Lair of the Golden Bear, 9th Week

School start dates keep moving earlier, so over our 21 summers at the University of California at Berkeley family camp, the Lair of the Golden Bear, we have moved in Camp Blue from 12th week to 11th to 10th and this year, to 9th week. The transition to 9th week meant a new location for our three tents: we are now creekside.  Creekside is farther from the bathrooms but has a prettier view.

9th week is both the same and different from 10th. We were too early to see the annual Perseid Meteor Shower and we missed Ed’s 10th week Margarita Party but 9th week features a Pirate Party and there is more water in the rivers. This year, we went rafting on the Stanislaus River. The rapids were no rougher than Class 2 but we enjoyed our day out of camp. We also drove to the Trail of the Gargoyles to see the sunset – made very colorful by a forest fire about twenty miles away.

We attended one of the talks (Dr. Larry Michalak on “Tunisia and the Arab Spring”), danced during Disco Bingo, celebrated Jessica and Matthew’s 2nd wedding anniversary and Paul’s 21st birthday with a Lair Cake, enjoyed arts and crafts, and played board games for many hours in the lodge.  My brother Pete and his wife Julie went running to Pinecrest Lake early every morning but most of us slept in until the first breakfast bell.

Images Copyright 2013 by Katy Dickinson