From Dallas, TX August 15, 2010

The staff who stayed 'til the end (went from 20-10 staff!)

I’m sitting in the airport in Dallas, Texas waiting for my last flight to PDX. Last night, we had our staff party and I think I had a bit too much wine. Today has been rough, battling a migraine. Not exactly the greatest thing to happen to me right before my backpacking trip. Migraines for me tend to last for several days. I’m trying to kick it!

Ellen, Me, Ian and Dre

This morning I woke up after not sleeping well. I packed all my bags and cleared out my room. We had one last trip to go to the storage unit, but after that, I was off to the airport. I was 5 hours early for my flight leaving Tampa, because Ian and Ellen needed to get going, driving the rented vans up to South Carolina. You might remember, I took that drive last year, but cleverly got out of it this time around

Now, I’m going to find a sandwich, because the last bit to PDX will be long, and I’m not sure they will serve food on the flight. Goodbye summer!

The Anticipation is Killing Me! August 12, 2010

"Nemo! I don't get it..."

I’m getting so anxious to be done! I think I just need the parents to get here, so time can go faster. There is only so much we can do in preparation, so I’d really like to interact with some families! At least my mind would have something to be occupied with.

A bird in a swamp

Ohmygod!

Our last trip of the summer was to the Florida Aquarium! I was very excited to go, because last year I really enjoyed myself! I took some videos and, of course, pictures. Lots of fun.

Saturday, I get to spend most of the day at the Tampa International Airport! Campers are flying home and their flights are anywhere between 8:50am and 4:30pm. So I get to make the airport my new home! Then, when I get back, hopefully, camp will be all packed up and I can start to get ready for the Staff Party!!! One of my summer highlights, because we get to eat a really nice dinner. And dress up fancy!

It's like a Senior Photo!

Aquarium Video: Horseshoes Crabs and Rays August 12, 2010

Aquarium Video: Huge Ray August 12, 2010

Good Morning from Florida! August 11, 2010

A project organized by a camper: find a shell and write a word to describe your summer

Good morning, everyone! All the campers and staff are starting to get anxious for the end of camp. We’ve started to back things up – most of the kayaks are in the storage unit and today we’ll put in the bikes! After that, we mostly need to wait for everything else. That will be happening Saturday for the most part. It’s a tricky situation, because we need to pack everything and quickly – but we have to wait, so the campers and parents don’t feel like they are being kicked-out. I know they understand, but it still doesn’t feel good.

I missed Oregon and expressed myself through writing in the sand at the beach

The weather is getting a little Crazy-yes, with a capital “C”. It was extremely hot last week, now this week, things have cooled down (well, comparatively). However, the storms have been out of control! It’s really stormy all the time. Little storm cloud just hang out, which means when a big one comes in, the little ones join it. They start anywhere from noon through the evening. It’s really hard to plan for them and the kids end up spending a lot of time in the gym. They are just so tired of being in there and I wish there was another indoor space for them to be during big storms.

Sea Turtles make nests all along our beach

A wave. It was really tricky to get this shot!

I officially have a count down going until I am pack in Portland! I can’t wait to get there (as I’ve mentioned before). I really like working in Florida for the summer, and I think  it’s okay that I’m ready to leave at the end. I can remind myself of how much I like where I live and how much I like to VISIT other places The campers have been extremely successful and we have had very few major issues. All and all, our camp runs smoothly and I think we have a unique way of working with our challenging campers. Our patience and compromise say a lot through the campers who have been successful here. And again, I like what I do!

Miss you all…

80′s Dance August 7, 2010

Friday nights, we often have a dance for the campers and last night it was 80′s Dance! So we all dressed up. I have somewhat of an idea of 80′s fashion, but I admit, I was very young in the 80′s and did the best I could. Of course, none of the campers were even born yet, so that was weird! Very fun, nonetheless.

Me and Dre (Head Counselor)

There is one more week of camp! I’m all done creating schedules and now have my attention focused on preparing for our final Family Workshop. It starts Thursday night and while the parents are learning the program, I will also be packing up camp for the summer! Everything goes in boxes and will be taken to a storage unit that we’ll rent for the 9 months camp does not run.

Sunset during the dance

I have a correction for my flight info. I actually get in to PDX at 10:30pm on Alaska Airlines, which is a little later than I originally thought. That’s alright. Then (after sleeping in) I’ll go to REI for the last few backpacking supplies I need. We head out early Tuesday morning for our trek! I will post at least once more before leaving Florida. Can’t wait to see everyone!

Video of a Storm August 3, 2010

I decided that since I’m going on a backpacking trip in 2 weeks, I should up my exercise. So I went outside to run the track and saw a little storm cloud making it’s way toward campus. Usually when afternoon storms come through, they are very big and last quite a while. Therefore, this little baby cloud did not concern me. I started my laps and noticed that a much larger storm cloud had joined the baby one, to create a massive storm. I kept running and kept my eye on the cloud and managed to get 15 minutes in when I could no longer pretend that I didn’t hear the thunder. I mean, I saw some lightening – oddly enough overlapping white fluffy clouds. That was just weird, because I usually see lightening with a backdrop of dark, angry clouds. Yeah, it was time to go inside for safety…

The lightening was hitting very close to our location, so I decided to take a video! Hope you like seeing me, Ian and Ellen being ridiculous!