Decisions to Make

One of the distinguishing features of Rockbrook is our tradition of campers signing up for their activities after they arrive at camp. Instead of sending families a form with a list of options, we’ve found it’s important to let the girls themselves, not their parents, make the decisions about how they spend their time at camp. After all, an activity might be more attractive once you learn more about it, see what specific parts of it are like, which counselor is leading it, and who else among your friends has signed up for it. Being trusted with the responsibility to make their own personalized schedule, one based primarily on their interests rather than the assumptions of someone else, is also a great way to gain a sense of independence and self confidence. Furthermore, we let the girls do this several times each session, so they can make those decisions again and change activities if they like… “grown up” kinds of decisions… limited choices that mean selecting and neglecting at the same time. All this can make things more complex and difficult for the counselors and directors to organize, but we feel it’s worth it to provide the campers this kind of flexibility and opportunities to grow. Combined with our daily, scheduled blocks of free time, this philosophy enhances the feeling of freedom and choice Rockbrook campers so enjoy.

With all of the other adventure, sports and crafts activities going on in camp each day, it’s easy to forget about the huge horseback riding program as well. Kathleen, our full-time camp photographer, spent a good deal of time at the equestrian center today taking pictures of the riders. There are 29 horses at camp this summer and lots of girls interested in horseback riding. At any one class period, more than half of those horses will be tacked up for one of four separate riding lessons going on simultaneously. Here too, the riding schedule is rather complex because some girls ride only a couple of times each week, while others take lessons more often because they are more advanced riders or they are simply really excited to learn more. Occasionally campers will ask and change their riding time so they can take advantage of another activity instead, or vice-versa, to ride more days per week. Audrey and her team of horseback riding instructors are always patient and accommodating as girls’ interests wax and wane.

This has been an adventure trip week as well. Mattie has taken several groups hiking in the Pisgah National Forest, a Junior hike to John Rock being a highlight. Clyde led a rock climbing trip to Looking Glass Rock where a group of Middlers and Seniors climbed an area known as the “Nose.” I took the Hi-Ups out for a chance to swim at High Falls in the Dupont State Forest. And another group of Middlers and Seniors, again with Clyde, enjoyed a day whitewater kayaking on the Green River. These are optional out-of-camp trips that girls can select in place of their regularly scheduled set of activities. Going on a trip, therefore, means missing whatever is happening at camp. That’s sometimes a difficult decision to make if you really love pottery, riflery or horseback riding, for example, but again, it’s theirs to make and is certainly a chance to weigh one experience over another.

After dinner tonight, during our “Twilight” period of free time, we announced a surprise shaving cream fight and slip-n-slide to be held down on the landsports field, and a short Taekwondo workshop taught by Alex in the hillside lodge. Again, both were optional activities… decisions, decisions. The Taekwondo workshop was a simple introduction to some of the stretching and moves common to the sport. Meanwhile, most of the campers were having a ball running around the lower field armed and ready to smear each other with shaving cream.  There are no rules to this, just a chance to get messy, maybe create a funny hairstyle, and strike a pose for the camera.  There’s plenty of shrieking and laughing, and a look on everyone’s face that they can’t quite believe they’re being allowed to do this.  And to crank it up another notch, we just had to add a slick ride down the slip-n-slide. Too much! It really is almost too much fun for the girls.

70s Dance Fever

Part of the recipe that makes Rockbrook a “place of their own” for our campers is the free time they enjoy each day. There are three blocks of time, before lunch, and both before and after dinner (the two “free swims” and “twilight”), when there are no required, scheduled activities. Instead, the girls can decide for themselves how they might spend that time, perhaps hanging out with their friends, finishing a craft project, exploring the creek by “Curosty,” writing a letter home, playing tennis, chatting with a counselor, or just reading under the big walnut tree on the hill. This is important because the rest of the year is often so tightly scheduled for kids, with school, sports, and other commitments keeping them on the run from one thing to the next— at an almost “job-like” pace. Thank goodness for summer and for camp when our girls can pursue their own interests, at their own pace, and develop their own sense of fun.  Of course, it’s pretty easy to enjoy this free time when they are surrounded by the  natural beauty of Rockbrook, have tons of good friends to do things with, and can turn in almost any direction for an idea or option to try.  But getting in the habit of independently “finding something to do” is a great skill for kids to develop, and something that will certainly help them throughout the year.

