Rustic Cabin Feeling

The walls are up in the bear trap and I can almost picture sitting in there on a cold winter’s day with a fire going in the background.  Okay, so there’s no fireplace in there and during the summer it doesn’t get all that cold, comparatively speaking.  However, the walls that are in there just give you that cozy cabin feeling.  Mark my words, this building is going to be a major hang out spot for this summer and many summers to come!  The bottom floor walls are finished (what you see below in the pictures) and the top floor should be done very soon.  

As for the cabins themselves, much, much more has been done since the last post.  It’s hard for us in the office to keep up with the construction crews!  The water pipes and electrical wiring have been added in most of the cabins.  There’s even an emergency sprinkler system now…which we hope to never need to use!  The showers are installed and the tile flooring is in.  The framework around the shower and toilet is almost done….see for yourself.

In the last picture, you can see the granite sinks that will soon be installed.  Also waiting to be installed is the wood you see on the floor which will soon be on the walls.  There’s nothing like the smell of fresh wood to give you that rustic cabin feeling!

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More Funny Videos

Yep, it’s that time again to sit back, relax and enjoy this week’s picks for the funniest videos!

This first clip is country western night session 2b.  Our resident clown for the night was having lots of fun acting the part of the clown…at least we think she was acting!  The second clip is during mud pit time at starter camp.  One particular staff member needed a little coaxing from others to get good and muddy.  And some of our other staff being the kind, generous, accommodating girls they are had no problem helping with the task at hand!

Watch the clips below to enjoy more summer memories.

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We Have Returned!

If you haven’t noticed, it has been a couple weeks since our last construction update.  Well, we are back from vacation and ready to bring you an update of all that’s going on!  Here’s a list of what they have done on the Bear Trap since our last update:  plumbing, electrical work, insulation, the metal roof, most of the drywall inside and the siding outside, and put the plywood up above the porches.

It’s crazy how much they got done within the week that we were gone!  They should be putting in the hardwood floors soon!

The other construction team is still going strong on the cabins.  They are working on the bathroom area and even painting the outside of a cabin.  The plumbing and electrical work is just about finished.  Here are pictures of each new cabin.

Notice there is going to be tile outside of the showers!

As mentioned in a previous blog, Marty is renovating the old Cheyenne bath house into a staff cabin.  He has a little more help now that Stewart, the Ridgecrest intern, is here.

Now last, but certainly not least, the Dining Hall.  They are now patching up the floor from where the walls were taken out.  They are about finished with the new deck and it looks great!  Check out the pictures below.

There you have it!  It’s still so exciting to go over to Crestridge and see what all is happening.  It’s hard to believe that we are this far along.  I like to look back at the first picture taken and compare it the ones taken today.  God is good!

We hope everyone has had a smooth transition back into school and work after the holidays.  Check back soon for more updates!

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Crestridge’s Funniest Videos: Installment #3

The new year has arrived and I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas season!  I headed up north for a couple weeks where I was met with snow and ice while Sharon headed south to warmer weather and swam with manatees.  But now it’s the new year and that means some of you will be heading back to school while others will be getting back into the routine of things at work.  And the new year also brings…new video clips!!

The first clip below shows how important the weeks leading up to camp are.  Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning is needed, and done, before camp is ready for all you staff and campers.  The staff are never quite sure what they’ll find in the cabins when first arriving!  

The second video is a short clip from one of the Choctaw activities…slippery twister is just like it sounds…slippery.

 Keep checking back for more fun video footage!

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Bear Trap Update

It’s been just over a week since we last posted pictures of the Bear Trap…well, brace yourself for what’s coming next!  Everyday something new has been added.  As it stands now, there are not only walls, but also doors and windows; the rooms have been defined (giving us lots of space I might add!!!); the steps for both levels are done and the railings have been added.  Take a look below to see the progress that’s been made so far.

As you can tell from the pictures, there will be several access points to the bottom floor.  There is a ramp and set of stairs on the chipp/chick side and stair access all around in the front.  The second floor is only accessed from the stairs on the right.  The left side door offers entrance to the staff lounge and the right side gives entrance to the village director’s office. 

None of us here at camp can believe how fast it was constructed and how good it looks!  Personally, I’m looking forward to May when it is completely finished and I can sit on the wrap around porch in a new rocking chair.  Hopefully many of you reading this will be able to fulfill that dream right alongside me.

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Crestridge’s Funniest Videos: Part Deux

All right, as promised here is the second installment of video clips.  Some of the sockwar skit did make it onto the session video, but this is a short raw and uncut director’s version, as I like to call it.  The staff never know what we’ll have them do during the skit so it’s always funny to see how it all plays out.  And needless to say, they didn’t disappoint during this session!  As for the other clip, there was a long line waiting to begin play at Shadowbrook so I asked various cabins to sing a little something something for me and this was one result.  Tune is next week for more clips…enjoy!!

