Changes... Changes... Changes...

Hey everyone,
So I am now emotionally back from Kim and my trip to Hawaii. Believe me it took awhile. I do still look at the daily updates about the volcano on the big island, just to see what's going on. We got to see lava when we were there, and I got to stand within about 15 feet or so of a lava flow (it was flowing really, really slowly) so that was very cool. That is some place I will definitely have to return to in my life, at least as long as killauea keeps erupting.

So, the reason I wanted to blog today was to tell everyone about some changes that are coming, and the basis behind them. First of all, we are finally starting to work on the challenge course to get as many elements working again as possible. The "porthole" tire has been taken down from it's lofty eight foot height, and will be placed at a more usable four to five foot height. The idea of the "porthole" is to have your whole group make it through the tire without touching the sides! Unfortunately with the tire eight feet up in the air there was just no way to make that happen. There are some great pictures of people making it through the tire, however their whole weight is being carried by the tire (and their stomach). Tires aren't a fun thing to have rubbing against your stomach, so I'm very glad that we are finally making this change. Getting the tire down from it's perch wasn't too difficult (I was able to do it myself) but getting it back up will be a bit more difficult, so the Grace Lutheran Men's Group from Pensacola will be helping me this weekend getting it back up. Thanks guys!

There is another element that they will be helping me make safer. We are finally going to start using the vertical wall again after we make a few modifications. The first is that the wall (which currently stands at about eleven feet tall, will be getting cut down to size. The white line that I have drawn on the picture of the wall to the right is where the new top will be. Eleven feet is really tall. I did some research on challenge course design, and an eleven foot wall is no longer considered a "low" element (as all the rest of ours are) and actually should have a belay system, and everyone using the wall should be harnessed for safety. Rather than take on that higher level of training and cost for one "high" element, we are going to lower the top of the wall to normal "low" element standards The new top of the wall will be at seven and a half feet. This will still be a challenge for our campers, and will make the wall even safer!

There is a third element that we will be able to use for the 2007 retreat and summer camp seasons. I'm not honestly sure how much this one has been used in the past. Everyone I have asked about it says that they have never used it. I found information about it's creation when Craig Oldenburg was director at Camp Dixie (that's a few directors ago) so we may be bringing back an oldie but goodie. The element is called the "Triangular Tension Traverse" and its not only cool because of the alliteration, but it's also a fun element. In this element, the participants start from one of three trees, and using a rope attached to the tree they started from, they walk along a wire that is suspended 2 feet above the ground. There can be as many as three people doing this at a time, so if they meet in the middle of the wire, they will have to find a way to pass each other. All of the permanent pieces of the element are in place, however the ropes that attach to the trees is AWOL. I have purchased new rope, as well as some carabineers that will make it quick and easy to remove the rope when not in use.

Over the past year, many people have asked about other favorite elements that the Camp Dixie challenge course had at some time in the past. Unfortunately hurricane Ivan was not kind to any of the trees on Camp Dixie property, and it didn't stay away from the challenge course. There are three elements that are currently still out of action. The "Nitro Crossing" element (where you would swing on a rope from one safe area to another) lost two important trees, so it is currently out of action. The "Swinging Log" element, where campers had to walk from one end of a log suspended a couple of feet off the ground to the other end also lost one of its trees. The log that campers used to walk across is actually one of the posts for the new volleyball court. What a great way to recycle! The final lost element is the "Horizontal Climbing Wall" where campers would have to climb from one end of the wall to the other. This element was attached to four trees and a post, and two of the four trees were toppled by Ivan. Parts of it were still standing (and some were still laying on the ground) when I arrived as director in January, however for safety reasons it was taken completely down before summer camp started.

So, why am I telling you about these past elements? Because this summer, we are hoping to rebuild at least two of these three elements! We are currently planning to rebuild both the "Swinging Log" and "Horizontal Climbing Wall" using telephone poles rather than trees as was done previously. Hopefully this will make the elements a bit more sturdy against the wind, and actually will improve the safety of building the elements as we can install most of the necessary hardware on the ground before lifting everything up into the air.

Well, I was going to tell you about some more changes that are coming to Camp Dixie, but this blog has gone longer (and taken me longer to write) than I thought it would. I really need to get back to replacing some shower curtains (ah I'm such a tease about those other changes. The shower curtains were not the changes I was talking about even though they are nice.) I've also kept the phone line tied up for too long.

I hope everyone has a great day! God's Peace!
See you at Camp!
Mac

Back from paradise

If you called the Camp Dixie office two weeks ago, you would have reached a message telling you that the camp office was closed. It was closed because Kim and I spent a week in the great paradise of Hawaii! If you've been to Hawaii before, you know what I am talking about when I say paradise. If you haven't you should really go. Really, I mean it. I am now recommending it to all of my friends (which includes all you who are reading this blog!)

So anyway, one of my great passions is the Pacific Theater of World War Two. Ever since I was in elementary school, I have read books about the great battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, and the Marianas, just to name a few. Then of course there is the one that started it all for the United States. The Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor.

I've finally gotten to see Pearl Harbor, and it was everything that I expected. Well, not really everything. When you see pictures, or look at maps, you really don't get an idea of the scale of everything around you. I always thought of Pearl Harbor as this giant body of water. After all they brought battleships in there for heaven's sake. In some places it is quite large, but Pearl Harbor is honestly a very narrow harbor between where the interstate (H1) passes it and Ford Island sits in the middle. That's right where battleship row was in 1941. I can totally see why the officers that were in charge of the defense of the harbor in 1941 thought that an attack was impossible. It took us 3 minutes to get from one side to the other in a navy launch at about 10 miles per hour. If you were coming in an airplane at 140 mph, you could blink and miss it. The picture above is of the USS Arizona, which is still sitting at the bottom of the harbor. It was an amazing experience to be that close to a war relic that I've read about so many times. At the Arizona museum they even have one of the anchors from the Arizona that was recovered from the bottom of the harbor after the explosion. It was something like 200-300 yards away from the sunken battleship. Wow. It's amazing how finally getting to see something really puts everything into perspective.

There is another attraction near the Arizona. The Arizona is the beginning of the war in the Pacific for the United States, and the USS Missouri is the end. She is moored proudly on a new pier constructed for her on Ford Island. The picture at the right was taken from the Arizona Memorial. We toured the gigantic battleship, and even took a guided tour inside the ship, which even included a stop in one of the engine rooms. The Missouri has a special name for one of it's decks. Normally the decks are numbered as you go up from the main deck (they are numbered as you go down too.) But this deck doesn't have a number. It will always be known as the "Surrender Deck." This was the place that the Japanese high command surrendered to the allies on September 2, 1945. Here's a fact I didn't know. If you've ever worried about signing a document on the correct line you shouldn't worry about it. The Canadian delegate accidentally signed on the wrong line on one of the documents, so everyone had to sign in a different place. Strange huh? Oh well, I guess it happens.

Well, we saw some other things in Hawaii that I've never seen before. Like black sand beaches, and a lava coming out of active tubes on the big island. All-in-all it was a great vacation. Sometimes it feels good to get away.