Tournaments and Halloween Dinner
This morning our tennis, archery and riflery “teams” traveled to Camp Carolina to challenge the boys in a tournament. This is a long tradition for both camps. We select 3 girls from each age group (Juniors, Middlers and Seniors) for each of these sports, and get together for a friendly competition between the genders. It’s fun to see us load up the buses because we bring our own equipment— our sharp shooting riflery team with their guns, the strong, steady archers with their bows, and our tennis girls carrying their rackets. Many of the girls wore their matching Rockbrook t-shirts to build up a little team spirit as well. Most of the girls are a little shy at this event, with the possible exception of some of the seniors. We can report several excellent showings and high scores, with a couple of bullseyes and aces in our column, but overall the Carolina boys won the title this session. It was a fun morning to show our stuff, and next year, we’ll have even more to bring!
Back at camp, the day’s muffins caused quite a stir. Liz created yet another original flavor she decided to call the “Rockbrook Double Whammy.” They were chocolate chip and sprinkles! Sweet, colorful little cakes, fresh-baked and oh so good!
Dinner was out of this world… for a couple of reasons. First the food was absolutely delicious. We had mounds of homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. The potatoes were so creamy and the chicken seasoned just perfectly, the girls kept coming back for more and more. In case you haven’t noticed 
Rockbrook girls like to get dressed up in costumes, but not just costumes you find on a shelf in a store. They like to create costumes, and tonight was an excellent example of that as everyone came to dinner for “Halloween.” This is really a lot of fun because the cabins work on their costumes together, mixing and matching different “elements” to achieve a certain effect. That’s why you shouldn’t be surprised if you see something you sent with your daughter being worn by someone else. Tonight we had zombie brides, cats, Egyptian princess, witches and so many other unfathomable characters. You’ll have to check out the photo gallery to see how all this creativity turned out. Awesome stuff!
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Between Sessions
This is the time at camp when we have our 4-week campers but not a mini session group, a “between session” time. The first July Mini session girls left on Thursday and the second mini session girls arrive tomorrow. That means we have about 80 fewer girls around, but wow are they enthusiastic camp kids. Since they are here the longest, they know camp really well, and have loads of time to deepen their friendships and dig deeper into different activities. It’s no surprise that we have our best climbers and paddlers with us right now. These 4-week campers also tend to be Middlers and Seniors who, as they’ve returned each summer, move up from a shorter sessions just to have more time at camp. These are the girls who more than “love” camp; they say they “couldn’t live without it!”
Dinner tonight included a fun southern traditional food— boiled peanuts! Rick was able to get 80 pounds (!) of green, unroasted peanuts, so he decided to boil them up. It’s amazing how nice and sweet they taste even with nothing added but a little salt. With the peanuts, we had BLT sandwiches, chips and fresh pineapple. Over on the sidebar, I saw some leftover fried green tomatoes from lunch earlier. Talk about southern food! Rick’s been keeping us very well fed.
Tonight’s evening program was an all-camp game of “Minute to Win It.” We divided everyone up into small teams that then competed in several different crazy relay races. We found out who could eat an oreo cookie the fastest when it’s first placed on your forehead (no hands!). We raced to sort a bag of skittles by color. We tried to juggle balloons. We stacked Swiss Rolls, and balanced gold balls. It’s all pretty funny to see the girls tackle these challenges, so even the spectators had a great time laughing as different groups struggled through the relays. It’s marvelous to have this much fun with such simple props. Camp is often just that, being with your friends and enjoying activities you wouldn’t ordinarily do at home. Really great stuff!
Staying Cool, Focused and Relaxed
First I have to tell you about today’s muffins. They were amazing! Liz created yet another one-of-a-kind masterpiece flavor: peanut butter and jelly. I’m pretty sure they didn’t teach this recipe at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Cork Ireland where Liz was trained, so she deserves all the credit. A classic camp flavor turned into a fresh baked muffin. YUM!
