Sunny Start to the Weekend

After a bit of a rainy Thursday, all were enthused to wake up to blue skies and sunshine this morning. Although I’ll say that the rain yesterday did not slow us down from having fun. It was mostly an off and on light drizzle, a common mountain rain this time of year. We played on right through the elements, no worse for the wear.

Last night was an especially fun night program. The Hunter 1’s,2’s, and 3’s played Slaughterball in the gym. By the way, Hunters is what we call the boys who have just finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. Trappers are boys who’ve just finished 4th and Scouts 5th. Under cover of darkness, Trappers and Scouts were able to sneak around designated areas of camp in rousing games of Spotlight. If you’re not familiar, boys start in one location, with a mission to safely arrive in a second location in camp. Along the way, the bad guys (counselors with flashlights) try to spotlight the sneaking boys. Once spotlighted, the camper must return to the start and try again. The counselors make up elaborate stories about the mission at hand, to add to the competition.

Tonight, we’re enjoying a more laid back night program. As I type this, all of camp is in the gym enjoying a camp movie on our jumbo inflatable screen. How to Train Your Dragon is the film du jour. It will be a welcome rest after a sunny day of activities.

I was able to walk around late this morning and see a few activities in action. Some Hunter 1’s experienced great success at archery. They were eager to tell me how many yellow bullseyes they’d shot and the points they’d amassed for their respective tribes. At riflery, I watched a group of Scouts shooting .22 rifles at targets downrange. All 4 boys I watched had improved on their shooting from the day before. They were excited.

Minor Sports is an activity of made up Alpine games, or often a common game with an Alpine twist. Today I watched an intense game of banana ball - a twist on lacrosse with colorful banana scoop sticks and a whiffle ball. Project Adventure, our ropes course activity, sailed through the air on our 400 foot zipline. I found Climbing at our indoor climbing gym, known as the Bouldering Barn. Faux rock holds cover 2 30 foot long, 10 foot high walls. Various routes have been tagged using colored tape. To succesfully complete a route, one must only use the holds with a certain color of tape under them. Boys ambitiously tried several difficult routes. Completion was rewarded with a point for your tribe.

Mrs. Gail Collins heads an amazing kitchen staff here at Alpine. She’s been at the helm for a number of summers. Prior to her stint, her mother, Mrs. Crow, an Alpine legend, ably served us 3 meals a day. Today’s meals did not disappoint. Piles of pancakes with sausage patties greeted us for breakfast. And these are no frozen pancakes, Gail and the ladies arrive early in the morning and make the mix from scratch. They flip several thousand pancakes at the griddle before 8AM! Cold cereal and milk are also available.

Our midday meal also satisfied a hungry crowd after the morning’s activities. Hamburger steak, mashed potatoes,black eyed peas, and a green salad with sliced tomatoes filled us up. Uncrustable PB&J sandwiches are available for those that want them. Supper consisted of sliced ham, pinto beans, mac and cheese, cole slaw, and cornbread.

Thanks for reading and good night for now, Glenn