Do You Love Canned Ham? I do!

anyone who knows me well,knows that i am a girl who "does". i have an idea- i think about it overnight, and in the morning i either decided to make it happen or move on to the next idea. a few months ago, the girls and i spent some time on orcas island. it was blissful and we loved it. lisa and si have 2 acres there and i had the brainstorm that i should buy and airstream and put it on their property. that morphed into buy a little vintage trailer and use it to see if we like trailer life then maybe move on to an airstream.

i became obsessed with trailers. i found one. i bought it. its adorable. of course it could use more work than i initially assessed. that seems to be the way of these little old trailers. but according to my advisor, silas i should not worry about some of it, just enjoy it and know that this is my first trailer not my last.

my dream of an fcc family camp, the back story

last summer the kids and i attended part of an fcc camp in new jersey when we were visiting sarah and her family. it was a culture camp that had some components of a traditional summer camp- canoeing, and horseback riding , along with crafts. i talked to several people who made it an annual tradition and had pals there that they only saw at camp since they lived in different states. they spoke of what a wonderful connection it was for them and how they looked forward to camp every year.

an idea started brewing in my mind. we needed something like that. not culture since we have so many cultural opportunities here for that between woodstock an the heritage camp that happens in salem every year. i wanted to create a camp with traditional activities for fcc families. i decided to recruit kelly to help me and the idea took off. after considering all the close in camps,i opted for namanu since i love it there, and it is a beautiful site. after several trips out to scope it out, i picked a weekend and rented the site. kelly and i started generating ideas, forms and a website. we picked a date to open and close registration. we decided on a price based on the idea that we would get 50 paying customers. i met with lorax ( margaret eng) to generate some ideas, and she blew me away by volunteering to be our camp director and bring high schoolers to volunteer for the weekend. what a gift.

many meetings later we had the shape of camp formed. when registration closed we had 133 people. i was stunned. i had to call some families to see if they were willing to take a more rustic cabin since we exceeded the cushy cabin capacity. i got 2 old ods pals to come and offer their support and services- music and tye dye. we planned the menu, we planned the crafts, we made signs. we plotted the schedule.

finally october 1 arrived. we had a great weekend weatherwise. there is no place more magical than namanu on a sunny day...

as the dusk fell, families streamed into the camp.kids adopted from china ranging in age from 1 to 14 came accompanied by parents and siblings. the fun began with a campfire and didn't stop until the tree planting ceremony. i was overwhelmed with the sense of what a magical connection we made. for our kids for ourselves and for our community.

people are already asking about next year.

my dream: fcc family camp, a roaring success

about holden

ahh summer. i live for vacations. no sooner am i home from one adventure than i start dreaming and planning for the next. i also try to savor the beauty of each trip and carry that feeling with me.

holden is a special place, one that i hope we can return to time and again. its an old copper mining town that was deeded to the lutheran church in the 60's. it is now operated as a retreat, year round. in the summer they have a family camp that i have dubbed "jesus camp". holden is open to all no matter your belief but the one request they have is that you attend the evening service called vespers. the first year we were there, hazel leaned over to me during the service and loudly whispered, "mom, whats praying". i thought i would chaffe at sitting each night in church, but actually most of the time i find it easy to do.

it is located on the border of the glacier peak wilderness in the north cascades of washington. it is the definition of remote. an epic journey gets you there- a six hour drive to chelan, a night in a motel, a 3.5 hour ferry ride then an hour by bus up the mountain to the village. what awaits is lovely, a euopean looking cluster of buildings surrounded by gorgeous mountain peaks and miles of wilderness. last year we saw a bear about 5 minutes from the village.

there are all of the things that made the place a company town in the 30's and 40's- a dining hall, dorm buildings, a pool hall and bowling alley, a library, a bookstore,an art studio and ice cream parlor. there are no cars so the kids can go anywhere. the dining hall serves 3 meals a day. really great mostly vegetarian food. and there is home made bread available around the clock.

for me as a single mom, it is the perfect vacation: no cooking, shopping or cleaning. free childcare for half the day and its in the wilderness! i love it and come home so relaxed after spending time there. my focus is on reading and hiking. but if you were inclined there are speakers and talks about current events ( often via the churches viewpoint) and of course bible study. but you could just as easily hike all day every day .

it is set along the banks of railroad creek which is a lovely place to sit and enjoy. the dorm rooms are simple but fine. a bunk bed, a double, a sink and the bathroom down the hall.

we met some really nice people there. the girls made lots of art projects, swam in the hot tub, learned some jesus songs and even learned what praying is.

holden photos part 2