From Idaho to Wawona

The travel day that took us from Idaho to Wawona was long. We flew from Boise to Reno, and from Reno to Las Vegas, where we picked up our car and started driving. We drove into the night, stopping at Walmart for supplies and at Denny's for food until we gave up the chase and stopped for the night in Fresno. After breakfast at IHOP, we finally crossed into Yosemite National Park and made it to Camp Wawona.

As it was my parents' anniversary, they were happy to show me around the camp, telling me about how it was when they went there. They met, fell in love, and actually got married at Wawona--which made them somewhat nervous to send me here for the summer. There is so much family history here. Up until today, I was living in the Illilouette cabin, where my aunt and uncle lived when they worked here.

I was happy that my parents were able to spend a romantic evening at Tenaya Lodge while I settled in. The next day, I started work. It's not so much cooking food as assembling food, and there's also a lot of dishwashing involved. The people here are very nice, very fun to work with, and make the kitchen work enjoyable. An added bonus to all of this is that between the kitchen work and the very steep hill the camp is built upon, I have already lost five useless pounds. If I'm lucky, by the end of the summer I'll be as fit as I was as a freshman.

As I was walking along, minding my own business after work one evening, I came across a group of counselors who were practicing a play. Since I like that kind of thing, I sat down and watched their rehearsal. They invited me to join them, and now I am officially a part of their play. It goes up tomorrow night I think, which makes me somewhat nervous--I haven't had a lot of practice with them yet.

We also did some housekeeping work yesterday, helping to turn camp as the Epilepsy group left and we prepared for regular summer camp to begin. Last night, we had a pool party where I got to be a judge for some of the contests. Then, after dinner, we had a prayer walk through the camp ending in a communion service down by the river.

Today I'll be moving to the Lodge, where I'll receive a new room mate, another kitchen girl. Also, my parents and grandparents will come to visit, which will be wonderful.

I'll continue to send these emails and to update the blog as I can. I'm having computer issues at the moment, so the frequency of the updates are completely up in the air. I appreciate it when you send me messages telling me what's going on where you are as well, and I would love it if you would keep me filled in on all the latest news.