Are we there yet?

CampAPhi is a phenomenon that encompasses my life every summer. This year will be our fourth gathering of sisters at the lake for a wonderful long weekend of bonding, relaxing, laughing, eating, drinking, storytelling and all out joy. What began as an idea among a small group of my sorority sisters about five years ago, has turned into an annual tradition that is growing by leaps and bounds. A group of about 8 or so "Dallas/Ft.Worth" area Phi's used to meet monthly for dinner. Our dinner club was so much fun and such a source of happiness for our entire group that we started discussing how great it would be to "get away" for a weekend together. Being that no one in our humble group had the funds to consider a weekend of pampering at a spa or a trip to Vegas, we started throwing around the idea of a weekend at the lake. I took the idea and ran with it. I found us a cabin at Lake Whitney outside of Hillsboro and the planning began. That first year, 10 brave sisters embarked on a weekend like no other. The cabin was far from luxurious - it was actually downright old and sort of creepy. However, it offered a large gathering area around the kitchen table, a pool to swim in, peacocks to observe and separate sleeping areas for most of us to escape when too much 'together time' began to wear thin. We celebrated two weddings and the birth of a legacy and had long discussions about "where is.....???". For a group that hadn't spent much more than a few hours together at dinner since college, we managed to have a lot of fun and everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves - so it was decided we would do it again the next summer.

The following year, I decided to find a different cabin site but at the same lake. Unfortunately, it was hard to find a weekend at the end of summer that worked for the majority. So CampAPhi #2 had a whopping turnout of 6. Since we were such a small group, I found a nice small cabin overlooking the lake. The view was gorgeous - the cabin was tiny. I knew the minute I walked thru that door that I'd made a mistake. How could 6 girls spend 3 days in such small quarters? Not only did we manage, but we had the time of our lives. We met an inspirational group of ladies that had been having a similar girls weekend for years and their "organizer" even came down to give me some pointers on how to keep our weekends going and growing. Their group had grown to over 20 that year and I couldn't imagine us every having nearly that many Phi's together at once. (This year we will have 19). They had also lost a 'sister' that prior year to breast cancer and had a beautiful candle ceremony on the lake one night to celebrate her life. Wow, did that have an impact on the six of us. Those three days in that tiny cabin helped us form a bond that is hard to describe. From soggy casseroles, paddle boating, tarantulas, wads of glorious cheese, swimming, and long walks to time together playing games and laughing til it hurt - this CampAPhi was a hit!

Based on word of mouth and figuring out that mid-June worked better for the group, last summer grew to 11. We changed lakes and found a cabin that accommodated almost the entire group. There were bumps in the road but the owners were extremely accommodating and opened other cabins to us for storage, sleeping, etc. as needed. CC brought up her pontoon and a whole new experience was born. Getting out on the actual lake as a group was a ton of fun. AC made a great captain and allowed CC to relax a bit. Although, there were no cheese wads or soggy casseroles, there was still a lot of laughter, great food and good times.

This year, I decided we'd stick w/ the same location because they'd just completed a new cabin when we were leaving last year and it would accommodate up to 20. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd have that many. I sent out my deposit request letter in January and 12 Phi's signed up for camp. Then word of mouth started spreading the joys of CampAPhi thru emails, gatherings, etc. and the next thing I knew we had a whole new group asking to join us. I cannot tell you how excited we all are to have so many sisters join us for the first time this summer and to have some finally able to rejoin after missing some prior years due to scheduling conflicts. The only downer is that Captain AC cannot join us because of something about a wedding anniversary trip or something silly like that. :-) We will survive w/o her but she will be sorely missed.

Since about January, I have slowly let CampAphi start consuming my thoughts. By May, I'm in full planning mode - spreadsheets of what everyone needs to bring, money collection to pay for the cabin and extras, arrival times, maps, etc. Well, today is officially seven days til CampAPhi 2008 and it pretty much occupies my every thought. There is a lot of planning and stress that goes into these weekends but they are totally worth it to me. I love that I can plan something the provides something important to our group. I love that our little weekend has grown to include sisters we'd lost touch with or had not seen in years. The work is worth it and all I keep thinking each morning when I wake up is.....are we there yet?