Hope everyone has a nice Christmas 🎄 This week we will still be looking back at our October RV trip
This whole trip was planned around one campground. I spent most of my childhood summers going to some type of summer camp. Despite the fact that I grew up attending church two or three times a week and went to multiple church camps, I never found any community or sense of belonging there. But oh was that different at Girl Scout camp. Girl Scouting was the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned so much about nature, about horses, how to swim, and how to be a friend. I learned that my own weird self was completely OK. I found my tribe.
A few years ago, I was invited to a Facebook Group called, save Cherokee Ridge. It seemed the Cape Girardeau based Otahki GS Council was going to sell the camp. Eventually, they did and it is now one of the nicest private campgrounds in Southeast Missouri. Not only do they have lots of nice RV sites but also a number of really nice luxury cabins (think hot tubs on the porch).
Most of the campground was walkable but one day, we rented a golf cart to visit the nearby St. Francis River. We went up to a set of cabins where I could go back in time and imagine my tent. Sadly, I never took a camera to Camp Cherokee Ridge. All I have is part of a letter I wrote home to my parents. But oh, the memories.
This is the lake where I learned to swim.
I was an extremely shy, quiet child but Girl Scouts gave me years of confidence to eventually become the president of the Council Senior Planning Committee(SPC).