The fantastic weather we’ve been having these last few days has kept the equestrian staff happily working hard with lessons every activity period. Some of the afternoon lessons were rained out earlier in the session, but no longer, and there are some great riding skills being shown in the rings. Likewise, we’ve been sending out a lot of adventure trips this week… kayakers to the Green River with Clyde, the Hi-Ups to Dupont Forest for waterfall hopping with Jeff, and shorter day hikes to Rockbrook Falls and Castle Rock with Michelle and the other outdoor adventure staff counselors. These warm and sunny afternoons have also made the lake a popular place to be, and it seems like there are a bunch of girls trying to set a record for trips down the water slide. Add to that all of the regular sports going on— tennis, archery, riflery, gymnastics, alpine tower climbing and gym games —and there are a lot of sweaty girls heading to the lake for the second free swim before dinner.

Tonight after dinner is was time for Disco Mania, a 70s dance party for the whole camp down in our gym.  When the word went out to dress up (naturally), the campers and counselors started showing up in their best 70s garb. A few bell-bottoms and platform shoes really set the tone, but we also saw plenty of tie dyes, bright colors and sun glasses.  Basically, wearing anything crazy seemed about right.  With pumping disco beats, everyone really danced.  Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, Blondie, Roxy Music, Diana Ross, and the Jackson Five all made an appearance on the playlist.  This was all Rockbrook, all girls (no boys), and definitely all fun.

Dolly’s Dairy Bar

Do you know they have the best ice cream in the universe? Do you know they have a super chocolate flavor of ice cream called “Rockbrook Chocolate Illusion?” Did you know that every Rockbrook camper wants to go, and pretty much every one does? It’s all true, and it’s Dolly’s Dairy Bar in Brevard. Located at the entrance to the Pisgah National Forest, it’s everyone’s favorite place for a cool summertime treat. Here are a few photos of our Rockbrook girls at Dolly’s last summer.

We love Dolly’s ice cream!

Under the Sea

Today was the last full day of regular activities. This sent the girls scurrying around to finish up craft projects, climb the alpine tower one last time, try again to hit the bullseye in archery or riflery. It also meant that chances to “hang out” with friends were also becoming more precious. At the lake, a group of seniors were sunbathing, and another crowd of juniors, for example, were enjoying the view on the hill before lunch. The approaching end of camp puts everyone in a nostalgic mood of sorts, and we all want to make the most of these last couple of days.

Jeff has had the Hi-Ups (10th graders) on their 3-day trip since Sunday. They all went to Lake Keowee and Lake Jocassee down in South Carolina for camping, water skiing, hiking and of course swimming. The weather was hot and sunny, and with plenty water all around, we felt like it was a beach vacation. There were lots of thrills as we explored amazing waterfalls and jumped from high rocks into the water.

The big event tonight was something the entire camp has been anticipating all session— the big surprise banquet presented by the CAs (9th graders). They pick a secret theme, plan all of the decorations, food, costumes, music, skits, dances, and do all of the work getting ready for tonight. It’s a huge undertaking! So what was the theme this session? “Under the Sea.” The entire dining hall was transformed into an underwater paradise with fish, blue cellophane overhead, a whale, a submarine, seaweed, and shark mouth at the main door. The CAs were dressed as the movie characters Sebastian, Dory, Nemo, Flounder, Whale, and the counselors were scuba divers. For dinner (not counting all the candy on the table ) they served “Fish Sticks with Tartar Sauce,” “Crabby Patties & Ocean Algae” and “Sea Foam” (mozzarella sticks, hamburgers, jello). For the campers, this is a magical experience and something they’ll always remember.

Kayakers, Potters & Sharp Shooters

The riflery instructor Paige has been announcing a lot of names lately of girls joining the “Bullseye Club.” Being able to shoot a bullseye in riflery is not easy. It really does take a great deal of practice to learn how to sight the rifles and remain steady while shooting. Each rifle can have its own quirks to consider as well. That’s why the girls will tell you about their favorite gun, all of which, by the way, have names like Othello, Captain Jack, and the Fresh Prince.

In pottery, Katie and Will, our dynamic lead ceramics instructors, are inspiring the campers to create some really cool pieces. In addition to simple tiles pressed with nature patterns, they’ve been making mugs from clay slabs, adding complex designs, a handle, and colorful glazes. We’ve also seen amazing sculptures of animals and trees, and plenty of pots being thrown on the wheel. We’re beginning to fire all of this session’s pieces in the kilns, so it won’t be long before we can see how all the pottery turns out.

