This past weekend we took James and Katie to camp at Fort Hill Christian Youth Camp south-east of Hillsboro, OH. My sister and brothers and I all went to camp when we were teens, but James and Katie had never been. This year mom (Judy) and cousins Mason, Katie, Cassidy, Riley, James, and Jonas all went the same weekend!

James was NOT wanting to go for the weeks prior to camp, so Rachel planned on going down to camp nearby to make him feel better having her nearby, or in case he wanted to leave. Rachel was unsure where or how long she’d stay, but we settled on nearby Pike Lake campground. Rachel had ridden horses at Pike Lake before, but never camped, so Katie and I took a guess at a campsite and Rachel took our camper down on Sunday while we were at church. I forgot that it was 4th of July weekend, and that I had Monday off, so I decided to stay Sunday night and come home on Monday.

The kids and I left after our first session of church on Sunday and drove straight for camp. We met Rachel at an IGA just before the road that goes to camp! So we got some lunch from the store and took the camper to our spot and had lunch. Then we headed for camp.

Lots of kids and parents dropping off kids. I ran into a number of folks I used to go to church with at Northridge: Shirley Eldridge, her dad Herold, and her brother Rob. I also saw Phil Johnson and his two boys, Brad Poe and his wife, Satch and Regina Cornett, and a few others I can’t recall. The camp has so much more than it did back in ’84! Indoor basketball court, ping-pong rooms, sand volleyball court, a new full-size basketball court, and new cabins and camp spots. Brings back old times.

We stayed for about 2 hours getting the kids situated, and left for camp of our own at Pike Lake. We decided to move the camper after it only took me 1 try to back it up into place. We had flushed the winter antifreeze and the graywater was higher than we wanted, so we dumped it. But that went fine, and I was able to get the camper in the spot again on 1 try! I was pleased.

We unhooked the camper and got it situated and had dinner. It was nice to be with my wife alone for a change. We hiked a bit, drove around, and I was able to get Rachel to play me a round of disc golf at Pike Lake’s 18-hole disc golf course! It was fun, and we both had some crazy shots (often hiking to find).

Later we got gas and checked some e-mails from work that had come in earlier in the day that came in while I was driving to camp. When we finally found a place with reception, I sent a reply back to the boss on his question. While getting gas in Bainbridge (Ohio’s first school of dentistry is there!), I was attacked by a massive swarm of flies! I mean 1,000s of them on me instantly! It was horrible, but survived.

Got up on Monday, the 4th of July, and took a 1.2 mile hike that was straight up hill, then straight back down hill. Had lunch at an Amish bakery Rachel likes (pretzel sandwiches) and then looked at Amish made indoor/outdoor furniture killing time before stopping by to check on the kids.

Thankfully we did not buy anything at the shops, and the kids were fine at camp. One was a little homesick, but with some reassuring and teasing by a certain uncle, he was better. All seemed to be having fun. Katie asked Rachel, “are you going to check on us every day?” Funny!

We also noticed a very old tombstone that said it was from an ‘unknown union soldier’ who had died in the care of a woman who lived near what would become Pike Lake back in 1864. The tomb rests between two large pine trees today. The photo above was taken by a WHIO-TV iWitness7 Staffer “lfleischer”. Nice shot, wish I had my camera there!

It was a very fun weekend, and I pray it will be good for Rachel and all the kids too. Happy 4th to our nation, to our fallen soldiers, and to those who serve this nation today!