The Week In Review

Please note: This post is really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really long. Like the longest I’ve ever written. Sorry. Don’t read it if you want.

I’m back!!

So, in case you didn’t notice, I didn’t post any while I was at camp. Apparently a lot of you did notice, and are rather upset (understandably). But before you start throwing full wine bottles at your computer screen, let me offer this as a cop-out:

I’m handsome.

And here’s another cop-out: I tried. Sarah is very intelligent. Upon my arrival at King Solomon Camp I quickly realized that there was no service. At all. Nothing. Not even one little bar. So that was the first barrier right there. Now…some of you might be saying, “You went to Abeline on Thursday and Manhattan on Monday!” Actually you probably didn’t know that. But I did. But I couldn’t post then either. Why? Because audioblogger CHANGED THEIR NUMBER AND DIDN’T TELL ME! Punks.

But no worries. I’m here to give you the complete camp rundown, starting from Day 1.

SUNDAY

We all arrived at the church, and much to our dismay, there were a lot of faces absent as we were getting on the bus. Rachel, Kyle, Abe, Crawford, and Mr. Rogers are just a couple examples. The group was small – Matthew, Sasha, Tiffany, Jayne, Kaylie (sp?), Samantha, Courtney, Sam, Eric, Dan, Becky, David, and myself made up the entire group. On the way to camp we played some poker, and just like last year, the losers had to go sit in the back of the bus. I got second about five times in a row. Anyway, we finally arrived, put our stuff in our rooms, and then I hit my first snag.

“Name?” the lady at the registration desk asked without looking up.

“Ansen Bayer.”

“Umm…which one of those is your last name?”

“The one I said last.”

“Spelling??”

“B-A-Y-E-R.”

“You’re not on my list.”

Turns out that since I didn’t completely fill out all of my medical info (that I didn’t know) I wasn’t actually signed up. However, since I am now eighteen, I didn’t need parental permission for stuff and could just sign for myself. So I eventually got signed up, but I didn’t get a canteen card. Tiffany was kind enough to give me hers though. Nice kid that Tiffany is.

So we ate dinner, played some ping-pong, went swinging, played hand-golf, pretty much covered the bases. I also met up with Holly, which was pretty sweet. I also met a guy from Flint Hills that I played with in the State Tournament. Small world.

So we had chapel, and then got assigned into our family groups (that you have devotions with, etc.). Jayne and Holly were in my group, along with a couple other people I knew from years past. My family group was…interesting. To say the least. More on that later.

Anyway, we had worship time (learned some AWESOME new songs Abe!!) and campfire and all that good stuff, then headed off to bed. And it was all just gettin’ started.

MONDAY

I woke up at the crack of an hour and a half or so after sunrise to David Heffren jumping on top of me.

“I’ma go shower up,” I said.

“Eww. Gross.”

After my shower we had breakfast, which we had to eat with our family groups. Jayne and I pretty much stuck together, as we were part of the very small minority of people in our group that was somewhat normal. After some scrambled egg casserole and a glass of milk, I tottered back outside to awaith the arrival of class time at 10:00. We got some good swinging in, and then rushed into the chapel as the bell rang.

Our schedule said we were having a class on restoring old vehicles with Don Faunce, which sounded a bit fishy. Truth be told, it was all a scam, and we were actually going to Manhattan to do work projects. David, Jayne, and myself all went door to door collecting canned foods for…something. Poor people I guess. Anyways, one of the sponsors was going around with us. It was really hot outside. REALLY hot. So, after ringing a certain houses doorbell a couple times and recieving no answer, our sponsor decides he’s going to get a drink from the hose on the front of their house. David, Jayne, and I start walking away, and as he turned it up a bit more to get more pressure, the door opened and a lady peeked out.

“Um…can I help you?”

“Oh, um, hi! I’m…um…just getting a drink! Do you have any canned food?”

Surprisingly enough she did give us a couple cans. But anyway, we ate a sack lunch and headed back to camp. We had free time for a while (during which I dominated David in ping-pong) and then had dinner (pizza). Then came the worship time and the sermon. Then…late-night. For that we played sponsor hide and go seek. The sponsors hide all over the campground, and the campers try to find them to get points for their team. But usually what happens is the campers walk along and the sponsors jump out of the dark and scare the pants off the campers, leaving them with nothing to do but whimper and put their pants back on.

We then had family group time, then campfire, then bed at around midnight.

TUESDAY

David Heffren on top of me, shower, breakfast, the norm.

