Stallag 13...Erm, Bible Camp

EDIT: I KNOW I spelled "stalag" wrong but because I put some work into this picture... I'm just going to let it slide. So forgive me, typo shall exist throughout post. ;)

Hello, dear readers!

As I previously mentioned, I was out of town last weekend on an excursion. An excursion that included a river, snow, kitchens, wood, friends and my first time away from any family for over twenty-four hours. It was an exciting time.

Where did I go, pray tell? Well, I went to Stallag 13!

Erm, well, not exactly. It was actually a Bible campground, owned by a church, dubbed fondly by the staffers as Stallag 13. Because no one escapes from Stallag 13, not today, not ever!

It was three days filled with work, adventures and lots of laughter, as I spent time with my very good friend Rose, her now fiance Joe, and his brother, Luka. They are staff at this camp and work very hard, and boy howdy in the short time I was with them I worked quite hard, too. It was all very fun and adventurous.

But why don't I let you see what we were up to with pictures? I got a new phone that takes fairly good images, so I hope you can enjoy a bit of what it's like to work at a Bible camp in the winter. Scroll down for more...

I began my first morning at the kitchen with Rose. We were cleaning it. I happened to glance outside and noticed deer on the tubing hill.

They were so cute. There is at least one stag with them, but there could be more 'cause their antlers have been shed.

Rose and I took a break and walked through the snow to the bridge, which I thought was quite cute.

As you can see, it was really cute. I wish I got more pictures of it.

The creek underneath the bridge. I was surprised it wasn't frozen!

Rose and I on the bridge, discussing all sorts of nonsense and ponderings. She is to be a bride soon. :)

Down by the river! Rose and I walked out onto the ice to inspect the waters...

And to get pictures of the breathtaking scenery.

Edging out closer on the ice...which may or may not be a good idea...

The other direction of the river. By this time I heard the ice cracking a bit so I'd retreated a little closer to the shore. ;)

Rose and I lay on the ice to edge out further, and giggled like little girls as we tried not to break through.

Telling Rose to pose for the camera. I thought both pictures came out cute, though. :)

Myself, the brave (or stupid) laying on the ice, so I can get this next photo...

To show how cool it looked! However, Rose then suggested we climb onto the dock. That sounded fun, and getting on the dock was no problem, but then she told me to get off and test the ice so she could go down the slide...

And I fell through. I managed to grab the edge and roll myself on, so I rolled to shore. Naturally, Rose showed her concern very expressively.

By proceeding to get off the dock by following the bridge, which I was not aware of, and she laughed and laughed. ;)

I managed to get pretty wet, so I headed back to our cabin we were sharing.

After drying off and doing some writing, I came out onto the deck to snap this photo of the view. Rose is very lucky to have such a beautiful overlook of the river!

The cabin we were staying in. It was quite large, but since Rose is one of the few full-time female staff, she gets the whole place to herself. It was fun!

We finished off the day by going down to the boy's cabin and having dinner. Luka and I share the same interest in Russian history, so when I happened to see the Soviet Moose on the piano, I had to take a picture. XD
Thus finished day one.

Day two found us working on stripping the cabins of their wood to remodel. Pictured here are Rose and her fiance, Joe, a delightful couple if I do say so myself. They're going to be a great pair, I'm so excited for their wedding!

I got assigned to wood duty in the truck known simply as "The Beast" by the staffers. The driver happened to be...

Luka, my fellow Russian enthusiast, pictured here with a very nice woolen ushanka (I'm jealous XP) and one of the many bottles of Jarritos Mango Soda we drank. It's tradition to drink Jarritos whenever they work on the cabins, apparently.

The Beast...

At the woodpile Luka and I were charged with dumping into. Yeah, we dumped all that!

Luka posing in the back of The Beast. Whenever we returned to the cabins, I rode in the back to hold the trash bins in place to keep them from falling on the highway. On a truck with no shocks... it was interesting. :P

The Beast in full. Its a fun truck!

Attempting to get a non blurry photo of Luka and I in our cool ushankas, and also doing my best to catch Luka smiling on camera, which he swears he does not do.

It came out blurry, but I managed it!

The front of the Ponderosa Lodge, where we were working.

Unfortunatly, this is where my photos end. I wish I could have gotten a video or pictures of our night tubing adventure, but alas, it was too dark and I didn't trust taking a phone down that hill. Let's just say I'm glad I didn't, otherwise you would have heard us screaming the whole way. ;)

However, I did get some videos of the trip if you'd like to see those, short as they are. I hope you enjoy them if you decide to watch them. :)

Overall, I had a blast at the camp with Rose, Joe and Luka and enjoyed my short stay there. I hope to come back soon, and I am so glad I went! It was very fun and I cannot wait to come back for the wedding. :)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, thanks for reading! God bless, readers, and have a good and blessed week!

Here are the videos if you're interested in watching them: