Only four days! Four days until we pack the car with duffel bags, pillows, sleeping bags … and the dog, and head for Potter County and CAMP!
Oh, how I love that word! That place! Camp to others may mean somewhere they attended as a child—playing games and learning songs around a campfire for a week each summer. To some it brings memories of camping adventures, with a tent or an RV, doing all the same things as at summer camps only with family and close friends.
But to me, “camp” holds all my most-cherished memories. Over the life of this blog, I’ll share many of those with you, starting with the posts for August, one of our favorite months to go there.
The cabin we call “camp” sits at the base of a mountain and at the mouth of a hollow, alongside a creek, in the Blue Mountain range of Potter County, PA. The Jolly 9 Hunting Club rents the cabin for its members to use during hunting and fishing seasons. These members can reserve times to take their families and friends there for vacations.
Our extended family all planned their vacation times for the same week and traveled by caravan. A hand waved out a window or flashing headlights seen in a rear-view mirror alerted others to stop for a bathroom break for kids or dogs. The trip included a picnic lunch beside the “rusty creek,” a gorgeous, shaded pine grove by the side of a creek with mineral deposits which caused the rocks to become rust-colored.
Upon arrival at camp, everyone chose their favorite bunks and unpacked. Having so many people together in a three-room cabin, caused quite a bit of noise. With the original exposed beams on the ceiling and walls, we could really “make those rafters ring.” From the smallest child to the oldest adult, merry-making filled the days and nights.
By day, we waded in the creek less than a stone’s toss from the front porch or played the old-fashioned game of quoits, similar to horseshoes except with donut-shaped rubber quoits to toss over the posts. At night, we went spotting deer and toad-finding (after a rainstorm), finishing off with cocoa, hot enough to make it gooey with melting marshmallows. Then we’d break out the cards and play rounds of rummy, Uno, or Blitz until well after midnight, a double delight for us kids.
In fact, the only activity in this idyllic place which did not include the word “fun” was the necessary treks to the outhouse. But no one seemed to truly mind … well, except my one sister-in-love, who detested any speck of dirt and would have gladly scrubbed it down with Clorox and Lysol. One time, my dad snuck out before she got up in the morning and posted a sign on the outhouse door: “Sister’s dreamhouse”! (Name changed to protect the innocent!)
Camp! Less than four days to go! See you there!
*** What does the word “camp” bring to your memory bank? Please, share your story! Click on the words beside the date of this post. Scroll down to the box with the heading, “Leave a reply.” Thank you for sharing!
*** Next week, another post about this marvelous place!
legaciesletloose 
Love this so much! My favorite place as well as my kids. It was my mom’s favorite place to be as well.
Always loved the anticipation of getting to Williamsport and being half way there! Smelling the pines and the fresh mountain air, passing the “famous” Wellsboro Diner, through Galeton down the windy road, cross the bridge and you are at camp! Other than the beautiful scenery, my favorite thing about camp is all of the critters. From the tiniest toad and the prickliest porcupine, to the biggest bear, I love the interaction with them all. This year we were treated to a very insistent fire side visitor, a one earred black bear we nick named “Earless Ed”. My hubby had cooked on the fire pit earlier and we were having Smores when he showed up. Sure did like those marshmallows that we left behind when he became insistent
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Oh my, Jenn! You made me feel like I was almost there! You need to work at becoming a writer in the real sense of the word! Will you guest post for me on here sometime? You made me feel like I was actually in a car, driving up the road to the cabin already! I loved this!
As for “Earless Ed,” well, I love seeing the bears, but not that close! A friend who rents one of Fred’s cabins on the other side of the road says her dog chased a bear two weeks ago, and with Corey and Ashley having the mama with cubs right at the porch, I must admit to being uneasy about the thought of needing the outhouse in the middle of the night. I may have to cut out water and tea for the week! LOL! Love you, Jenn!
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Camp, huh? Hmmmm. Camping is not something for me! I know it is for a lot of people but I would be more like your sister with the clorex wipes and what not, lol. To be fair, I’ve never really gone camping. Closest would be sleeping overnight in a tent with my brothers in the backyard — which I absolutely hated! I hate bugs and am just not an outdoorsy type person, except for walking trails and being by a lake, which I do enjoy. Our family did used to go up to a village in Michigan and rent a cottage for a week or two each summer. But we had indoor plumbing! My grandpa and brothers fished and my grandma cleaned and fryed ’em. I just liked the beach. Being in the sand and playing in the water, and especially watching the sun go to bed at night, which is what my grandma called it. Not real camping maybe but I loved it! My boys went to summer church camp for a few days each summer growing up and seemed to like it. My oldest even later became the camp director there for a couple years.
Well have fun at the cabin!!!
— Leafy
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Our oldest and youngest daughters lived for their weeks at their summer girls’ camp each year. They loved it so much. Both planned to go back as counselors but never did. It’s great that you son actually became the director there! How wonderful! The cabin we call camp has a creek but no lake nearby, except at a state park some miles away. In fact, the creek is the subject of next week’s blog. I won’t have internet access while we’re there, so I plan to have the blog typed and ready to go and set to “publish” on Monday. If you comment early, I won’t see it until probably Wednesday. But I’ll still want to read it even then! Thanks for sharing and the sentiments for our trip. Blessings!
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Camp. The word takes me back to church camp. I remember being homesick and crying in my bunk bed, and talking to the counselor, and telling her I was sick.
But she knew better.
I’m so glad, because I grew a little closer to God that week.
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I told Leafy that our eldest and youngest daughters LOVED their summer camp and counted the days from the first day home after the camp one summer to the day they left the next one! However, our middle child, Sarah, hated it. She also was homesick and begged them to call me. On the flip side, though, I wish they had. She had been experiencing some stomach issues and we’d sent healthy snacks and said she had to eat often. The counselors took the snacks and never gave them to her. She had an awful week, although her counselor told us she was the only one who took right to the adventure of camping out under the stars one night. She went back one other year, but she took a special friend along. It still wasn’t great. Her missions trips went much better, but then she had her sister both times and God had planned every moment of them. Thanks for sharing, Julie! Blessings!
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