| | I should have known not to have unrealistic expectations
about Lake Junaluska. I was impressed by the existence of hotel
facilities located at the camp, though. When
my host pastor, Michael, mentioned our first meeting would be at the “Health Center,” I was certain that everything would be completely fine. (If
possible, I don’t travel to hotels that don’t have gyms or room service. There.
Now you know. Don’t judge me.)
My sister and her husband--the crazy outdoor enthusiasts---make fun of me because I
am apparently “a city person.” I do
prefer the culture and pulse of the city, being surrounded by people, and
sometimes, I get a queasy, helpless feeling when I’m too far away from
civilization.
I didn’t grow up camping and even though I was a wandering little
kid who ran around and played with bugs, I’m not a big fan of tents, lack of
showers, or having no occasion for heels as an adult. The first time I went away to Camp Kulaqua
(Seventh-day Adventist camp in High Springs, FL) when I was 14, I stayed in a two story mini- lodge
with carpet and air conditioning. Any
grime could be easily disposed of in one of the two bathrooms that was
professionally cleaned every day.
Today, however, I almost had to fight tears when the front
desk told me that there were no indoor workout facilities at Lake Junaluska. Apparently, I have to go for a run around the
lake if I want exercise. As if people
still do that. 
View from the path along the lake that I walk to reach the pavilion where I speak...and where I will also be running later today.
Since the classmates and I decided we’re running the
Virginia Beach Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in September, I suppose there are worse
fates that could have befallen me here. Like the time at Camp Kulaqua
when some girl I had to share the mini lodge with stole my towel. I had a flashback moment yesterday when my
sister and my mother were driving away and referenced the frantic phonecall
made eleven years ago demanding that my mother, “COME AND GET ME RIGHT NOW! I DON’T CARE IF YOU HAVE TO DRIVE FOUR HOURS
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! WHY DON’T YOU LOVE ME?!”
I jokingly assured her yesterday,
“I’ve got cable TV, wireless internet, and a cell
phone this time. I just might make it." 
Along the lake right before my sister and mother left me yesterday. My mother did come back this morning to hear me speak, though...and to bring fruits and snacks. Much like sleep away camp, the food is pretty awful.
The pavilion where I speak is the one here, on the water. That is a swimming pool bordering the lake. Yes, there is a swimming pool and I realize I have no occassion to be whining.
I’m also a semi-important invited speaker, so I get a hotel room with this view: 
That room would be sans dirty strangers who steal towels, by the way. I love adulthood.
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| | Posted 5/26/2008 2:09 PM - 34 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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