9/28

Today, to me, felt exhausting. Maybe it was the work I turned out. Perhaps it was the massive swarm of children buzzing around today. Honestly, I think it is just the shift from backcountry back to the world. There are lights and signs and chocolate and warm air hand dryers and chocolate and more chocolate. It’s so overwhelming. Things move so much faster and few things are the same out here. It’s not bad, just different. That’s a strange, feeling unaccustomed to things that I spent 21 years doing. I guess I just still have a lot left to learn.
This morning, we departed the Gate’s home, but not for some wonderful words from Jeff’s parents. Jeff’s father was wandering amongst the group and mingling with us all morning. He told us we have a good thing going on here, although he personally felt like, “a mosquito in a nudist colony.” He said he knew, “what to do but didn’t know where to start.” I’m so committing that to memory.
The road to Bradford Woods was a long and arduous drive. Not only did we fudge up our travel plan, but a tire was blown in the process. Although, the hardest part of the drive wasn’t sitting on the side of the road or dealing with a spare tire that didn’t fit. No, it was the 5, yes, 5 White Castle’s we passed along the way. Even trying to comprehend all the wonderful bite sized sliders we passed is a sensory overload.
When we finally arrived at Bradford, we were greeted with a smile, and an army of children. The staff knew how to handle a group like ours though and stuffed our face with spaghetti, vegi-meatballs, and other wonderful foods before they asked us to really do anything. After moving into our cabin with central air (complete with touch screen thermostat, oh baby), we joined the children for a scavenger hunt and a skit show revolving around their experiences at the O.E. center. All of that was awesome by itself, but to top it off, we had s’mores. Righteous, RIGHTEOUS! I guess the front country isn’t so bad after all, considering the s’mores and all.

Ryan