This camp is a summer camp for youth, so you may be wondering...
what do Rachel and Sam DO during the off season?!
Below I've given a glimpse of our work lives now that there are no camps underway.
MAINTENANCE:
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| Sam working on the snow plow, getting it ready for winter. |
Sam's job as Ranch Operations Director means he always has something to do, from working on vehicles, to fixing broken pipes, to caring for the livestock.
There are various vehicles owned by the camp, several of which Sam is working on to sell. He hopes to sell them and save up enough money to buy a big truck to plow and haul with.
Our animals need enough feed to get them through the winter and Sam is working on buying hay and storing it for the winter. Right now we have 9 horses, 1 goat, and LOTS of chickens!
Most of Sam's job I do not understand. All I know is he is good at what he does, and has to keep on top of lots of things such as water quality, irrigating, fencing, and much more.
RENTAL GROUPS:
Almost every weekend we have a group come and rent our facilities. These groups are anywhere between 6 and 50 people, from family reunions, to work retreats, to church retreats. Usually we do not interact much with the rental groups, besides check in and showing them around. But occasionally the groups will also pay to use the ropes course or zip line. Sam is certified to supervise these activities, so sometimes on Saturdays he will be doing this, along with a few other people that come in to help for the day.
Last weekend we had a large group of youth from a local church. They
did 3 hours of ropes course activities in the afternoon on Saturday. It
was a beautiful day and it was great to have lots of activity around. I
took pictures, since I am not trained for any ropes course work.
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| Here the team works together to get everyone over the wall. |
Sam helped facilitate the lower ropes course on Saturday. These stations are challenges that must be accomplished in a group. They teach team work, leadership, patience, and communication. It was great to see the youth group work together with their teams to get through the stations like the ones in the pictures to the left and below.
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| In this challenge, the group must get each member through the web without touching the rope and only using each section of web once. |
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The high ropes course is also very popular. There are all sorts of stations of various types and distances off the ground. Below on the left, a camper belays down after completing the Hourglass. And on the right is a picture of one of the high ropes challenges...blindfolded...
There is also a big swing. You are harnessed in, pulled about 100 ft in
the air, pull your own ripcord, and then swing out. I got to try out the
big swing for the first time this weekend. It was pretty fun! On the right is a picture of a particularly thrill seeking boy turning upside down on the big swing. I was brave enough just to hold on tight and scream! ;-)
RETREATS AND COFFEE HOUSES:
Also, during the off season there are retreats and coffee houses specifically for kids that have come to summer camp at Cross Bar X. There are a few retreats during the off season. One for each age group of camp. A few weeks ago was the retreat for 8-12 year olds. Sam and I were not able to be around that weekend, but I heard it went really smoothly, and I am excited for our next one, for high schoolers, coming up in a few weeks!
Coffee Houses are once a month, on a Friday evening, where campers can just come hang out and bring friends or family. There is hot cocoa, coffee, snacks, and games. We just had our first one last weekend. And since it was close to Halloween, it was a costume party! There was a contest for costumes and the campers loved showing off their creative costumes!
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| Here's a group at the coffee house playing Apples to Apples! |
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| Trick or Treat!! Sam and I as Popeye and Olive Oyl |
HORSES:
Last but NOT least...my job! Horses, naturally, are not just a summer job. There is much to be done in the off season. As I posted earlier, we got a new horse. He needs to be ridden to get used to the camp, and also for me to get to know him and be able to read him. A couple of our other horses also need to be ridden and worked during the off season to keep them fresh for summer.
I check in on the horses often too, just to make sure they are healthy and happy. This also includes checking the field and fence to avoid possible dangers.
And of course there seems to always be need of first aid care. Right now I am doctoring Chance. He got caught in a fence, trying to fight with a neighbor horse on the other side, and cut his leg pretty bad. I get to have the....honor...of cleaning his bandage every few days. NOT my favorite part of the job, but it needs to get done!
And also during the off season I am working on re-writing the program for the horses. I am working on a wrangler manual and a standard operating procedures.
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Well, there ya go. That is the main focus of our time these months.
There are other things, such as constant cleaning, office work, organizing, and support raising, that are HUGE parts of what we do also. But I don't want to go on and on and on. :)
The work around here is hard but fun. I am SO anxious for summer to come back so I can work with horses AND campers!!
