1. I love camp. OBV, if you know that one of my favorite movies is "Wet Hot American Summer." Summer camp from when I was younger is one of my favorite memories.
2. I love my family, and hadn't seen some of them since I moved to California. (3 years)
3. Benjamin had met my family briefly, but this time he would really get to spend some time with them.
Just like summer camp, we had t-shirts, trophies, and activities planned every hour. We began on Thursday with the Opening Ceremonies. We had a nice catered Southern dinner, received our t-shirts (bright red), and went over the upcoming days events. We would all be competing for the coveted "Camper of the Week" award. Jojo and Papa had surprises for each generation. My Dad and uncles--lots of cash. My cousins and me--a folder full of newspaper clippings and photos from my grandparents lives so that we would always know what they were like when they were younger. It is very special, and I am glad to have it. Following the surprise, we played "20 Questions" and heard lots of stories from Jojo and Papa's early years. By that time, it was late and we needed to get to bed--rafting early in the morning!
Friday morning, 10 of us (Mom, Dad, Benjamin, Papa, Joel, Jerry, Kati, Laura Michael, Mikki, and me) went to the Ocoee River for whitewater rafting. Because my younger cousins are not old enough for the Ocoee yet, Jojo, Joan, Jeff, Harrison, Lauren, and Madeleine went to the Hiwassee River. Even though we got lost twice on the way to the rafting company, we arrived in plenty of time. The fun began following the safety briefing when they called over the intercom "Hughes family, please board the short bus" in order for us to be transported to the river. We sure got a kick out of it.
Mom, Dad, Benjamin and me were on a raft with our guide, Preston (or P-Dawg.) The rest of the family was on a raft with Andy, and right of the bat their raft assisted in a rescue of a "swimmer." Not long after the first rapid, Mom, Ben, and I were knocked out of our raft, which was quite scary at the time. Despite that, and the huge bruises on my arms, I have to say that the rafting was my favorite experience the whole weekend. I say this because this was one of the most challenging things I've done lately. It was fun to be in a raft with my fiance and parents, and work together towards a common goal--reaching the end of the course without falling out. Since we were only 4 people in a 6 person raft, we got a lot of air on the rapids, and sometimes Benjamin and I completely disappeared under the water. Preston got on to me a couple of times because I would paddle the wrong way, but my only thought process for the whole trip was "don't fall out of the raft." The water was cold, and my arms still hurt, but I can't wait to do it again. Next year, we want to raft the Upper and Middle Ocoee, which includes the Olympic course from the 1996 games.
Following rafting, we had to quickly shower and change for the Putt Putt Tournament. We were split into teams of 3, but we were battling against everyone. That is, men vs. men, women vs. women. We played two rounds, and I am proud to say I managed 4 Hole in One's. However, I balanced those out with a lot of bogies, so I was nowhere near the top 5 of the girls. Dad won the men's division, and Mom and Aunt Karo tied for the women's, which resulted in a 5 hole playoff. Mom eventually won.
The next morning (4th of July) we started our day out right--Helicopter Rides!! Jojo and Papa rented a private helicopter to shuttle 3 of us at time over Dalton. Most of us opted to ride with the doors off. I had a great time, and the pilot was very nice as well. (BTW, this was Ben's first whitewater rafting trip, and his first Helicopter ride, and he has since remarked how dangerous this weekend actually was)
Following the helicopter rides, we went to the bowling alley for the bowling tournament. Once again, we were split in to teams and we competed men vs. men and women vs. women. The highest I bowled was an 80, which is very sad. Dedra won the women's division with a 120, and Dad won the men's division with 168. Uncle Jerry gave Ben some really great tips while they played, and Ben doubled his score.
After bowling, we went back to Joel and Karo's for the ping pong tournament. We played double elimination. It was very intense. Karo won the women's division, and Jerry won the men's division. In between rounds, the girls played rummy, which took us about 5 hands to remember how to play.
The tournament ended just in time for the fireworks display. This year it was a little different. Jojo and Papa bought some heavy duty fireworks, which we set off first. (think of the fireworks you see when you go to a display, not just the ones you buy to set off in your backyard) The men set off the fireworks VERY close to where we were sitting, which resulted in ash falling on us the entire time. I've never been that close to fireworks, and it was very cool. Everyone around the lake had their own fireworks, and we kept setting off competing displays. I believe that ours were the best, but it was fun to see so many fireworks in a 20 minute timespan.
Sunday was very lowkey. The men played golf while the women had a surprise jewelry show! Jojo gave each girl a certain amount of money they could spend, and we all went away happy. After the men returned from golf, we had our closing ceremonies. We each got Participation Awards (mine is on my fridge) and Jojo and Papa handed out the trophies for the winners of the sports events. Everyone voted Jojo and Papa "Camper of the Week." (Mom and Dad's are on the mantle at home.) I was sad to leave, but excited about next year's camp.
