A Day in the Life at GRP
Ding dong, Campers!
Following a lovely night’s sleep in our bunks, we groggily get out of bed for a wonderful day on The Preserve. After brushing our teeth and getting dressed, we head to the Lodge for arguably the best meal of the day: breakfast! Baked oatmeal, french toast sticks, breakfast burritos, or biscuits await our grumbling tummies, alongside oatmeal and fruit with yogurt.
After scarfing down the delicious meal our wonderful kitchen staff prepares for us, we meet with our Mentor for our daily hike. Are we meeting Jonathan at the coffee pot (the best part of waking up is Jonathan in your cup!) for some spelunking in the cave? Will we join Junebug at the Truth (you can’t handle the truth!) to look for creepy crawlies at the river? Could we be going to the Sundeck (Here comes the sun, do do do do…little darling!) in preparation for the Farm? Maybe! But it’s going to be awesome!
We head back to the cabin, get ready for our hike, and make sure our cabins are nice and clean for the Cabin Fairy’s approval. We make sure our beds are tucked in, our floors are swept, the bathrooms are cleaned, and the air is fresh and fine for our fairy friend!
And off on our hike! We adventure through the forest, swim in naturally formed pools, dip under waterfalls, identify white pines from red pines, and maybe even see one of our beloved grand slaminals – the wild turkey, the deer, the black bear, and either a timber rattlesnake or Carolina copperhead. Every hike guarantees new things to learn, new sights to see, and more fun to be had!
After we have explored and swam and spelunked, we triumphantly return to Base Camp for lunch! Meatball subs, grilled cheese with tomato soup, or salads galore fill our plate and then our gullets after our exciting excursions to the outdoors. Then, with an anticipatory drumroll, comes the Cabin Fairy! Did we win? We sure hope we did, but if not, there’s always tomorrow to make the cleanest and nicest and most stylish cabin the Green River Valley has ever seen.
Up next is the best hour, rest hour! Ahhh, time for some silent reading, some letter writing, a nice nap…zzzzz…
And now it’s time for Activities! Whether it’s hitting the dreamshots in Archery or BB skeet, making some lovely crafts in Pottery or Drawing and Painting, or accomplishing some awesome feats in Climbing or Low Ropes, new adventures and new skills await us.
After Activities, we have some free time. Now’s the time to read a book and listen to music at the Trout House, play some games at the Pottery Studio, catch some frisbees or kick some soccer balls at the Front Field, swim in the waterfront, jump off the zipline into the lake, or some R & R by Hammockville.
When the bell rings again, we get ready for dinner. If it’s Twinner, maybe we all get dressed in identical clothing with a friend or even the entire cabin! When it’s Wacky Wednesday, we dress all goofy and silly, with backwards clothing or (slightly terrifying) chicken hats. Arrgghh, ‘nd when it’s Pirate Night, maties, it be time to dress like a swashbucklin’ buccaneer!
Argh! Then it be time to – ahem – then it’s time for some supper. We devour some pizza or fajitas or rice with baked beans. And just when we think we’re done, it’s time for dessert! Chocolate cake and brownies, s’mores bars and churros, strawberry shortcake and pumpkin blondies! Whatever it is, it’s delicious and demonstrative of the collective kitchen staff genius.
After we’re stuffed, we go and get ready for our Evening Program. Perhaps we get dressed in camo (or bright colors!) for a big ol’ game of Predator/Prey. Maybe we get our acts rehearsed and our musical instruments tuned and our jokes prepared for the Variety Show! Oh, maybe we get our peepers ready to catch some counselors for a Staff Hunt! Maybe we get to see the Green River Ramblers perform for the Lower or Upper Council Fires!
No matter which awesome Evening Program we do, we always end with everyone singing Sisters, Brothers to end the day. We go back to the cabins, shower, brush our teeth, get dressed for bed (maybe not in that exact order). We end with Rose, Bud, Thorn, where we say our favorite part of the day (Rose), our not-so-favorite part of the day (Thorn), and then what we’re most excited for tomorrow (Bud).
We tell each other goodnight, and get ready for a terrific tomorrow!
Story by Noah Gerhardt with photos by Samantha Keebler & Brandon S. Marshall