Today was also a day of tie dyeing in “Hodge Podge.” This happens about once a week around here. We bring out the gloves, rubber bands, and squirt bottles of dye, and pre-soak the shirts in a mild solution of urea (which helps dissolve more dye in water and keep the shirts wet longer). Armed with multiple colors of dye, the girls love twisting, tying, and folding the shirts. You’ll be amazed when you see how they turn out.

The kitchen treated us to “International Day” today, with each meal inspired by a different ethnic cuisine. Breakfast was probably the most unusual— a traditional Tico (Costa Rican) breakfast of scrambled eggs, black beans and rice, sliced avocado, slabs of mild white cheese, salsa and fresh berries. For lunch, we switched to Mediterranean food and had homemade hummus, falafel, pita bread, olives, feta cheese, tomato and cucumber salad. And at dinner, out came steak fajitas (with grilled onions and peppers), beans, tortillas, fresh guacamole, chips, cheese and salsa. This was a great day to eat at camp!

Clyde, Kelsey and Tara took an advanced kayaking trip to the Nantahala river today as well. They packed a lunch and headed to the river for the whole day with a small group of seniors. The Nantahala has a few technical rapids but also a several gentler sections making the trip a nice mix of action and time to talk. Clyde is great about telling girls about the river and coaching them as they approach each rapid. Back at camp, the girls were excited to report clean runs through the last big rapid, the Nantahala Falls, with only one swimmer at the very end. That’s a great accomplishment!

We Swim, Dress Up and Slide

It’s hard to say which flavor of muffin is most popular at camp. With Liz, our baker, creating so many new varieties from scratch— not to mention the traditional kinds— there are too many to choose from. There’s blueberry, but also key lime muffins, cranberry walnut, but also chocolate chip, and sprinkles, and white chocolate almond! Liz arrives at 6:30am each morning and gets to work right away to have the muffins baked and cooled by the mid-morning muffin break. Since there are more than 300 people (campers and staff members), that’s a lot of muffin trays, papers and individual dollops of batter to prepare! The muffins are always so good the girls literally run to the dining hall when they hear the bell announcing “Muffin Break.” For everyone at camp, Liz is a hero!

In fact, the entire kitchen crew are heroes at camp. Rick and his crew are really working hard to create great balanced meals for us, and this isn’t “camp food,” pre-processed, frozen, nuggets of whatnot fried and served with ketchup. Nope. All the main dishes are homemade, from the pizza dough, to the pancakes, to the chicken and dumplings. Rick puts together every meal’s menu, so for dinner yesterday we had baked tilapia, wild rice and a spinach salad. Each tilapia fillet was spiced individually, and the salad included a homemade sesame salad dressing. It’s also amazing how Rick takes time to make special vegetarian options. So for example, he made vegetarian dumplings combining green tomatoes, goat cheese and a light sauce with the dumpling dough. It was a pleasantly surprising combination, and with a big green salad, made a great meal. Sorry to talk so much about the food at camp, but after being away for a couple of nights camping, it’s hard not to!

Wednesday we took cabin photos before lunch and during rest hour. Gathering everyone in each cabin, dressed in their camp uniforms, and taking their photograph is a long tradition at Rockbrook. Part of the fun is that each cabin gets to select where it would like the photo taken and how to arrange each person. There are so many different places at camp to pose— on one of the many huge rocks, down by the lake, standing in a creek, or on a porch or set of steps. It’s fun for campers to keep their copy of their cabin photo and to collect them over the years in a scrapbook or camp photo album.

For Wednesday afternoon’s cabin day activities, the three lines split up. A few junior cabins went on short hikes to Castle Rock and Rockbrook Falls, but one stayed to put on a dress up fashion show in the Junior Lodge. Silly, silly stuff. Meanwhile, several cabins of seniors took a quick trip into the Pisgah Forest to take a dip in a swimming hole. The water was pretty chilly (like all the creeks and streams in these mountains), so it took a while for most of the girls to get wet. After dinner, all of the mini session Middlers took a trip up to Sliding Rock. Many of the girls had never been to Sliding Rock before, so it was particularly fun to see them zip down the rock and funny to hear them scream when they plunged into the cold water below. There are lots of photos of this in the RBC gallery. Naturally, on the way home, we had to stop at Dolly’s for a cone, a yummy sweet treat of some kind. Being all things chocolate, the Rockbrook camp flavor is still one of the most popular. It was a little bit of a late night for these Middlers by the time we got back to camp settled down, but we all enjoyed ourselves in true RBC fashion.

