Just being at training camp had made me realize that I am living a life I’ve always dreamed of! I love adventuring, being with friends, and I love nature! And I have all of that here! I have made so many good friends and I am so so blessed to go through the race with them – I cannot wait to make more memories!
Anyways… in this blog post, I will be diving into the adventure side of things so far from training camp! Some highlights include…
- Squad Wars!
- Walmart run with squad!
- Lake Day
- Texas Roadhouse + Target Trip with friends on free day!
- Hiking Mount Yonah (and getting really lost!)
SQUAD WARS!
So long story short, we won! Squad C on top! Basically, squad wars is like a big field day and all squads are against each other in a series of battles and games! Some include dodgeball, relay races (with a slip’n slide), and a dance battle! Our squad color is blue, so we all have matching ‘Jesus Loves You’ shirts that we wore and were decked out in blue! I personally had half of my face painted blue with a bandana in my hair! Other squad mates had blue fairy wings, fun sunglasses, and other blue accessories!
WALMART RUN!
A few days ago, both gap year squads took a big trip to…. Walmart! Believe it or not, we were all very VERY excited to go! 80 racers flooded the Walmart for a little over an hour! We got things like new shorts, snacks, mugs, instant coffee, etc. It’s always nice to get off campus for a little bit and get out of our little world! Still not sure if we will have enough room in our packs for it however…
LAKE DAY! (or afternoon!)
Last week, we had a free day to adventure around Gainesville! A few squad C folks and I got a group together to go to Lake Lanier which is about 10 minutes away from the AIM (adventures in missions) base. Two vans full of racers, 3 hours at the lake, and a gas station visit for snacks to wrap up the afternoon. We had so much fun hanging out in the water! Played chicken, 500, and just floated in the water which was sooo relaxing. Was such a perfect day and was so blessed to have a nice day off campus. I love swimming so it was perfect! Both C and D squads went to the lake and I’ve gotten to know people from D-squad which has been so nice!
UNLOCKING DOORDASH AND UBER PRIVILEGE
After the 2nd week of training camp, we got the privilege to uber off campus on our free days and doordash food! We all have definitely been using this to our advantage! I downloaded the uber app and learned how to order a ride! How exciting! About 5 of us ubered to a Starbucks, sat and chatted, and then walked a pretty long ways to the Gainesville mall (do not recommend), and then went to target! Had lots of fun trying on funny clothing items and shopping for things that I forgot or realized I would like to have. After that, we went to Texas Roadhouse and shared rolls and appetizers. So delicious! We’ve also door dashed Starbucks twice now which is really nice when we have long training camp days.
Hiking Mount Yonah
Every year, the gap squads take a hike up a mountain in Georgia called Mount Yonah! Overall, a very fun experience, but also really scary! One of my leaders decided to take a short cut… so about 10 of us got lost and hiked straight up the mountain. Was not prepared for that at all! Hiked on my hands and knees for quite a bit of the trip! Went through lots of loose rocks, one of which came rolling down the hill very fast and almost nailed me in the head. But it didn’t so we are okay! We went through thorn patches too, and then came across 2 giant boulders we had to go up (pictures below). They were very steep and there was a giant drop off below! After some panicking and prayer, we made it up both! After we got past those obstacles, there was a metal cross in the ground! It was a great reminder that God was with us the whole time. We did eventually realize that is was a gravestone but that’s besides the point…
Anyways, we got to the top and watched the sunset! It was so fun and just so amazing. Such a beautiful way to see more of God’s amazing creation! We set up the tents, had hot dogs, and then watched the stars from a cliff. A cloud rolled over us which was amazing!! I’ve always wanted to be in the cloud so it was truly a dream come true.
So there’s a little recap of some of the adventures we’ve been having recently! It’s been an absolute BLAST! Thanks for reading, miss you all!
~Ellie
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