Camping, Korean Style!

Thursday night after school, we headed out of Seoul to go camping with the students he took on a mission trip to the Philippines last month. I have heard that camping in Korea is jokingly called "glamping".. which stands for: glamour camping.   Yes.

We got to the camp site and easily found one of the four rented trailers for Jarrod's post-GWAM camping trip.   Inside, we found that it was quite similar to renting a hotel room.

Marc and Emmalyn were PUMPED about the bunk beds!  Marc called the top!

We went to sleep that night.. and it got.. in a word: COLD.  Since Jarrod and I are Americans used to tent camping.. this did not phase us.  We bundled up, and camped.  Come morning.. as we started to move and thaw a bit.. we discovered the floor heat that could have been on all night.

Then we thawed much quicker and happier. 

Jarrod manned the stove to make eggs and bacon for all the students on the trip!

Then we explored a bit...

.. on Bicycles!

Here are the two other teachers (Ms. Bandy and Ms. Corbett) that lead the trip with Jarrod.

We found all sorts of interesting things to look at..

And then had a picnic lunch before heading home.

It was a quick overnight trip, but such a good experience and SO fun!

Camping at Big Meadows

For 2 nights, Jarrod and I - along with our friends Nathan and Melodie - gave up the comforts of our beds and met up on Skyline Drive to go camping. We had a great time "roughing it" - cooking over the camp fire, playing lots of ladder golf (or blongoball - which ever you call it) and cards, and enjoying good conversations. In the afternoon, we went on a hike to a nearby waterfall and enjoyed more of God's creation. In one day alone, we saw over 50 deer! They would walk right by our campsite, we would spot them as we were going to the bath house, and we walked through the Big Meadows field - and saw at least 35 deer in the span of an hour!As we were leaving, we couldn't help but stop at one of the many overlooks and admire the incredible view."The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1

Cumberland Island Adventure, part 3

Thursday was our last full day on the island - and the day began early as we were awoken to the sound of a raccoon outside our tent trying to get into our food supplies. Jarrod scared it off, and then got me up to go the to beach for an early morning walk.

After breakfast, Jarrod and Hunter went fishing in the ocean while Mika and I read by the water. We went back to the camp for lunch and played some cards to stay out of the sun for a bit - but headed back to the beach for us all to play in the waves. After cooking hot dogs by campfire for dinner, we took a group walk on the beach and watched the sunset.

Apparently, wild horses decided to join us for the sunset view...A sweet ending for an unforgettable week.

Friday in the early morning it rained for the first time all week - but stopped by the time we got up to pack up our camp. Though it was a bit damp, we were thankful for the amazing weather we've had all week long. This was such a fun week - full of unforgettable memories!

After another ferry ride back to St. Marys, Georgia - Jarrod and I said goodbye to our friends and began an adventure of our own...

...more to come

Cumberland Island Adventure, part 2

Wednesday morning we woke up and headed to the west side of the island to go fishing and crabbing off of the dock. It was a fun morning - but we left with only 2 blue crabs to show for our efforts.Nevertheless, it didn't stop our excitement to cook them up and enjoy the crabs as an afternoon snack. (We also saw an armadillo in the palmettos by our campsite - but weren't able to get a picture) That night the guys (Jarrod and Hunter) cooked spaghetti for us - while Sierra, Rachel and I made a camp fire that we were quite proud of - and once again enjoyed s'mores for dessert. This marks the end of day 3, with one more full day to go...

Cumberland Island Adventure, part 1

Last week, Jarrod and I traveled South, to the tip of Georgia and, along with 4 friends from Charlottesville, spent 5 days camping at Cumberland Island. On Monday morning, we arrived at St. Marys, GA, where we got on a ferry and took a 45 minute ride to the island. We were welcomed by a ranger, who gave us an orientation to the island- and thoroughly caused concern with talk about all the potential bugs, snakes, and wild animals (namely crafty racoons and 150 wild horses that are not afraid of humans) that we needed to watch out for.. we definitely took pearls of wisdom from her talk, while Mika and Sierra (who had been to the island before) reassured us that we did not need to worry so much. So, with that, we loaded all our gear into carts and walked to our campsite to set up camp. After getting settled in, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach, flying kites and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Since the number of people on Cumberland Island is limited, the beach sometimes felt as if it were our personal playground! It was an exhausting day - so we headed to bed soon after dark.

Tuesday morning, we all got up and walked South along the Island's "road" to explore the Dungeness ruins - remains of the Carnegie plantation. A lot of the "cement" was made out of sea shells. It was a gorgeous place, and we even ran into some wild turkeys and horses during our walk. We headed to the beach again in the afternoon and then ended the day as all camping should - with a camp fire and s'mores... praising God for His watch-care thus far and looking forward to what the next few days would hold.