The rain came but Adventure Village stayed outside and had fun!

08/12/2014

Today the weather came! It rained all day but it didn’t slow us down. We got on our rain jackets and had a beautiful day outside.

This morning we broke into groups. Some campers played improv games, others drew charcoal drawing, and the rest climbed the giant Y-tower. After break-out we played a large game of color tag. This is where the counselors and campers complete challenges to get all the colors painted on them. Once they get all the colors painted on them they win. However things aren’t easy with the evil wizard who wipes off colors when he catches you.

After lunch we jumped into a skills rotation! This is where the campers learn about the different hard skills they’ll need for their trail experience (and life!). There was creative tarp set ups, water purification and hydration, fire making and stoves, Leave No Trace techniques for going to the bathroom, as well as severe weather protocols and skills. Basically the campers walked into a crash course on everything you need to know to be an amazing outdoors person!

After our brains were filled with beautiful knowledge we took the rest of the afternoon to relax in some more break-out activities: archery, rock carving, and zip-line. The reviews from zip lining were spectacular. Apparently zip-lining in the rain is amazing!

After dinner the campers played Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo is a game where the campers are broken into two teams and their faces are painted with respective colors. Then they are given a bandanna to tuck into the back of their pants. The game is played on a field that has two small circles on either end representing “Banks” and a narrow bottleneck between the two circles. The point is to steel “Gold Bricks” from the other team’s bank and put them in your bank. The first team to get all 8 gold bricks into their bank wins. If your bandanna gets pulled by another team member you’re frozen with one pivot foot, until someone from your own team steels a bandanna and gives it to you. Essentially this game is a TON of fun and the campers get way into it! Before they even start they start chanting and whooping in the rain. It’s important for us to make sure that we’re also being respectful. Wells Fargo after all is and game about respect.

When it started getting dark, we called the Wells Fargo game a draw and made our way to devo and bed.

Happy Trails,

Lincoln McLain
(845) 985-2291 x265
adventure@frostvalley.org

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zach eigenbrodt

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Zach couldn't keep himself out of the woods when growing up. He started working at a Northern Wisconsin YMCA Camp as a wilderness trip leader while in college and fell in love with getting kids into nature. The smiles on kids faces after returning from a once in a life time wilderness experience is why he is here today. Zach brought his talents to Frost Valley YMCA, in 2014, when he started as the Trips Coordinator and soon was promoted to Adventure Director. Zach loves all forms of Wilderness exploration, though some would say his heart lies most with canoeing.