Golf Cart Adventures

When Outdoor School is not in session and when winter retreats are over, there is a sort of lull that all of the staff come to love and hate. We love the down time. We’re able to catch up on all the things we’ve left in the lurch (our laundry, the state of cleanliness in our houses, etc.). But we also hate it. We’re the kind of people that need to be doing something. It’s how we’re wired. That’s why we work at camp! We love the action, the fast paced feel, and the level of intensity.

That’s why Katey and I made an adventure out of getting the mail. The mailboxes are located in an intersection just before the dirt road that leads to camp, affectionately call the “Y”. We’re often sent down to get the daily mail in a camp vehicle or the golf cart. Katey and I prefer the golf cart. Because when you drive that cart at full speed down the dirt road to the “Y” it’s even better than any roller coaster you can imagine! We scream and yell and laugh and smile. It’s the BEST ride of your life.

One day after a slow, mundane day in the office, Katey and I hopped in the golf cart to get the mail. We love every second of the adrenaline rush. And just when we think we can’t go any faster, the golf cart slowly putters, putters, and then stops in the dirt. Katey and I look at each other, and both know what just happened: we ran out of juice. The golf cart, she’s dead.

We walk to get the mail, and then try to push the 500-pound golf cart up the dirt road. Didn’t work out. We tried to restart it, nothing. We were stuck on the side of the road with a few magazines and bills. We needed some help. We had to call in reinforcements.

“You call them,” I say to Katey.

“I don’t want to call them! They’re gonna be mad!” she says back. Work was over for the day, and just another “camp happens” moment was the last thing we thought any of the other staff would want to deal with. But Katey called Erin. And David and Erin came to our rescue.

They came in the CRV with nothing but a rope and lots of worries. But Katey, the resident Rock Wall belier, took the rope and tied together such a knot from the CRV to the golf cart, that it made me think this wasn’t such a crazy idea. We double backed the rope and tied it again. Katey and I got in the golf cart, David and Erin in the CRV, and we all laughed and prayed.

Slowly, surely, and all of us cracking up like little kids, we pulled the golf cart back to camp. Every bump, every turn, every rock was a small adventure. And it was so much better than the ride down. Together we took a problem and turned it into one of my favorite moments at camp. Camp happens, and we laugh the whole time.

-  Brigette