Outdoor Adventure is Putting it Lightly...

Before and after my summer school session, I got to help with the 4-H Outdoor Adventure Day Camps.  We had great campers both weeks, many who I had gotten to know through Agriculture Camp.  Not only was the camp an adventure and learning experience for the kids, it was for me as well!

As we all know, the weather has been a bit crazy this summer, particularly with rain.  Making adjustments to activities happened nearly on a daily basis for both weeks of camp.  For anyone who works with program planning, this is a key skill to gain.  It involves creativity and awareness of your community.  Therefore, Cora was able to keep Outdoor Adventure...outdoors.  This experience showed me first-hand how "the show must go on" and I am very appreciative to Cora for giving me that insight.

Throughout both weeks we hiked, kayaked, fished, and swam throughout the county.  While conducting these activities, the students got to visit treasured sites or discovered new ones.  I know I personally would not have learned about all the wonderful, natural and free excursions that Giles has.  Any Virginia Tech student knows about the Cascades, but not so many can say they have hiked War Spur and taken kids fishing at Glen Alton.  The campers also learned about wildlife, fishing techniques, and watersheds.

Hanging out off the War Spur Trail during Camp #1

Kayaking with Outdoor Adventure Camp has been a bumpy road for me.  Before camp I had kayaked once before with my dear friend Marge in a bay in Malaysia.  That was a fun, stress-free experience so I really did not think twice about kayaking with the campers down Walker's Creek.  Because the water was too wild from all the rain, the first camp did not kayak the New River.  We discovered the bad things about creeks are all the rocks and the small width of the body of water.  This resulted in camper after camper getting stuck on rocks.  Right and left I kept having to get them unstuck, and eventually got stuck myself...until one of the kayaks collided with mine sending it downstream with me, the kids, and the other kayak stuck.  With help from Cora, we made it to the bank and the other campers helped us get our kayaks back.  But at that point, we needed to pack up and go home, even though we never made it to our final destination.

While loading the kayaks, one of the campers was being very helpful and assisting me.  With my track record for that day, it makes complete sense that the kayak would bounce up and hit the camper in the eye.  She was fine, but I sure felt terrible.  When another camper told me: "It's your fault that everyone got stuck and we had to go home." I officially decided that I did not like kayaking, and questioned my ability to work with kids.  Luckily, Cora assured me that sometimes things go wrong, but it's how you react to them is what matters.  From her perspective, I dealt with the situation fine and that everything was going to be ok.

The beginning to a successful kayaking trip with Camp #2 

Then came Outdoor Adventure Camp #2.  Like the first, we did hiking and fishing...and kayaking.  This time we were going to be on the river.  I was so nervous, especially since the waters were still high-ish.  Turns out, it made the trip easier and better because what "rapids" we would have hit normally, were barely there.  I am glad that I overcame my nervousness to kayak again.  I had a great time and the kids were awesome!  Like any career, I will have some days that seem like the worst day ever at the time, like my initial camp kayak experience.  What I gained from this opportunity is to learn from those situations, how to better handle it next time and to not give up.  If I had given up, I would still be terrified to kayak again.  The best part of the second go round was not me getting over my fear though, it was the campers who had a great time trying something new, or getting over their own fears.  I know that I am the adult, but I learned so much from the campers.