Campers everywhere!

Whitesburg brought a group to the camp this past weekend led by Tim Lawrence. I believe it was the 7th - 12th grade boys group part of Royal Ambassadors, called the "Challengers". At around 5:00 I came out of the RV and there was a van in the campground and I could hear a couple of guys down the hill in the vicinity of the old wooden bridge. They were the first to arrive with the rest showing up about a half hour later or so. This group knew what they were doing and quickly went about setting things up.

Now some of the sleeping quarters were a little different than previous groups as we had some tree sleepers.

It seems that this was a simple set-up with a hammock tied between two trees and a tarp as covering.

Some of the guys were walking down the trails and a few were throwing a football around in the upper field. I met Richard Silar who was the contact person for the group and a leader as well. He is a great guy and we had several conversations throughout the evening. I asked Tim how long he had been involved with this ministry and he said 18 years. Like many of us, he began when his kids were involved and has continued because of his love for young folks and being involved in their lives. We need more men like Tim and Richard.

Tim had said that this was not really a structured event but was more of a reward for all the hard work these guys had put in. He did say that after dinner there would be a time for devotion but other than that it was pretty much free time. I was in and out and trying to meet everyone as the evening progressed.

On the dinner agenda was "Hobo's" with everyone responsible for their own plate. Tim said a prayer, followed by directions on putting the hobo together and then the guys went to work.

Let's see I met of course Tim Lawrence and Richard Silar, then there was David Tritt, Rick James, Eddie Richardson, Kyle Ellison and George O'Boyle. They couldn't have picked a better evening for this outing. The winds were calm and the temps were in the upper 70's right here before dark. A clear night was ahead, but not too cold. As I wandered around talking to folks I noticed Tim was working on something kind of off to the side. After doing some inquiring he let me in on the surprise desert for the evening...peach cobbler.

The dutch oven was heating up by the fire while he was getting the old family recipe mixed up just right. The pot was smoking when the batter was poured over in the pot and then strategically placed into the coals. He then heaped a few of the coals on top of the lid. Like I said earlier these guys knew what they were doing.

Certainly there is an art to this type of cooking as he checked it two or three times to make sure it was coming along nicely. I went away for awhile to take care of some things and returned close to 9:00. Just so happens there were a few bites of the cobbler left and when offered I did have a little. Personally I love cobbler, well most desserts for that matter, and I will have to say it was pretty good. They were all gathered around the campfire as I retired for the evening.

When I left for work the next morning, just before 6:00 a.m., there was no activity to be found around the campground. Later I came to find out that it had been a late night for all and breakfast did not come early.