What’s up, Camp Fans?!

We received some quality camp stories for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest at Everything summer Camp. You knocked it out of the park this year, campers; these stories are fantastic! I’m eager to share them with our online community and post each submission right here on the Blog!

Now that I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’m sharing the rest of your submissions. All entrants win a $20 gift certificate to our online store simply for participating. The following post is from Olivia P. who wrote in to tell us about her stay at Camp DeSoto. Check out her submission right here:

This year I went to camp DeSoto. It was so fun! I definitely want to go back next year but anyways I’m going to tell you about my grade’s trip day. Our grade went swimming at DeSoto falls. It was really beautiful. On the way there, we sang songs on the bus. Once we got to this random parking lot in the middle of nowhere, we met our guides and from there it was about a 30 minute hike to the falls. We put on our life jackets and jumped in. We did not expect it to be cold, well, we kind of did but not THAT cold. After a few minutes you couldn’t really feel the cold because your body just kind of goes numb. I kept scaring my friend and it was so funny. A kind of unwritten rule for trip day is that your grade makes up a song/parody. Our parody was to “Mamma Mia” and I don’t remember many of the words I just remember that we just sang about how cold it was! I also remember that we saw a canoe on the hike there that was wrecked and stranded from a long time ago and we asked the tour guide if anyone was on it. She said no. We were all relieved and slightly disappointed. At the end of the day, it was a really fun trip and I’m excited to go rappelling next year!

Great submission, Olivia! I love sing-along bus rides, but the Mamma Mia parody all about how cold the water was at DeSoto Falls sounds even better! Glad to hear you already have your sights set on next year and an exhilarating rappel ride! Camp DeSoto sounds really cool. If anyone else would like to check it out closer, you can do so by clicking right here. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Throughout September so far, I’ve been announcing the winners to our annual ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest. And, today, the time has come to reveal our grand prize winner for this year’s edition. Find out right here and right now—the winner of our $300 gift certificate is….

Emily G.!

Yaaaayyy, Emily!!! Congratulations. You’re our grand prize winner!!! Emily wrote in to tell us about year #3 at summer camp, Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha. Read her account of her fun camp stay right here on today’s Blog post:

This past summer was my third year at camp. After being defeated in summer 2020 by camp being canceled I was extra eager to attend this year. My camp experience started out strong, I loved my counselors, my cabin was amazing, and I made amazing friends with a lot of people. I was especially excited to go on my cabins trip this year. This year our trip was a four day backpacking trip around North Manitou Island. I had never been backpacking and was super excited to try it. The day we left for our trip my cabin was in high spirits and we were all excited about this new adventure. Throughout the four days we all bonded whether it was at one of our campsites or while on the trail. It was also so amazing to just look around and see what I was hiking through. The scenery was straight out of a fantasy book and it felt so surreal. The trip went by so fast and I was having a hard time realizing what I had accomplished. I don’t have a lot of time throughout the year to go on hikes and be in the woods, so every year at camp I love to take it all in. Camp will forever be a part of me and I will forever be thankful for the experiences & friendships it has given me and what is yet to come.

What a fantastic submission, Emily! How cool to have this adventure to sort of epitomize your camp stay this year—sure to stay with you forever. I’m glad this year delivered such a meaningful experience for you after you were stuck at home for summer last year. I’m so glad Camp Arbutus Hayo-Went-Ha keeps you going back for more! For anyone else interested in checking out Hayo-Went-Ha, you can do so by clicking right here. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

It’s the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest! We’re in full swing for this year, announcing our lucky winners and sharing their stories right here on the Blog. Today, I’m announcing the last of our $100 gift certificate winners! Today’s winner is….

Kaylee I.!

Congratulations, Kaylee! You win a $100 gift certificate to our one-stop camping gear shop! Kaylee gives us her story of her first year of summer camp at Pine Cove Camp in Texas. Read about it in her Contest entry right here:

I went to my first camp this year. I had many fun experiences but my favorite took place on the first full day of camp. This was my first time being away from home for this long and I was excited but not sure of what to expect. I went to the stable that morning after breakfast. My friend, Addie, was talking with me on the way there. We met our horses, got our helmets, mounted and prepared for the ride ahead.

