camp augusta

I spent the summer of 2001 as a counselor at a summer camp in Northern California. It was one of the most difficult and awesome things I've ever done. Before arriving at the camp, I had images in my mind of some Disney-esque camp with beautiful facilities, amazing food, and cute boy counselors. My cousin drove up to camp with me to drop me off, and when we arrived he said, "Are you sure you want me to leave you here?" It was pretty... ghetto. And outdoorsy. And dirty and dusty and in the middle of no where. 

The other counselors soon started arriving, and while the camp didn't change from dusty and a little run down, and the kitchen staff all up and quit, it became my favorite place on earth. The counselors (from Russia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia, a few from the US, Canada, Croatia) and camp directors became my family. I am still in touch with many of them- we went through a lot that summer together.  

In addition to camp, I also became very close with a family in town. I would go to church with them, eat Sunday dinner together, do my laundry at their house, and crash at their house when I was sick. We went boating together, to San Fran, and spent lots of time swimming in their pool. They are one incredible family!

Fast forward 11 years. We were invited to the oldest DeMartini daughter's wedding, and you better believe that we went! We booked a hotel up in Grass Valley for two nights and made a mini vacation out of it. 

(Caution- this post will be full of things that few others beside me will care about, or understand the significance of. Oh, Camp Augusta, we love you.)

We started out at In  & Out Burger (in memory of Mark, what a tumultuous 'friendship' we had.) 

hazel's view

When we got to our hotel I was a bit overcome with the smell of Grass Valley. Oh, that smell. It is my favorite smell on earth, mmmm, if only I could bottle it up and carry it around with me. After hitting the grocery store (so many memories) and buying more candy than two people should ever consume, we called it a night. 

The next morning we drove around a bit, did some window shopping on the main street and headed to the Empire State Mine. I wanted to visit camp so badly, so I called the night before to see if we could stop by sometime this weekend, but hadn't heard back. Just as we were paying our entrance fee at the Mine, one of the camp directors called me back and told me we could head up right away. So we raced through the museum and booked it to camp. We had to make it back to the hotel and get ready for the reception that evening, so time was of the essence  Of course we got lost, but it wouldn't be a trip up to camp without that experience. And then we arrived!

checking out the real estate- we are retiring here

I can't tell you too much about the mine- since the entire time I was saying 'hurry, we need to get to camp!'

Lots of things had changed, they made some improvements (a new bathroom! and were starting to build new cabins, finally!) but so much was just as it had been. We walked all over camp, visited some of my most memorable cabins, and then hiked down to Gypsy Falls. 

they put wood chips down in the dining area- what a great idea to cut down on the dust. have i mentioned this place is DUSTY?!?

the cabins

taking a bow on stage. zvonimir singing 'lucky'- best moment ever.

my first cabin!

one of these huge redwood trees fell on top of a cabin and crushed it- with girls inside! my best camp friend was the counselor of that cabin, and she and another camper had just gotten up to go to the bathroom. while they were gone, their beds were crushed. luckily no one was hurt, but everyone was pretty shaken up. 

hazel exclaimed, "the lorax will be so sad!"

I got quite emotional on the hike down to the falls. Camp Augusta really became a sacred place to me. I had so many prayers answered that summer and gained a lot of strength.

we forgot hazel's swimming suit top, oops

the sand is so golden- i am sure some of that is due to the years of camp counselors throwing chunks of fools gold in the water for the campers to 'find'. ha!

me about to go down a rock slide 

and another rock slide- wiping off the 'leeches' that cover your skin when you slide down. (they aren't really leeches but look like them)

hazel and isaac going down the third slide

Oh I love this place!

That evening we went to the DeMartini house for a beautiful reception. It was so fun to see the family again. 

The next day we headed down a long twisty road to Yuba River. I used to lead fishing trips down to this river in the wee early hours of the morning, and I would curl up on the warm rocks and sleep while the other counselor and the kids fished, haha. The river is so beautiful and the water was the perfect temperature- we need to go up next year and swim (with Hazel's wounded hand I really didn't want her swimming in the water). And stay with the DeMartini's of course.  

we better bring our gold mining pans next time

What a great vacation!!!