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On
July 25th through 27th, St. Mark traveled to Portola State Park for
their annual camping trip. In addition to the St. Mark campers, we also
had members from Mt. Olive in Milpitas, Bethel in Cupertino and Holy
Cross in Los Gatos. In all, approximately 50 campers made the trip for
the weekend.
Throughout the weekend, the adults, youth and children spent many hours
hiking through the beautiful forests at Portola State Park. The experience
of hiking through God's vast and beautiful creation was enjoyed by all,
as these photos show.
As one hiked through God's creation, it was hard to fathom how one could
believe in evolution and that all those things that we were witnessing
were simply there by chance.
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Throughout
the park we saw many spectacular sights, including logs with mushrooms
growing from them and the kids favorite, the banana slug. In fact,
for those that attended the night's nature talk, they were given
the opportunity to learn the Banana
Slug Song!
Besides the banana slug, the most talked about 'animal' was our camp
mascot, the raccoon. Most of our campers would agree that the raccoon
was most bold in his tactics as he walked from table to table inspecting
the food and drinks that everyone had brought, without a care in the
world that we were watching him and trying to scare him away. On both
nights, after all the lights were out, we would continue to hear him
as he continued to scout our site.
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After
a full day of hiking in the forest and playing at the campsite, everyone
was prepared for a well deserved rest.
For some, the perfect rest was simply sitting around and discussing
whatever was on their mind. Others took the opportunity to play an animated
game of Cribbage, while others took the chance to play one more game
of catch.
Finally, for one, the perfect relaxation was time away from all for
a quick electronic game. Wait a minute! Weren't we supposed to leave
that stuff at home!!!
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Having
a complete day of exercise, followed by a leisurely period at the campsite,
our campers spent the evening on star filled walks, by attending the
nature talk (the most enjoyed was on the banana slug!!) and by spending
time around the campfire.
Although talking was a favorite among the adults, the children and youth's
favorite campfire activity was roasting marshmallows and making s'mores
(roasted marshmallows with chocolate in between two graham crackers).
Although the s'mores were delicious, the kids had more fun in the making
as can be witnessed by two of the photographs.
By the end of the evening, both adults and children were more than willing
to call it a day, return to their tents and crawl into their sleeping
bags for a well deserved rest. Now where was that raccoon...
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