This morning at 8 a.m. the bugle did NOT sound to wake the campers up. Instead, everyone was abruptly greeted by the confused but renowned wrangler in the Montreat Valley known as Cowboy Joe! Along with his loud and annoying chicken music, Cowboy Joe brought some delicious Nut Doughs and chocolate for every excited but confused camper he came across. While everyone started cleaning their cabins, a select few got to flex their adventurous muscles with some amazing out-of-camp day trips that all coincidentally occurred on the water! Lowry S, Grant H, Hays S, Peter Q, Jackson G, Oliver M, Alexander S, Lance K, Christian S, Peyton S, and Daniel A. all got to hit the rapids for an exciting rafting adventure! Meanwhile, David C, Byers N, George P, Jonah N, Oliver G, and Will R. all got to saddle up in their kayaks in an incredibly rapid voyage of their own. Mason L, Ruffin S, Daniel M, Micheal U, Matthew A, Quincy W, and Alexander W. got to experience a much calmer but equally fun fly fishing trip! The arrival of Cowboy Joe meant that all activities for the day would happen in reverse order, so all the campers eagerly headed off to the evening (or should I say morning) activity of BALL BATTLE! The epic dodgeball battle between the tribes ultimately ended with a junior camp victory for the Black Bears and a senior camp dub for the Golden Eagles. After Ball Battle, everyone raced towards their normal 4th-period activities to complete the morning.

At lunch, the Cowboy Joe oddities did not end. Campers were greeted with a delicious brunch of chicken and waffles with cereal included at the neighborhood tables. The conclusion of lunch led to the surprise arrival of the free-est time… (free time) which included the usual trading post for everyone and the opening of activities like basketball, archery, pottery, and swimming for campers to work on bars or just have fun! After free time everyone headed back to the cabins for the best HOUR… (rest hour, YES) to recharge and get ready for the rest of this incredible day at camp. Before everyone knew it, the evening activities arrived and everyone headed off to their afternoon fun. These numerous afternoon activities led to the inevitable earning of bars from some hard-working and talented campers! David O. channeled his inner Micheal Phelps to achieve his gold in swimming! While Boone K. and Matthew G. activated their sharpshooting to snag bronze in archery and riflery respectively. Last but not least, our up-and-coming NBA superstars Steele G, Bennett J, Tommy F, and Carson B. all lit up the basketball court to earn their bronze bars.

The bell rang once again to call out hungry campers back to The Tuck to TUCK into (ha) some delightful pulled pork sandwiches with Oreo Dream for dessert (yesssss). After dinner, everyone silently did not scream their head off in the evening yell in honor of this bizarre day. Then they headed off to chapel for evening songs where Spencer V. got his gold in guitar for playing in front of chapel. This was followed by a true story by Finch’s Landing own counselor Adam. The campers thought chapel would mark the end to an incredible Cowboy Joe day but oh no! They still had one more activity to complete before the day was over… The County Fair! The County Fair is filled with wacky challenges like apple core diving, truck pulling, and counselor skeet shooting that are sure to bring lasting memories for every camper. Not to mention the Italian ice truck that stopped by for one more surprise treat to end the day off right! (shhhhh don’t tell anyone I told you that)

Signing off,
Josh Krispin
Further Up Counselor
Proud Golden Eagle