Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories for the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest were all so great! I had such a fun time reading through them all and now I’m excited to be sharing them with all our readers here on the Blog! Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’ve moved on to the rest of your submissions and we’re posting each submission one by one!

The following post is from Catherine G. who wrote in to tell us about her son’s summer stay at Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha. Here’s what she had to say:

My name is Catherine and I’ve been going to Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha for 3 years. I love camp and it’s one of my favorite places to be. This summer me and my cabin went and backpacked on North Manitou Island in Michigan for 4 days. We hiked through rain and shine. But it was one of the most amazing things I’ve done. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and it was such a rewarding experience. I had never backpacked before this so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was a bit nervous going into it but I was also excited. My two awesome counselors told us that we all were going to rock it even if at times it was challenging. Our first day we hiked 2 miles and it felt like nothing. Even though it was raining we all had the best time. Hiking through the forests and by Lake Manitou was gorgeous. The second day we hiked 7 miles. This day was harder for me. At times I felt like I couldn’t go any further and that I just wanted to stop. But my amazing cabin mates and my counselors pushed me and encouraged us all to keep going and that we could do it. Our third day we hiked 5 miles. This is was a better day, but we were all sore but knew we could do it. Our last day we only hiked 1 mile. At the end of the trip I was sad to leave, but more importantly I was proud of what I had accomplished. I would’ve never been able to do that without the support of counselors and cabin mates! This is one of the many reasons why I love camp so so much.

15 miles in four days is no joke! Way to go on completing this challenge, Catherine! While they can often be fun, adventures are full of challenging moments that stretch our endurance and compel us to give ourselves pep talks. The scenery usually ain’t bad either! I’m glad you got this experience and that it means so much to you, Catherine! Isn’t camp awesome?!

For everyone else, you can give Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha a closer look. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories were great this year! It was lots of fun to read through them all and now I’m excited to share them with all our readers online! We’re posting each submission right here on the Blog! Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’ve moved on to everyone else who got a $20 gift certificate as a show of our appreciation.

The following post is from Sarah R. who wrote in to reminisce about her summer days at Camp Presmont and share her anticipation to send her daughter to camp this year! Here’s what she wrote:

I spent 5 summers in the 80’s going to Camp Presmont with my friends from our church, and a couple of other summers going to horseback riding camp. I wasn’t a really outdoorsy girl, but going to camp taught me how to explore and thrive outside of my usual comfort zone. Things I remember the most are going fishing for the first time in my life on big pontoon boats and running up and down hills, in and out of the woods for capture the flag. And also spending all my cash in the basement camp store every day for things we totally didn’t need but loved buying. I do remember being a bit homesick, but not enough to not want to go back every summer. As I prepare for my own daughter to begin going to camp, I’m amazed at how much fun stuff there is to do and bring – back in the 80’s, I showed up with some tennis shoes and an old sleeping bag. While these things change, I am so excited for my daughter to spend 2 weeks this upcoming summer in the great outdoors, away from the hustle and bustle of real life. I am preparing to miss her more than she will miss us!

Yes. We talk a lot about how children can cope with the inevitable feelings of homesickness, but we don’t talk nearly as much about the other end of the stick though it’s a very real matter—childsickness. Check out what summer camp expert Chris Thurber has to say about it when you click here. In any case, I hope your girl had a great camp experience this season. I hope she enjoys it as much as you did back in the 80’s and camp becomes a part of her seasonal traditions for summers to come!

For everyone else, you can give Camp Presmont a closer look. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories for the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest were all so great! I had such a fun time reading through them all and now I’m excited to be sharing them with all our readers here on the Blog! Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’ve moved on to the rest of your submissions and we’re posting each submission one by one!

The following post is from McKenna B. who wrote in to tell us about her first summer stay at Camp Jewell. Here it is:

This was my first time at sleepaway camp because COVID was a summer fail last year. I was really excited to go to Camp Jewell and also a little nervous. I saved up my money from recycling cans to buy a camp trunk just like I really wanted. It was pink and black and I put camp stickers on the front! My mom totally overpacked like usual and so then she bought another bag to snap on top to hold my bedding. She joked that she went a little overboard and I had enough stuff to stay for the whole summer.

When I got to camp my cabin was right on the lake next to the waterslide. How cool! The first night there something really funny happened. I was going to sleep and my worst fear came true... there was a giant spider in my bunk!!!!!!!!! I scrambled to get my shower shoes and started swatting the spider to kill it!!! gross!! Not a good way to spend my first night at camp. To make things worse, that night we saw flying ants in our cabin and I swear there were bugs that kept biting my ankles and feet when I was asleep. I wrote my first letter home all about the spider (my nemesis) and the bugs. My mom laughed because I didn't say anything else about camp. Just about the bugs!

