Today the Trekkers left for their out trips and they were extremely excited. The backpackers left early this morning to get a start on their hike. Mountain Biking and Kayaking then left and Skateboarding will be leaving later today. The campers have been preparing for these trips all week, and will now get to use their skills that they learned in camp in actual situations.

The Pathfinders are doing many activities in and around camp, with groups traveling to the Ranch to horseback ride. The girls are doing this today, and the boys will do it tomorrow. Today while some Pathfinder girls were horseback riding, another group made tie dye T-shirts. They came out great and the campers were very proud of their achievements.

The Pathfinder boys started rock climbing today, with Jared teaching them the  basics of climbing.

The first session of camp ended on Saturday and it was a great one! All the campers had a great time and were sad to leave.  The staff were very sad to see them go after having the campers here for two weeks. The campers did a plethora of activities, everything from Film to Rock Climbing. They all had a huge amount of fun and learned many new skills.

On the last night of camp, the campers and staff were treated to a five course dinner made by Dex and the kitchen staff. The main course was pork tenderloin, garlic mash potatoes, home made apple sauce and asparagus. It was a great meal! After the meal, the campers headed to the Camp art show, with the art made by the Fine Arts skill track. After the art show, the campers packed in to St. Johns Hall and watched a slide show of images from the session, they then watched the Film skill track’s film, “The Big Zombie Escape,” a classic zombie horror film. The Trekkers and Adventurers then split up and headed to their individual closing ceremonies. The Trekkers stayed and St. John’s and were given awards for their individual skill tracks. The Adventurers headed to Tent Camp where they had a fire and talked about their time at camp. It was sad to see this group of campers go.

The next day, a new group of campers arrived, Pathfinders and  Trekkers. The opening day was great, beautiful weather and all the campers arrived here on time. They settled into their cabins and then headed to St. Johns for  staff skits, then they headed to the Dining Hall for dinner. The campers then headed back to St. Johns for opening ceremonies and code of living. It was a great night and we are very excited for this session!!

The Adventurers have come to their final week at Camp Santa Maria, and it is an eventful one!

Yesterday the Adventurers went rafting on the Arkansas river and had a great time! They left very early in the morning and arrived back at camp in the late afternoon, all of them chatting about what an awesome trip they had.

Last night the camp held the cabin talent show. Each cabin chose a talent to perform in front of the entire camp, and some campers even did individual performances! All the talents were entertaining, but Cabin Logan came out as the winner, with a perfect score of thirty.

The coming week is very busy, with Trekkers heading out on their skill tracks, which include, Rock Climbing, Backpacking, Film, Art, Mountain Biking, and a new one in Skateboarding.

The Adventurers will be doing rock climbing and an overnight at the Ranch. From the Ranch the Adventurers will attempt to hike up to treeline to find the bomber that crashed up there after World War II. This will conclude the Adventurer’s time at camp, a very sad happening.

A great time is being had by all, the weather is beautiful and Camp is awesome!!