Channel Two

Just to let you know, I had to send in my computer today for repairs (while it is still under warranty!).  So, that just means that it will probably be a little while longer for me to post pictures.

-Seth

Hi all!

So yesterday was our Day 6—the intern day off.  The week was not nearly as hectic as Week 1, but the day off was much appreciated nonetheless.  The week had been very hot and humid (mid to upper 80s each day), but yesterday, the humidity faded away, and the heat made it a great day to hang out here at camp at the waterfront for a while.  Some of us interns tried out the newly installed Aqua Log—a floating device that you can walk across, etc., but spins in the water.  We also laid out on the new beach, swam at the pool, and did a couple of rounds on the waterslides.  Around 2pm, 10 of the interns met up and we headed out for a hike.  We drove a few miles south of Lexington to the Natural Bridge Area.  We did a short (but uphill) hike to the base of what is called Devil’s Marbleyard.  Close your eyes and imagine a huge mountainside—now imagine that someone dumped thousands of boulders down the mountain, some the size of cars.  That is Devil’s Marbleyard.  So, some of our group spent the next hour and a half climbing up the rocks all the way to the top.  It was a TON of fun.  Every so often there would be a false summit, revealing hundreds of more feet of boulders.  Up and up we went, with the guidance of Taylor, one of the interns.  He claimed that we could meet up with the others that stayed on the trail once we made it to the top.  He was wrong.  After taken in the spectacular view from the top of the mountain, we realized that there was in fact no trail at the top.  So, what any group of summer camp interns would do, we decided to just hike down the mountain through the brambles and brush.  Let’s just say I didn’t have the most positive attitude about this.  Needless to say, we eventually found the path and met up with the rest of our group.  Heading back towards camp, we made two pit stops.  The first was to Foamhenge, a life-size model of England’s Stonehenge, but made out of styrofoam and on a hillside in rural Virginia.  Yes it was a tourist trap, but it was a) an experience and b) free.  Hungry, we then headed to the Pink Cadillac Diner, a local favorite.  The whole place is decked out in 50’s-themed decorations: posters of Elvis, James Dean, and Marilyn Monroe, newspaper ads, records, and a jukebox.  Even the restrooms were labelled “Lucy” and “Ricki.”  The food was some excellent diner fare—I had the country-fried steak with mashed potatoes, gravy over everything, strawberry shortcake ice cream for dessert.  Tired and full, we went back to camp and basically went to bed, to get ready for today, Day 1. 

Today was a typical Day 1, but, my mom and our friend Paula Works are visiting this week as Adult Guests.  It will be fun to see their reactions to all of the craziness here at camp. 

Well that is all for now.  I am in the office outside the room where the Leader’s Meeting is happening right now and I’m about to go on. 

Hi everyone!  

So today is Day 2 of Week 2 here at Rockbridge.  Our first week of camp was INCREDIBLY busy and also a lot of fun!  We had campers from Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, and South Carolina…a little over 400 campers and leaders.  It was great to get back in the swing of things and get re-acclimated to the normal camp activities.  For those of you who are new to how Rockbridge works, each camp week is 6 days long with different activities each day.  A quick example of just some of the highlights of each day: 

• Day 1: Campers arrive, hot-dog stand, Girls Wrestle for Guys, and the obstacle course.
• Day 2: Volleyball Tournament, CHICKEN KEBABS, and the pool party (this year, with fireworks!)
• Day 3: my favorite day…the RODEO, barbecue dinner, and the County Fair (complete with square dancing)
• Day 4: The water regatta, Tableau, and 50s Night.  (I will explain what Tableau is once I have some pictures).
• Day 5: Basically a free day for the campers, but us interns have Bible Study this night (at Chris Baldwin’s house—he’s the property manager)
• Day 6: The intern day off!

As you can see, each day is jam packed with activities.  I usually get up at 8am and go to bed around midnight each night.  Fortunately, I do usually have some free time in the afternoons to go around and visit the other interns, or just relax.

One medical highlight (or lowlight, depending on how you look at it) of Week 1 was that my good friend Katie, the bakery intern, had to go to the hospital via ambulance!  She was in the kitchen and then passed out, and we kinda going in and out for a little while.  It turned out she was just dehydrated and had low potassium.  Needless to say, she has subsequently been eating bananas on a regular basis.  

This year, our Bible study is on the book of Galatians.  We meet at Chris Baldwin’s house each Night 5.  It is so great to have a break from being at camp, while still having all 14 interns together.  Not to mention that Chris’s wife, Lucy, makes some awesome desserts (grasshopper brownies this past week)!  On this past Day 6, I slept in until around 11:30 (yes, I know…old habits die hard), and eventually, we all made it in to town and went to our usually retail haunts, WalMart and Goodwill.  We then went to the local Mexican restaurant, Don Tequilla’s (affectionately known as Donny T’s), and we filled up on chips and salsa and other spicy foods.   

Well that is all for now.  I will hopefully have some pictures up soon.  Thanks for reading!

Hi everyone!  I apologize in advance for the lack of flow that my posts may have.  I sort of just type whatever thoughts pop into my head.

So yes, I have been here at Rockbridge for just over a week now, and as you could probably tell from my lack of blogging, it has been a little hectic around here.  The summer camping season doesn’t start until June 7th, but we have a TON of work that needs to get done before that.  All of the interns have been really busy working in their departments and on special projects in order to prepare for the summer.  The infirmary occupies a lot of my time, as it needed cleaned out, inventoried, and restocked.  I also helped paint the railings on the porches of the Dining Hall and the Springs Center.  In addition to getting ready here at Rockbridge, a group of employees are going to be spending a month at Northbay, which is a camp that Young Life rents to host WyldLife camps (middle-school kids).  DC, who works here on staff, as well as Ben and Carolyn (who I interned with last summer) will be going to Northbay, so I’ve been helping them get a few things ready for their infirmary there.     

Anyway, this past week has been a great time for all the interns to just hang out, eat lots of good food, and just get to know one another.  There are five of us who have returned to intern for a second year (myself, Katie in the bakery, Anna on the waterfront, Marissa the Rec Tech, and Taylor in Guest Services) and nine new interns (sisters Lindsey and Tiffany in the kitchen, Bethany in the snack bar, Hannah on the ropes course, Nicole in the office, Andrew on bikes, Wes doing video, Dam [pronounced Dom!] as the program tech, and Harvey on landscaping).  Everyone is really great and we are all enjoying our time together before our real jobs begin.  Two days ago, Melanie, the retail manager, had a photo shoot using the interns to show off the camp store’s new summer clothing.  It was really fun/ridiculous—I will try to post pictures in the future.   

This weekend we are hosting the annual Ohio Leaders Weekend…we are expecting between 900-1,000 guests!  Our capacity here is about 750(?) so that means that people will be sleeping in tents around the lake—no joke!  This morning, all of the guest services interns (that includes me) set out the linens and extra mattresses, pillows, and blankets for the guests—it took nearly 3 hours!  It was fun, but also a little confusing at times, because each room had to have a certain number of things.  Anyway, I’m excited that I will get to see some friends that were on summer staff and work crew last year.  (As a reminder, summer staff are college-aged volunteers that stay for a month at a time, and work crew are high-schoolers that volunteer for a month at a time.  There are usually around 30-40 of each, each session.)  

Well, I should get headed up towards the dining hall for our mystery dinner.  It is just us interns tonight, and Hypes (one of the chefs) is making something for us that will surely be great.  Also, it is about to thunderstorm really badly here, so I’m going to don my newest Goodwill purchase—a brand-new yellow rain suit (jacket and overalls).