Northfork Vacation, Camp for the Kids

On Sunday we took the kids to their first ever sleep away camp. The YMCA of the Rockies has a mini-camp, perfect for first timers. It is 3 days, 2 nights. We drove across the RMNP on Trail Ridge road to deliver them to camp (which is near Granby). The drive (well, the parts of it for which my eyes were open) was beautiful. I can't handle the sheer drop-offs.



We saw this moose on the western side of the park, right by the road. I took this out of the car window.



Annie joined us for the ride. We stopped at a playground for a bit, and John made her a daisy chain.









Camp Chief Ouray looks like lots of fun. There are ropes courses and a swimming pool and stables with horses. The kids got more and more excited as we neared the cabins. There were crazy counselors in costume yelling, "Welcome to camp!" as we drove up. On the way over, Helene starting getting whiny and saying she was going to miss me. She's had a history of separation anxiety, so I was a little worried.







When we walked Campbell to his cabin (where I made him pose for this shot), I asked if he wanted us to stay or was ready for us to leave. He very matter-of-factly said, "Yeah. You can leave. Bye." I didn't expect tears, but still . . .

And, to my surprise (and relief), Helene was also nonchalant about our leaving. She let me take her picture on her bunk and then said a brief goodbye.

I hope they have as much fun as I think they will. It would be great to start a tradition, and for them to have a camp they look forward to attending every summer.