Horseback riding
By Rahela D. age 10
Horseback riding was really fun. You only get to go once, but I got to go twice and the riding is usually forty-five minutes long and all you do is steer your own horse and in the beginning, you get your helmet and then watch an eight-minute video that teaches you how to steer and stop your horse and how to get on. My horse’s name was Missy, she was one of the calmest horses for the trail. She was a brown horse and in the front of her face it looked like she has bangs. Horses are really nice. The barn has thirty-six horses in all and my horse was really cute and small and she was smart. Horseback riding is really fun and one more thing, you have to be ten years old to go on a trail ride.
Maple is a tribe leader at Camp Gilgal. She is the tribe leader of Naphtali. The tribe consists of Shoshi (me), Hannah S., Hannah H. and Lydia. I asked them what they thought about Maple and they all said she is super sweet, kind and most sensitive tribe leader they’ve had so far. She claims to be born from the sap of a tree and had the name Maple all of her life. She started going to camp when she was eight. She’s been to both Camp Gilgal East and West. Her first tribe leaders at camp were Summer and Rockstar. During her free time, she enjoys walking and napping. If she were to lead an activity, she would want it to be a color activity.
Last night, I played M.I. for the fourth time. Every time I play Mission Impossible, I have loads of fun. Last night while we played, we had lots of laughs in spite of the challenging clues. For my tribe’s (Simeon) first clue, we had to go to the amphitheater and get past Skipper. We got the clue in roughly ten minutes. While we were running, I looked up and saw that we had stopped suddenly and had to crouch so we would not be spotted. In the end, every tribe had four out of five clues. When all was said and done, Simeon had won by less than a minute and Blewish said it was one of the closest games he had seen. One really cool thing was that every clue was related to the book of Exodus. M.I. is one of my favorite things about camp.
The beach is a windy place where we get to either swim, make giant volcanoes, kayak, or play volleyball. To be able to swim, you must take a swim test. To pass, you must swim out and tread water for a minute. The water is very cold, which makes this very unpleasant. There is one cove that is full of leeches, so steer clear! The beach is a a great place to make a giant volcano. If you do, make sure you put a cup on the bottom. If you don’t, all the baking soda will disappear and it won’t explode. The Cran-Hill Ranch staff have paddle boards and kayaks that people can rent, but if you are with Gilgal, you get it for free! The paddle boards are a favorite of Camp Gilgal, but it is easy to fall off. When there are no lifeguards, Camp Gilgal likes to play nukem. It is like volleyball, but since no one (except for Achilles) is good at it, we just play nukem. If you go to this camp, try to be with Feedback or Achilles, because they are awesome!
The rock wall is very fun. There are three types of walls: easy, medium and hard. The easy wall has an angle in the beginning and straight for the rest of the way and there are tons of rocks on the wall. The medium wall is straight and has less rocks than the easier wall. And the hard wall is SO HARD, but I did it. It is climbing straight for the first 10-15 feet, then there is a lump so you climb almost upside down for a few feet, then climb over the hump, then climb straight and then hit the bell. When you hit the bell at the top of the wall, you have completed the wall. You are also safe because you are being belayed. Have I mentioned that I have completed all three walls? It took me fourteen minutes and forty-five seconds to make it up the wall. I love the rock wall!
Here at Camp Gilgal there’s a petting zoo with all kinds of animals. First, there are the goats. They have three goats in the pen. Their names are Ox, Maverick, and Rosco. Ox is a male goat and he has really big horns. He is very nice and is black and white. He is bigger than the other goats. Maverick is a very light yellowish color. He’s really sweet and loves attention by being groomed and he really loves being pet. Then there is Rosco. He’s a brownish color and also is very sweet. He’ll follow you around the pen, but he likes to chew on clothes. The last animal I’m going to talk about is the donkey, Bandit. He loves attention. His fur is messy because his last owner treated him bad, but he’s a real sweetheart.
This is an interview about Sneakers and Blewberry. I asked Sneakers what her favorite color is. She told me that her favorite color is rainbow. Next, I asked what is her favorite kind of shoe. She responded that her favorite shoes are her pair of gold sneakers. Then, I asked Sneakers what would be her dream vacation, and she said that it’s a Disney cruise. I said, “Me too!” Sneakers told me that her favorite color is yellow, and her favorite flavor of ice cream is s’mores. I asked her what her favorite book is. Sneakers told me that she recommends “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” to every camper! Next I asked what her favorite thing is about God. She said that He is faithful and He never leaves us. She also told me that she is very thankful that God gave her Blewberry because she loves her very much.
Hebrew is one of the many fun activities at Camp Gilgal. Firefly is our Hebrew teacher. In Hebrew class we learn vocabulary and we have a quiz at the end of every class. We learn Hebrew animals, numbers, fruits and colors. When we quiz we have these colorful buzzers that make funny noises. There are blue, orange, purple, and green buzzers. The blue ones beep like a cat, the orange ones make a springing sound, and the green ones make the sound of pans banging together. We had one big Hebrew quiz where we separated into three teams. Whoever won the game got a prize from the prize box. Hebrew is challenging, but also really fun!