Rafting and Birthday Night

We took our first whitewater rafting trip of the session today. After breakfast, two busloads of middlers and seniors packed up for a day on the river. The girls tend to be a little sleepy on the drive over, but once we enter the Nantahala River Gorge, they really perk up. We had a picnic lunch (chicken wraps, pretzels, and fruit) at the Ferebee Riverside Park and took a little time for everyone to lather up the sunscreen, since it was a warm sunny day. A few minutes further up the river we met our regular RBC guides. Rockbrook is fortunate to be the only girls camp with a permit to run the Nantahala river, allowing us to hire people we know as guides (for example, Clyde our adventure director led the trip) and to use our own top of the line self-bailing Avon rafts. Several of the girls on this trip had never been rafting before, so it was fun to see their excitement as they geared up with PFDs, helmets and paddles. Part of the water making up the Nantahala river is controlled by Duke Energy as it’s released from a deep nearby lake to generate electricity. The girls notice this because the water is so very cold, and everyone is thankful for a warm sunny day. The trip lasts a little more than 2 hours and finishes with a final large rapid called “Lesser Wesser” or the “Nantahala Falls.” This photo is that rapid. It’s a thrilling way to end up the trip.

Dinner tonight was a special event called “Fiesta Birthday Night.” A group of counselors put on the event by decorating the dining hall with posters, table centerpieces and piñatas, and picked out a playlist of Latin music. The kitchen helped also by preparing steak fajitas, rice, beans, cheese and homemade salsa. But since it was also Birthday Night, we rearranged the dining hall into 12 large tables, one for each month so everyone could sit with people sharing their birthday month. This is a fun change from sitting with your cabin, and allows everyone get to know other campers and staff members in camp. The highlight of course is the cake! Liz, our amazing baker, was hard at work all day making twelve different cakes so that each month could have their own. You’ve never heard so many different people wished “Happy Birthday!” at the same dinner!

The after dinner Twilight activity today was an impromptu “photo shoot.” Counselor Mary from Nashville grabbed a camera and took a bunch of silly “glamor” shots of campers posing out on the hill. Several girls were dressed up for the Fiesta Birthday Night dinner and others changed into something especially for the photos. Some posed, others jumped, while some hugged each other and still others just smiled nicely. It’s always fun to get your picture taken, especially when you’re at camp and being your most silly self. That’s one of the great feelings of being at camp. The girls can relax and be open and silly enough to do things just for the fun of it, even if it might be a little embarrassing in another context. Have you worn a fake mustache lately?

Camp Trips and Programs

As we begin the final week of our first session, our regular camp activities are still going full speed.  Everyone has at least one more they want to try or sign up for again, so the girls are excited to have a new set of activities.  Word gets around how fun it is at archery or swimming, and when a cool weavings or knitted hats start showing up around camp, Curosty and needlecraft become even more popular.

This is also the week when all kinds of special events happen that are perpetual favorites among the campers. One of these is an evening program simply called “Counselor Impersonations.” Each age group gathers in their stone lodge after dinner for a hilarious program of skits produced by the cabin groups. After living together throughout the session, you can imagine that everyone gets to know each other really well, and little personalty quirks become apparent. This is a chance for the campers to reveal what they noticed about their counselors, and to dress and act like them for comic effect. For the campers, this is about the funniest thing on earth! For the counselors, it’s sometimes more embarrassing than funny, but it’s all very good-natured stuff. Rockbrook campers have been enjoying this evening program for generations.

Also on Monday the Hi-Ups were away from camp with Jeff on their 3-day adventure trip. They left Sunday and headed down to Lake Keowee for some water skiing, knee boarding and wake boarding. They spent the night out under the stars and woke to an excellent breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and grapes prepared by their counselors Catherine and Sarah. Next we loaded up our gear onto pontoon boats over at Lake Jocassee and motored over to our remote (boat access only) campsite. This is a great, mostly undeveloped lake, surrounded by State Forest. The water is cool and clear, so in the SC heat, we spent a great deal of time swimming, but also jumping off of rocks and exploring waterfalls. One waterfall has a cave under it, which allowed us to crawl through the crashing water and see from the inside out. It’s an unbelievable sound in there, a true roar! We enjoyed perfect weather throughout the trip, excellent food, and the girls had a wonderful time.