Monday, September 23, 2013

Camp Kulaqua 60 Year Anniversary

We went away this weekend to Camp Kulaqua (pronounced cool-aqua). It was their 60th Anniversary and because my husband use to work their as a teenager we attended for free. When my husband told me, I was not very thrilled to be honest. I have never been camping, nor was it ever on any list of things to do, so I was a bit hesitant. My only knowledge of camping came from one of my all time favorite movies,  the 1961 version of  "the Parent Trap" starring Hayley Mills. Enough said .......

Turns out we had our own little chalet and it was not so bad. In fact it was more like "glamping" which is way more my speed!

So, on with the pictures of our 3 day  2 night excursion!


Pit stop! Halfway there we made a quick stop and wouldn't you know it, a cute little stand. Raw Local Honey.










You know I bought honey.......... o.k. two... two bottles of honey. I got the one with the honeycomb inside just because it was fun, and also a gallberry, which I had never tried before but it it is good.  












Welcome to Camp Kulaqua!




Phew, it is going to be o.k......this is nice!



Our chalet



Inside, all of the amenities, kitchenette, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, fully furnished  




That is my Keurig...don't judge. You know how some people carry garden gnomes with them when I travel, well this is kinda the same thing.





Exploring Camp



  





Big Dan is really cool! He has been alive since before Christ!


I liked the sign, it gave you significant events in the history of Dan's "life"

















Really interesting, the boys and girls cabins all have Native American names and Portraits.  Boy Natives on the boy cabins, girl Natives on the girl cabins





This was the end of day one, really very beautiful. I wish the camera could have captured it better.  





Day two, of course started with visiting the horses











A little walk after the horses








The Camp Kulaqua Zoo. Zoo's make me sad but we went, and I took pictures, and the kids enjoyed it



This snake, I actually let my kids get near this thing while he was out of his cage at the snake "meet and greet". Do not let this picture deceive you, it's HUGE!




Isn't he cute?!




Look at that face, doesn't he look smart!



Beautiful! If I had to be a bird, I would want to be a peacock






After the zoo we walked around a little more and went by the "Prayer Place"



It was so very beautiful and peaceful inside. It reminded me of a dear friends wedding years ago in a small church.


Tapestry on the wall



A stream of sunlight coming in through the window and lighting the wood floors




This was the outdoor church



Lucas could not resist getting on stage





For dinner the camp held a banquet and set up the room to look like the camp would have in the 50's and 60's


Deer in a field that evening



Hayride to the bonfire!




Bonfire destination. Covered wagons encircled the bonfire area and the kids played inside the wagons. S'mores and apple cider  included. Believe it or not I had my first s'more only about a year ago.




We got back around 11:00 in the evening, a quick bath and off to bed. 




Day three!


In the wave pool!








Going down the big slide



Down the lazy river







Then off to ride the horses





Lucas on "Shenandoah"


Aly on "Amigo/Socks"



Katie on "Tabby/ Tabitha"



I should mention that I rode my first horse today. Of course when they found out that  I had never ridden a horse they pulled out "Pearl" apparently the slowest horse of the century. She was good most of the ride, in fact I had to coax her along most of the time; that is until the over pass where the two kids in front of me started their horses into a gallop and my horse followed suit. I really thought I was going to die, but in the end all was well.

Camp Kulaqua was a blast and the kids are already begging to go back. If you are ever in the mood to go camping/glamping I highly recommend Camp Kulaqua, it was way "cool"!