Girl Scout Camp
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| Anna, Sofia and one of the counselors, "Hoot" |
Finding the camp proved to be the first challenge as google maps clearly did not distinguish between paved and gravel roads. Thanks to the trusty suburu (and the wonders of texting Sofia's Mom), Anna at last made it through the back roads of Loudon County Virginia to the camp. The camp was located on a beautiful wooded property on the banks of the Potomac river. After a very organized check-in (the girl scouts are nothing if not organized), the girls met their counselor (much of the staff was British), quickly said goodbye to their parents and were wisked away to their cabin. The cabin was a screened in shelter with 4 cots to a shelter. Anna had three roomates, including Sofia for the week (Anna later commented this would help her get ready for college roomates). The counselors stayed in a separate shelter.
It was truly a camp experience. There was no electricity in the shelters and the bathrooms were latrines. The girls had chores to do every day. They would leave the camp at 7:30 AM and head for the horse stables. Anna and Sofia shared the same horse, whose name was "Ish." Apparently Ish only had one eye thanks to an eye infection. Anna LOVED the horses. She managed to get into the advanced riding group and learned quite a bit about horses and riding during the week. She was also responsible for cleaning Ish's stall and grooming him. At the end of the week she learned to ride bareback, which she was thrilled about. She of course is already lobbying for more horseback riding lessons.
Anna enjoyed swimming in the afternoon along with other camp activities, like stories, songs, and campfires. She learned to cook a meal over a camp fire one night. Anna was quite enthused about the food choices at camp. As is her custom on vacation, she enjoyed a big breakfast buffet each day (her favorite new dish was rice krispy cereal with syrup on it...who knew?). Apparently her favorite meal was lasagna with breadsticks.
While Anna was at camp, Joe and Theresa were anxiously wondering how things were going. Despite packing pre-addressed envelopes for her, Anna did not send any mail out (according to Anna & Sofia, they were too busy to write). During the week, temperatures soared to 100 degrees with evening thunderstorms. Joe and Theresa worried that their daughter was wilting somewhere in the woods and was having a miserable time. In fact, quite the opposite was true. Anna seemed unphased by the heat or storms, recounting in stories how they got caught in the rain without their ponchos and were soaked.
Pick-up from camp was on July 4th. According to her counselors, Anna had a great week with only minor home sickness. She was full of stories and is looking forward to going back again. Thank you girl scouts for a great camp experience!
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