Camp was super fun. I met some friends and did activities like the waterslide, candle making, carpet ball, and paddle boarding. I'm not a fan of the bugs at camp but everything else was cool. I'm going to go back next year and will wear socks to sleep so the bugs don't bite my ankles as much.

You’re not alone, McKenna! Those pesky parasites and other flighted foes are certainly the worst part of summer. Way to handle yourself like a warrior your first night, though during the battle of your bunk! Socks for the nighttime will definitely be a good tactical maneuver in battles to come! It was awesome to hear that you bought a trunk with money you saved from recycling cans! Nice resourcefulness! We always love to hear how well our gear works out for camp! Thanks for writing in to us, McKenna! Way to go making friends and having lots of fun this summer.

For everyone else, give Camp Jewell a closer look. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories were great this year! It was lots of fun to read through them all and now I’m excited to share them with all our readers online! We’re posting each submission right here on the Blog! Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’ve moved on to the rest of your submissions. The following post is from Jez L. who wrote in to tell us about her summer days at Camp Foss. Here it is:

We were almost a week into our one-month stay at camp, for my year as a counselor-in-training. Our group wanted to do a special activity, so we decided we'd wake up bright and early, and go paddleboarding for the sunrise. So, we got out of bed at 4:45 in the morning, while it was just slightly bright out, and the fog was still rising out of the pond. We put on our life jackets and headed out on our paddleboards with a lifeguard, who we managed to convince to wake up with us. We paddled around and watched the sun go up as the sky turned different colors; red, pink, orange, yellow, purple... and eventually, a normal blue sky. It was really nice to be out and about while the rest of camp was still asleep, and everything was so quiet and peaceful. Before this experience, I had never been out on the water so early. I really enjoyed having this unique activity with my 10 best friends in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.

You captured this moment so well, Jez. What a magical morning that must have been! 4:45 is pretty early—nice work rising to this challenge you counselors-in-training set for yourselves. Thanks for sharing this moment of your summer stay at Camp Foss with us! For everyone else, give Camp Foss a closer look. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We were delighted to see such a great response to our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp and now we’re eager to publish each one right here on the Blog! After our seven lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $20 gift certificate to our online store!

Today’s post is from Laine P., who's camp story is just as disgusting as it is hilarious. Check out this brief story from her summer stay at Camp Point Clear.

Ok so, my story is kinda gross so if you don’t like anything gross I wouldn’t recommend sticking around. So one night in the middle of camp they announced at dinner that the night activity was “scavenger hunt” and I like scavenger hunts so I was excited. So we went back to our cabins to get ready then went down to the courtyard. How it worked was the two people in charge of each crew, (there are two crews) yelled things out like- a pair of goggles or the camp banner and you had to go find it. We only had 45 minutes so we had to run. I listened but did not hear anything I could get. Then she called out “Someone go get horses poop!” All I thought was ewww. Then all the sudden the crew leader points at me and some other girl I had never met and says, “you two go get horse poop!” Neither of us move and she said “What are you waiting for?” So we took off running with our headlamps down the trail to see if there was any poop on the trail...

Not surprisingly about halfway down the trail there was a big fat poop. The other girl, whose name I later found out was Rosie, gave me the bag the crew leader had given her and told me she was going to barf if she had to pick it up. I was like, “ugh ok?” So I carefully put my hand in the bag and slowly lowered it until it was right over the poop. I picked it up and gave it to Rosie, and she closed it. Well tried to. As we were sprinting back to the table to put the poop on it, Rosie slipped and the bag opened, and all of that poop landed right on my shoe! “Omg I’m sooooo sorry!” Rosie said. I was afraid of what I was going to see when I looked down. I eventually got the courage to look down and ewwww it was not pretty. Poop was smeared all over my ankle and my shoe. Right then after seeing all the commotion a counselor came over and her jaw dropped. She picked me up and brought me to the hose closest to us while I was explaining what happened to her. “That was quite the story” she said! “Ok all done” she said after cleaning me off for what seemed like days. Rosie had already gone to put the poop on the table a long time ago and the scavenger hunt was long over, so I went back to my cabin to tell my cabin mates the story of the “falling horse poop!”

Wow, Laine! If I had to sum up your story with just one word it would be, “Eeeeewwwwwwww!” I can’t believe your cabin leaders had you go collect horse doo. I bet she regretted it when she had to clean your ankle and shoe off. This story had, not just me, but the whole office here at Everything Summer Camp in hysterics! I’m sorry this happened to you, but thanks for the laugh! It’s a good one. For everyone else, check out Camp Point Clear if you don’t mind falling horse poop. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John