, places to find water, and stories of years past where everyone got lost.

As the first week came to a close, the group gelled. Our first 4 days in the wilderness brought memories of spectacular scenery, wildlife sightings, swim holes, and moments of pure joy as we reached an end goal we never thought we would get to. Caving in Tennessee sealed the halfway point of our two weeks.

The next portion of our trip took us to the water. It started off with an overnight canoeing/kayaking trip on the New River about 12 miles up the river from camp putting us back in the state of North Carolina. By this point Nate was back to his normal, crazy self lifting some weight off of my shoulders. After a great day on the river, we stayed at a campsite that was only accessible by boat. Being the week before 4^th of July weekend the place was packed. With no sites available we ended

up pitching our tents in the field known as the overflow section centrally located and surrounded by all other campsites. Before the night was over, our group turned over a new leaf. How the craziness began, I can’t even recall. All guards were let down as we wrestled, laughed, ran around, and played all the while entertaining our neighbors and creating one of my favorite memories thus far.

After that night our group changed. We no longer were just some random group of people passing two weeks together. Instead, we were more like a family with some of the kids going as far as calling me Mom. The rest of the last week was filled with a little

whitewater canoeing through an easy Class III rapid followed by whitewater rafting the Lower New River in West Virginia taking our state count to 4.

At the beginning of the last three days, challenges began to rise once more. Fatigue was beginning to set in with everyone (not just the Old Folks). The mountain biking portion of our journey was beginning. We encountered some schedule changes, physical set backs, and equipment setbacks all the while testing my mental, physical, and emotional limits.

Our two weeks together came to a close. As we sat and talked about our time together, both Nate and I were awestruck by what we heard. The night started with an activity called Positive Vibrations and ended with everyone coming to an understanding that these past two weeks were not a normal camp experience. This Seekers trip was a milestone in all of their lives, a staple that each would never forget.

Week One

June 6, 2009

The first week of the Cheerio Adventure is coming to a close. In all it has felt like it has been once continues day of non-stop activity. From backpacking and rock climbing to caving, white water rating and canoeing; the week was a jumbled experience. With rain joining us for the majority of the week, the challenge factor was heightened. But great memories were made during those challenging times. The following rap, written by Rapper Billy Joe and friends is the only way I can think to sum up the week:

Yo, here we go. It’s the story of our week.
Let’s begin on the very first day
Super Ninja time is a fun game to play
On the Second day we climbed on a rock
Then we ate mac and cheese from a very big pot
Look over there it's day number three
Backpacking all day makes you very dirty
Now day four we went in the cave
It was dark and scary but we all behaved
On day five the ways were very high
Ellie, Wynne, and Kelly all fell out
The floated all around and splashed all about
Day six came and we were paddleing along

Then we got on the bus and sang the potato song

We played Mafia throughout each day
We tried Andy’s riddles and we did okay
On Sunday we go to Camp Cheerio
Now everyone Noodle dance here we go.

Staff Training

June 13, 2009

Staff training has finally come to an end. I say finally only because this was the longest training I have ever encountered. Two and a half weeks ago I arrived. Since then, I have backpacked, rock climbed, rappelled, slept in a tent on the top of a mountain during a thunderstorm, canoed, taken wilderness first aid, kayaked, learned CPR, zip lined, mountain boarded, played games, cooked meals, learned policies, cleaned bathrooms, and laughed so hard my side and face muscles hurt.
The staff consists of 6 trip leaders (3 guys, 3 girls one of which is me), 3 coordinators, and 3 full time staff. Many of the staff I worked with during the spring session at Camp Cheerio which has made my transition run a lot smoother.

Life is a bit more rugged here. Although during staff training I stayed in a cabin, come tomorrow I will be in a platform canvas tent sharing space with seven 10-14 year olds and a co-trip leader.

Whether I am mentally and physically prepared makes little difference. Right now I feel like I have been hit by a truck. I have bruises that I am clueless to how they got there. All I can figure out is the majority of them came from the capstone of our training: The Adventure Challenge.

The 6 trip leaders were paired off and each team had to embark on an 18-station journey encompassing all that we had learned over the past 2.5 weeks. Nate and I were paired together and dubbed the Old Folks as we found ourselves competing against people 22 and under. Ah, but with age also comes wisdom. Our combined experience proved to be an important asset as we gained almost an hour advantage on the first station of knot tying; something I have been doing for the past 8 years. Knowing what to pack also was an advantage as my Jet Boil stove shot us even further ahead by boiling water in 3 minutes. Nate’s knowledge of the wilderness, previous experience at Cheerio, and skills on the water sealed our lead. After a 12-hour venture, the Old Folks were the first to cross the finish line.