Tomahawk - Camping Trip!

Last Monday, Kate and I went camping with her class. It was an overnight trip. Katelyn and I drove about 30 minutes from our house. We had everyone's luggage (change of clothes and a sleeping bag). There was 28 of us on this trip and Jason's car was full of bags. I think some kids packed for more than 1 day or had a huge sleeping bag!
The name of the area we went to is "Tomahawk". It is set up on this couples land right next to their house. They have 3 teepees, a big gravel area where they do demonstrations with the horses and a covered area with picnic tables.

We slept in the Buffalo Teepee, the biggest one, which sleeps 12. I had to laugh because we came from the Southwest to Switzerland and we sleep in a teepee in Switzerland!

The weather wasn't all that great. It would rain and the sun would come out for a few minutes and then get cold and rain again. This picture is everyone else arriving to the camp. They took the train and then hiked over to the campground. It just started to rain really hard.

Katelyn and her friends were very excited about this adventure!

The couple dressed up in their Sioux clothing and talked about the Sioux traditions. Everything was spoken in French but they do speak some English.

The teachers built the fire and we had to heat our own water for tea. We had quite a few pots of tea because it was the only thing keeping us warm. I have to say there was quite a bit of smoke with that fire.

The owners also demonstrated how to lasso with different types of rope. He was very good.

Katelyn's teacher, Ms. Greenbaum, and some other classmates were trying to stay warm around the fire.

They did have running water and 2 toilets! This picture is a bit crooked but I was standing on a hill and was trying to be quick about it.

Each of the kids had to bring a piece of meat to be cooked. I think it would have been easier for everyone to send in a couple francs and everyone have the same thing. Everything was well cooked and there were no mix ups. There sure was a variety of meat. This grill was completely full.

I like this picture because it was raining on one side of the camp but not on the other.

We had to do our own dishes. We filled the bags up with water and used hot water from over the fire to do the washing.

At bedtime, we all gathered in our teepee and the chief demonstrated how to build a fire.

We had a hot fire and it took about 5 minutes for the smoke to clear the teepee. That was a little rough but the heat felt great. They told some stories and he played the flute.

We survived and I did my every 20 years camping trip. I have to say it was a fun adventure. The kids had a great time!