Three Hikes in Three Days

This weekend I had the opportunity to head up to camp to visit friends and help with turnover Saturday. It was wonderful to be at camp without having allergies so I could smell the good air. I was able to go for a hike every day I was there, hang out with friends, meet some of the summer staff, and help turn camp over after the first week so they were ready for the second week of camp. All of my pictures are from hiking so you can enjoy the beautiful scenery too.

                    The cavern

The lake

Dogwoods on George's Falls trail

                                 

We had a little

picnic during

our hike to

George's Falls,

this was the setup

for making flowering

tea. Notice the bag

of pasta in the back?

Yep, that was dinner,

cold pasta in a bag.

We made up for that

with the flowering

tea. Sorry a couple

of the pictures of

making tea are

blurry, I included

them anyway to show

the before and after.

The top photo is the

tea ready to go,

in the middle is

after we put it

in to brew, and

the bottom shows it

after the flower has

opened and the

tea was ready.

So, it was a great weekend and I didn't want to leave.

But don't worry, I'm planning to go back soon.

First Float of 2011

We went floating on Friday with our friends, Jeremy and Julie, who are in town for a couple weeks. Here, Jeremy and Heidi are blowing up the solar mat we used to hold our snacks and water.

The water was cold, but the air was warm and we had an enjoyable float.

It was a good start to summer fun.

June 13th

Yum

Summer Fruit Put to Good Use

The blueberry pie I made

 Heather and I took advantage of the plethora of fresh summer fruit we had from blueberry and cherry picking and the local strawberry stands. First, we made blueberry and strawberry pies. Then, we made two batches of jam, one strawberry and one cherry-blueberry.

Heather and I with the results

Heather's strawberry pie

Blueberry-cherry jam and strawberry jam

Neither of the pies set up fully, but they both tasted delicious and the jam is good too.

Picking Blueberries

We took advantage of the cooler weather to go pick blueberries yesterday afternoon. We picked over 31 lbs in an hour, which even impressed the blueberry lady!

Everyone had fun picking, and sampling, the berries.

I stole this group picture from Heather's blog, because that's what sisters are for, right Heath? 

The boys were being silly on the drive back and had their baskets on their heads. Back at the Nickell's, we made blueberry buttermilk pancakes, bacon, and potatoes for dinner, yum!

Fruit Tartlets

 I made mini fruit tarts for dessert tonight. Yum.



Dancing to the Beat

 It's that time of year again, finals and the COS dance show! I was in tap this semester and our dance was Austin Powers themed. I was not excited about that, but overall it turned out fun. Here are some pictures, I'm wearing a black dress with white polka dots.

Backstage opening night with my dance partner; we choreographed a small part of the dance that four of us performed together.

And here's the video:

The Post I'm Glad to be Posting

 Saturday morning I decided to drive up to camp to meet my friend, Jaime at a women's conference there. I arrived during free time and joined a hike led by my former roommate, Rachel. It was wonderful to be at camp again. There was a lot of water over the fall.

 After our first hike, Jaime, Rachel, and I went on a second hike, the Shadow of the Giants. The Dogwood trees were just opening up.

It was cloudy and cold in the evening, but I braved the cold to take pictures of the moon.

The morning brought a beautiful surprise: Snow!! Be prepared for a lot of pictures.

Tulips on the tables in the dining room. They had things decorated and fancy for the ladies. It was a good retreat; Jaime and I sat at a table with my former Calvin Crest kitchen supervisor's wife and her sister as well as some other fun ladies. The speaker was talking about balance and had good things to say. But mostly it was wonderful to be at camp again and be refreshed.

Yearning

It's been 5 years since I last worked on staff at Calvin Crest; but inevitably, this time of year my heart turns toward the mountain. There were plenty of ups and downs during my two summers on staff and the others weeks I've spent at camp, but the community I experienced there was like no other. Plus, I love the mountains. The beauty, the smells, the water; I feel closer to God when I'm surrounded by His awesome creation. It's time...