I followed the horses in front of me and behind me was Addie on her horse. We went all through the woods around the camp. We went over hills, past streams, over leaves and around trees. It was so unbelievable that I felt like I was in a movie. Tex was my horse was a chestnut color so he had a brown mane and body. That night, I couldn't sleep because I was so excited about the days to come.

I was able to ride Tex again later that week. During that ride, I was able to have another amazing time. We were able to practice leading, ride by ourselves, trotting around the arena, mounting and dismounting. It was even better since I was able to share all of it with my best friend, Addie!

It’s wonderful to hear how well camp went for you, Kaylee! What a truly magical moment you captured in your wonderful writing. Thanks for taking us along for the ride with you and Addie, her horse, and Tex. To anybody else interested in

Pine Cove Camp, you can check it out by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Time for Everything Summer Camp’s annual ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest has rolled around once again! We’re excited to give away our prizes and announce our lucky winners as well as posting their stories right here on the Blog. Today, I’m announcing our second $100 gift certificate winner right now!

And our second $100 winner is….Maggie N.!

Congratulations, Maggie! You just won $100 for our one-stop camping gear shop for your future equipment purchases! Thanks for sharing your summer experience at Camp Mystic. You can read her submission right here:

Camp was fun. I went to Camp Mystic! My name is Maggie. I did many things at my two-week summer camp. I went canoeing; I fell in the water a lot! I also did Camp Craft. We did stuff like go hiking which was fun and hard. We also made Orange Cakes. To make an Orange Cake you hollow out an orange, put cake batter in it, wrap it in tin foil, and put it in the fire. When it is ready, you eat it out of the orange! At lunch, we would have ice cream for every dessert. Field Day is where the camp tribes compete against each other. We compete in stuff like fishing, dodgeball, deck tennis, steal-the-bacon, and a relay race. My favorite competition was steal-the-bacon. I went three times in steal-the-bacon and won one time. My tribe did not win Field Day unfortunately, but there is always next summer!

Cool! Camp Mystic sounds like it has a lot going on! I’m glad you took advantage of that and did so much stuff! Nice work with Steal-the-Bacon! If there’s real bacon involved, I think I would do really well. Things sound optimistic about another summer at Camp Mystic next year! Glad to hear it’s such a good fit for you, Maggie!

To anybody else interested in Camp Mystic, you can check it out by clicking right here. Be sure to tune in tomorrow to find out who our grand prize winner is! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

The fast-approaching autumn season means the Everything Summer Camp’s annual ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest is in full swing for this year, announcing our lucky winners and sharing their stories right here on the Blog. Today, I’m announcing our first $100 gift certificate winner! So, with no further wait, the winner is….

Victoria S.!

Congratulations, Victoria! You’re getting $100 for our one-stop camping gear shop coming your way! Some fun was certainly had at Camp Harlam. Read about what makes Camp Harlam a special place for her in her submission right here:

Awesome, Victoria! Thanks for writing in to us and sharing what made camp such a highlight to your summer. Camp Harlam sounds like it must be a really amazing place that showed you a great time. I hope you and Alice traded phone numbers or addresses so you can keep in touch throughout the year. Nice work trying new things!

I’m glad you went on the blow-up slide despite how scared you were to do it. It sounds pretty cool. I’m glad Sloppy Joes were a success for you this time around as well! Your taste buds actually change over time, so you never know what you’ll end up liking. I never liked broccoli as a kid and now I love it! Thanks again for this fantastic submission about your time at Camp Harlam, Victoria. I hope you have many more fun summers there!

To anybody else interested in going to Camp Harlam in the coming summer season, you can check it out closer by clicking right here and visiting their website. Be sure to tune in tomorrow when we reveal the next $100 winner of the ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John