• RSS The Last Chance Texaco

    • Sweeping
      “Simply tell him that we will never get over drinking until we have done our utmost to straighten out the past. We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do. His faults [...]
    • Thin Again
      I’ve always been a skinny person.  Before my addiction to crystal meth the most I ever in my life weighed was 180 pounds.  I’m also 6′4″ so while 180 isn’t exactly underweight it is only a 32″ waist.  Call it narcissism but it’s an aesthetic I really like on me. Post crystal meth addiction I gained [...]
    • Day 5 (plus 1000)
      I can’t believe it. Day 1000 passed without my noticing it. I was in Las Vegas at the time visiting my mom and dad. I spent the day hanging out with them, my great-uncle and his new wife and daughter, my aunt and two of my cousins. Watched some football. [...]
    • Exhausted . . . again. Naturally.
      They’re out. They’re back in. They’re out. They’re back in. It’s exhausting. I’m afraid I have a growing prejudice against those that seem to want it but aren’t willing to ride out the discomfort in order to achieve long term sobriety. Not that I can claim anything like long term [...]
    • Back from the dead
      I am really feeling grateful for my life today.  And I’m feeling especially grateful for the time that I spent with my sponsor up in Atlanta and everything that has followed. Friday night I got to take one of my favorite people, Jill, the friend who let me detox at her house, out for dinner at [...]
    • Old Ideas
      “Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.” -Alcoholics Anonymous, page 58 Some of us have tried to hold on to them without even knowing that is what we’re doing, until it bites us. I was thinking about my conversation with Chris Lawford a [...]
  • Archives

This one time, at mormon camp

The place was amazing.  I had such a good time.  My aunt pulled me aside at one point and asked me if it was “too mormon” for me, but, no, it was terrific.  This isn’t my picture but  it is taken from the camp which is backed up right against these mountains and located immediately above Sundance  Ski Resort.

Provo CanyonAnd as for the mormon thing; well there was NO caffine and NO smoking.  My sister Stephanie and her husband were smart enough to smuggle in a case of Starbuck’s lattes and right behind their cabin was the trail (public) that lead down to Sundance so we could smoke and drink coffee to our heart’s delight without disturbing the faithful.  God bless that girl.  In relative terms or families were small averaging three children per couple.  Remember now that I’m skewing the curve.  The average for the entire camp, however, even including my family, was 5 children per couple.  It was actually heartening to see all the right people reproducing for a change.

Every day was packed with activities for adults and children alike.  Children were split up by age group and had a full program of cool stuff to do under the direction of camp counselors, all upper division education or social work students at BYU.  Adults had a huge range of options including things like a ropes course, hiking and badminton tournaments.  Essentially it is Club Med for mormons.

The menus in the dining hall were clearly kid-centric but the food was still good.  No fruit could be observed being held hostage in the Jell-O, which was BYU blue.  There were board games to check out if your family wanted to stay indoors (like if it rained – which it did) and rooms, all equipped with a piano, in the lodge extended families could reserve for such activities. If you lost anything it actually and invariably ended up in the lost and found.

It was frickin’ (the strongest word I can use in this context) perfect!  I really wish I was able to stay the full week with the rest of my 80 something family members.  It is actually the first time we have ever all, every one of my grandmother’s children, grand children and great grand children, been in the same place at the same time.  (Yes we got a family picture and yes we all matched – horrifying, but it will look good.)

One thing about mormons – they know family.

One Response

  1. [...] doesn’t count, but 2 years ago my entire clan got together for a reunion (you can read about here) and we’ll be together again in a couple of days.  For the first time in decades I’ll [...]

Leave a Reply