Everyone’s Birthday

Visiting the equestrian center these days is a real treat. It’s just alive with big action and big smiles. The girls who selected riding as one of their activities are now well settled into the daily lessons. They know how to get dressed properly (helmet, boots, etc.), in most cases, how to lead their assigned horse out to one of the riding rings, and even how to mount. The riding staff is doing a wonderful job in the mounted lessons keeping each camper engaged and excited.  As the session progresses, it’s neat to see how much everyone’s confidence and skill has improved. It’s also fun to hear the campers talk about their favorite horse at camp, someone they’ve ridden a lot and gotten comfortable with. Maybe you’ve already received a letter from your daughter and heard about one of the great horses she’s been able to ride.  Learning to communicate with a special horse, and learning to trust him or her, is one of the most rewarding parts of horseback riding, and it’s happening just about every day around here.

Also, today was a big day for whitewater rafting on the Nantahala river. We took all the middlers and seniors who wanted to go on either an overnight camping/rafting trip or on a day trip down the river. The Nantahala is famous for being rather chilly (somewhere near 50 degrees) even in the heat of the summer, so we were lucky to have bright sunny weather for both trips. Great weather like this makes it much more fun to splash and play while rafting, even at times jumping in on purpose when the guides say it’s OK. Rockbrook is the only girls camp with a permit to raft the Nantahala (we’ve had it since the 1980s), so we also can hire our own seasoned raft guides. On this trip Clyde, Sid, Billy, Leland, Michelle and and Andria guided the boats, making up a team with more than 85 years of combined whitewater experience! These folks truly are the best. Rafting trips are always very exciting for the girls, and also pretty tiring, so it was no surprise to see most everyone conk out in the bus on the ride back to camp. This kind of adventure and fun needs some rest too!

Back at camp in time for dinner, there was a big surprise waiting. Birthday Night! This is a special dinner where the dining hall is rearranged so that everyone can sit according to their birth month… twelve big tables, one for each month. It’s really fun for campers and counselors to sit together and get to know better other girls from different cabins and age groups. This time, to give it a even more Rockbrook flair, we had a theme for the dinner: Candyland. And never missing a chance to dress up, this sparked some very creative costumes from the counselors and campers. They dressed as different types of candy and characters from the Candyland board game. In addition to lollipops and gumdrops, we saw the Duke of Swirl, Mr. Mint and Gramma Nutt. Even Sarah dressed up as a Hershey’s chocolate kiss with almonds! The highlight of the night though was the cakes, the homemade cakes Alison baked for each month that she then decorated as scenes from Candyland. They were both beautiful and delicious. There were some pretty huge pieces of cake for the girls in some months. Yum!

Camp Circus Picnic

Today was a day of boating over on the Nantahala River. While the regular activities kept folks busy in camp— horses ridden, rocks climbed, games played and arts created —Clyde, Kelsey and Christine took a group of our more advanced kayakers out for the day. These are girls who have spent plenty of time working on their paddling skills and who have run other whitewater rivers. Several of the rapids on the Nantahala require precise paddling along specific lines. They require catching eddies and real concentration despite the roar of the whitewater. With Clyde leading (have you read Clyde’s profile?) and with Kelsey and Christine also instructing, the campers had outstanding models to follow and were well supervised. All day the campers paddled superbly, showing their enthusiasm and proving their skills on each challenge. The final, and largest rapid on the river gave everyone some trouble, but with the exception of the very last wave, all the campers handled it very well.

Meanwhile, another group, this time of Middlers, was rafting the Nantahala at the same time. Most of these girls, in contrast, had never been rafting or experienced the thrill of whitewater boating. We met our regular crew of guides at the put-in and geared everyone up with helmets, PFDs (life jackets or “personal flotation devices”) and paddles. Steff gave the group the safety talk explaining how to hold the paddle, how to sit in the boat, and what to do if you fall out into the river. Each boat of five or six campers has an experienced Rockbrook guide, so even if the girls forget something from the safety talk, there’s an adult right there to assist. Do you know how to catch a throw rope? Your camper does! The weather was nice and sunny, always a welcome buffer to the chill of the Nantahala’s water.

The girls back at camp, also enjoying excellent sunny weather, had a picnic lunch out on the hill. Rick and the other kitchen folks whipped up mounds of homemade coleslaw and grilled hamburgers for everyone.  Add some cheese, lettuce, sliced local tomatoes, mayo, ketchup and mustard if you like, grab a cup of lemonade, and you’ve got a classic summertime meal. Top it off with a slice of watermelon, and what could be better?

Today was also circus dress up day at camp, a chance for the girls to pull out their costume accessories and become their favorite circus character. The were several brightly colored performers, mostly in leotards and tutus, but probably the most common costume was dressing as a clown. We saw huge funny shoes, goofy hats and plenty of over-sized glasses. There weren’t any wild animals to be tamed or do tricks, but we did see at least one pink fuzzy creature!

This month we’ve had 33 girls who have had their birthday while at camp. While some days there might be none, on others there are several girls on the same day (like 4 today!). The kitchen is always sure to bake each birthday girl a cake, and usually members of her cabin get together to help decorate it in true Rockbrook style, i.e. lots of frosting and candy . The cabin mates often make a big colorful sign to hang in the dining hall as well. When the cake is brought out, candles lit, the whole dining hall sings Happy Birthday and ends with the chant, “Tell us when to stop!” One giant handclap, in unison, for each year— it’s a real celebration. Have you seen the Rockbrook Camp Youtube Channel? It’s got several short videos we’ve uploaded, including a birthday song to Carrie. Go check it out!