Our Summer Leadership Camp: On the Water was a success, and full of firsts for Youth Odyssey and the campers. Everyone had a fantastic time learning new skills and going on some pretty epic canoe adventures. We were in/on the water every day last week earning a well deserved good nights sleep. We could not have done it without our fantastic sponsors this summer, thank you!
Day 1
On Tuesday we left for Martin Dies Jr. State Park. Our view was nothing but spectacular. We camped on a point right on the lake. The first thing we did was set up our camp, and started prepping for the evening. After dinner, we did group time. Group consists of all of us sitting together, and the staff asks the kids a variety of questions to stimulate their thinking. One of our questions to give you an example: “What is one goal you would like to set for yourself this week?” One camper had a goal to: “Be a good role model, motivator, and help teach other campers what I have learned the past 4 years I have been coming to Canoe Camp.” All of our other campers had great goals as well. After group we we had lights out for the evening.
Day 2
Wednesday, we started our first day of canoe training. The campers learned a variety of strokes, commands, and parts of the paddles and canoes. Afterwards we played a game, because it’s what you do in Youth Odyssey right!? Brian, our program director, taught us the paddle game! We played two different versions: regular and advanced. We mainly played advanced because the campers were super talented! Afterwards, we stopped for lunch before we began our next phase of training, which was on the water! Once we got in the water we began practicing strokes and rescue maneuvers. We had a great time out on the lake, the breeze and sunshine were amazing. After our training we came back on shore, and prepared for the evening. We talked about the day, played games, had group, and made dinner. Some of the games we played were Kan-Jam and a camp favorite, Werewolves!
Day 3:
Thursday, we put our skills to the test. We paddled around the small island on the other side of the lake. It was about a 4-mile stretch we had to conquer. Towards the end, some of the campers were pretty exhausted, but they always kept a smile and persevered! When we returned to camp the fun didn’t stop, we got back in the water for a swim! The campers taught us a new tag game in the water called hair tag. The object of the game is the same as normal tag, but you have to tag them on their head where hair grows. We also might have played keep away a few times with someone’s hat we labeled as a “crown.” Yes, we fought for the “crown”! We later returned back to camp for games, dinner, and group. At the conclusion of our activities we had lights out.
Day 4:
Friday was the big day! We woke up at 6:30 AM, had a quick breakfast and drove out to our boat launch on the Angelina River. Our mission was to paddle all the way back to the Park via the Angelina and Neches rivers. We started off strong and played some canoe tag! We were flying through those waters trying to avoid being tagged! The down side was that we got tired pretty quickly so we rafted up for lunch. After gaining some energy, we continued until we came upon a campsite. This campsite had a rope swing hanging out over the water. We of course, had to take advantage of it and all took turns swinging!
After our fun, we loaded back into our canoes. We all were getting tired but paddled on. Eventually, we made it back to Martin Dies Jr., but we came out of the marshes a little further than anticipated. We could see our campsite under a bridge a ways off in the distance. The group made the decision to go for the gold and just paddle the rest of the way to the boat launch next to camp (a first for Canoe Camp). Being able to see the finish line lit a fire under us to finish strong. In total, we paddled close to 13 miles, the longest trip in Canoe Camp history! Everyone was pleased to be back at camp to relax. We played some games, had group and went to bed early.
Day 5:
Saturday was our free day and we slept in until about 8:30. Once everyone woke up, we played card games for 2 hours. When we were done with games and breakfast, we went swimming, because what’s a summer leadership camp without a free day of swimming. We had lots of fun playing Ultimate Frisbee in the water. You wouldn’t believe some of the catches the kids were making, very impressive!
After swimming, Youth Odyssey led a brand new activity, fishing. We had a blast! There was a cool breeze and we had a great view overlooking the lake. Unfortunately we didn’t catch anything, but we had some great conversations and got to enjoy the lake! The kids were awesome casters! They were throwing their lines way out from the shore like it was nothing! After fishing, we headed back to camp to have dinner, group, and pack up for the next day. Many of the kids were not ready to leave, and were sad that camp was almost over. We packed up what we could, and then had lights out.
Day 6:
Sunday was bittersweet. We were sad to leave after having such a fun week, but were happy to see family again. After getting up, we packed-up camp, took a group photo, and had our final group time. That morning we got up at 6. Everyone was able to see the sunrise over the lake, smell the forest, and hear the birds one last time. And actually, during our group we had a question: “Name your favorite of the 5 senses you experienced this week.” Many of the kids loved the sight of the campfire, smell of the forest, sound of the birds, touch of a canoe paddle, and taste of the food. We were so happy to hear about how they really seemed to love so much of nature and the outdoors! Shortly after, we hopped in the van and waved goodbye to Martin Dies Jr. for another year.
