During Labor Day weekend, I went on a Brotherhood
Camping Fellowship with some members of the co-ed
fraternity that I am involved in. The location of the
three-day event was held at Cooley Ranch in Santa
Rosa. The ranch is private land, so there is no specific
address that can be used to locate it on a map website.
One of the member's (Paige) family owns a portion of the
ranch and she only provided us with directions straight
from her memory. The directions were pretty simple, but
the route on the way there looked a lot more compli-
cated. I think it was due to the fact that we were travel-
ing at night. We went from the highway to a curvy
mountain road that was completely dark. Paige was in
the first car ahead of two others and she was our guide;
so we barely used the written directions.
The ranch is a complicated place to search for in maps
because the place is not indicated specifically. I tried to
search "Cooley Ranch" on mapquest.com, but it did not
give me any direct directions. It did give me a map of
the whole country and some places that had part of the
name in it. However, there is a site that I found on
google.com that provided a better map of Sonoma
County, which is where the ranch resides. There is also
a small map that shows how big the ranch is. These maps
were the most informational sources I could find about
the place. I can understand it since it is private land. If
it was not private, mapquest would of definitely offered
straightforward directions.
So how was the camping trip you ask? I can definitely
tell you all about it. First, to sum it all up, I can say it
was a blast. It was not the kind of camping where all
your resources were whatever nature provided you.
We actually had a little house in the area with a kitchen,
bathroom, dishes, forks, all kinds of goods. We did
try our best to keep it close to the traditional ways
though. I guess I can say that this trip was my first
semi-camping experience. I really should have had
more outings before this. After all, I am a Taurus.
Fri. Sept.1 - Left San Jose to go on a three hour drive up
to Cooley Ranch in Santa Rosa. I left with a majority of
the executive committee members in the fraternity. The
highlight of the drive: stopping on the side of the road
right off the Golden Gate Bridge because the tarp in the
back of Sunshine's (she is the VP of Membership) truck
flew off. It was scary too because she almost got hit by a
speeding bus. The route that we took in the last hour of
the journey reminded me of a typical slasher movie. I
was waiting for some freak with greasy hair, and one blue
and one brown eye to pop up next to the president's
window. That would of been so creepy, but funny at the
same time. At least I did not say that. I probably would
of been the first to go. When we got there, we brought out
all of our equipment and went straight to the tent. We
played verbal games and solved riddles. Then, everyone
knocked out. It took me a while to sleep and when I did,
I kept waking up. I was not used to sleeping without a hard
wall above me. Also, my imagination was running wild.
Sat. Sept.2 - Sleeping in the morning felt great for some reason.
I think it was the cool, fresh air. After breakfast, we learned how
to post up the American flag and then went on a hike toward the
creek. It was all rocks over there, but I managed to find one
shaped as a heart. Aww. My co, Paul, stepped on a little frog.
Poor thing. It lived. After that, all eight of us went on a safari
ride through parts of the ranch. That was a highlight. I got
smacked in the face a couple of times by branches, saw some
wild animals, chased a boar down a path, observed gorgeous
scenery, and got splashed on driving through the creek waters.
It was such a perfect day and it felt really good to explore. Five
more members arrived to join in on the fun. (There were thirteen
of us total.) We all got split into three groups. I was in the green
team, the "Gumbies." I came up with the name. He was the first
thing that came to mind. We had the least people. In our groups,
we did three "workshops" on how to build a campfire, build tents,
and "cross the lava." Our team did the best job with our strategy.
Later on after a delicious dinner, we sat next to the campfire to do
our skits that we planned out beforehand. Our group based our skit
on how to survive a chapter meeting. I had to impersonate someone
that was "too cool" for me. I tried to be as loud as I could. We ate
smores to end the night. Then, everyone did their own thing. I ended
up with the group of people who were telling ghost stories. I did not let
it get to me, but I do have a very imaginitive mind. I slept in the
biggest tent with four other people. In the middle of the night, I heard
scary coyote sounds. They sounded like they were in excruciating pain.
My imaginitive mind was ruling again. I was freaked out!
Sun. Sept.3 - After another morning of breakfast, we all started the day
with a hike. There were huge rocks all over the area that we had to cross
through. I brought up the fact that I felt like I was on the kids show "GUTS."
A couple of us were making fun of it, as if we were on the "agro-crag" that
was always the last challenge in the show. Some of us had to walk across
the creek with our socks and shoes. We reached our destination point and
did icebreakers before we got picked up to go back to our camping site. After
lunch, we had free time to swim while the other five members who came late
went on their safari experience. It was nice to sit around by the pool and
watch people jump into the freezing water. It was like they got shocked with
first contact of the waves. The others also went swimming when they
came back. Then, we all participated in a relay race created by Ron (one of
the VPs of Fellowship). Now this was when the "Real World/Road Rules
Challenge" type of activities came into play. The green team was ahead during
the first half, but the red team won. I could not believe it! They had a riddle
and our team had a 100 piece puzzle to work on. Oh well. It was all fun and
games. I was so worn out after that workout, I went to nap. It was a good one
too. Another campfire night followed dinner and we had to act out another
skit. It had to be about risk management. So, our group just did the whole topic
in general and how it is supposed to be common sense. We concluded campfire
night with sing-alongs, jokes, and banana boats. Yum! Our VPs of Fellowship
ended the whole weekend by connecting our circle by having us hold a rope
and cut pieces to wrap around our wrists. This indicated that our connection and
experience would always be a part of each and every one of us. It was a lovely
moment. The songs that we learned from Sara (the other VP of Fellowship) were
fun to sing. We sounded good.
Mon. Sept.4 - I woke up to a freezing morning. We ate breakfast for the last
time and packed up everything we had. Everyone also had the chance to
sign a huge card for Paige's (one of the Secretaries) super generous parents
for letting us hold our event at their ranch. We all had a grand time the
whole weekend. We even shared our thoughts with each other one last time.
I was going to miss it, but at the same time I was ready to go back to city
life.
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