As most everyone on the east coast is experiencing record-breaking temperatures this week, we have found plenty of ways to stay cool at Rockbrook. First of all, temps are still falling into the 60s at night, and stay cool most of the morning as it takes a few hours for the sun to come up over the hill. In addition, the lake has been a very popular spot in the afternoons. Even if the campers don’t have swimming as one of their regularly scheduled activities, everyone can go for a dip during one of the two open “free swim” periods each day. That’s also when we open the “Toy,” “Aqua Ropes Course,” or “Water Challenge Course.” As you can see, it’s quite the obstacle. Campers first try to climb up the outside edge, grabbing the ropes, and stand on the top rails. From there they grab the dangling rings and go hand-to-hand from one ring to the next. There are five in all. It’s really tough to reach all five rings (see how it’s sloping uphill?), so we reward anyone who can with a special treat, usually a trip to Dolly’s. Missing means just a big splash!
In the photography activity, former camper and now star counselor Jane, who is majoring in Fine Art Photography at The Corcoran College of Art & Design in Washington, DC, is helping the girls learn how to take better pictures. To make this more fun, she’s planned several games that send the campers scurrying around camp looking for certain color pallets, shapes (e.g., letters), or textures. She’s challenged the girls to take 20 photos of a single small object making sure each is different. She’s also helped them learn a bit about stop motion photography, and make short motion clips using play-doh. We’re planning to show these short movies to the whole camp on Sunday night before the movie. Several are quite good!
Jessi’s yoga classes are very popular with the senior girls. She offers them as special extra activities once or twice each week. With yoga mats and towels in hand, they meet in the upper Hillside Lodge to spread out across the wood floor. Jessi plays nice, relaxing music as she leads the girls through a serious of stretching exercises and yoga poses. The class lasts only about an hour, but that’s plenty for the girls to have a workout. Everyone feels great afterwords… a little more relaxed, limber, and calm. Staying so very busy and active at camp, practicing a little bit of yoga like this is really nice.
All in one day, the RBC girls can stay cool swimming in the lake, focused in photography class, and relaxed doing yoga! 
A Square Dance Saturday Night
One of Rockbrook’s original camp songs, in fact our official “Camp Song,” begins with the line, “In the heart of a wooded mountain, circled by silvery streams.” It so nicely conveys the character of camp, Rockbrook’s woodsy feel, being tucked in a hillside valley between two rock mountains and waterfalls. Every session for generations, girls have sung this song. So much so, “In the heart of a wooded mountain” has become a shorthand phrase to refer to camp. Here’s the rest of the first verse.
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Today the girls woke up to a big breakfast of eggs, grits, sausage and OJ, along with the usual fruit, cereal and yogurt options. It’s been a little cooler than usual these past few days, so it’s nice to start the day with a good warm breakfast. After a few energetic songs in each line’s Lodge, our “Morning Assembly,” everyone launched into their morning activities. Down in Curosty, Kimberly has been teaching the girls how to weave on flat looms, a simple traditional hand weaving technique. With so many colors of yarn and strips of cloth, there are really cool things being made… hand-woven fabrics soon to become place mats, or sewn into pouches or bags. We’ve also seen really complex friendship bracelets being made in Curosty. That place is buzzin’!
The rest of the day was filled with more regular camp activities… painting and drawing, practicing for the play, riding horses, learning to kayak, learning to do a flip in gymnastics, or to throw a clay pot on the wheel. There’s also a nice amount of free time for the girls to just hang out, play in the creek, or head down to the lake for a swim or for some sunbathing.
The big surprise for the day, though, was our dance with Camp High Rocks, the boys camp just up the mountain from Rockbrook. We announced the dance right before dinner, giving the girls only about a hour (!) to get “ready.” After dinner (baked ziti, garlic bread, salad, and a shortbread with fruit for dessert), with hair brushed and dressed in clean clothes, we loaded up the buses and drove the whole camp up to High Rocks.
