July 7th

Dear Janine,

We're finally at Camp! Boy was the bus ride a long one though. There were about 50 of us kids and campers altogether, and everyone was making a ton of noise because they were excited. I figured out within the first 15 minutes that I forget about trying to draw in my sketchbook. In the first place, the Camp Mohawk bus is so old and bouncy, that everytime I would lift my pencil the bus would go "Bump" and the pencil would go flying. Second, everyone was talking and singing and yelling so loud that I couldn't concentrate on anything. Last (and this is really gross) is that in the seat behind me sat Mallory and Margo Pike. Margo is known for, well, not feeling good on bus rides. You'd think that she would start outgrowing this soon but she's 9 now and hasn't showing any signs of outgrowing. In fact, about halfway to Camp Mohawk Margo had already opened her window and gotten sick about 10 times. This caused me to get so nauseated I couldn't try.

So instead, I talked to Stacey on the ride. We talked about the old times at camp, how fun it was going to be working in the canteen together and what cabins we might get assigned to. Stacey was hoping to get assigned to the 8 year old cabin. This was because two summers ago Stacey worked with the 6 year olds and had made friends with a little girl named "Nonie" (I actually have no idea what her real name is). Anyway, Stacey had written to Nonie and Nonie said she was going back to Camp again this summer, so Stacey really wanted to be her counselor. I really didn't care what cabin I was in, although I thought it would be kind of cool to be in the 11 year old cabin so that I could be with Haley and Vanessa who were in MY cabin last time.

Speaking of Haley and Vanessa, at one point during the ride they came over and plopped into the seat in front of us. It was empty, thank the Lord. Anyway, they turned around and said to me, "So Claudia. do you think you'll see Will again this summer?" I must have turned the darkest shade of red possible. In my color pencil set, that is called Brick Red. Remember Will Yamakawa? The really cute Japanese guy that I met (and fell in luv with) two summers ago at camp? We had kept in touch through letters and calls, and once he came to visit- I think you met him then. Anyway, lately Will and I haven't talked as much. He has a new girlfriend and I've busy, so communication has kind of slowed. So anyway, once the brick red color had left my face I said, "I don't know". Then Haley asked, "Do you want to?". Hmm.. Interesting question. I would be nice to see Will again, but seeing him might bring back all my old feelings and I didn't know if I was prepared to deal with that. So I answered, "I don't know."

Haley, Vanessa, Stacey and I chatted a while more until Jessi finally called out "I see it! I see Camp Mohawk!" and just about every camper and some counselors stood up in their seats to catch a glimpse of the camp. The bus pulled in and stopped in front of main field, by the flagpole. All of the girls piled out (I could see Kristy giving last minute instructions to David Michael before she left) and pulled their suitcases off the bus.

All of the campers and counselors were yelling and hugging, many reunions were going on. Stacey spotted Nonie there with her younger sister, and so she ran over to greet her. I saw Mal and Jessi catching up with Mandi, a girl who was in their cabin two years ago and apparently was now a CIT. I saw Kristy being reunited with Tansy and Lauren, two of her old co- Cit's and MaryAnne was giving Randi, her old co-Cit a hug. I also saw Miko Tyrell, the girl who had shared the infirmary with Stacey. I looked around for Sally Troner, MY old co-cit but I didn't see her. All of a sudden I heard someone calling "Claudia! Claudia!". I turned around and saw Jayme and LeeAnn, two of my old campers from 9B. "Hi!" I called. It was a joyous reunion. I walked Jayme and LeeAnn over to Vanessa and Haley, and there were more joyous greetings. It felt so good to be back at camp. I was about to introduce Jayme and LeeAnn to Stacey and Nonie, when I heard a familiar voice saying over a loudspeaker,

"All Campers please assemble at the flagpole for cabin assignments."

Oops! Sorry to cut this short Janine, but I have to go give my campers a tour, since I have a lot of newbies in my cabin. I promise I will finish telling you all of this soon! Say Hi to mom and dad, and give Lynn a kiss for me!

Luv,
Claudia