So Washington was about to begin... There are many unique challenges that come with the last week of camp. One of those such challenges is that with it being the last week of the summer often times the staff begins to think past the week. They begin to think of school and family back home that they are now focusing on maybe more than being at camp. They don't do this intentionally most times but it usually happens where the staf begins to check out. Well I don't know if it was the fact that we had the biggest camp of Worldview's history or what, but these staff did not check out. They were fully engaged and ready to serve on and love on these students. Another common challenge is just flat out fatigue. I think it was injecting four brand new staff who all were experienced in leading a group with Worldview and what was expected that help curtail this. That new energy that was injected in and the staff were fatigued but did not show it.
We had a great last week of camp. It was a blast to get time with the staff and enjoy one last week together. I was able to speak with many of them one-on-one and get their feedback from the summer and talk about their future with Worldview Academy. It was a great week. There were definitely challenges that existed from it being such a large group, but it also brought a lot of energy to camp which was great. Overall, it was my favorite camp of the summer. It was also bittersweet in many respects as it would be the final summer camp I would work with Josh Fairbaugh as he is going to be directing camps for our third team next summer, Sarah Hartung who will be his staff director, and also possibly Brooke Gifford who is one of the reasons I have been so successful as a director.
Well, we had officially said good-bye to all of the students at camp and we now had the opportunity to celebrate. We were going to go out for a nice end of summer dinner and celebrate all that God had done throughout the summer. We had a slideshow of pictures from the summer, which always bring back great memories. We also just shared stories from the summer, which allow all of us to hear the great memories people have. Not only that we had some fun and assigned everyone a particular cartoon character and showed a short clip with them as their cartoon character. It was laughs for everyone. After dinner it was back to campus. Most last nights of camp the staff stay up late and just enjoy each other. This however, really is not for me. It is good that they enjoy their time together without me getting in the way, so I was more than happy to begin packing all of our stuff up (which was a lot you can imagine because we traveled with a baby) and then hit the hay. We were going to have to get up bright and early anyway the next morning to begin our very long trek home to Midland.
Saturday morning rolled around and all of the staff slowly moseyed down to the trailer about 7:00 so we could pack their luggage into it and then head off to the airport where we would drop off everyone off at once. Once our airport run was complete there was a deep breath that was taken and began our journey back. Fortunately our first days' journey was easy and short. We stopped at the Swift's house for lunch (two of the Swift's served with us during the summer and their brother had worked with us the past two summers). It was a great meal!! Then we drove the remaining hour and a half back to Angela's parents house. As soon as we arrive everyone found a comfortable place on the couch and were passed out for the next couple of hours. We had gourmet pizza that night and really just enjoyed an evening of relaxation as we prepared for our long journey. We now had 3.5 hours behind us and only 39.5 hours left. Success!!!
After we rolled out of bed we stopped by my mom's house to pick up my brother Danny, who was joining us on our journey back to Midland. There were eight of us in all. Myself, Angela, Drew, Josh, Sarah, Danny, one of our staff members August, another staff member Stephen, and one other staff member Will. I guess that is actually nine... Anyway, after picking up my brother it was on to our next destination, Nampa, Idaho. We have some friends that live out there, the Reddings. Angela was roommates with their daughter Leah in college and we have been good friends ever since. When we arrived in Nampa we had a refreshing outdoor pool waiting for us. The staff played in the pool while I caught up with Leroy as well as enjoyed spending some time with Drew. We then had some tasty hamburgers and just relaxed around the house.... That is until we had the idea of getting a mass game of Settlers of Catan going. The Reddings play and all of our staff knew how to play except for a couple of them. So we teamed up and played a rousing game of Settlers. So rousing in fact that upon the end of the game we decided it was necessary that we play again. It was a fun night. Drew did well sleeping in too, which was great.
Not too late, though because we had some driving to get under our belt. We had now traveled 11.5 hours and we only had 29 hours left... It was fabulous... Our drive this next day though was not glamorous or exciting in the least. We were going to spend our day driving through Wyoming and eastern Idaho. There was virtually nothing there... It was the fourth time I had made that drive and there really is nothing you can do to make that appealing. We left Nampa around 8:00 am and we arrived in Laramie, Wyoming around 8:00 pm. I felt badly for my brother because all we were doing was hanging out in a fifteen passenger van traveling to various locations that were not at all exciting. He enjoyed it though, as he said he been wanting to take a road trip for quite a while, and a road trip was exactly what we were doing. The thought originally was that Danny would be able to help keep Drew occupied and that way if Angela had to drive then he could tend o Drew. It ended up not being necessary but it was nice to have him along for the ride. He also enjoyed being able to come to Midland and visit without having to pay for two flights, just one. 21.5 hours down, 19 left.
Well, after leaving Laramie, Wyoming around 7:00 am we left for Lubbock, Texas. We arrived about 8:00 pm where we picked up sandwiches and enjoyed a quiet evening at an Embassy Suites hotel. It was such a fun group to be around that it was a blast just hanging out with them. Drew was doing great for us during the road trip. He would get bored sometimes when no one was paying attention to him and he would just whine a little bit and then he would be happy again. I cannot imagine what that trip would have been like if he was not a good traveler. It would have been ridiculous. 29.5 hours down, 11 left...
The next day I left the hotel early from Lubbock and traveled with Angela and Drew back to Midland which is only a two hour drive. Angela and Danny and Drew were going to get home a day early so Drew could be home. So, I dropped them off at our apartment and then drove to Dallas so I could join the rest of the travelers in Dallas. It was very difficult to be home after ten long weeks of traveling and then to have to turn around and leave... Aww it was hard... But, it had to be done, since we had to return all of the rental vans in Dallas. It was nice though, we had a nice dinner, we came back to the hotel and really just hung out. We took a dip in the hot tub and enjoyed our time together. 35.5 hours down, 5 to go.
All right, the trip was essentially done but now it was time to get back to Midland and officially end our journey. The trip back home to Midland was uneventful. Boy was it good to be home... Now we only needed about days of rest...
Well that is the rest of the story from the summer. There are still many updates to get to with regard to all that has been happening since the summer as much has taken place. We have had one more camp in Giddings, Texas as well as several other conferences and new details of what is to come in the near future. I will keep updating...
Mike Tiland
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