Two Weeks in the Bush!

SO, where to begin? What a two weeks I had . . . Camping at hidden valley was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was so much fun to be out in nature for two weeks straight, sleeping on the ground, living in a tent, not really showering HaHa!!! So here lets break down a bit of the basics . . .

I lived in a 9 person tent with 6 guys for two weeks, slept in a sleeping bag on 1 inch piece of foam that was not so properly titled a bed mat, I shared one shower and two toilets with 10 guys for the first week (Like 50 guys the second week . . . the staff came up and joined us for the second week so there was about 12o people plus children for five days, the staff normally dosnt join in on camping but it was their staff retreat so it was a great opportunity to serve), we had hot water that got pumped up from the creek and then warmed by a fire, drinking water was pumped through the creek then filtered, we had one giant urn that boiled water to clean dishes and to have coffee of course, we ate quite well there was three gas burners, and two gas grills ( we went through a lot of propane needless to say), a generator gave us a bit of electricity for a few hours a day, we drank powdered milk (which actually isnt all that bad), I cleaned myself in a creek (aka Man Bathing) and spent a lot of time in the sun, I am now quite tan, I was brekky prep so I got up by 5:45 am everyday (well almost somedays were later than others and the second week I only had brekky prep once but I was still up by 7 everyday) I loved it! Getting up early was so nice watching the sun come up, being by the fire . . .

So a few more of the details might interest you as well, the weather was perfect!!!!!! It was warm and sunny during the day ( I rocked shorts ad a cut off most of the time) it was warm enough to go swimming, but then at night in jeans and a hoody you were freezing ( well not freezing but quite chilly) if you werent by the fire and we drank lots of hot chocolate!

Our schedule was quite similar in that we had lectures every morning and work duties and what not but we also had a little extra free time, and we also had extra time in the morning for some great quiet times . . .If you have never sat out in nature on a cool morning and listened to some good music and prayed and read your bible I suggest you try it its such an amazing way to grow and hear God!

The nights were Epic! The stars were everywhere and I saw at least 5 shooting stars every night even if a few of the nights we had to pray for them or at least pray for the clouds to go away for just a bit Haha . . .

We also did a fair bit of star tripping which is one of the funniest things I have ever seen . . .EVER!!!! It is when you stand out in an open field with no lights stare up at the stars spin as fast you possibly can for as long as you possibly can then stop and someone shines a light in your face and your body just freaks out. You dont know whats up and what down and it is HILARIOUS!!!! Brain cells were probably killed but what the heck you know it was fun! HAHA!!!

And then of course the highlight might be the Gorge! It was about a fifteen minute drive from camp and it was beautiful and I hope everyone get the chance to see something that pretty one day in their life and that they can get a chance to play in a waterfall! NUTS!!!

So yeah in a lot of words that dont do it justice that was camping in no real special order! I am glad to be back though and I hope I get to talk to all of you soon! You will all continue to be in my prayers and I hope I am in yours!

Love and Light,

J.