If you love fishing, you should bring a fishing pole and a some bait. With my experience, you should rent a boat and fish because there is a bunch of fish and seaweed and muck at the bank. If you’re a worm fisherman, the barn store has worms for for very cheap. Or if you are a bass fisherman, bring your bass gear and fish with whatever you’ve got. Don’t worry if you’re not that great at fishing, I will help you to become better and have more fun.
Dragon Land was rock wall climbing and crafts such as pipe cleaner dragons. Dragon Land is an activity at Camp Gilgal. I chose Dragon Land because I heard there was rock wall climbing. Dragon Land has crafts and you can make your own dragons, but they are tiny. Koala and Kitten are the leaders. Rock wall climbing is fun to do because it is fun to climb and I made it to the top of the wall. I will tell other kids to try the rock wall.
Hi, my name is Rachel and my favorite activity is cooking. Our group had so much fun cooking. First, we made s’mores with a solar oven and it didn’t work because there was not enough sun, but it was so hot. The chocolate was the only thing that was good because it melted. Then, on Friday, we went to make challah for Shabbat. It was so easy, all you have to do is braid the dough. We made about twenty, so everyone got one. The challahs were so good. That was it for cooking, and I switched to another group.
We finished breakfast and I brought my bagel that has butter on it to my cabin. The path goes down three stairs, over a small gate, then for a long time forward, then right, then along forward and then go left up a very steep hill. Our cabin is called Medicine Bow. It takes a long time to get there. I carried our degel, which was pink with a car on a road and the sun on it. When I get to my cabin, I start to clean up. I put my shoes in order, my waterproof shoes and my Moana flip-flops. I think they are weird because your foot covers Moana. Then, I take my hairbrush and journal that Olive gave me for my birthday, my small journal that says PRIVATE and my name on it. I take my earring spray off of my bed and put it away. The earring spray goes into a small, purple bag with my sunscreen. I put my journal on a shelf and the other journal that Olive got me on another shelf with my books. My hairbrush goes away with my conditioner.
Gaga is probably Camp Gilgal’s main sport. We play it every day. This is how you play: First, someone throws the ball into the middle while everyone is holding on to the wall. Once the ball touches the ground three times it is live to hit. You can hit the ball with your hand or your fist. If you get hit in the knee or below with the ball you are out. The last one standing wins! Everybody loves gaga! The best players at Camp Gilgal are: Hannah S., Joshua, and myself. We also play other camps at gaga, but they are very good and hard to beat. Gaga is the official camp sport. I win a lot because I am really good at hitting the ball at people and dodging it. We play it all the time, literally every day. We play in shoes or sandals. Even the tribe leaders love to play, but they usually don’t win. Gaga is so fun! The fastest and most agile person who has the best strategy wins, not just who hits the hardest because if you hit the ball out of the pit you lose. If you catch the ball when someone hits it out, then you are in, and the person who hit it is out. Gaga is sooo much fun!!
This year at Camp Gilgal, we went to the Grand Rapids Museum. It was a lot of fun. There were many exhibits and most of them were hands on. One exhibit was a section based on the logos. There were three shops you could go into with people in them who talked to you about the store and all about the 1890’s. One store was a printer store. There was a nice man who talked to us about the printer. It was really cool. It worked faster than a computer! I think the best part, and everyone’s favorite part, was the mindbender mansion. There was a fun game there that was called spelling frenzy. You jumped on letters on the ground to spell out the answer to a question.
I asked Blewberry a few questions. I asked her what is her favorite color, she said “Ah ah ah!!” Next I asked her what her favorite food is she said “Eh eh ahhhh!” I didn’t ask her another question, but she told me “ohh, ah, ah ke!”
This was a typical afternoon at Camp Gilgal. We went to the beach and raced cardboard boats. My tribe got second place! The first place winner got a ton of points. We built our boat in the shape of a bubble. We thought it wouldn’t work, but surprisingly we got second place. It took us twenty minutes to fill it with air. After the race we went kayaking. We went all the way to the other side of the lake. We peddled fast away from there. Afterwards we had tribe time. We went to the game room and played carpet ball. Then we played ping pong. After that, we spent our money at the general store! Finally, we had a campfire where we cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. It was a really fun day at camp!
Archery is a very intense activity. You have to be careful at the shooting range, and follow all the rules. You get to shoot at a fake dinosaur! There is a specific archery stance that you have to be in. It is almost like a superhero position. You face the side of the arm that you write with. Hold the bow with the arm you do not write with and use your thumb to hold the arrow. With your dominant hand, put your middle and ring finger below the arrow, and index finger on top. Then hold, pull back, and shoot! My first time shooting, I had trouble doing it correctly. After practicing a little, I pulled back as far as I could go, aimed, and shot very close to the bulls-eye! My friend shot one of the fake animals in the eye once. So no matter what kind of person you are, you should take archery. It’s my favorite.