The Best Camping Trip Ever ( true story ) By Olivia Joyce
After three hours of driving, we finally arrived. It was very cold at camp, and I was very glad that we had brought coats. I almost ran to the fire, but first I had to say, “Hi” to everyone. When I eventually got to the fire, there were about twelve young kids there. I recognized some of them, and some of them obviously recognized me, because they said “Hi Olivia!” I replied to the first little girl, “Hi Katelynn!” She kind of giggled and said, “I’m Nani, that’s Katelynn over there.” “Oh I’m sorry!” I replied. It’s going to take me awhile before I will be able to distinguish all of the little girls from each other. I still get confused! Soon, though, the kids were getting restless. Since the adults didn’t want them to climb up the woodpile, my sister, Eleanor, suggested that we play tag. When the Adventurers didn’t want to play anymore, we played “ Duck,Duck,Goose”. When the boys didn’t want to play that anymore, two boys, Ethan and Matthew ( brothers ) started to chase me while yelling “SURRENDER!!” I let them chase me around and soon all of the little kids were playing our “game”. That evening, there was worship time at the “circus tent” in the big field area. (We also had worship times on Sabbath and Sunday). First, we sang a lot of fun songs, like “This little light of Mine”, and “Father Abraham”. I could really felt God’s presence while we sang songs like “Awesome God” and “We are His hands”. Pastor Manny’s son, ( Pastor Manny is the conference youth pastor and was in charge of the camp-out), Eliah, would toddle over to the stage and “help” his daddy with the songs and devotional. It was really cute!
At Sabbath worship, Pastor Manny asked if anyone knew how to say “Happy Sabbath!” In another language. One of the boys from our camp, named Adriel, said he could say it in Japanese. Then, a girl from the North shore church raised her hand and said it in Chinese. Next, Pastor Manny said it in Spanish. I thought it was neat. After worship, we went back to camp. I and a couple of the older kids, Karina and Alex, looked for kindling for the fire. Then, one of the dads brought out some stilts. It was a challenge to even take one step! Karina had really good balance, so she was good at it. That evening, some of the kids from the North Shore church asked if we wanted to play badminton. That was a lot of fun. Of course we all talked about things. Everything from the s’mores we would have that night, to the Pathfinder campout in two weeks was on the conversation list. On Sunday morning, it was a little warmer, but we still needed a fire. So, with the help of a smoking stick I built one fire by myself! I was a little surprised that I was able to! After breakfast, we did some activities. My favorite was climbing the rock wall. “Do you think you can make it to the top?” Mom asked. “I think I can, but it’s going to be harder than last year’s climb.” I replied. It wasn’t as easy as last year, but I did make to the top and I did have a LOT of fun. After that, there was horseback riding. My horse’s name was Chance. He was a very good horse. We also went canoeing. That was a little tricky, but Mom and I got the hang of it soon. I’m really glad that we were able to make it to the Adventurer Camp, and I
thank God for the experience. I made a lot of friends and enjoyed the great outdoors. It was the best camping trip yet! I can’t wait to come back!
THE END.