Hey, Canoe-Loving Campers!

Today is National Canoe Day! If Canoeing is your thing and if you can make it happen today it sure would be nice to celebrate your love for this hobby today! In celebration, I thought we could take a look at the reasons to go Canoe over Kayak.

Despite the fact that canoes are heavier and harder to transport along with a slower traveling speed, people have found a multitude of reasons to opt for canoes over kayaks. Some of these reasons fall back to simple preference while others are legitimate benefits that canoes have over kayaks.

Here’s a look at just some of the reasons why people prefer a canoe:

Canoe Carry This For Me?

You can carry lots of gear easily in a canoe…in a kayak, not so much. The larger size and open top offer more packing space than the closed cockpit of a kayak. For this fact, canoes do better than kayaks on portage trips that require regular water crossing.

Park it…or Don’t..

Canoes provide decent stability (much more than kayaks) and therefore offer a variety of sitting positions as well as kneeling (which can add more power behind paddling strokes) or even standing up. Not being stuck in the same position—like you are in a kayak—allows for more comfort for longer distances on exciting expeditions.

Fantastic View

Canoes are super easy to get in and out of—especially so compared to kayaks. Young kids and family dogs can join you out on the water in a canoe. The open, tall sides of canoes keep water from splashing inside unless the waters are really wild. And the slower pace and openness of canoes offer a much better view of the beautiful sights as opposed to a kayak.

It’s National Canoe Day, so I really talked it up over kayaks, but that’s not to disrespect kayaking at all. The way I see it, kayaking is a little more for the adventure and workout of the activity while canoes serve more of a practical, strolling sort of experience. Enjoy your love for canoeing today and, as always, thanks for reading!

 

- John

Hello, Camp Kids!

With the camp season kicked into full gear, perhaps you’ll come across the summer camp that you’ll be heading to as we continue to add to our Summer Camp Spotlight category of Blog posts. Today, we’re fixing our camp spotlight down South to the heart of Texas.

There, we find El Tesoro summer camp which has been showing kids an awesome summer experience since it was first founded in 1934! Camp Fire Camp El Tesoro is a 223-acre located in Granbury, Texas, on the bend of the Brazos River at Fall Creek.

There’s lots of fun activities offered at El Tesoro including Archery, Arts & Crafts, Astronomy, Canoeing, Drama, GaGa Ball, Group Games, Hiking, Horsemanship, Kayaking, Low Challenge Course, Outdoor Cooking, Outdoor Living Skills, Singing & Music, Sports & Games, Swim & Water Games. You’re bound to enjoy your jam-packed summer days at camp.

Their campgrounds boast a 12,500 square foot covered riding area, a 35’ climbing tower that leads up to a 300’ zip line, the Brazos River, Mt. Loma, two huge pools, archery ranges, multi-sports court to play basketball, volleyball, and tennis, a Frisbee Golf Course, the Chapel, The Wohelo Lodge Dining Hall that seats 300 campers, and so much more.

20 new cabins are able to accommodate 12 people including the trained cabin leaders. Each bunk area is provided with some privacy and more than enough space for each camper’s gear and belongings. The cabins are equipped with electricity and full restrooms for convenience in maintaining hygiene at summer camp.

If you’re not already going to Camp El Tesoro, check out this summer camp for the next summer season. You’re sure to love your time there. Have a look around at this Texas camp and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

 

- John

Hey, Camp People!

An unexpected camp activity that’s history is shrouded in a bit of mystery is the alternative to golf called Frisbee or Disc Golf, also known as ‘Frolf’ to some. Learn how this very unofficial sport gained its popularity and officiality. How did the age-old sport of golf lead to an alternative that replaced the clubs and small, dimpled ball with a flying disc and the holes with chained baskets?

For several decades, forms of Disc Golf were played with whatever makeshift equipment folks had around—tossing the tin lids onto the tops of garbage cans. Canadian kids in the 1920’s called this Tin Lid Golf. But it only started developing an official backing when a summer camp counselor named George Sappenfield got the idea for a ‘camp’ version of golf that the kids could play.

As forms of this game were randomly found being played throughout the early 1900s, the game’s stricter parallel to golf rules seems to have suddenly started sprouting in many places, by many people independently. For instance, Rice University students in Texas started tournaments aiming discs at trees for targets.

It was the summer of 1965 when George Sappenfield found himself on a golf course during his college break before heading off to be a counselor at camp. The idea suddenly came to him that the kids at camp could play a version of golf with a flying disc aimed at designated targets.

