And my apologies if the only reason you are reading my blog is to get your daily dose of profanity and/or inappropriate suggestions and situations. Just bypass this post and hook back up with me on the next post…things will be back to normal.
Are you perplexed about why in the world there is a sudden change in blog philosophy?? Why after 37 years, am I cleaning up my act (albeit temporarily)? Cuz the Mensh family is going to camp, Younglife camp… in Fraser, Colorado. Gasp…I know you are all puzzled about how a person like me can end up in a place like a Younglife Camp- and that is fo sho valid puzzlement. If your only exposure to me is through this blog, you most likely have no idea that I can sometimes (rarely) be on good behavior and stay on the straight and narrow (well, maybe not straight and narrow, more like slightly bent and medium width) and do not always feel it necessary to engage in questionable behavior. Shocking, I know…but true. Don’t make me get character witnesses up in here. Also, I know some of you are concerned for the poor souls that are innocently trying to enjoy a week at camp and when I show up there, it is going to be the catalyst for a lightning strike and all of these poor kids are in danger. That too, a valid concern. I will let you know how that turns out.
Back to the original question…why am I here. Lucky for us some of our friends from home were vacationing at the Crooked Creek Ranch (read…4 of their family members were vacationing while one was working as Camp Doctor) and they invited us to come up for a little visit- and you know how I love to accept an invitation. Sooooooo, pack your bags kids (read…and by pack I mean, just leave all of your junk strewn all over the house just like you always do, I got it) we’re taking a trip!!! After a 2 hour nice, scenic drive up and over a mountain (which also meant a 20 degree temperature drop to a comfortable 65 or 70…and to all you Winston peeps, not to rub it in, but that was the day it was like 125 degrees there…suckers) we were there. In a perfectly timed arrival, we were immediately ushered (man, I love some Usher, I am glad he has made a little mini comeback, that new song he has with Pitbull, so catchy)…into the dining room. Now I have no real problem cooking meals for my family. I don’t really complain about it and truth be told, I kind of like it. BUT, not having to cook or even better, not having to decide what to cook and just eating what is in front of you…THE BEST! So liberating!!!
Lunch- check. Now time to acquaint ourselves with this ranch and figure out what we were going to get into for the next 24 hours. OMG, this place is big…and hilly…and Kelly is so tall and walks so fast. And all of those tacos for lunch and my churro…maybe I should have paced myself a little bit on the food front.
Let’s see. First up: The BLOB (inflatable giant whoopie cushion looking thing where you jump like 50 feet down onto and catapult someone else sitting at the opposite end into the water, and in my experience, suffering a mild case of whiplash while doing it)…check…sidenote, water temperature= 40 degrees. What fun is camp with out a little hypothermia? Plus we have the inside track to the camp MD, so we are good.
they don't look that cold right??? Not even a purple lip
Next up: Engage in a little parent/ kid wiffle ball game- check. And of course in keeping it real, we beat the heck out of those loud mouthed kids. Luckily Chuck and Kelly are almost as competitive as we (read…I) are (am) and they were willing to kick it up a notch in order to make those kids get a healthy dose of Loserville. So fun(read…for us, they were all real sore losers…can’t imagine where they get that from???Oh, me…I am the sorest loser of all time).
Check out this legit field.
We were visiting on the night of the big “surprise carnival” and square dance. Time to break out the cowboy hats! And wait until they see me break out my worm at the dance…it’s going to be tight!!
Unfortunately I did not get a picture after Kelly persuaded me to wear a Little House on the prairie/ Amish/ Michelle Duggar type dress, it was so stylish. Also worth noting, she did not wear one herself. And also worth noting, see that girl next to me that is 6 inches taller than me, she is 13. Man I am short.
Charlie seems to have inherited the short gene...Caroline is exactly one day older than he is...and a foot taller
DJ and Walker counting all their cash, and clowning around, of course
Charlie working on his cow milking, that ought to come in handy once we get back to the big city!!
The kids earned enough money to subject Chuck to a pie on the face!
After a fun filled carnival…We make the executive decision to bypass the Square Dance, after all, it was like 10:00 and we are old and it was way past our bed time. Not to mention in the spirit of full disclosure, my worm has not made a lot of progress since rearing it’s really ugly head and really poor form back in West Virginia a few weeks back (for those of you who did not get to experience it up close and personal, just take my word for it, that it was really bad)…I don’t think these Younglife kids can take it!! I will have to put some time and effort into getting it ready before I break it back out…stay tuned. Another reason for calling it a night…Walker had requested a sleepover with the Mensh kids and Danny and I happened to be staying in the Adults Only lodge, so the sooner we ditched out of the carnival, the sooner I would be able to offload these fools. Man, I really am a free loader!!! So it was off to bed for everyone!!! See you kids in the AM!!!!! If the place does not get struck by lightning in the middle of the night.
A little bedtime story though, in place of any tales of my worming- I have a good “small world” story. Very reminiscent of my Anchor Bar Buffalo, NY incident with Peter King (please, refer back to archives to dig up that one, it is well worth it). So, Kelly and I had been on a little hike earlier in the day and we were talking about how delicious the food had been (shocker). She mentioned that the head chef was from Winston and asked me if I knew a guy named Stu Peterson. NOPE, never heard of Stu Peterson. Actually I may have said the name sounded familiar, but I pretty much say that about anyone from Winston, so I don’t seem like such a loser when I realize I don’t know anyone from there. (and of course with my self diagnosed early onset Alzheimer’s, lots of things sound familiar) Anyway, end of subject. At least until we were eating dinner. I kind of heard Kelly say, “oh, here’s Stu right here let me introduce you”…but, I didn’t really turn around too fast or pay too much attention because I was trying to bow up on the other people at the table to get my fair share of fried chicken and mac and cheese- that junk was good. But, as I am covering every available millimeter of my plate with food, I hear a voice say “ummmmm, yes, I know Reedy Gardner” (for those of you that are slow…my maiden name is Gardner). I look up and I don’t see some dude named Stu Peterson, I see Stu NELSON, who, yes I know from Winston, and I just happened to have gone to prom with his brother one year. How about that?? Kelly just had gotten his name mixed up. hahaha Is that so crazy?? It was great to catch up with him and I always love a good story to remind me how small the world is!!!
Me and my buddy Stu Peterson, I mean Nelson 🙂
After nightmares and fears that that bolt of lightning was still lurking and was going to hit while we were all asleep and burn the whole place down…you can imagine my excitement when my eyes opened the next morning to see the sun shining.
A little french toast breakfast for the trip and a quick game of wiffle ball and we were back on the road again.
Look at that, in the spirit of Younglife, not a single word of profanity in that post!! Maybe there is hope for me after all!! Oh and I need to give a special shout out to Hannah who has a broken leg and was such a darn trooper. She hobbled around on those crutches and did not complain at all. If that had been me, I would have been laid up in my bed, bossing people around and beating down anyone who crossed my path!!!
Thanks for the fun times Harris family and Crooked Creek Ranch!!!
reedymania 