Day 6 - June 21, 2013

Early in the morning, on the first day of summer, before the sun pops over the horizon, the coffee pot was brewing. Less than an hour to the traditional Friday morning wake up. Last night, Fr. Tom let the boys get a glimpse of a super-soaker water cannon. Thinking this is how he would wake everyone, it was fun to watch them figure how they would prepare themselves and listen as a few plotted to get up in the middle of the night and hide it. But in the end, it was good old A.H. who would do the deed. But there is a twist. One of the boys woke up a little early, and just as Fr. Tom came in with A.H, he was caught waking up the other boys. Their plan was to all be up when Fr. Tom walked in, ready to retaliate, they missed it by two minutes. As for the girls, Claire enjoyed watching them as A.H. did its job.

There was not a lot of spare time this morning. A simple breakfast was followed by everyone making the sandwiches they would eat on the river. We finished packing up, loading the trailer, cleaning the church, and before we knew it we were saying good bye to those who would not be joining us on the river. Morning prayers asked for safe travel, no rain, and no one getting hurt on the river. Then, we were on our way.

With the threat of severe thunderstorms, both late morning and on the drive home, we elected to shorter our time on the river. While several were disappointed, the drivers were happy. They would be more refreshed on the drive home and there would be fewer sun tomatoes in the vehicle. Grouping everyone into two large groups of eight, one loud and one not, we headed down the river. It was overcast and for a little while we thought maybe we made a mistake getting on the river. But about 30 minutes into the ride, the clouds started breaking and it warmed up nicely. Still, the gentle morning breeze made things a bit chilly at times. Along the river there was some singing, a lot of splashing, even a little riverweed thrown from tube to tube and group to group. Eventually, the trip settled into a much more relaxing floating experience, at least until we were getting close to Smith Falls.

The closer we got to Smith Falls, the more the team began to feel hungry. When we finally arrived at Smith Falls, several members of the team headed quickly to the outhouses while the rest set up for lunch. A quick prayer of thanks and we were all diving into the cooler to get our sandwiches, water bottles, and snacks. By now the sun had come out and the temps were perfect for a picnic. It’s a good thing too, because we needed the sun to get ready for what happened next. Once lunch was over, we took a picture at the Smith Falls sign and then hiked the trail back to the falls.

At the foot of the falls, several of the youth headed to a couple of key places where they could sit that would get them good and wet by the water coming over the falls. Some found the water to cold to sit there for very long and others were less impacted by the coolness of the water and braved it long enough to get pictures of them sitting solidly in place. We got a few more pictures of the team standing in front of the falls before making our way back up to the coolers and tubes. Loading up, we headed down river another 15 minutes to the landing we were to be picked up at. The crew was there waiting for us and we helped load the tubes into the trailer before jumping into the vans for the ride back to base camp where we showered and changed back into our street clothes.

As we left Sparks, Nebraska, we could see some significant weather to the south and we hoped we would stay out in front of it during the remainder of our journey. The good news is that we did. We made it all the way back to the Church of the Holy Spirit, in Bellevue, without any rain or lightening. Passing through O’Neill, team members called home to let their parents know they would be back earlier than originally planned. When we pulled into the church parking lot, most of the parents had arrived. After a few hugs with family, it was time to begin unloading the trailer. One minor problem. Fr. Tom could not find the key to get into the church. One of the parents drove home to pick up a spare key as the team unloaded and packed away their personal gear. When the key arrived, the team made pretty quick work of unloading and cleaning up; and before long, the chaos that filled the parking lot with noise and laughter was replaced with peace and quiet.

As we look back, this year’s trip was really a great success. Did everything go perfectly, no; but it never does. In fact, we want the team to make mistakes in the safety of such a trip so that they can learn to work their way through difficulty without fear of reprisal. The adults were very proud of the work our team did and they were pleased to see that so many of our youth had become both more independent and more responsible at the same time. Did everyone leave looking forward to next year? If the promises made as we departed are any indication, then I would say yes. So if you are reading this and wondering if this type of trip is in your future, please prayerfully consider joining us; and then, watch the website for information on the dates in 2014.