Pre-Pre-Camp Life

Sadly, The Great Canadian Road Trip had to come to an end. Alison and I said goodbye to Rhys in the airport in Toronto (saddest moment of my life), and headed to Alison's house just outside of Toronto where long showers and a lot of laundry were done in preparation for camp. I celebrated Father's Day with Alison's family and ate some super delicious breakfast burritos for lunch. Alison and I then packed up the car and headed out for one last drive up to camp.

Ontario Pioneer Camp (OPC) is about three hours North of Toronto in a town called Port Sydney. If you are wondering how I ended up going to a camp in Ontario, Canada, then you are ahead of the curve. Turns out that my grandfather on my mother's side came up to OPC as a camp counselor when he was in college, used to work as camp doctor when my mom was very little, and my mom even worked up here for a year after college. It seems to run in the family. Alison was my only ride, but I wasn't actually supposed to be up at camp until just now. The past few days have been spent sleeping, reading, catching up with people, running, and performing small random tasks. I've done the dishes after meals a few times. I plugged in all the radios so that they would be prepared for all the staff who will be arriving shortly.

My favorite task by far has been canoeing around Divine Lake (OPC is really on Clearwater Lake, but Adventure Camp for the kiddies where I work also backs up to Lake Divine) to pick up planks that will be put around the camp fire so campers have a place to sit. I haven't been in a canoe since the last time I was at camp nearly three years ago. Not only did I get to canoe, but I had to carry the canoe from the Adventure Camp waterfront, across camp, and through some woods to get it to Divine Lake, which I did with a buddy.  I don't have much arm strength, but I am trying to build it back up considering I got my camp name because I carried a canoe on a portage all by myself when I was 16.

This afternoon, I set up my Eno hammock in the shade and finished the book I was reading. In case you are interested, I was reading a nonfiction book called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. If you are at all interested in cancer, research, medical ethics, or science, you should probably read it. It's fascinating.

The senior staff are all starting to arrive for Senior Pre-Camp. Exciting times!