Today excitement was mounting because it was the last day of “scoping out”. Tomorrow was the all-exciting “Area-Wide Friendship Day”. I personally wasn’t doing a lot of scoping, but Matthew was wasting absolutely no time at all. Turns out his family group was just him, one other guy, and like twelve girls. He was all over that one. No more details necessary. But every time I went up to talk to him some girl would randomly come up and give him a hug. I don’t know how he did it.

Anyway, Tuesday was a fun but relatively uneventful day. The schedule pretty much followed Monday’s, except we had classes about dating and marriage instead of going to Manhattan, and in the afternoon some people (not me) went swimming.

Since the day was uneventful, I’ll take this time to tell you about my family group. In fragments. Lots of younger high schoolers. Lots of annoying flirting. Someone who was on medication for…something odd. Two speech impediments. Clingy girl.

There you go. Um…for late night we played Mission Impossible. Mission impossible is where you have to go around looking for your team’s flag with your group as a whole. If a sponsor comes up and says freeze, then everyone has to be completely still and not say a word until the sponsor leaves. But they usually stay around and heckle you and try to make you laugh for a while. For the first time in a couple years, my group found our flag.

Family group time, campfire, bed.

WEDNESDAY

Every day I was getting up just a little bit later. Wednesday I barely got to breakfast on time. But it had finally arrived…Area-Wide Friendship Day!!!

So we kicked off the day by playing Friendship poker. Basically, you play five card draw, but for very unusual stakes. If you lose a hand, you have to go hold a two minute conversation with a pre-determined person. If you start racking up a bunch of people, you can go double or nothing. Now obviously, the guys always have to go talk to girls, and vice-versa. Some hands you almost want to lose, while other ones you would cheat (as multiple people tried to do) if necessary to not get last. The players were myself, David, Matthew, Dan, Kaylie, and Jayne.

In the end, David went double or nothing and didn’t have to talk to a person. Dan had four (we think he wanted to lose), Jayne had one, Matthew had one, and Kaylie and I each had four (we went double or nothing on the last hand and didn’t make it. I think most everyone successfully talked to their people. We were all extremely kind and friendly. As far as who was the best friend on Area Wide Friendship Day is debatable, but Jayne, myself, and Kaylie all did a pretty good job. David didn’t talk to anyone, and Matthew was thinking too much about Thursday…

One other thing that happened…I got three letters from Rachel. (So did Jayne and David.) So to get our mail we had to stand up and dance in front of everyone. I did the moonwalk down the aisle. The ladies were all up ons.

THURSDAY

PLAY DAY!!! David summed up his view of relationships the best when he responded to the question, “What is the purpose of dating?” His reply?

“Gettin’ play.”

Well, the day that we’d been waiting for had finally come. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as eventful as last year’s event. Multiple people (including me) couldn’t participate due to outside circumstances. Early in the day it looked like defending champion Matthew was going to take home the title again. Hugs here, embraces there, he was on a roll.

But then came the perfect ending to Play Day. Night on the Town!!! Which is Abeline. Crazy night life in Abeline.

So we all went to Abeline and ate Chinese food, and then headed over to Alco to hang out until it was time to go. Somwhere in between Matthew and I trying on girls shirts, dueling each other with lightsabers, and sticking plungers to each others stomachs, Jayne made her move. Charlie showed up with a couple other people to make a surprise visit, and it was the end of Matthew’s reign. Just like that.

The night ended with all of the seniors and graduates getting to stay up till about two eating smores and hanging out together. Fun times.

FRIDAY

And so we come to the final day. Most people slept in till about eight, and I slept in till nine. We all packed up, and went off to have breakfast. Afterwards we spent some time cleangin up the camp, and as we did it started raining. It was a fitting symbol for the sadness of knowing that I may never see that place again. I sat on the rain soaked swings one last time, knocked a ping-pong ball around with Heffren, and even carressed a hand-golf ball as we went to lunch.

Just kidding on that last one.

We ate lunch, and then it was time for goodbyes. Some of these people I’ve seen for a week every year since second grade, so it was pretty hard. I’ll miss them.

We put all our stuff on the bus and headed home. And here I am. The week went by really fast. It had its ups and downs, and some funny/interesting things go on that I can’t post in public. But it was still awesome. Three kids came to Christ, one even got baptized in the pond. The worship was amazing, to the point where we all can’t wait to pick up our instruments and play again.

Anyway, I’m tired, and I’m sure you are too after reading all of this. Which, by the way, if you did, I congratulate you. Peace.