Today
we woke up bundled in our sleeping bags next to our best friends for the last
time. Many of us stayed up late (early) with tarp talk and even playing a
hilarious game of truth or dare. Some of us were just reaching our REM cycle as
our favorite directors (Dallas and Katie) blasted “Good Day” from the speaker.
Next up on the playlist included “Wake Me Up” and of course the iconic “Dead
Puppies.” We truly will miss their creative wake up calls! They also played one
final “Birthday Hooray” song for Genieve’s birthday!!! HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY GEN,
WE LOVE YOU!
We
started gathering our belongings and taking them to the bus where Joseph opened
the bay for the Bashfuls to load our duffles. Everyone else helped clean
the area of trash and the famous KFC bucket hats that were laying on the
ground. After making sure our campground was left sparkling clean we headed to
one of our favorite places…WALMART! The Sneezy group shopped for our final
meals of TWB. We took advantage of the free time in Walmart one final time
finding random food items to buy including chicken wings, mozzarella sticks,
donuts, energy drinks, and candy. After our quick stop, we got in our vehicles
and continued our quest back to North Carolina. The vans and bus were lively
with jokes and sing-a-longs once we devoured our delicious cinnamon rolls. The
counselors informed us that there would be no napping on the vehicles today,
which we did not mind because we wanted to spend as much time as possible with
each other. After stretching our legs at a rest area in NORTH CAROLINA, it
started feeling real that we would be seeing our family and friends so soon.
As
we headed back home a service light on the bus came and on Joseph (the Legend)
safely got us to the exit ramp of the highway. We found out that a new bus
would be coming to the rescue and we discovered a park nearby to hang out in
while we waited. At the park we organized our belongings, cleaned out the vans
and kitchen trailer, and had all our wonderful gifts we purchased returned to
us. While various jobs were being completed some of us played on the
playground, threw the frisbee, and even gathered under a shade tree for a
sing-a-long. Once everyone had the chance to look through the lost and
found, we gathered together for a few last words from Grant and the counselors.
They handed out papers with all of our names and numbers on it so our TWB
family could always stay in touch. The counselors also presented Genieve with a
birthday gift of Tennessee souvenirs since we traveled through its wondrous
mountains on her special day. She was given two pom poms and two cups since she
is a twin of course! Shortly after, the new bus and Joseph arrived! We had a moment
to say our very emotional goodbyes to each other before traveling the last hour
and a half to our FINAL stop.
When
we arrived at Mallard Creek we were filled with so many emotions. We were
thrilled to see our friends and family but also sad to say goodbye to our TWB
family. We sang, “This Land is Your Land” and our personal favorite “Today” one
final time. We then gave many hugs as we were reunited with our loved ones.
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| Our last Walmart stop! |
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| Hanging out under our shade tree |
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| Getting ready for a quick meeting |
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| A few more songs with Grant while we waited for our other bus |
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| Potential last hugs :( |
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| Dallas giving Genieve her birthday gifts!! |
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| We made it home! |
A
note from the counselors:
Thank
you parents, family, and friends for checking in with us each day and following
along with our journey. We truly felt and appreciated your prayers every single
day. We were blessed with 80 amazing teenagers these past 23 days. We could not
have dreamed of a better group to spend our summer with. Participants, we love
and adore each one of you! Each of you made our trip truly unique and special.
We hope that you will look back on the blog often and be reminded of all the
wonderful memories we made together this summer. We are so proud of you all and
we are already missing you!! Y’all are so amazing and we can’t wait to see what
incredible things each one of you will accomplish. We love you to California
and back.
Hugs
and high fives,
The
staff (AKA the DREAM TEAM)
