In the Fish Camp, each
camp is allowed to take two road trips together throughout the summer. Well,
this past weekend was Camp Duke’s first Road Trip to San Antonio, TX and we stayed
with the Duke family. Christopher Duke is our namesake and it was awesome to be
able to get to know him and his sweet family so much better. On Friday
afternoon, I met up with the rest of the Houston crew at Andrew’s house. We carpooled together and it was me with three crazy
boys for the entire ride to San Antonio. Even though I love each of them, I was definitely outnumbered and it
would have been helpful to have another girl in the car. Once we arrived to San
Antonio, we went straight to the Duke Household. We were greeted by the
majority of our camp and it was oh so sweet to see their beautiful faces again.
The rest of the cars arrived and I was finally reunited with my partner, David.
For the past month, I have missed all of these people terribly! We hung out
on the patio as everyone arrived and enjoyed some dinner provided by the Duke
Family. I spent a bunch of time playing out on the swing set with their two
children, Bella and Nicholas. It didn’t take long for them to instantly steal
my heart and bring my “mom” side out.
These two kids were so much fun and full of joy. Their imagination out on the
swing set made me wish I could be around kids every single day. Their sweet
giggles and witty lines were absolutely priceless. After a while, we all headed
back inside the house and were given green buckets filled with all sorts of
treasures as a party favor. It included a green bandana, lip sunscreen, snacks,
a water bottle, and even a mixed tape from our namesakes. They really are the
best!!! The rest of the night we played several games and it was so nice
to finally be reunited with this great group of people. Although our list-serve
seems to be running non-stop during the summer, cramming almost 25 people into a
house and actually being in their presence was so much more fun. I am still in
awe that we were able to fit everybody upstairs and somehow make it work. We
played True Colors, Do-Date-Marry, and all of the other
typical road trip games. It provided for some never ending laughter and created
great memories. Camp Duke stayed up way too late on Friday night, because it
was a tough wakeup call on Saturday morning for SeaWorld! Chris Duke got us 25 free passes to SeaWorld for the day. How awesome is that?!
We woke up, ate a yummy breakfast prepared by Jana, and hit the road. Once we
got through those big SeaWorld arches, we visited the dolphins and watched the Cool Vibrations Show. This show had some incredibly talented and attractive water skiers.
I was in awe literally the entire time! After the show, we all rode a couple
rides and the majority of the group headed to see Shamo. However, I went on a detour to the restroom and
spontaneously decided to sneak away to ride some rollercoasters with three
other people from camp. Brandon, Brittany, Kerry, and I headed straight for
Steel Eel and we rode it twice without a single wait. This was definitely one
of the highlights of the trip for me! After Steel Eel, we walked through the
penguin exhibit and rode the Great White. At this point, our group had grown
and we continued to ride more rides. Our day at SeaWorld was amazing and filled
with countless hours of bonding. Around 4:30pm, we packed back into our cars
and got ready for dinner on the River Walk. 2 hours… 27 people… 2 showers…
Ready, set, GO! After we were all dressed up, we ate at Rita’s on the River for
dinner which was a Mexican restaurant on the River Walk. We took a bunch of
pictures and had some great conversation. We wandered around for a
little bit and had another photo-shoot as we visited the Alamo. We continued to
bond, laugh, and share stories the entire weekend. I had such an incredible
time with Camp Duke and I got to know more people so much better. Our hope is
that the unique bond that our camp shares will be evident at Fish Camp to
provide for a smoother transition for the freshman. As this summer progresses,
our friendships are continuing to grow and our camp is becoming one unified
family. We still have so much to look forward to, but as for now our first
FCXII Road Trip to San Antonio was a complete success. Chris and Jana, thank
you SO much for your incredible hospitality and for sharing your two beautiful
children with us. You guys are amazing!!
All of the other Fish Camps wish they could get with Camp Duke, but they gotta Keep Dreamin’.
