Paul and I had the opportunity to volunteer as a Ma and Pa for Trek. As weird as it sounds coming from me, I really enjoy wearing pioneer dresses. They are quit comfortable, you don't have to worry about being a lady and you can sit cross-legged while still being modest, they keep a nice breeze, they keep you covered so no need to worry as much about a sunburn and you can get them as dirty as you want. I had to do some convincing to get Paul to agree to come on trek but while we were there, he was the one convincing me to stick it out, and being 4 months pregnant I could've easily found a way out of it. We did have a great experience though and I'm very glad we went.
We met our kids and they were great! Thursday was a day of bonding, pulling and some games as a family. We were rained on but only enough to get us wet, not our stuff. Friday was a different story...it rained hard for 9 hours straight! AH! Do you know what it's like to be soaking wet for 9 hours!? It started at 3 in the afternoon and didn't stop until midnight. We were wet, sleeping bags and tents were soaked, activities were cancelled and we were all cold. It was so miserable. I love camping, that's one reason I wanted to volunteer, but I hate camping in the rain.
I won't go into complete detail, but we survived the night. Paul spent 3 hours walking back and forth to different areas getting dry sleeping bags, clothes, and tents for our kids. I sat mostly dry in our tent for those 3 hours. Paul was drenched from head to toe and had blisters from walking in wet shoes. I wanted to call it quits and I could've easily pulled the 'pregnancy card' to get a hotel but Paul's good attitude kept me going. Even my PJ's had gotten wet so I wore Paul's and was able to stay dry during the night. Paul found a barn for me and 5 girls to sleep on and we slept great!
The next morning we put on wet clothes again and walked and walked and walked. Some of the kids went barefoot because their shoes were too wet then suffered because they stepped in poison ivy. Needless to say, we kept the nurses very busy. Although Paul and I had be critized for wearing hiking sandals on trek, we were thankful to have dry shoes that morning. Trek turned out to be a great learning experience, we sang, prayed, shared experiences and loved the youth, they are the future and these kids will be a good future.
In real life you can't have favorite kids, but on Trek you can. This boy was my favorite. He always jumped up to help, I never had to ask twice, never a rude word or complaint came from his mouth. That's what every Ma would want.
Parents weren't allowed to help pull, which I never complained about, that handcart was heavy! But I gave some assistance during the "Women's Pull"
Crossing the "sweetwater stream"...I mean river.
Now this guy makes one handsome pioneer.
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