My Commitment:

                Earth Camp inspired me to plant a vegetable garden in my back yard.

                I will do this by removing the playground in my backyard that my sister and I no longer use. In its place my family and I will plant a vegetable garden filled with foods that grow well in Wisconsin.

                I’ve chosen to do this because my journey with Earth Camp has showed me that there are many parts of the world that grow food, despite the fact that they are not ecologically, nor economically fit to grow such foods, and export them to places all over the world. Exporting food is expensive, frequently not necessary, and often, there are better and more natural places for the food to be grown.

                My goal in planting a family garden is to reduce the necessity for exporting food and having your own garden makes healthier and chemical-free food a possibility.

Day Five (July 12th)

                We woke up at Cedar Ridge on Sunday, mildly rested after a night of swarms of hungry mosquitoes and windy storms. A small group of campers, including myself, slept outside, under what should have been stars, but were replaced with clouds. To keep dry, we slept under waterproof tarps pulled tight over ourselves. The wind made sleeping peacefully difficult, and also supplied us with a mouth-full of sand to wake up to.

                Today was our first day riding on the duckies. Duckies are two-person, inflatable kayaks. Most of us took turns riding the duckies, while the others rode on the rafts manned by the guides.

                We stopped mid-morning to observe a panel of Fremont Indian petro glyphs. They depicted the life of the Fremont Tribe, including people, agriculture, animals, and water.

                We stayed at the Log Cabin Campsite for the night. It was named as such because of the rock formation that exists at the top of the cannon wall that looks like a log cabin, and it is said that it is the retirement home of Robert Redford.

                After setting up camp, we split into groups and learned four different lessons from Lynn, Franklin, Mary, and Holly. After eating dinner we played a game of soccer on the beach. I felt as though tonight was one of the first nights that all of the campers got along and spent time as a whole group. It was nice.

                We ended the night with a circle. We listened to the river guides play guitar and sing along for us. Also, we stargazed. We spend that night underneath the rainy stars again.