Tuesday evening update

Hi Parents and Friend of DMC,   I hope that you have had several chances to check out DMC’s blog, photos, and have had a chance to talk to your youngster.   This past week has continued to go exceedingly well at DMC.  All the staff are enjoying the campers since, as a group, they have a great attitude.  For example – during our first “Mountain Madness” (mountain madness are activities where the staff things up oddball activities for the youngsters – which can get pretty creative), groups of campers would launch water balloons high in the sky which would then plummet to groups of campers making targets with their bodies.  Points were awarded for balloons that would hit the “targets”.  In the past, we have found that some campers take on a “bored” attitude and that “trivial” pursuits are not worthy of their interest.  However, all of our campers get excited and are fully engaged in “Mountain Madness” and all of our activities.  We appreciate and foster this attitude of “let’s do it!”.  The camp has good energy and the campers are embracing all aspects of the program.   On the first weekend of camp, we drove over three 10,000 foot mountain passes along one of the most spectacular drives in the country to the small mining town of Ouray.  While there, we enjoyed the natural hot springs, had lunch along a rushing brook in a high alpine valley, and the kids were able to explore Ouray and enjoy dinner out with their peers.    This past week, the campers are well settled into their routines and I hear from the academic staff that solid progress is being made.  Each week, the campers switch their Outdoor Pursuits, so this past week, we had campers involved with River Runners, Horses, Mountain Biking, Scuba Diving, and Climbing.    Fortunately, and unfortunately, the weather has changed.  The hot dry pattern of this past 2 months has given way to our “monsoon” pattern where moist air gets sucked up to Colorado from the Sea of Cortez.  As this moist air collides with our high mountain peaks, the clouds gather, darken, then coalesce into exciting afternoon thunder storms. This cools the temperatures and gives much needed moisture to our area.  But, it makes our outdoor pursuits challenging.  This past weekend, we camped out in the National Forest and went boating at Vallecito Lake.  It rained and stormed part of each day, but the kids didn’t seem to mind much as they kept on enjoying all of the activities and experiences.   I’m in Hawaii this week teaching a scuba instructor program, and will be back a week from Wednesday.    Your children enjoy your emails, mails, calls, and packages – so keep those coming.   It’s a great summer!   Zane Bilgrav