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The dance was held outside on three tennis courts. This allowed us to spread out and divide everyone into three general age groups for the dancing. It took a while for a few jitters to subside, but soon just about everyone was smiling and having fun. Of course, part of the fun is making mistakes and laughing when you turn the wrong way or grab the wrong arm. The whole event is lighthearted, a little silly, and surprisingly enjoyable for the girls, even though most of them have never tried square dancing before. The counselors are right in their too, so this also encourages everyone to relax and enjoy themselves. We all took a short break for lemonade and cookies, only to recharge and dance for another hour or so. As it began to get dark, we said goodbye and thank you, gathered all the girls back into the buses, and made our way back to RBC for the night. It was a wonderful evening.
Activities for Everyone
The first day of activities this session is full speed ahead with all of the activities ready for action. As we all enjoyed perfect summer weather (warm during the day and cool at night), campers were making pottery, designing weaving projects, and decorating their first pillow case. A few girls also went rock climbing with Clyde, our adventure director. Girls shot arrows and guns, did flips at gymnastics and cannonballs at the lake. Down at the equestrian center, Cara had girls up and riding.
Halfway through the morning at our “Muffin Break,” everyone ran for a treat freshly baked by Liz. We look forward to seeing what flavor she makes for us everyday. Today, lemon.
After rest hour, Jerry, Jessi, Tara and Michelle took a big group of campers on a hike to Kilroy’s Cabin. This is a special hike to a remote part of the Rockbrook property that first takes you to Castle Rock where you can rest and enjoy the amazing view of the French Broad river valley. From there, the hike is a bushwhack through the forest with no trail as a guide. Jerry knows the way, but few others can find the old abandoned cabin. Kilroy’s Cabin is the center of an elaborate, and maybe a little bit spooky, story told at camp. I’ll save the details for later, but it involves a nurse with red hair, love, jealousy and a car crash late one stormy night on a slippery bridge. Ooooooooo. (cue eery music!).
For dinner, a classic camp favorite was served— spaghetti with red sauce. In addition to the salad bar, each table had a bowl of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and basil, and warm bread. It really hit the spot after our action-packed day. But that’s pretty normal for Rockbrook. Camp is action!
Traditional Camp Basketry
Making camp baskets is an arts and crafts activity just about everyone enjoys at Rockbrook. Over near the fiber arts cabin we call “Curosty,” there’s a nice stream flowing by, and it’s there that girls often work on their baskets. It’s a really nice spot to sit and soak your feet on a summer afternoon, but also, the water is important for the basket weaving. To bend and weave the wicker (cane, reed, or grass) fibers, it helps to soak them in water for a while. This softens the fibers.
Basketry is a truly ancient art. Native people around the world have been making baskets for as long as anyone can remember. Near us at camp, the Cherokee split oak baskets come to mind as a good example. Our camp baskets may not be as elaborate as these, but the girls at Rockbrook are continuing this long tradition of basket making in the mountains.
Camp Music Video: Crafts!
A musical short featuring a few of the crafts at Rockbrook.
It's Your Adventure Girls
Are you ready for some adventure girls? Are you ready to put yourself out there, or up there as the case may be? Camp is a the perfect place for girls to try out outdoor adventure sports. There’s rock climbing, high ropes course climbing, wilderness backpacking, camping, hiking, whitewater kayaking and rafting, to name just a few.
But what makes these adventure activities? They all are a little intense, a little uncertain, and a little scary. They often test girls’ mental resolve and determination, and sometimes require physical effort beyond the ordinary. Adventure activities usually require special safety equipment and techniques as well (think ropes, paddles, helmets, tents, etc.).
When girls first try adventure sports, they are usually surprised how well they can do. With quality instruction, encouragement, and some practice, most of the girls at camp can climb a real rock, paddle a kayak, and camp overnight in the woods— and this in just their first year at camp! Everywhere you look there are adventure girls at camp.
