Spring CamasCon 2019

300 or so games in the lending library, two additional shelves upon which campers store their own games, and five days spent packed around a cluster of tables bending the mind and focusing the will on strategic victory.

What could this possibly mean???

It’s Spring CamasCon of course!

Forty campers made their way into the mountains, bringing carloads of strategy board games with them.

No need to toil away at work, cook, clean, or even venture more than the few feet between the dinning area, gaming tables, and bathrooms!

CamasCon is all about playing games, so so many games, meeting old friends and new, and gathering together to rejoice in being connected as followers of Christ.

Of course Van Helsing brought board-game-themed lessons for the chapel sessions.

What? You don’t think The Man In Black has anything to do with the Bible?

Oh, you of little faith. Sit through just one chapel and you too will be quoting scripture in the voice of Vizzini! Whether you are looking for quirky Bible lessons,

games with stuffed rats and teeny weeny cardboard cheeses,

epic battles between armies of toothsome monsters,

adventure on the high seas,

tricky track-building travails,

a word puzzle that inexplicably involves adorable plastic pickles,

or just the simple pleasure of antagonizing a good friend,

there’s something at CamasCon for every gamer.

Whether young

and exhausted,

feisty and argumentative,

or an experienced campaigner who is long in the tooth and just might have a gray hair or two.

Thank you to everyone who came and all those who worked behind the scenes to make Spring CamasCon a delightful experience for us all!

Boo Boo

Spring Break Survival Camp

Over spring break, Camas Meadows offers our only day camp. A chance for children, grades 3rd through 8th, to get out of the house and test their mettle against the great outdoors.

Every morning at 7:30 AM, the camp van meets families at the Park-N-Ride on Blewett Pass to pick up campers for their day-long adventure.

After breakfast with friends and a Bible lesson courtesy of Bald Eagle, the campers practice knot-tying with Choco and learn about the survival skill of the day.

Shelter building, food preparation, making water safe to drink, finding edible plants, setting snares, navigation, and safely building a campfire are some of the many skills covered during the morning lecture.

Then comes the best part.

Getting outside to practice all of those fabulous new skills!

Navigating through a scavenger hunt around the lodge with a compass … .

No Problem!

Melting snow over a campfire to make clean drinking water …

or even hot fir needle tea …

got it covered!

Setting up snares without accidentally catching the camp dog …

… harder than it looks, but still possible!

The campers learned how to make survival bracelets which contained a massive amount of useful para-cord as well as a flint striker, small compass, and handy wilderness whistle.

Princess Leia Freyja was of course interested in the constant music of tweeting whistles.

The campers were so fun and delightful as they concentrated fiercely on each lesson and then poured out into the forest to practice every skill.

From shouted queries during the Bible lesson to breaking into their personal piggy banks or even pursuing a lightning fast career as a young entrepreneur in order to gain an extra day in the outdoors, the campers tackled every day with grit and enthusiasm.

Thank you, Choco and friends, for the informative lessons and making it possible for these 20 enthusiastic outdoors-men and women to enjoy God’s lovely creation.

A week in the outdoors is always week well spent.

Especially when there is whittling, fire-craft, and shelter building involved!

Boo Boo