Detour Beauty
We got a call from Missy (the empress of the camp) about picking up a camper once we got to Knoxville and we took a quick detour to the airport. I had never met Lacey before but I figured it would be pretty easy to pick her out; just look for the young lady with one leg. Lacey was very quiet initially but when she became more comfortable she opened up about her excitement to stay at Sylvia and Wayne's big house. She said she has never seen a big house before because she is from a urban area in Ohio where her life is full of violence and poverty. Her mother is in prison and she lives with foster parents. That night we went to Missy's daughter's house to have good old-fashioned southern BBQ. At Sylvia's and Wayne's, we snapped beans from their giant garden so Sylvia could can them. Lacey got in on it and said, "I can't believe I'm snapping beans in a mansion!" The next morning she called her friend while she was eating a breakfast of fresh fruit and cereal and said, "I'm sitting here eating a gourmet breakfast!" It's amazing the things we take for granted in life.
Lacey and Missy snapping beans in a mansion
We left early Wednesday morning for the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, NC which is about 1.5 hour away. A portion of the trip includes a strip of road called "The Dragon." It is the most windy road in the US including 318 curves in 11 miles.
Holy motion sickness
Lovely overlook in Tennessee
Day 1 of Camp:
We got there and had a quick counselor's meeting, then all the kiddies arrived! Matt and I had 6 campers, Asher who is 16 and a junior counselor and 5 kids between the ages of 9 and 11 (Jake 9, Luis 9, Malik 10, Tyler 11, Darius 11). It was hectic getting everyone settled and ready for our first adventure, white water rafting! I unfortunately don't have any photos because I was not about to take my camera onto the Nantahala River. We had 6 rafts and 2 kayaks and each raft had an experienced guide. I had Mitchell, Ben, Dimitrius, and Justin the counselor on my raft. The water was FREEZING (58 degrees) and then it started pouring. It was beautiful with all the fog on the river and it was hilarious because the kids loved every bump and slash. Mitchell kept yelling, "this is AWESOME!!!" After rafting we had dinner and an ice breaker game that Matt created. There were index cards made with jokes and corresponding punch-lines. Each camper either got a joke or a punch-line and they had to find their match then share 3 facts about themselves and share them with everyone. It was a neat idea and I think it went well. Sleeping that night was interesting considering my bunkmate, Luis (9), is a tosser in his sleep and every time he rolled over it woke me up. I can't forget to mention that he sleeps with his leg and it fell from the top bunk onto the floor in the middle of the night and I thought he had fallen. Good thing he didn't!
Day 2:
Thursday was tennis and the ropes course. The kids were broken into AM and PM ropes and it worked well and was organized and the kids didn't have much downtime. A group from the USTA came and taught the kids adapted tennis. We were in AM tennis and it was raining early so we started the tennis indoors where the kids practiced drills and regardless of the environment, the kids still had fun with it. It cleared up and we went outside to the tennis court where the kids whacked the crap out of the balls. We chased balls the whole time and got our exercise. I was clearing balls in front of the net and should have known better, i got whacked right in the face. Needless to say, I was not happy. It's never fun to get hit in the face.
Sushma with a grip-aide (Sushma was born with no hands and 1 leg)
Wheelchair tennis players serving balls to campers
USTA tennis pro and our group
That afternoon we did the high ropes course and the Alpine Tower. As counselors we have the option of going onto the high ropes course to assist the campers with clipping in. Matt, Seth and I went to the 40' course because kids in the earlier group actually climbed that course instead of the 20' course. The young boys were talking so much smack on the ground about what they were going to do but quickly changed their tune when they were in the air. None of the kids in our group wanted to climb the higher course so they lowered Seth down to the 20' and Matt and I climbed across the rest of the 40' to the big swing.
The harness pose...shwing!
Matt in red, 40' in the air
The Alpine Tower
"It's really fun, except for that, it's a death trap!"
Matt said he fell asleep on the tower
Asher taking the plunge
The last part of the course before you get to the swing (below). It is harder than it looks. Matt got stuck and had to hand over hand it to the end (cheater!). When I went through, I miraculously flipped myself around by contorting my hip and made it through standing. I heard my hip pop when I flipped myself around but it worked! I was exhausted when I was finished but was so excited to do the swing.
right before he gets stuck
WHEEEEE!!!
simple...when you are on the ground.
