December 17, 2008

This past Saturday we had our last Saturday night activity. We had an "old west" themed dance. DJ Baba Fats (a.k.a. the History apprentice Avery) was spinning all night. It was a blast. About 30 minutes before the end of the dance, all of the students were surprised with a murder mystery game in which we all had to figure out who the murderer was. It was kind of like Clue. It was an awesome night full of laughs and crazy dancing. The next day we all headed over to Ski Cooper where we skied for about three hours. The powder was fresh, the runs were long, and there was a cloudless, sunny blue sky that was hovering above us. It was a fantastic last weekend of the semester. 

On Tuesday, we all participated in 'solo'. The purpose of solo, as Molly puts it, is to "go sit in the woods with ourselves." In the morning we ate breakfast and packed our lunches and then headed out to the woods next to Turquoise Lake. Justin led us down the road and directed us to our well-spaced campsites. Once we were there, we were on our own. Most of us began by setting up a tarp, even though it was an unseasonably warm day. Many of us borrowed snow shovels from the gear room mainly for the fun of playing in the snow and attempting to build some little snow forts. A highlight of many people's days was the opportunity for extended napping. With no iPods, books, letters, or other distractions the main activities of the day were sleeping and staring at trees-which is way more fun than it sounds. Overall, everybody had an incredible time. The only complaint of the day was that it was too short!

Then on Wednesday, we had our semester-wide Superclean. We were sent to our chore area to clean it from top to bottom, getting in those hard to reach places we had neglected during the semester. We scrubbed the stove, wiped the bathrooms clean, and cleaned every other surface and window on campus. After several hours, the school looked fantastic. We had mopped all the floors and everything was spotless. At that point we were sent to our cabins to clean and pack. Once all our stuff was packed, we moved beds and bookcases and we swept beneath them. Then after wiping down walls and windows, we mopped the cabin floor and let the place dry. Superclean was no easy chore, but it felt great to see the campus so clean and fresh for the next semester.

And now, as this update is being posted, we are all on planes returning us to our various homes around the country. We will miss this place, this experience, and, most of all, these people.  Thanks so much to everyone for making RMS XXV amazing.

By: Laura Hansen, Genevieve Meller, & Schuyler Pagenstecher