Last weekend many members of the Leaning Teepees travelled a few hours to the mountains of North Carolina - to Black Mountain and the home of Camp Rockmount, our spring Longhouse location. Upon first sight, we knew we made a great choice in choosing this camp. Nestled high in the mountains, the views were great, and the activities were abundant. Unlike our fall Longhouse, each dad/brave were able to choose what activity they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it. Options included Archery, Riflery, Zip Lining, a Water Slide, Rock Wall climbing, Canoeing, Horseback Riding, and a few others. Our accommodations were less rustic than before, and we were praying for the weather to hold off and provide us with a great day on Saturday.Everyone made the journey up on Friday night, which allowed us to scout out locations for Saturday, and eat some snacks in the dining hall with other early arrivals. We were fortunate that our cabin was only a few minute walk to the dining hall, and many of the activities. So a good nights sleep was in order...ha! Kids can sleep anywhere...dad's on the other hand....don't do well in bunks!
Nonetheless, Saturday turned out to be all we could hope for - a bright sun, warm weather, and the opportunity to take on new adventures - most notably, zip-lining from high up in the trees, a few hundred feet down into the lake that looked quite peaceful. Peaceful and COLD! What a wake up call, but well worth the trip. Besides that activity, cans were knocked over with BB rifles, arrows came close to bulls-eyes, and dads and braves spent more awesome quality time together.
The Leaning Teepees were honored for reaching Golden Light status for the year, meaning we participated in enough activities as a tribe to earn over 2000 points. Quite an accomplishment for a new tribe! We were all looking forward to the cherished Firewalk on Saturday night, but the rain gods did not want to cooperate, taking the activity indoors. We made the best of the situation and were proud to have earned our first year eagle feather. We also saw what lies ahead if we continue to do well as a tribe, as the 2nd - 5th year braves also were recognized for reaching special milestones.
We are planning on continuing our journey this summer with additional Federation activities, as we start anew in earning points and making memories. All the dads will now assume new roles with the tribe, so this will be my last blog entry as the Legend Keeper for the Leaning Teepees. Our first year was quite special, and it can only get better from here!
