On the Road to Camp

Sunday morning we were in the car a little before 10 AM. It was drop-off day for camp!

Shane was bound for Triple R Ranch near Virginia Beach. It was his first time at a sleepover camp. We'd thought about doing it the year before, but COVID hit and put those plans on hold. Shane's been somewhat apprehensive and grumbly about camp, but we think he'll love it. Carrie went there as a kid, so he's a legacy.

Loki was more nervous about the trip. Or maybe it was the heat. He shed a ton on the drive to Grandma and Grandpa's!

Grandma and Grandpa are about halfway between us and camp. They agreed to let Loki hang out with them while we dropped off Shane. It's roughly a 3.5 hour drive one way in no traffic (and this is VA Beach we're talking about). We decided it was too far to leave Loki on his own.

Loki was happy to water Grandma's lawn as a thank-you. He's not used to car trips, much less long ones.

We arrived around noon.

Grandpa greeted us at the door.

Grandma was in the kitchen. She set Shane to snacking on some veggies before lunch.

Meanwhile, Loki looked for Bucket. Bucket wasn't about to come out and meet him, though!

We brought Loki's pen and made him a place to hang out for when we were gone. Carrie used it to show off Loki's new trick (more on that later).

He got to come out and hang with us until we left. Loki's not the type to run off exploring when there are people around.

He was very focused on Grandpa's potato chips.

Shane spent most of lunch focused on the bird feeder instead of his food! A red-headed woodpecker kept coming by.

Shane went to find Bucket at one point. She peed and ran. Bucket wasn't a fan of bringing other cats and dogs into the house, but she also felt like she'd had enough high-energy children in her life, too.

We finished up Ant-Man after lunch. It was a good way to keep Shane in a chair and not causing trouble!

Our scheduled drop off time for camp was 5 PM.

We left with plenty of time to spare even with tunnel traffic ("Ooooh! Tunnel!" Shane said).

Our arrival was nostalgic for Carrie.

"I haven't been here in nearly 30 years!" Carrie said.

There were updates from Carrie's time.

 We drove around back to the dorms and Carrie said, "You've got it cush!" There was AC!

Check-in was simple and then it was time to unload.

Shane was a Trail Blazer.

We arrived early enough there were bunks to select from. Shane immediately claimed a top bunk.

His bunkmate turned out to be a counselor. I approved of the guy's reading list.

They said that normally the boys wouldn't heave bunked where they were, but numbers were down this year. It was supposed to be a girl's cabin.

Shane stowed his stuff under the bed.

Then we took some pictures.

The first sleep away camp is a big deal! We're hoping Shane can build some friendships he can revisit each summer.

Kids were piling in and they seemed a friendly lot.

Carrie gave Shane some final exhortations to behave before we left.

It was starting to get crowded and there wasn't much reason to hang around after that. Shane stopped being hyper wild for a moment to be clingy when he realized we were going.

Then we were down the hall and off. It felt weird leaving Shane behind. 

We saw the swimming pool on the way out, though. He'd go bonkers for the water slide!

It was actually Carrie and I's anniversary, so we stopped for a sushi dinner on the way home. Dropping Shane off at camp was like hiring a long-term babysitter for the occasion!

We still had a long drive home to go. We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's to pick up Loki. Grandma gave us some banana bread to take with us. I didn't see any reason to wait to eat.

Carrie laughed and took a bite, too....., but she changed her tune when I told her I was going to text Grandma my picture and say, "Look what Carrie did!"

Loki took Shane's seat. I don't know if it's because he missed Shane or if it was to get a better view of me. He's probably decided he'd like to avoid any car trips in the near future.

Shane will finish camp on Friday. In the meantime, Carrie and I had a few days to relax and take care of things.