Amazing Blue Skies Camper Thank You Letter

Sometimes it is hard to know exactly how it feels to be a Camp Blue Skies camper. Thanks to a caring mom and eloquent camper we feel honored to share this rare window into a camper experience.  Here is a recap of this amazing letter we received last week Hi, Rebecca --

My son was so enthusiastic about his camp experience that I asked him if he'd like to write a letter about it.  He talked, and I typed as fast as I could.  I figured he'd be able to say a lot more this way than if he tried to have the thoughts and do the writing at the same time.

Please feel free to share it with anybody else you think might want to see it.

My thanks once again to you all.

---Parent, NC 2011

To the staff of Camp Blue Skies --

I want to thank everybody for a wonderful week.  I really appreciated how much Liz and Rebecca and made us feel comfortable and relaxed and just having a good time.  I really had fun being there and seeing the way it was really a place where people can enjoy nature.  We should definitely take more time to do that.

I liked the cabins a lot.  The bed was really comfortable.  The people who owned the cabins made us feel warm and wanting to help us come back to a beautiful cabin.

The activities were probably the funnest of all.  I loved just going out on the lake and watching the leaves spin around.  I enjoyed the fishing and our fishing sports person who helped us learn to fish better, and I thank him for all his help and his enthusiasm.  I especially enjoyed him showing me how to hold a fish in its mouth and putting it in the water.  That was fun.  I’ve never done that before.  I thought that was very well organized.

I thought the rides we went on like the swing and the zip line was just phenomenal.  I had the pleasure of learning how to take an adventure I’ve never taken before.  I never thought I really could do the zip line.  I was so relaxed but feeling like I was going to fall.  It was fun to be with a counselor, who was very sweet and went on the zip line with me.  The counselor and I both love animals and especially cats.  We talked about her dog and the cat that was over at the farm.  All the animals on the farm had different names.  The orange cat I’m always going to remember.  He loved me.  The counselor was there and saw how much the cat welcomed me.  He licked and licked and licked my face and he laid in my arms.  Everybody liked that.

I loved the dude ranch.  I enjoyed watching the horses and learning about their everyday life.  It was really small but it was really fun having just those animals around, and not real big.

I enjoyed the teepee that was there.  We got to walk up the hill and see it.  It looked like what the native American Indians used to live in.  It was painted different colors.  I enjoyed doing the pots up there and putting dirt in the pots and watering the plants.

What also was fun was doing the banner.  I didn’t have much to do on it because there wasn’t a lot of space, but I did put on it the pattern of a river that made it look like nature.  That was really fun, even though nobody could see where it was.

The banjo playing was just amazing.  It was like scenes of being in the West or North Carolina.  We had a campfire inside the cafeteria.  That was probably the funnest.  Everybody was singing camp stuff

Even though I was pushing myself to walk, I enjoyed the hike.  The hike leader helped us know what nature is all about.

The food was good, even though some was camp and some wasn’t, but it had a blend.  That’s what was fun.

One thing that brings tears to my eyes is how much you treat people with disabilities like we’re normal people and it makes it fun to come back and want to do it again.  There’s nobody angry and nobody yelling at you.  It’s just a camp like you’d want to do forever, and then come home and then come back again.  It’s so refreshing to wake up in the morning, even though it’s hard to get out of bed.  It’s refreshing to sit in the cafeteria and everybody mingling together and wanting to wake up in the morning to have fun and get ready to go.  Liz is always eager for everybody to be happy.  She said “Good morning, everybody, did you all sleep well?”  She has a way to make everybody to be happy.

I could say a lot more, but I’m just so happy and so proud that I went.  I never thought I could go back to camp.  I went to a camp in Michigan a long time ago and I didn’t enjoy it.  This was an experience I always wanted.   .

The counselors were really phenomenal.  They were really good people.  Everybody was families together, just blending in with love.  That’s all I see over there, is love.  It’s something I want to do next year. Dick is just phenomenal.  He’s a character.  A good character!  The way he brings out everybody as much as Liz does.  He’s amazing.  I so much want Liz and Dick and Rebecca to come back next year.  The nurses were wonderful.  They were really there for us all.  Jackie and Kit were just tremendous.  Jackie was always checking to see if I was ok.

I hope to see you all next year.

Love,

Camper,  NC 2011

Go Camp Blue Skies!