A Summer of ATVing, Camping, Volunteering, and Firefighting



This is my cousin, Cole, standing next to a very pretty 15
foot waterfall on the camp.  This picture was taken during
really horrible drought; normally water gushes down where
he is standing.

 The past several months have been great! We’ve been at the incredibly amazing Camp Eagle Rock, in southwest Missouri. This place is one of my favorites in the entire nation because of its beauty, seclusion, and history. There are about 35 buildings on the camp, which includes cabins, lodges, bathhouses, barns, etc. All of these buildings are on only about 300 acres of the entire 1500 acres the camp spans. So, obviously there is a lot of empty wilderness there; something I love! My whole family is part of an organization called MAPS (Mission America Placement System), that has set up a system with most Assembly of God churches and camps across the country for volunteers who want to work at them. We’ve been volunteering at Camp Eagle Rock since 2004 and enjoy it every time.


Mr. Roger and Mrs. Barbara, the camp managers, are both very nice and Mr. Roger always teaches me new things every time I go there. He’s also always ready with a funny comeback or saying for everything. For example: one day Mr. Roger and I were on our way to a different part of the camp and saw my mom talking to Mrs. Barbara. After stopping and talking to them both for a few minutes, Mom said something like, “Those kids have been so wild lately; I’m going crazy!” Mr. Roger, with a sly smile, replied, “Well, it’ll be a short trip.” I tell you what, if Mr. Roger hadn’t have sped off as quick as he did, I’m sure Mom would’ve gave him a earful!

This is my... I mean, the camp's Kubota that I brush hogged
with.  It could be 95 degrees outside, while I sat in the 70
degree air-conditioned cab.

Just some of the things I worked on while we were there are: brush hogging, installing air conditioning units, mowing, splitting and stacking wood, fixing toilets, installing windows, making wood trim, various woodworking projects, machine maintenance, painting, cleaning cabins, and much more! I spent most of my volunteer time brush hogging; using a 75hp Kubota with a heated/air-conditioned cab. It was great and I put a TON of hours on that tractor. The next thing I did the most was probably mowing. The camp’s zero-turn mower is like a small tractor itself; a 21hp diesel Kubota with a six foot deck on it.

There are lots of four-wheeler trails on the camp, and lots more in the national forest around it. I probably rode my Honda 250EX more than most people while we were there! I figured between riding for fun and getting around for work, I rode somewhere up around 10 miles per day. There are some amazing old homesteads to visit by ATV and a couple really pretty waterfalls that we went to several time during our stay.

Hanna and I made this Chippewa kitchen
from scratch.  We cut down the trees,
scraped some of the bark off, cut them to
length, lashed it in sections, then lashed
the entire thing together.  It made a great
place to put kitchen supplies and gave us
some "counter space" to keep our food
off the ground.

After Mom came up with the awesome idea, Hanna and I went camping for four days together on the camp property. It was a blast and we both learned a lot about each other and got to practice working together! We weren’t suffering too bad, ‘cause we had a huge 21x11 foot tent separated into three rooms. We also had lots of really good food and had fun cooking almost every meal over our campfire that I lit every time with flint and steel. Building and using our latrine was a very interesting experience, but we soon got it figured out. (ha ha) Several nights deer and coyotes came VERY close to our tent, and one night we think the coyotes got into our food bucket. When the four days were up we were both disappointed, but glad to be back with the rest of the family.

Not long afterwards, it was time for my birthday and I decided to have a weekend campout with a few friends. We chose a ridge above Table Rock Lake, which borders the camp, to set up our tents. We did lots of riding and hiking that weekend, and saw some really cool stuff! My cousin, Cole, found an eight-point deer skull that we stashed in an almost dry creek bed to return for later. As with Hanna and I, lots of deer and coyotes walked right by and even through our camp at night. After dark we spent hours sitting around the campfire laughing and telling stories. We also did some archery at the camp’s range, and swam a few times in two giant outdoor swimming pools. It was an awesome weekend and we all regretted having to pack up camp and head home.

Another adventure that we had, but that was a little more unexpected, came one hot dry day.  There was a brush pile burning in a field behind our camper, but very quickly it caught the dry grass in the field on fire and soon about five acres were burning.  My dad and I used two shovels to start putting it out while Mom went and got help from some people that were renting the camp.  The woods began to catch fire, but with the Lord's help we were able to keep a forest fire from starting and potentially burning down the camp.  After the help arrived we finished putting out the last of the flames around the field and Mr. Roger built a dirt berm around the brush pile to keep any more fire from spreading.  It was an intense few hours, and a day I'll never forget, that's for sure!



