Friday, March 27, 2009

Adventures at Pine Cove

This past weekend, our community group served at Pine Cove as their volunteer kitchen staff. Basically, Pine Cove is a camp during the summer with a full staff, but during their off season, they host retreats for different groups. Since they are without their staff, they depend on church groups to volunteer to work the retreats. Our job was to set-up, serve and clean-up meals.

We went with the guys' community group, but they were serving at the Woods and we were serving at the Bluffs. We arrived Friday night after dinner, so basically, we just got set up in our cabins and had the rest of the night free. We headed down to the lake, and just hung out under the stars. Some of the guys brought their guitars and we sang a little...but mostly listened. After that, it was off to bed so we could get rest for all the work we were about to do.

It was an early morning wake-up call for us on Saturday, but we were in the kitchen on time and ready to work. The 5 of us donned plastic aprons, latex gloves and awesome hats. We set the tables, filled pitchers with orange juice, served breakfast, worked the dragon (their version of a massive dishwasher), put away the pots and pans, mopped the floors, vacuumed the carpet and had a dance party all the while.

group shot in the kitchen

After breakfast, we had a tiny bit of free time, so we explored the camp a little, played some teatherball, climbed Delilah (their infamous hill that connects them to the Shores) and hiked down to the peak. By the time we did all that, it was back to the kitchen to prepare for lunch.

just hangin' around

The same routine was followed for lunch service, only this time, we had the added pleasure of vacuuming about 10 pounds of rice off the floor. Let's just say it was the aftermath of a craft project gone terribly wrong...ha ha. After running the vacuum for about 2 hours, we got to have some quality group time and discuss "Crazy Love" (the book we're currently reading). We also got to play a few rounds of Apples to Apples, which is always a good time. By then, it was time for dinner service.

We served up dinner with a smile and were even able to locate enough cake for our entire table (kind of an inside joke). Once we had set-up, served and cleaned up the meal, we were ready to head up to the peak for a bonfire. The guys' group joined us, along with their guitars again, and we had a great time singing Phil Wickham, Dave Matthews and even some R. Kelly...true story. With our stomachs full of s'mores and roasted marshmallows, we headed to a community room to play "Hit or Miss." It was a new game for all of us, and I highly recommend it.

the girls at the bonfire

Since it was a late night, getting up on Sunday morning to serve breakfast was extra hard...especially for a morning person like me. Nonetheless, I was only a few minutes late for set-up and I don't think anyone really noticed. Our last meal involved some serious clean-up since we had to "close down" camp for the week. I don't think I have ever performed such intense manual labor, but I came away with a whole new respect for those who do that for a living. All in all, it was a whole heap of work, but it definitely provided some awesome bonding time for our community group. I feel so much closer to my girls, and we even have camp names for eachother which are hilarious. The experience was a blessing, but I needed a whole week to recover!

group shot after a weekend of intense kitchen duty
jumping for Jesus...or something like that

20 comments:

Meggers1021 said...

You're a great kitchen cleaner upper Rach!! Bonus points for the past two weekends:)

Anonymous said...

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this,
like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you
can do with a few pics to drive the message home a bit,
but instead of that, this is great blog. A great read. I'll certainly be back.

my website; In Porn Tube

Anonymous said...

Stunning story there. What occurred after?

Good luck!

Here is my blog see more

Anonymous said...

Very descriptive article, I liked that bit.
Will there be a part 2?

Feel free to surf to my weblog; http://www.jejaringberita.com/node/3560
my web page - visit website

Anonymous said...

magnificent post, very informative. I ponder why the opposite experts
of this sector do not understand this. You must proceed your writing.
I am sure, you've a huge readers' base already!

My web site - at teen

Anonymous said...

Heya i'm for the first time here. I found this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided me.

My web blog ... http://coedgangbangs.net/

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. Keep writing such kind of info on your page.

Im really impressed by your site.
Hey there, You've done an incredible job. I'll certainly digg
it and in my opinion recommend to my friends. I am confident they'll be benefited from this site.

Also visit my web-site; porn actress

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. Keep writing such kind of info on your page.
Im really impressed by your site.
Hey there, You've done an incredible job. I'll
certainly digg it and in my opinion recommend to my friends.
I am confident they'll be benefited from this site.

Look into my site :: porn actress
my web site: the porn star

Anonymous said...

Hello there! I just would like to offer you a big thumbs
up for the excellent info you've got right here on this post. I'll be coming back to your blog for more
soon.

Feel free to visit my blog post :: visit

Anonymous said...

wonderful issues altogether, you just won a emblem new reader.
What may you recommend in regards to your submit that you made some days ago?
Any positive?

My homepage; visit website

Anonymous said...

wonderful issues altogether, you just won a emblem new reader.
What may you recommend in regards to your submit that you made some days ago?
Any positive?

Also visit my site visit website

Anonymous said...

Great blog you have here.. It's difficult to find excellent writing like yours these days. I honestly appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!

Feel free to visit my website ... http://Pornharvest.com/Index.php?M=2478640

Anonymous said...

Your mode of telling the whole thing in this post is genuinely pleasant, all can simply be aware of it, Thanks a lot.



My blog post; visit website

Anonymous said...

Great post.

Stop by my website :: Visit website

Anonymous said...

Great post.

Feel free to visit my web site ... Visit website

Anonymous said...

Hi there are using Wordpress for your site platform? I'm new to the blog world but I'm trying to get started and
set up my own. Do you require any html coding
knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!


Also visit my weblog ... brigitte

Anonymous said...

I really like what you guys are up too. This sort of clever work and reporting!
Keep up the awesome works guys I've included you guys to my own blogroll.

Visit my webpage - official statement

Anonymous said...

Hello there! Do you use Twitter? I'd like to follow you if that would be ok. I'm absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.


my homepage http://Www.pamilyangofw.com/PHPpofw/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=936&sid=60c8ed7b92940608170b5f69bcc2a0e4

Anonymous said...

Magnificent goods from you, man. I've understand your stuff previous to and you're just too magnificent.
I really like what you have acquired here, certainly
like what you are stating and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still care
for to keep it smart. I cant wait to read much more from you.
This is really a wonderful site.

Here is my blog post http://mytwominutes.com/test/read_blog/131128/why-folks-still-get-porn-website-memberships

Anonymous said...

What's up everyone, it's my first pay a visit at this website,
and article is genuinely fruitful for me, keep up posting these types of posts.



Feel free to visit my web blog http://pornharvest.com/index.php?m=2210256