The Hike

Every year at family camp the big question is, "Are you going to hike to Avalon?"

Grandpa Fun has most often made the hike; Desiree did it once years ago when she was a youngster; Gramma Rosie made it once years and years ago when she was ticked-off (but that's another story), and Tristan had never hiked to Avalon ;-)

Last year the four of us rode the boat to Avalon and even took the extra boat ride offered for $5 each to see the south end of the island.

So Des announced this week that she'd like to hike to town this year, but she wanted Grandpa Fun to hike too. Since he's lost almost 60 pounds hiking the 6 miles to camp seemed like the best option. So they both decided they would hike.

So the two of them left camp at 7:00 a.m. with all the other campers who had decided to make the hike. Gramma Rosie and Tristan stayed behind to ride to Avalon on the 9:30 boat. We waved goodbye to the hikers and then returned to the dining hall to finish our breakfast.

Leaving camp and going to "town" (Avalon), halfway through the week of camp is a tradition. I've never figured out if it gives the camp staff a nice relief from the schedule or if the campers truly enjoy going to Avalon. It's a mini-town and after about 15 minutes there isn't much to do unless a person has a bank roll to spend in all the little "tourist" shops.

This photo reveals one of the reasons that Grandpa Fun loves to hike to Avalon . . . The view! Grandpa and Desiree had paused to look at Avalon harbor when they captured this. From there they probably walked for another 15 minutes to get to the famous "Pleasure Pier" and then they waited quite a while for the boat filled with campers to arrive.

Once the four of us were reunited, we had a good time in camp. We walked along the main street and stopped in the drugstore because Desiree needed some lotion. Then we stopped in the grocery store to get a bottle of juice to quinch Tristan's thrist.

The camp supplies a sack lunch for each camper, but we always decide to stop into a local restaurant for lunch. Today we went to the one with the best Mexican food in all of Avalon. It was delicious. Then we found a little playground and Tristan was thrilled.

Campers had the choice of returning to camp on a two o'clock boat or three o'clock. We were on the first boat and very glad to get back to camp and then we enjoyed the waterfront until the lifeguard announced at 5:00 that it was closing time. Then we walked to our cabin to get ready for dinner.

For dinner we had the best lasagna, homemade bread, and a delicious salad. We skipped the evening activities instead enjoyed the outdoors, and went to the ice cream social after the activities. The four of us then were in bed early (with two really tired hikers).

It was a terrific day!
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol

P.S. Grandpa Fun & Rosie were at the shoreline early again this morning and watched the sun rise from behind Saddleback Mountain over on the mainland. The camp staff told us it was only the second time this summer they've seen the sunrise. Yesterday was the first.