Gooseberry, baby!

For those of you who aren't fortunate enough to live in our area, let me explain Gooseberry (pronounced goooz-berry). Every year the third graders load a bus and head up the canyon to the Gooseberry camp ground for an overnighter. The fact that there aren't rules or laws against this in this day and age is a miracle in itself. The fact that every third grader makes it home alive the next morning is another. Parents are invited (begged) to attend and chaparone their child and a small group of parentless kids (hoodlums).

Here we have Lucas (left), Brodee and #2. They're showing how tough and prepared they are to take on Annie Bangs. Annie Bangs is the ghost of a young girl that died at Gooseberry in the 40's who comes to the third grade camp every year, scaring the holy crap out of the kids. No lie - teenagers come and dress in a red dress and long blonde wig and streak through the camp after the kids all sing songs about her. Right before bed. Again, how this is legal is beyond me. But I pray they never change it. It is HILARIOUS to watch these tough kids hide behind their moms and dads when Annie dashes through the forest. It's a rite of passage that every third grader in the district looks forward to. They get back to school the next day and start scaring the living daylights out of the second graders that will get to go next year.

#2 and I sitting at an ATV class. The majority of the two days at Gooseberry are spent at classes like Stream Ecology, Forestry, ATV Safety, Mapping, Fire Safety, etc. They really learn a lot in two days.

#2 and I lucked out this year. All of the boys usually sleep in a giant rec hall with all the dads. All the girls get smaller cabins they share with their moms. Since moms can't stay with boys in the rec hall, and boys can't sleep with the girls in the cabins, #2 and I stayed with Haley and Brodee in their trailer. We had a blast! The boys zonked at around 10pm and Haley and I stayed up talking. Around 1am #2 sat up and asked,
"Are you two ever gonna shut up?"
At which point Brodee woke up and said,
"Jar, that's why you never go camping with girls!"
At least we're providing good morals at an early age!

As luck would have it, we got rained on almost the entire first day. Add cool mountain temps and you get pretty nippy! Haley, Kenzie, Kamree and I all huddled close to stay warm.

After a successful Annie Bangs encounter, the boys once again show what they're made of in Haley's tub.
Thanks for letting me come, Jar. I had a blast...rain and all!