Created by:
Laura Caton
© 2009 Caton. No parts of this book may be reproduced, copied, or saved by any means other than it’s original intent without expressed written permission of the author. All illustrations are copyrighted and registered by Caton and may not be used, copied, saved, or altered by any means. Contact the author at: caton.laura@gmail.com
On the first day of camp Sam does not want to participate in the activities. He is sad that there will be no Camp Soaring Eagle for him next year. Chris, a camp friend, and one of the counselors encourage him to join the activities that are happening this year.
"How are we going to find another camp Chris?" says Sam.
"Well we could ask the counselors, our parents, and friends." responds Chris.
"That's true, but there are few other summer camps on base." says Sam.
"Well we could look off base too." mentions Chris.
"You might look at overnight camps too." says a counselor.
"What is an overnight camp?" respond Chris and Sam together.
"It is a camp where you stay there for a few days to a couple of weeks usually without your parents. You to do tons more stuff because you have more time." says another counselor.
"Like what kind of stuff?" says Chris.
"At an overnight camp you might sleep in tents, have camp fires, go canoeing, or go for hikes in the woods." responds the counselor.
"I do not think I would like sleeping in a tent. What do you think Sam?" says Chris
"I do not thinks so. I would get scared and we would have to sleep on the hard ground." says Sam
"Well you do not sleep in tents at every camp. Some camps you might sleep in cabins or dorms." says the counselor.
"That would be better." says Sam.
"Yeah!" shouts Chris.
"What if we cannot go to camp next year?" says Chris.
"If you cannot go to camp next year you might be moving to another base with your family, you might go on a family vacation, or you might just stay home for the summer." says a counselor.
"Even if you cannot go to another camp for part of the summer you can still have lots of fun." mentions another counselor
"Yeah right there is nothing to do on Quantico base ever!" says Sam.
"Thats not true." says a counselor.
"Whatever I am stuck without anything to do next summer." moans Sam.
"Oh come on you can go to the movies for super cheap, you can go bowling, you can hike or bike in Lunga Park, you can go on the Quantico Base fish trip, or join one of the summer sports teams." says a counselor.
http://www.militarycampgrounds.us/component/content/article/52-virginia/207-Lunga-Park
"Yeah Sam there is tons to here. How about we go home and talk to our parents about it tonight." says Chris.
"That sounds good Chris." says Sam.
"See you tomorrow Sam." says Chris.
"Later Chris." says Sam.
"Good morning Sam and Chris." says a counselor.
"Hey." Chris and Sam both respond at once.
"Hey Chris what did your parents say about next summer?" says Sam.
"Hey Sam my parents suggested we should research a few different camps and that they might let me go to one." says Chris.
"Chris that is awesome. My parents suggested the samething and that I should look at places I would like to go if the camps do not work out." says Sam.
"Yeah that is a good idea!" says Chris.
"So what are you two interested in doing at a summer camp?" asks a counselor.
" I want to rock climb, hike, and go biking." says Sam.
"That would be cool, but I also want to canoe, swim, and learn about archery." says Chris.
"Those all sounds like great activities. What kind of camp will you need to do those kinds of things?" asks a counselor.
"Well I guess we will need an outdoor camp with lots of land and a lake or river." says Chris.
"Yeah and some hills or a rock climbing wall." says Sam.
"Where do you boys think you could find information on other summer camps?" asks a counselor.
"I don't know." responds Sam.
"Sam why don't we try the internet." suggests Chris.
"Yeah that might work." says Sam.
"How should we start looking for summer camps?" asks Chris.
"Well you could put in the search box 'overnight summer camps'." says a counselor.
"Then we get a huge list of camps. I don't want to look through all of this." exclaims Chris.
"Well each of you might read about two different camps at the same time. Then tell each other about the camp. The searching would go faster." responds the counselor.
"Hey Sam look at this site! It is called mysummercamps.com. It has a list of summer camps for the USA and Canada. You can search by zipcode, state, or the type of camp. Looks like they have a lot of camps listed." says Chris.
"Yeah I see what you mean Chris. How about we choose a few and go find their websites to get more information." says Sam.
"That sounds good to me. Hey Sam if you write down the names of the summer camps you like it will be easier to search for them." says Chris.
"Good idea Chris. Thanks!" says Sam.
"Which ones do you like Sam?" asks Chris.
"I like this one in Maryland and another in Virginia." says Sam.
"Hey we both like the same camp in Virginia. Maybe we can go together next summer." says Chris.
"That would be awesome Chris." says Sam.
"Lets go home tonight and tell our parents what we found." says Chris.
"Ok see you tomorrow Chris." says Sam.
"Sam what did your parents think about the camps we found?" asks Chris.
"Chris they liked the camps, but want us to find more information about them and other options closer to home for next summer." says Sam.
"Ok Sam I think we can do that. Where do you want to start today?" says Chris.
'How about we start with the things we could do around here since we have not looked at that much." says Sam.
"As a family we could take the train and visit places in Washington D.C. We could explore the Washington Mall, the museums, and other great things to see." says Sam.
"That would be fun, Sam." says Chris.
'If we were on base we could walk down to the bowling alley, the movie theatre, or the park for the afternoon." says Sam.
"That's true those things are always here." says Chris.
So if you don't find another camp for next summer will you still have fun?" asks a counselor.
"Yeah we will because we have tons of stuff to do on base or just a train ride away. Even if we don't go to another camp we can still have a great summer." says Sam.
"Ok Sam lets go have fun with the others for the last day of camp this year." says Chris.
"Sounds good Chris. Thanks for helping me out." says Sam.