Camp Ton-A-Wandah GUGG 2009

I have over two hundred pictures from this weekend. Most of them involve regular camp scenes but the photos fail to convey the prevailing under current of emotion and connectivity. Julie, Emily, Jennifer and I met up for our second annual Grown Up Girls Getaway Weekend (GUGG) at Camp Ton-A-Wandah in Hendersonville, NC. We arrived at camp on Friday afternoon and set up our bunks in the same cabin (Poplar!).

This year we had some new cabin mates who offered us first aid, wise wisdom, comfort, perspective, and great company. Among them: Julie's mom!

Under the direction of Julie we consumed many beverages, danced ourselves silly, competed in cabin races, and absorbed as much camp as we could in our three short days. I ended up doing glass fusion, painting aprons, the ropes course, archery, lake sitting (not an official activity but one of the best ones there), jewelry making, yoga, a solo run on Saturday morning and a mini hike to the waterfall.

This year we spread out a bit. Instead of being together every single moment we went ahead followed our individual preferences. Jennifer rode horses, Julie hung out with her mom and Emily shot targets in riflery. The ability to branch off and to still be together marks a growth point for our foursome. We shared many silly common experiences as a group of friends but also made our own individual memories at Camp Ton-A-Wandah. I left camp thinking a lot about this recurrent theme to honor and respect our personal limits.

I have a gigantic blue/yellow/green/purple bruise on the inside of my left arm from my first archery experience. I kind of liked it and think I'd have even more fun doing it if they had a left handed bow. The thwack of the arrow in the target was very satisfying.

Some things were easier this year: peeing on a cold toilet in the cabins, navigating the camp, the ropes course, picking out what we wanted to do, and packing our bags. Though we were weary from having so much fun in such a concentrated amount of time I think it was also harder to say goodbye to such an amazing place.

It isn't necessarily the activities, the awesome food or even the lake that make Camp Ton-A-Wandah so special to me. I love that this place itself exists as a refuge and a quiet constant testament to friendships both old and new to any girl of any age. For this alone I am very thankful.