The invention of the plastic flying disc was marketed as the now well-known name Frisbee by the Wham-o Manufacturing Company and was gaining popularity. George hatched the idea to contact Wham-o Manufacturing to suggest the creation of a Frisbee Golf Contest. This would lead to some of the first mentions of the sport Disc Golf and Mr. Sappenfield solidified himself as one of the earliest coordinators of Disc Golf who spread its popularity across the West Coast.

Enjoy playing Disc Golf during your summer camp experience if your camp offers it! And if they don’t—just bring your own Frisbee Disc and shoot at whatever targets you decide upon like they did in the old days! As always, thanks for reading!

 

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Our 2018 ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest results were through the roof! We wanted to hear how the camp experience went for campers and parents alike and the response that we received was so good that we’re still sharing the submissions here on the Blog this far into 2019! Here is another installment to our contest collection!

Today’s submission comes from Bella E. who sent in a general overview of her time at Camp Newaygo and filled it with Newaygo pride! Check it out:

“(Stomp, Stomp, Clap! Stomp, Stomp, Clap! ) ‘CABIN 3 IS FUN AND FREE, HANGING OUT IN BURGUNDY!’

Arriving on Sunday as strangers…ending the week as lifelong friends. Cabin 3 at Camp Newaygo was where my favorite summer memories took place. We started the week with class selections with everything from Archery to Spanish/Mexican culture, Drama, and Arts & Crafts. There were TONS of fun activities to choose from!

From cabin-wide water balloon fights to our overnight camp-out, the week was full of fun surprises every day. Some of my favorite things were when we played ‘Newaygo Squares’ (A spin-off of Hollywood Squares) and Gold Rush, where we had to collect the gold colored rocks hidden all over camp.

During dip, we had lots of fun playing in the water, building sand castles and kayaking. Some of our cabin mates even got to go tubing behind the speedboat! When we weren’t doing camp activities, we were busy making friendship bracelets. I would guess that each of us came home with at least 15 new pieces of jewelry!

Camp Newaygo is an all-girls camp. We learned how to work as a team and support each other and have fun! I loved singing all the songs at Camp Newaygo – we sang songs after every single meal! I can’t wait to come back next year, and I hope to bring even more friends with me!

‘MMM, I WANT TO LINGER, MMMM, A LITTLE LONGER, MMM, A LITTLE LONGER HERE WITH YOU!

MMMM, IT’S SUCH A PERFECT NIGHT, MMM, IT DOESN’T SEEM QUITE RIGHT, MMMM, THAT THIS SHOULD BE OUR LAST WITH YOU…

MMMM, WHEN COME SEPTEMBER, MMM, WE’LL ALL REMEMBER, MMM, OUR CAMPING DAYS AND FRIENDSHIPS TRUE…..

MMM, AND AS THE YEARS GO BY, MMM, WE’LL THINK OF YOU AND SIGH, MMM, THIS IS GOOD NIGHT AND NOT GOOD-BYE!’”

Love the summer camp spirit, Bella! Thanks for including your fun cabin cheer and the sweet Newaygo goodnight song! It’s great to hear that summer camp showed you such a great time with all the activities you took advantage of and all the great friendships you made. For anybody else interested in Camp Newaygo for your own camping experience, be sure to check them out sometime and, as always thanks for reading!

 

- John

Hey, Summer Camp People!

We’re fun folks here at Everything Summer Camp and we know how to stay hip to the current cool trends among kids. How do we do it? We surround ourselves with equally fun and cool companies and develop strong ties to them. We take cues from one another because the people who make up these companies are parents and aunts and uncles—we know kids!  One of these companies is cleverly named iScream! They know what kids find cool. Hip to kid style and flat-out fun, this young company has been around for less than a decade, yet they’ve found their niche and are growing in popularity every year! Made up of an extremely creative team, iScream is the best in bedside and road trip entertainment!

To keep the fun growing in the world, iScream continues to introduce fun new lines of cute, cuddly, hilarious, and loud products that present themselves in a jubilee of fun color explosions!

With images that accentuate color and stress depth, iScream Activity Books and their Seal & Send Stationery offer explosively detailed treats for your eyes and provide interesting, absorbing material that will keep you amused for as long you desire! But these awesome activity books and stationery were only the beginning!

We’ve recently added to our site some of the cutest and hilarious products from iScream! Check out their crazy cool sandals, stylish and practical cosmetic bags, ridiculous pillows and sleeping bags, journals with creative covers, and lots…LOTS more.

We’re extremely thrilled to offer the insane amount of fun that comes along with our excellent selection from this excellent brand. Take a good, hard gander at all the fun in these activities by clicking here and try not to scream! As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

 

- John