My cousin, Cole, found this falling rock ledge during a hike
on the camp and thought he could save it.  I kept telling him
it was a lost cause... but he gets an "A" for effort, I guess.

 I love Camp Eagle Rock, and it’s definitely somewhere I hope to continue going back to often; in the future taking my own kids to enjoy it as well! If you’ve never been, I would HIGHLY recommend going there as soon as possible. Try to go in the Spring or late Fall to avoid the stifling heat and bitter cold that can sometime come in the other months.

The camp hosts meetings, clubs, churches, individuals, and anyone really, in its wide range of facilities. Check out their website at: http://www.eaglerockcampground.com/.

In the words of Mr. Roger, “I’ll see ya ‘round if you don’t turn square!”

Uncle Max's Hospitality

Grandma's house. That statement probably makes you think of apple pie, right? Sure, apple pies are good, but that's not all my grandma makes! We stayed at my Grami and Grandpa Tom's for seven weeks this summer at their house south of Springfield, MO. I joked that she probably made me gain 5 pounds while we were there. She made us all kinds of big breakfasts, lunches, and dinners all the time. One of my favorite breakfasts that is a classic at her house now, is homemade monkey bread.

I almost forgot to mention my Uncle Max. He still lives with my grandma and grandpa, and doesn't like to do anything but eat and sleep. He's kind of plump, and has a little bald spot. Oh, did I mention he's a dog! Yeah, maybe I should've mentioned that first. Well, anyways, we decided that Max was our uncle a few years ago when we noticed that my grandma was treating him like a son. (ha ha) He was sleeping on the end of their bed, eating left-over pancakes and sausage, and going to Wal-Mart with her. So, my Mom said he was being treated like a son, thus her brother, and our uncle.

I had a few knife orders that I needed to complete while we were there, and I had all the tools that I'd gotten in Arizona at Christmas. Tom was nice enough to let me use one of his three work benches to set my tools up on and make the knives. He does stone work, and makes fire places, fountains, benches, arches, entrances, etc. out of marble or limestone. After getting the blades softened by my knifemaking teacher, Tom McGinnis, I was able to get all the orders completed in time.

We went kayaking on Flat Creek a few times with Tom and his fishing buddies, while we were there, too. We cooked out and stopped at some awesome swimming holes. It was a lot of fun every time and we saw a lot of really cool stuff and had a great time. We also went kayaking and swimming on Table Rock Lake a few times with my cousins Cole and Ella. It was so hot while we were there that it was nice having the lake and river close by.

My other cousins Juli and Sean came down a couple times while we were there. Sean, my uncle, Cole, Dad, and me threw tomahawks for a few hours one day. Sean ended up being pretty good, even though he'd never done it before. He tried throwing under handed, then double, then under handed double, and he got them all.

My grandma has a golf cart that she got for hauling stuff around the garden and house. It's got flame stickers painted on it and a little bed on the back of it for carrying bags, boxes, or plants. She lets us ride it all around their property. We even made some trails back in the woods for it, so she could get to the big blackberry bushes. My cousin, Cole, and I made a kind of "rally" race course that we'd ride around over and over again 'til we had it down to every bump and curve.

I really enjoyed our time at my grandma, grandpa, and Uncle Max's house. I can't wait to go back really soon!

Santa Fe, Cochiti Lake, Los Alamos Nuclear Site, and Tent Rocks State Park

Did you know that Santa Fe, NM is the highest capitol in the US? Yeah, it sits at about 7100 ft above sea level, making it the "mile and a half high capitol". (ha ha) We actually didn't stay in Santa Fe, but about 30 minutes away at Cochiti Lake Rec Area, a Corp of Engineers managed lake and campground. The lake is very pretty, but not good for swimming. Even if you wanted to, there are signs posted against swimming in any part of the lake. The reason being is that the Rio Grande dumps into the lake, bringing all the logs and debris it's picked up into the lake. The "camp hosts" when we were there were really friendly and helpful, and they enjoyed
hearing about the owl, and our kayaking adventures (read below).


