a moose munching on the grass!

me & Rebecca taking the paddle boat out!

the lake

view from the top of the butte we climbed

feeding the reindeer!

moose at the reindeer farm! so cute.

mountains!

Saturday we went to a little town called Talkeetna. It’s a little hippie town and it’s got a beach where you can see Mt. McKinley and the mountain range from. It was cloudy around the mountain so we couldn’t see all of it but we saw the peak of Mt. McKinley. We walked around the town for a little bit and did some shopping, it was a fun day trip.

Sunday we went to Big Lake Baptist with the camp directors. The people are really nice there, it’s about the size of Renewal Church that I go to back home. On the way to church we saw a moose roaming the woods on the road the camp is off of, so that was neat. When we got back we learned how to clean cabins and we cleaned some of those. Rebecca and I took a paddle boat out & explored some new lands! We’ve decided that we’re Tom and Huck.

Yesterday we did some more raking of leaves and sticks around the campgrounds. We did that for a while and it was very tiring so I think we all took naps afterwards. I think for the rest of the night we all just hung out. The days go by kinda fast here and everything blurs together, so half of the time I’m not even sure what day it is.

Today we cleaned a lot more cabins and learned how to do everything in the dish room and kitchen.

The first camp, Native Youth Camp, starts on Sunday so this week we have orientation and we’re just learning more about each other and how to do everything. It really does feel like a family here and Mrs. Sherry & Mr. Walter take good care of us. If I’m gonna be away from home for 3 months, this is the best place to be.

I’m sure once the camps start it’ll fly by super fast, so I’m enjoying all the sightseeing and fun stuff we’re getting to do at the beginning. We’re also doing devotions as a staff each morning, we did our first one today, that’ll probably be the best part of the day.

It’s still super crazy that we never run out of daylight. When we were in Talkeetna eating at this pizza place, they had a woman playing guitar and she started playing “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor, and I started thinking about the part that says “I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end” and how true that is here in Alaska! (during the summer at least!)

But I’ve definitely enjoyed all of the sunshine and the time to just rest in the Lord and catch up on some reading and everything! It’s so peaceful out here. (that is, until the campers come!)

action packed day!

So today we did some sightseeing. we went to Palmer, a little town nearby, and saw the river of the Matanuska glacier. picked up a rock around there that's a low grade of Jade. pretty neat. then we went to a little hippie-ish market and then the reindeer farm. got to feed some reindeer and moose. also while we were there a baby elk was born. we saw it 30 minutes after it was born, wobbling trying to walk. super cute.

we went on a little hiking expedition on the Butte.... 875 feet high... but super super steep! and part of it was rocks so it was truly mountain/rock climbing... but we did make it to the top! go us! it was a very beautiful view from there too! definitely an accomplishment! it was really fun but kinda strenuous.

we got back & had dinner... i tried a bite of rainbow trout that Thomas caught last night... it was pretty good... better than i was expecting. (i don't eat fish) then we played some soccer with the kids. Thomas is a beast of a soccer player and played with a goalie against the rest of us and won. but i did get some goals and steal the ball from him... so i'm proud:) i really miss soccer! it was fun though. after that, we went out on the lake. me, Rebecca, & Will were gonna get in the paddle boat but it wasn't liking us so much... so i got in a canoe with Thomas while he was fishing & Rebecca and Will were gonna get in the other Canoe but it tipped over on them so that was the end of that.

we were fishing for probably 1.5-2 hours. not much happening... until we got to the other side of the lake & Thomas caught a 20 inch rainbow trout... it was awesome... and as soon as he was pulling him out the bald eagle circled over us... so it was an interesting action packed few minutes.

random fact about Moose: they normally have twins. pretty neat.

tomorrow we're gonna do some sightseeing around where Mt. McKinley is... super excited!

home for the summer!

After almost 14 hours of flying & 3 different flights I finally got to Alaska! We flew over a mountain range on the way into Alaska and it was so beautiful. The mountains looked like someone just took a bunch of white paint & splattered it all over the mountains. The camp directors, Walter and Sherry, picked me up from the airport in Anchorage at around 4pm & we did some errands before getting to camp in Wasilla. We went to a feed store which was pretty neat and then to the Walmart.

We got to camp probably around 7pm or so. I got settled into my cabin that I’ll be sharing with 3 other girls this summer. The good thing about it though is that it has a bathroom inside the cabin. Since there’s 4 girls this year we got to stay in this one with the bathroom, normally they stay in a smaller cabin and use the bathhouse. One of the summer missionaries, Will, was already here when I arrived last night. Cierra, one of the girls in my cabin was here too, she’s worked here the last few summers and has been showing me around. Rebecca(my roommate) and Thomas (the other guy) are arriving tonight, and Jessica (who has also worked here before) is arriving sometime next week.

Sherry and Walter have a 17 year old son named Andy, and there is another family that lives here full time. They have three kids, Hannah (12), James(16), and Elizabeth(19). Everyone is super friendly and helpful. And they have such servant hearts!

Last night after dinner (& s’mores!) I got a shower and went straight to bed. I went to sleep probably around 11 and it was still light as day outside. I woke up this morning at 7 and it was light outside, so I haven’t seen dark yet and probably won’t all summer. In June when the winter solstice comes it will be light enough to read outside at 2am. Crazy! So we have blackout curtains in our rooms to sleep!

This morning around 10:30 all of the kids and summer missionaries did some work around the camp cleaning it up before the first camp gets here. We raked leaves and sticks from 10:30 to about 3:00. The climate up here has zero humidity so it wasn’t too bad working outside all day, no sweat! The weather is around 70 degrees today, which is a warm day for up here! It went by really quick and was a lot of fun.

The camp isn’t a normal summer camp like Look Up Lodge or anything around home, where the camp has their own staff. The only staff we have are the 6 of us summer missionaries and the two families that live here. So most of the camps that come here have their own staff that are cabin counselors and everything like that. However, there are two weeks where we will get to be cabin counselors and be involved a lot with the kids. But mostly our job is to run the camp, clean the cabins and bath houses, cook the meals and clean up the kitchen, and do yard work. We do a lot of behind the scenes, but we’re still able to be involved with the camps during our free time, so we work long hours! (but there’s plenty of daylight for it!)

This Thursday (tomorrow actually) a self serve group of Slavic are going to be here through Saturday. Self serve means they’ll rent out the dining hall and do their own food and services, we just clean up for them. Sherry said that you can hear their worship services/singing sometimes in their native tongue and it’s pretty awesome.

Walter and Sherry are at the airport all night waiting on Thomas and Rebecca’s flights to come in so Cierra, Will, and I ordered a pizza and we’re having a movie night. The Book of Eli, which I’ve been wanting to see for a long time. We’re at Sherry and Walters house with their dog Bailey, a 9 year old brittany spaniel who is blind but she’s gorgeous and super sweet!

I will say this about Alaska, the weather is perfect, the view is awesome(you can pretty much see the snowy mountains anywhere), and there’s tons of taxidermy places(we passed about 6 yesterday)!

Needless to say, I’m super excited about this summer!

This is what 10pm looks like here at camp!

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T - 3 days!

So I fly out at 6am on Tuesday morning! I am really anxious to start this journey, yet also using this time to prepare my heart and pray for the camp & city of Wasilla. (and also pack...which is a big job!)

I just wanted to mention that I LOVE letters & packages! :o)
Also, I send stuff back. so in case anyone is wondering, this is the mailing address:

Robyn Prout

PO Box 299069

Wasilla, AK 99629