Camp Champions Blog

Despite my earnest efforts to deny the advances of time, today has managed to remind me that Susie and I are in fact getting older.

OK, it seems my less-than-thorough reading of our agenda has provided yet another set of surprises. As a reminder, we are in Patagonia on a 10-day excursion . . . an excursion that had amazing pictures and inspiring language. I was inspired and I chose the company. [Note: I suspect that the following explanation is unnecessary, but I include it for anyone unfamiliar with our family.   Susie is a master planner. She navigates airline and hotel reservations like she is playing a Beethoven Sonata. My contribution (generally) to our travel is my desire to improvise and find the fun thing to do once we are at a place. Also, I am the person that drives on the left hand side of the road. I, however, am not the person you want juggling details. I deeply appreciate the importance of details, but I seem to lack the proclivity to embrace them. “But Steve,” you may ask, “Don’t you run a summer camp that is chock-a-block full of details?” My answer is that our team is extraordinary and they understand my many shortcomings. I once explained it to a summer employee this way. Fire is good. It has a purpose and when you need it, you really need it. Similarly, gasoline has a purpose and is irreplaceable when needed. But, they are not good when put next to each other. I explain that I am to details as fire is to gas – good only when separated by a meaningful distance. I booked the rooms for Europe 5 years ago and we still marvel that we did not end up sleeping in refrigerator boxes. So Patagonia is on me. The glaciers put a big plus in my “win” column, but today might have made the water murkier.]

In the spirit of full disclosure, we have very little idea what to expect from Patagonia. We chose it for a series of slightly irrational reasons:

We have flown south and are in El Calafate. This small city is the most southern place we have ever traveled. A year ago, I would have thought that the most southern spot in Africa, New Zealand and South America would be fairly equivalent.

Yesterday, Wiley, Liam and Terrill had a hard night with jetlag. Tonight/this morning seems to be my turn.

In movies, we often see a dramatic moment when someone asks, “Is there a doctor in the house?” The slightly less common, but just as cliché quote asks if there is a doctor on an airplane.

We are feeling a tad melancholy at this moment.

Our recruiting efforts went wonderfully.

Tomorrow, we recruit Aussies to be counselors at Camp Champions this summer, so we are going to bed a little earlier.