The kayaking is great! We kayaked from the Rec Area and around into a little cove that was lined by incredible quartz and other chunks of pretty rocks. We didn't even get out of the kayaks and just looked at the rock from in our kayaks. I saw a particularely interesting looking bank that I thought had the potential to hold some fossils. I pulled my kayak onto shore and climbed up the steep, slippery slope 20 or 30 feet until I got to the bank. Suddenly something big flew out of a crevice right at my feet! I soon realized it was an owl after it landed on a knarled pine tree across the cove. Out of instinct I looked into the crevice and saw something I've wanted to see for years but haven't, a baby owl. It pretty much looked like a ball of feathers with two little eyes on the front. The only way to tell that this bowling ball sized baby was alive was because it was heaving out and in like a ball inflating and deflating every few seconds. Laying right in front of it was the product of it's mother's hard work and honed hunting skills, a large rabbit. By now the mother owl was hooting at me every 10 or 15 seconds, obviously irritated. I didn't want to scare her off so I slipped (literally) back down the slope and into my kayak again.

Another day we also kayaked across the lake to Tetilla Peak campround straight across from where we were. The wind started blowing hard on the way back. The front of my kayak scooped up the water, as I went through the waves, like a shovel. Once we finally got back to our side of the lake we faced another challenge, climb up a really steep gravel bank for 40 or 50 feet to get to the road at the top. Dad and I each grabbed the front of our kayak and drug them behind us. I didn't really want to slip because of the large rocks and logs at the bottom of the bank, but unfortunately I was wearing sandals so it was hard to keep my footing. At long last we made it to the top and looked back down the slope and waves we had just conquered. We had fun... and it gave me a great story to tell ya'll.

Santa Fe is awesome! We went there four times, I think, and every time we'd find something else cool.
There are some amazing churches, some that look like cathedrals, and others that look like spanish missions. Somewhere I'd definitely recommend going is the Palace of the Governors. The Palace of the Govorners is the oldest government headquarters in the US. It was actually the seat of Hispanic govornment since the 1600's until it came into the hands of the US. All the doorways are very short to help keep heat from transfering from one room to the next and for defensive purposes. Someone coming through the door would have to duck down when walking through, giving the person inside the room an advantage if there were ever an attack. The "palace" covered several blocks, most of which was a large courtyard in the center, so that the entire city's population could stay inside during a raid on the town outside. There is also a very nice city park which the kids really enjoyed. It has some very unique "toys" that the kids played on. Next to it is a really long walkway with a wooden arch over it. When we were there, vines were just starting to grow around the edges of it. It should be really pretty once it's covered over completely.

My Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave came down and stayed at an inn near the big town square. We went to some of the churches with them and a interesting market being held next to one. At the market there was a man selling fossils from the area. I got talking to him and found out really how many fossils are around the Santa Fe region, a lot! I was really interested, becuase I enjoy fossils and fossil hunting. He gave me some tips and gave the kids each a shark tooth, then we moved on. There are a couple fossil shops in town, each of which is definitely somewhere I'd stop if you like that kind of stuff. The one was more like a store, and the other more like a museum. We also ate at an authentic New Mexican style resturant that was really good, although I'm sure the "authentic New Mexicans" didn't eat like that every day... (ha ha)

We also went to the Los Alamos museum on the history of nuclear research and atomic bombs.  It was incredible!  There was so much stuff to read and look at that we didn't even get to see it all!  I learned some things on some of the displays and short-films that I had never even heard of before or thought was possible.  Something I particularly enjoyed was a little screen with a small wheel in front of it.  First you select which type of atomic bomb test you'd like to watch, then start spinning the wheel.  The faster or slower you spin it controls the speed that the clips of the nuclear warheads exploding plays!  I slowed it down a couple times until it was frame-by-frame so that I could see how certain things (like water, or a house) reacted when it exploded.  It was amazing!

Another cool place we went was Tent Rocks near Cochiti Lake.  It is almost like an alien landscape,
with it's wierd pointed dirt domes, and narrow canyons.  We went out there a few times, and each time we noticed new things.  The wierd "tents" were formed by steam vents from underground lava tubes.  Wherever there's a "tent" is where a steam vent was, although some smaller ones have been formed by erosion.  One of the times we went, we hiked up a slot canyon trail.  It was awesome!  The canyon narrowed until it was no more than a couple feet wide and 50 or 60 feet tall.  It kept opening up into little ampitheatre type areas that had really wierd formations.  Once we got up on top of the ridge, the view was incredible.  We could see Cochiti Lake and everything else for mile and miles around.  We also found lots of Apache Tears up on top of the canyon.  Apache Tears are formed when Obsidian starts to melt into another rock.  They are about pea sized and jet black.  They are also illegal to take, but they're amazing to look at.  Tent Rocks is a must see, I'd say, if you're ever in the area.

We did a lot of stuff and had a lot of fun at Santa Fe and Cochiti Lake. I really look forward to going back!