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Oh the Progress Being Made…

Well, there has been so much progress, I don’t even know where to begin.  Let’s start with the bath house.  Marty is amazing!  As I recall, Phil mentioned that Marty is sometimes mistaken for Jack Bauer and I believe it!  He cleared out the second part of the old Cheyenne bath house and has started putting up petitions.  Here’s some pictures to show you the progress:

You can tell Marty has been working hard.  All three pictures were taken of the same place.  The door in this picture is the back of the bath house.  When you walk in, there will be a small closet straight ahead and a public bathroom on the left.  It may not make sense at the moment, but you just wait!

Moving on to the next project, you’ll see there has been a lot of progress on the dining hall.

Ron shared a little history with me about our dining hall as we were looking at the renovations.  Apparently this is what the dining hall looked like for a while and then the offices were added.  It’s going to be nice having the extra space!

I know the campers will enjoy this next project.  The plumbing has started in the cabins.  They have started putting pipes in for the showers and sinks.  But the best thing about it is the new water heaters.  The new cabins will have instant hot water and it will last longer than one shower!  It will last for everyone’s shower!

The second picture is the new hot water heater.  It’s much smaller than our existing hot water heaters.

Well, that’s it for these projects.  The framing of the Bear Trap will be finished tomorrow!  Check back in the next day or two and we’ll show you pictures.

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Hello New Bear Trap and Dining Hall

Well, as stated in a previous blog, the framing of the new bear trap did start this past Monday.  With that said though, the framing won’t be done by Christmas.  Instead, it’ll actually be done much, much sooner…as in by THIS FRIDAY!!!  So I guess technically, it will be done by Christmas.  The shell of the building has pretty much gone up overnight.  The crew is working so hard it’s unreal!  They work when it’s sunny, when it’s raining and would probably work even if it were snowing.  Check out the pictures below to see the progress.

No lie, all of the above was built in two days!!  As you can see it’s a two-story building which when finished will have a nice wrap around porch where we’ll have rocking chairs during the summer.  As for the dining hall, of course it’s not new, but with additional campers and staff it does need to be renovated.  Before any walls could be knocked down, the offices needed to be cleared out.  Below are pics of the empty offices and a short video clip showing the dining hall as it looks right now.

No walls have been knocked down yet, but they have started building the porch extension…take a look.

These days it’s pretty much impossible to visit camp without seeing some kind of construction happening.  Keep checking back for more updates!

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Crestridge’s Funniest Videos

Okay, so these clips may not be the funniest, but they will make you laugh…or smirk a bit…or at the very least smile a little.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be adding various video clips from throughout the summer.  Some of them you may remember seeing parts of on session videos, but mostly these will be things that didn’t make it onto the summer videos for one reason or another. Check back each week for these hidden treasures.  These two are from session 1a and 2a…sit back and enjoy!!

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The Cabins+Bear Trap+Dining Hall+A Bath House=Construction Madness

Even though it’s only been a week and a half since the last blog, there has been a lot of progression.  The construction crew is now on their last cabin at Crestridge.  They have the walls up and are now working on the deck.  I’m assuming they’ll be finished with it by Tuesday.  That means all the “shells” of the cabins will be finished!  There’s still a lot to be done with each cabin, but they’ve gotten a great start.  Below you can see the Cherokee cabin finished on the left and the last Choctaw cabin in progress on the right.

On to the next item of discussion – the Bear Trap.  The land is cleared, the foundation has been poured, the block foundation is drying, and the building materials have been delivered.  Another crew is going to start putting the frame up this Monday.  They’re hoping to have the frame finished by Christmas.

Some of you may be thinking, “How are they going to fit 50 more campers into the dining hall?”  To answer your question, we have to renovate.  Starting next week, a crew is going to take down the existing wall that separates the offices, staff lounge, and wood porch (where the ping pong tables are) and extend it to the end of the wood porch.  Soon the dining hall will be one big rectangle.  Then they are going to build a small covered deck extending from the stone porch.  It may sound confusing but it will be a nice addition.

Well, last but certainly not least, Marty has started on the old Cheyenne bath house.  When finished, it will be the new Chey/Choc/Cher hut.  It is easily accessible from all three hills.  Marty has a big job ahead of him because that bath house has not been used in several years.  It’s pretty gross in there.  But Marty’s great and we can’t wait to see how it’s going to turn out!

As you can see, it’s kind of crazy around here!  We love watching the progression day to day and hope you are enjoying the pictures and updates.  We’ll have more posted next week, so check back soon!

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