First night

After 7 hours of driving through winding roads and over fantastically steep hills, we finally arrived at Camp Blanton.

On the way to camp we stopped at a rest stop in Tennessee. Inside we were greeted by a group of older men sitting in a circle playing acoustic guitars together. Some of them wore caps we only knew of as "cowboy hats". Though we only stopped for a restroom break, we were excited to witness an authentic Tennesseean musical performance.

When we finally arrived at Camp Blanton and got settled, we were all ready to sit down for dinner after a bit of free time. Amanda and Janae made some incredible pasta with bell pepper and broccoli and everybody helped themselves to seconds and thirds.

  

I'm already blown away with the quality of our team. Every single participant is genuine, kind, interesting, and so palpably happy to be here. After dinner everyone cleaned up after themselves and began taking initiative on making a bag for recycling, as well as washing the pots and pans.

Finally, we had our first reflection tonight. Janae led our discussion on trip goals and community expectations. The lists included "thoughtful contribution" and "meaningful reflection", and the team definitely hit the nail on the head with this first one. All of us are so excited for the items on this paper to come to life through our experiences this week.