That night, all the kids sat around and chose rather or not to share their story about their amputation. Every kid stood and spoke but not every kid shared their story. Most did and the majority of stories were congenital limb differences and cancer. There were a couple traumas and infections. One girl had a chicken pox that she scratched and it became so infected that they had to amputate her leg. These kids have been been through so much and what is so cool is they are normal kids.
That night when we were all in bed, Matt told our boys 2 ghost stories that were actually pretty scary. One true story that happened to him and one story about some white eyed freaks in Bryson City. I was actually a little scared and so were the boys. Everyone slept well, except for me because Luis was tossing and turning above me and Asher's leg fell off the top bunk.
Day 3:
Friday consisted of gem mining, horseback riding, some downtime at base camp and the pool in the afternoon. The kids loved gem mining, even the older kids. Each kid got a bag of dirt and put some in a strainer and then into the water where they picked through the everyday rocks to find the gems.
Gem mining
Tyler found a quartz crystal
Many of the kids had never been on a horse before. The animals are so big and unpredictable that I was a little nervous especially when one of the horses fell and went down on one knee with a kid on it. Everything went smoothly after that, thank goodness!
(L-->R) Kayleigh, Shay and Anna
The first time Sushma has ever put her face in the water
Matt using Blake as a human shield
Matt and Tyler
Adorable!
A group called The Peg-leg Pirates sponsored 6 campers this year. Thank you PLP! They traveled from Florida to throw us a party after the pool. We ate pizza and played fun games.
Empress (Missy) and her peasant (Bob)
ARRRGGG!
Missy is doing some research on kids with amputations and had the kids doing 9 minute walk/run tests through base camp over the 3 days of camp. The kids were really into it and really worked hard.
Nathan doing his 9 min walk/run test
Day 4:
The Lake!
Saturday consisted of taking pontoon boats out on Lake Fontana. We cruised out to our private spot and tied the boats together where the kids hang all day and are able to swim, jet ski, tube, canoe, and water ski. This is by far the best day. I had so much fun swimming around with the kids. It was a little stressful because we had to know where our boys were at all times and they were going into the water and off on the boat for some activity. We told them to tell us if they were going anywhere but you know how young boys get. They were so excited that a couple times they forgot and we didn't know where they were. After an hour or so, they got the routine and let us know.
Darius and Tyler
Tyler has a rotationplasty
Lee, I mean Louis, I mean Luis, Chrissy and Tyler before they go tubing
Gotta love the goggles
On the way back from the lake, what a great day!
BEAUTIFUL Lake Fontane
After the lake, we had a great BBQ dinner in the parking lot and then headed back to base camp for the talent show. Tyler said he didn't feel like going to the talent show because he was hurting. Tyler just had surgery for metastasis to his lungs 2 months ago so he's not completely out of the woods yet. I told him I would piggy back him over there so he didn't have to put his leg back on and he agreed. I was so glad he did because he did this amazing contortionist act. Later when he was looking at the pictures he said, "OH MY GOSH! THAT LOOKS LIKE IT HURTS!!!!" What a cute kid.
Tyler- could he be any cuter?
Our camper Darius is totally hilarious. He is seriously a miniature Chris Rock. He sounds just like him. One morning, he was talking about how good he was at hoola hooping. I told him I was pretty good myself. Matt suggested we should compete at the talent show and Darius said (in the voice of Chris Rock), "Ok, Bring your hoola hoop!"
Darius is the man!
Tyler's act
I'm cheesing so hard because this kid is amazing!
The last day of camp is packing and tying up loose ends. We all give the kids a superlative and they love it. The kids also write a thank you letter to the sponsors of the camp. See Sushma's letter below. Then we take some pictures, hug everyone and the campers get on a bus and leave. See you next year!
Sushma and I (she wrote the letter below)
THIS is why we do what we do
Our campers: from left, Malik, Luis, Tyler, Asher, Jake and Darius
Strangle your neighbor!
Our guys, plus Sean, Blake, Erik and Nathan.
Love these kids!
There was an ABC news team out of Asheville, NC filming throughout camp. Check it out and keep an eye out for Darius with his hoola hoop and discussing how the harness grapples your, you know what.
AAC 2008
Amazing People, Amazing Times
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