What’s up Timberfam,

Wednesday was a beautiful day at Camp Timberlake in North Carolina full of fun, adventure and joy! Today was Cowboy Joe Day!! The way Cowboy Joe Day works is that everything during the day is backwards, so our whole schedule is flipped upside down. We got an extra hour of sleep today and then got woken up to breakfast in bed, but not the way you think. The senior staff woke us up with cowboy joe day music and started throwing our food at us as they woke us up. It is honestly one of the most annoying but the most fun way to wake up after an extra hour of sleep. We enjoyed donuts, yogurt, apples, and chocolate milk in our cabins and had a great time of community and bonding as cabins and as a camp!

During breakfast, we had some campers head out on some amazing trips! Gioncorlo Z., JD A., Carson K., Braxton F., and Teddy M. headed out on an overnight kayaking trip called the Camp Cup! We also had Nix H., Grant C., Bram O., Jack L., Davis H., CJ R., Blake L., Christian M., Lucas B., and Michael T. head out on an amazing mountain biking trip where CJ R. showed lots of leadership during the trip.

We then went straight into cabin clean up after the whole food in bed fiasco and continued to race after that illustrious and beautiful golden plunger! Turtleback took home the best score this morning with a 9.75! We then went straight into a morning tribal game at the mark, which was Commando! In this tribe game we cross the line and try to hit 3 specific opposing tribal members with balloons. It is one of the most beloved tribe games at camp and the kids were so excited to play! They played hard and had tons of fun. We then headed to 4th period because of Cowboy Joe Day and had a great time at our activities.

At lunch we had a sort of brunch situation and had chicken and waffles, which were so, so delicious, with cereal to top it off. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is the unbeatable option for me in terms of cereal. We then got the announcement that the Golden Eagles won Ultimate Basketball and Tribal Soccer, while the Black Bears had won Tribal Basketball. Both tribes got to sing their songs and hymns, but both were looking to score more points, as the race for the banner heads towards a finish line!

After lunch, Brooks B., Billy Luke I., Reid S., John Martin K., Jack H., Sam C., Knox C., George Y., and Thomas H. headed out for a quick afternoon hike where they got to enjoy some hiking and a really fun waterhole!

We then headed to free time where the kids got to enjoy their trade post, as well as go for bars in disc golf and riflery, and try out for the archery team to beat Merri-Mac in the archery tournament this session. Junior Camp got a free swim today, which they were so excited for and there were lots of campers playing basketball, fishing, and just enjoying their time to do what they want! They then headed down to their cabins for the best time……REST TIME! They enjoyed 45 minutes of rest to recuperate from their packed morning and get ready for the bottom half of the day.

During free time, we had some campers excel in their activities. Jackson M. earned his gold in Riflery, Marco L. earned his silver in Fencing, Pickleball had groups practice strong as they get ready for their tournament, notably James A., Matthew H., Barnes Z., and Emerson F. Hayes D. also got his gold in Field Sports during freetime as well. We also had Arav S., Cooper W. and Alex H. earn their bronzes in climbing!

After rest time, campers headed to their 3rd activity and then their second where they continued to grow, have fun, and progress in their favorite activities. After 2nd activity, we headed to dinner, which was some delicious pulled pork sandwiches with a side of mac and cheese, which were so so good! We then enjoyed some fun staff announcements and dessert, which were M&M cookies with milk! After dinner we then headed outside for an evening yell because of Cowboy Joe Day. After the yell, we enjoyed some evening chapel with a great message from our own Zack Robinson, who’s one of our amazing counselors! After Chapel, the kids headed up to Spencers Green to enjoy the County Fair! The County Fair is exclusive to Cowboy Joe Day and replaces our evening activity. It has all the regular attractions at a county fair such as a bouncy water slide, a dunk tank, and even a game where campers get to shoot counselors with paintball guns! It is a great time for campers to bond and have fun with each other and end such a special and wacky day. 

It was different and flipped, but it was still an amazing day here at Camp Timberlake. We can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!

Francisco M.

Counselor

Improv/Acting Specialist

Fly Eagles Fly