Day 22--The Most Wonderful Place in the World (Deerfoot)

When I first met Andrew in 2001 nearly every t-shirt he wore had the words Deerfoot Lodge somewhere on them-- the majority were red and had the numbers 3000-12 on the left hand side. In any conversation with Andrew that lasted more than two minutes, "Deerfoot" would come up.

Many times things went like this...

"Hey we went hiking over the weekend and I made spaghetti on the trail." I would say.

"Oh yeah? At Deerfoot on the trail we would make bread and our own pasta with fresh grated parmesean and steaks." Andrew would chime in.

"I climbed Mount Marcy," I would proudly boast.

"At Deerfoot we climb Mt. Marcy but then we bushwack all the way to Lake Colden," he would retort.

On and on and on. Whatever I did in the outdoors Andrew would always have a Deerfoot story that would make my camping/hiking fun sound lame.

The summer that Andrew and started dating he was working at Deerfoot and I was leading trips in the same county as the camp. We saw each other on his days off and he would have stories about the amazing things he was doing. The second summer we were dating he was back at Deerfoot and I continued to hear about all of his adventures. I even got to visit.

Visiting Deerfoot was more intimidating than meeting Andrew's family for the first time. A camp of all boys with only a few camp ladies in the shadows, I stood out like a sore thumb. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the location, the delicious food, and all of the loud boys running around. I watched boys play a game where they tried to pull each other off of logs (hunker houser?), play intense games of tether ball and witnessed nine year-olds running around in full camo awaiting the start of a naval battle--a game with rules so complex that I still don't really understand it.

During the summer between real life and the beginning of law school Andrew and I were given the opportunity to work at Deerfoot together (although I can't really say that I worked that much.) He was given the job as tripping director and I helped run the camp store. Basically he worked all day and I worked for about two hours, took naps, did push-ups and hung out with the other camp ladies--it was arduous. We would wake up in the morning, exercise, listen for the cannon to go off to start the campers day (yes, a cannon) and join all of the other support staff for breakfast (every Sunday we had incredible cinnamon rolls.) I hung out with the camp ladies and was treated like a princess all summer long. We lived in a tiny one room cabin without electricity, though we did have running water and gas lamps.

As each day went by I began to discover why Deerfoot held such a huge chunk of Andrew's heart. The songs the campers sung, the activities in which they participated, and the glorious location made everything special. On top of all of that, the food is incredible, the games are over-the-top and the staff is made of young men who are truly seeking God and who are incredible role models to their young campers. Every two week session was run smoothly and I watched the joy on campers' faces as boys just got to be boys. From the woodsmen (9 year olds) to the Indians (teenagers) each camper walked around with a smile.

I loved that middle Friday was pizza night and campers would line up at the camp store knowing that if they didn't have their letter to go home, they would have to wait on dinner. I loved that middle Saturday was also mandatory change your clothes day and the little guys would get rid of the grubby t-shirt they'd been wearing for a week. I loved the complex games that had medics, flags, and a trench for dodgeball. I loved that if it was a staff member's birthday he got tossed in the lake. I loved 3000-12, which was a challenge each session for campers to complete 3000 push-ups and memorize 12 verses. The challenge meant that at almost any given moment you could see someone doing push-ups. (I, myself participated in the challenge that summer and earned my own red t-shirts.)

Our summer at Deerfoot was one of the most memorable in our entire married lives. Andrew completed a series of awards which enabled him to join the Lone Eagle Fellowship which means he will have a connection to Deerfoot for life.

At Andrew's Lone Eagle Ceremony

After growing up in a family of girls and surrounded by girl cousins, Deerfoot was pivotal in shaping Andrew into the man he is today. I am thankful every day that he had such an amazing place to learn about God, himself and the world around him as well as to develop friendships that he will have for the rest of his life.

So this morning while I was picking up and putting Andrew's red Deerfoot hat in the closet, folding his much loved navy Deerfoot sweatshirt on a shelf and putting a 3000-12 shirt in his dresser, I began to wonder if Chief Ron would accept our early registration for Ben for the summer of 2020.