Every good and perfect gift is from above.
~James 1:17

Monday, July 09, 2007

YMCA of the Rockies

This is one of my favorite views!
(Click on the picture to get a better idea of how beautiful the view is!)
It is what you see from the big porch of the administration building at the YMCA of the Rockies Camp near Estes Park, Colorado. In our ministry with high school students, my husband and I have spent a week at the Y~camp for many summers as we have helped put on our summer conferences. The camp has great activities for younger kids as well, like day camps, that Grant and Katie have really enjoyed.

Yesterday we drove to Estes Park and, of course, found our way to the Y~Camp. We sat on the huge porch in front of the ad. building and took in the view. The camp recently celebrated their 100 year anniversary and had a sculpture put on the grounds to commemorate the occasion. The kids enjoyed playing on it. :-)
















Isn't that a fun sculpture for a YMCA camp? :-)



Besides being a place that we love, the Y~Camp also plays a role in our family history. When Dave's father was a boy, his family spent many summers in a cabin at the camp. His father was a teacher, so he had the summers off and he spent them with his boys, fishing and hiking near Estes Park. The family always stayed in the same cabin and the two boys even built a tree house in a tree by their cabin.

Yesterday we decided to go find the actual cabin that Dave's dad stayed in all those summers. When we found it, we wondered, "Where did the boys build their treehouse?" We saw a big tree right next to the little cabin. Could it have been in that one? Guess what we saw up in that tree?














Can you believe it?! Those boards were put there by two little boys over 60 years ago!

It was exciting for our family to see the remnant of the treehouse still up there in that tree! It was fun to imagine what their summers were like and all the fun they had exploring and playing in the area. Dave grew up hearing stories of those summers. Now we tell our children stories about Granddad and his summers at the Y~Camp.

6 comments:

jen said...

such a neat thing that the boards are still there! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is amazing that those boards are still there! I also remember the two summers I spent a week at that camp. And I distincly remember that view. What a beautiful place.

Anonymous said...

Hi Brooke! :-)
Good to hear from you again! What have you been up to lately? Love to catch up with you sometime!

Lisa Stucky said...

yep- i know that view well. glad you guys are getting to do some fun stuff. estes park really is an amazing place!

Donna Boucher said...

What a wonderful surprise!!
It makes me all teary for some reason.

The YMCA status is clever and inviting!
Very cool!

Anonymous said...

I was writing a book and hit something and it all disappeared. Such an interesting story about Dave's Dad and his summers at the cabin. I can't believe ANY of the boards would still be there. I bet the kids were impressed. I know I am. I sureloved the trips we took to Colo. Remember the time we were camping in Estes Park and it was so cold in the morning. I was trying to fix breakfast on the coleman and the paper plates kept blowing away. The 3 of you were sitting in the warm car watching me do battle out there. That is the day we went to Colo Springs and it was so nice. That is also when I told your Dad that I was never fixing another meal on the stove. And since he didn't do that kind of thing, we ate out in the future. Those beautiful pictures sure do bring back a lot of memories. Talk to you later, Love, Mom