Carlie Wilson The Worst Trip Ever  

About three years ago I was sent on a camping trip my school liked to call “classroom without walls” or, CWW. I was super excited because not only did we get to miss a week of school, we got to go to Camp Chameleon, the most awesome, exciting, unbelievable, fascinating trip ever...or so I thought.

We packed up our heavy and overly-packed luggage into the back of our hot and muggy bus. We were all set. The bus ride consisted of loud games of truth or dare, obnoxious seat kickers, and one poor chaperone trying to get control of the bus. After about four dreadful hours we finally reached the campsite. Camp counselors greeted us with a long winded camp song as we awkwardly stared at each other and scratched our sweaty heads. I looked around the premises of the campsite in disappointment. It was then that I realized that it was going to be a long four days at camp.

“All right, get in your groups of three, we are going to start setting up our tents,” said Adiela our counselor.

It was the first time since we left our school that I actually felt a feeling of enjoyment because I guess our camp counselors didn't know that we had assigned tent buddies. This meant I could be buddies with my best friend Isabella. Just as Isabella and I hugged in excitement and headed for the tents one of my classmates yelled out,

“Hey, Ms. Adiela, our teachers gave us assigned tent buddies. They said we aren’t allowed to pick.”

Oh no. Did she really just say that? What was she thinking? After annoyed glances were shared, we all decided to pretend like we had no idea what she was talking about.

“I don’t remember the teachers saying that,” said one student.

“Even if they did assign us buddies, I can’t remember who my partner is anyways,” said another.

“Well i’m sure Neha isn’t lying,” said Ms. Adiela. “Everyone get into your assigned groups of three”.

Noooooooo, I thought to myself, it’s too late...the damage has been done. Our dreams of staying up late chatting and eating snacks that my mom secretly packed me were over. After our displeasing start, we finally began setting up. Neha, Martina and I were partnered up. When we were finished the tent, I stood back and looked in disbelief. Are three people seriously supposed to fit in there? The hot and dusty tent was so small that it looked as if a family of mice lived inside.

Dinner that night left us scarred and hungry. The counselors insisted that we make our own dinner. What they didn’t know was that the thought of remotely making food on our own had never crossed any of our minds. Not to mention, giving 100 6th graders a tiny burnt out fire pit and raw potatoes was not a good idea. We put the potatoes in a pot of water and waited impatiently for a an hour as the water barley boiled. After much deliberation we decided our hunger was enough to eat the uncooked potatoes. I gagged at my first bite and politely set it down in the corner. I was not about to finish that potato even though I was famished.

When dinner was over we filed back to our tents tired, hungry, and gloomy eyed. Neha had food in her bag, only it was hazelnut wafers. Aww man! I'm allergic to nuts, I thought. I looked at the wafers then I looked at Neha. Martina peacefully munched in the corner of the tent. I was so desperate for food so I reached my hand out.

“Yes please,” I said timidly.

I prayed over it twice. The first one was thanking God for a piece of food. The second one was asking God not to give me an allergic reaction. I took a bite and two minutes later I could feel my stomach clench and my skin itched like crazy.

“Are you okay Carlie?”

“Yeah I’ll just take my medicine,” I said.

Thankfully the medicine worked and I was sound asleep 20 minutes later. The next morning we lined up for breakfast. I looked down the line and saw yogurt, cereal, cheesy eggs, and chocolate milk. All of which would be good...if I wasn't allergic to dairy. Oh drats. I took my plate and reluctantly scooped some gross dry cereal and forced it into my mouth. At least everyone else seemed to enjoy their meals....

Luckily, that day at camp wasn’t so bad after all (expect for the part when our counselor left us in the mountains and my group of five got lost for two hours). We departed from our grounds at 9:00 and broke up into groups. My group went to the hot pools first. The hot pools were open areas of warm warm water in the mountains surrounded by bg beautiful rocks. The sun beat down on the glistening water as we lay peacefully in the natural pools of water. Our next stop the day was to the cliff. We trudged through cold water and slimy algae but we finally made it. At first I did not want to jump off the 20ft cliff into the deep dark mysterious water, but when everybody else lined up I decided it was worth a shot. I was so nervous and it didn’t help that the guy who went before me belly flopped into the water and busted his lip. I walked barefooted up to the top of the cliff.

“Don’t look down!”, said Adeila.

I took a deep breath and the counselor counted down for me to jump.

“4,3,2,1”.

I held my breath and plunged into the brisk water. I came up smiling. I was glad I conquered  my fears. Our day presumed with rock climbing and other other outdoor activities. That night we had to make pasta for dinner. Again we ate our unfinished meals in disgust. Just as we were finishing we heard a loud yell from the group next to us.

“Owww, the fire burnt me!”, said Lara.

We all nosaly looked over to find a nasty red burn on Lara’s leg. She limped away with the help of other classmates to the shabby infirmary room. It began to rain by the time we threw away our unfinished dinner. Drenched and itchy we went back to our tents once again. I shared my snacks at were forgotten at the bottom of my bag. Having a little bit to eat we were able to sleep a little bit more comfortably than the night before.

“Matina do you hear that?”, I asked.

“Nope I don’t hear a thing”, she replied.

“Alright, let’s go back to bed”.

That morning we woke to alarmed faces. The counselors wouldn’t allow us to leave our tents and our teachers were nowhere to be seen. Something suspicious was happening. I saw Lara pass by from our tent. She got to sleep in the teacher’s superior lodging since she got burnt the night before.

“Psst. Lara. Come here”, I said. She moved wearily towards me. “What’s going on?”

“I heard that there are gorillas on the loose and they attacked a group of people who were grilling out on the campgrounds next to ours.”

“Oohhh, that’s so crazy,” I said.

I zipped up the orange tent and we waited in agony while the heat suffocated us until the coast was clear. It was our last day at camp and I was super duper happy. We were supposed to leave that night but our plans were altered at the last minute.

“I’m sorry guys, we are going to have to leave camp earlier than planned,” said Mrs. Couilliard, my language arts teacher. Yesssssssss! Yessssssssss! Yesssssssss!, I thought.

“Unfortunately, last night someone was robbed and shot on the campgrounds next to ours,” she continued.

My eagerness to leave turned into sudden sadness. An innocent couple had been shot the night before. Suddenly, prattle broke out between us. Everyone was ganging up on Lara for spreading a false rumor about gorillas. After we settled down we were sent to pack up our bags and we sang a closing camp song and loaded the bus. What a trip, I thought.

My trip to Camp Chameleon was quite eventful and unforgettable. To this day I still reflect on it and sometimes laugh. Even though it was a miserable trip, I was able to try new things and and I challenged myself to handle situations I had never experienced before.