Camp Redcloud!!!!!

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I just had one of the greatest experiences of a lifetime!  Yesterday I got back from Camp Redcloud in Colorado with my youth group.  It was SO incredible!  We did things like real mountain biking, high ropes, archery, and hiking.  And by hiking, I mean climbing a 14,000 ft. mountain.  Man, I wish I had pictures, but all I had for the week were three disposable cameras that are currently being developed.  

     The climb was steeeeeeeep.  I got so tired, as did the rest of the group.  About 15 minutes before we got to the top, a huge storm rolled in, so we all had to go back down.  Only the people close enough to the front got to see the top, including me!  It was the most breath-taking thing I had ever seen in my whole life.  At the top, you could see many, many more mountains and the gray streaks of rain coming down far away from the clouds.  I only got to stay up there for about a minute, though.  It was really slippery the rest of the way down!  The whole thing took about 6 hours, if I remember correctly.  Is that right, Sammie?

     There was a stream/river throughout the whole camp.  One day we were wading in it (it was COLD - it was literally melted ice!) and I lost my flip flop in the current :)  I brought the other one home; a counselor and I were thinking about making a little shrine in my room!  (Yes, Rob, it was Pac-man...) Whenever we went by a body of water, everybody would say "Look out for Janie's shoe!!!".

     As many of you have heard, we had quite a few car troubles during the 20 hours there and 20 hours back.  On the way there, the church that we were traveling with, Cornerstone, had their whole engine blow up!!!  We were all stranded at a little camp site with a nice lake and beach - it was actually pretty fun, besides the fact that we were there for about 4 hours.  We (Grandview) went on w/o them and they got there a day late in a rental van.  Also on the way there, our van blew a tire, so we had to wait on the side of the road for about 45 minutes!  On the way back, our van had to change 2 tires out, and we were stuck in a Walmart parking lot for about 1 1/2 hours!!!!  But there's one more thing.  Tony, the other church's youth pastor, was able to lead the mechanic working on their van to Christ!!!!!!!!  Hallelujah!  For those of you who went to my play, the Lord works in mysterious ways.  :)

     I had the greatest time of my life at Redcloud.  Can't wait to go back next year!!!