OUTDOOR EXPLORATION CAMPING TRIP

[goosemods]

OUTDOOR EXPLORATION CAMPING TRIP

It's a sunny morning when the participating Outdoor Exploration characters meet Mr. Thorn and Mr. Covington at the docks. They're packed and prepared for the two night trip to Wolf Island, as selected by Hazel Keating.

Ennis Harper coordinates a bon voyage! sendoff, getting as many students as they can to stand at the docks, wave handkerchiefs and throw confetti at the departing boats. We'll miss you so much! Don't forget us!

Upon arrival at the island, Dahlia Hale has the unfortunate luck of slipping as they get out of their canoe, and they fall into the water. Lachlan Galbraith came prepared, and kindly lends them their spare jacket for the trip.

The campground is on the lake shore, and all the tents circle where a large bonfire will be set up. The clear night promises excellent stargazing to all who are interested.

CAMPING RULES:

• Dress appropriately for the weather. Although it's getting warmer, you must bring a jacket, a change of clothes, and appropriate footwear. You will be left behind if you're not dressed properly.
• No large electronics of any kind. If you brought something he doesn't like, Thorn's confiscating it, no questions. The only exceptions are: flashlights, small music players with headphones, GPS devices, and cameras. And before you ask, no, portable video game systems are not allowed. Thorn says: "Come on, why sign up for a camping trip just to play on your little no-maj thingies? You can do that when we get back."
• Buddy system at all times. Do not go off on your own.
• Don't leave the trail.
• Respect your tent-mates. If Thorn suspects there's a problem, he's stepping in.
• Lights out is 10:00 PM. All students must be quiet with lights off after this hour.
• You must help carry the group's equipment.
• Clean up after yourself.
• All the rules that apply on campus apply here, kids! The only things you're escaping are your uniforms and classes.
• If you act up, you're being sent home early with Mr. Covington and will be banned from future OE trips.
• Thorn is serious about making sure you kids learn how to survive in the great outdoors without your wands, and therefore insists all the set up and take down be done without magic. He doesn't humor any arguments about wandless magic, either. "Those are the rules. Now get to it!"

HOW THIS WORKS

• Students will leave Friday morning to take boats out to Lone Wolf Island. They are permitted to skip class that day.


• Upon arrival, tents are set up. It's four people to a tent!


• No magic is allowed when working on setting up camp and survival skills.


• Although this is a single IC/OOC, the trip is lasting two nights.


• Students who don't have sleeping bags, pillows, boating or camping gear will be provided with school loaners.

TENTS:

Kazim, Nathaniel, Neil & Takeru	Sylvester & Jacob	Dahlia, Faye, Henrietta & Sun-mi
Kurt, Solomon & William	Damon & Calvin	Charlotte, Fern & Hazel
Christopher, Jefferson, Zachary & Wilde	Clementine & Adeline	Avery, Estella, & Lachlan
Mackenzie & Iliya	Dominic, Matteo & Wyatt	Cecil, Diego & Levi

» DEPARTURE ON BOATS: Those leaving gather at the docks to boat out to the island. A number of students not leaving on the trip ham it up by standing on the docks and tearfully waving handkerchiefs at the campers as they boat away.

» SETTING UP CAMP: Everyone arrives at the camp site and begins setting things up. Remember: no wands! Henrietta Gray oversees the process.

» SWIMMING, FISHING & BOATING: The climbing temperatures means that it's perfect weather to jump in the lake! The water's still awfully chilly, but if you keep moving, it's not so bad. You can also take the boats out onto the water and do some fishing.

» CAMPFIRE & DINNER: Mr. Covington cooks up a hearty meal, and the campfire roars pleasantly as he shares with you some stories about his youth in Colorado. There's a little live music and dancing for those interested!

» NIGHTTIME: The sun has long since set and it's almost quiet time. Time for everyone to get some rest.

» RETURN HOME: Some of your friends may be waiting at the docks to greet you when you return Sunday morning.

» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

Comments

DEPARTURE ON BOATS

[goosemods]

Jeffy

[racingstripe]

As everyone's waving and tossing confetti and wishing them a safe and joyous journey to the far off land of Lone Wolf Island, Jeffy tries to match their collective energy.

"GOODBYE! FAREWELL!! I MISS YOU ALREADY!!" he shouts as his boat drifts across the lake, waving to his many best friends. "DON'T FORGET US!"

Pippa

[orangepip]

Although she takes a handful of confetti to throw at the boats, there's a slight frown pinching Pippa's forehead. Lone Wolf Island is haunted, and at Gooseberry "haunted" means something a lot scarier than it ever did at Hogwarts. Why on earth anyone would want to spend TWO nights on the island is beyond her -- but her friends are VERY BRAVE. "Goodbye! Stay safe!" she calls, waving. (Is she going to worry about them until they return? Yes, she is.)

Jaime

[lupofiasco]

Given that Ennis has organized the farewell theatrics, he's losing his buddies Lachlan and Addy for two nights, and some of his Quidditch bros are leaving, it's no surprise that Jaime comes to wave goodbye! He shows up post morning run so he's extra energized as he throws as much confetti as he can. Behave on your trip, Lannie!! Kick camping's butt, Addy!! Godspeed, Captain Etta!! Eat your s'mores veggies, Jeffy!! Levi, don't do anything Jaime wouldn't do!!

SETTING UP CAMP

[goosemods]

Lachlan

[lachlangalbraith]

Lachlan is new to Gooseberry this year and therefore still relatively new to the Outdoor Exploration Club, but he's definitely not new to camping. A Scout from the time he was a wee lad, he's experienced when it comes to setting up camp and will take the lead on putting up the tent for himself, Avery, and Essie unless the girls refuse to let him. Once that's done, he'll help out anywhere else he can both because he knows how and because he'd like Etta, Mr. Thorn and/or Mr. Covington to take notice! Yes, he's even a teacher's pet in the woods, guys.

If there's no work to be done, he'll take to watching the trees (he's still looking for that western tanager!) and socializing with his peers. He did bring along a textbook or two, but he'll save the studying for tonight.

Nate

[birdbrainy]

Ah, menial labor, where Nate truly shines. He doesn't even mind if his room/tentmates help him set up the tent or not because he has his system. His system takes twice as long as it needs to but that's the price of quality.

He lays the equipment and various camping supplies out in the order he'll need them and starts popping up their tent before anyone else can even jump in and offer to help. He's relieved they'll get a night away from the staring eyes of the weird doll that had somehow become their cabin mascot.

Or, well, so he assumes.

Fern + Charlotte + Hazel

[nothalfplaid]

"Ladies," Fern says with a nod to each in turn. "Let's get down to business and show them how the coppersophs do it."

Etta

[unregrettable]

Thanks to years of experience, Etta is an efficient and hands-on overseer, making sure everyone's got enough space around them before they start putting up their tent. Camp layout is important, people! She jokes that she'll confiscate any wands she sees out, and don't think anything will escape her beady Seeker vision.

Etta leads by example, and after setting out her gear she wanders around the camp flexing her biceps helping anyone who looks like they need a hand.

Sy & Jacob

[threatens]

It's been a full year since Sy went camping, thanks to his bullshit shenanigans in October. Well, unless Sy counts that time he camped out without staff approval, but that was like... barely the same thing. He didn't have to set up his own tent then.

And he has no idea why the shit Thorn decided to pair him up with Jacob fuckin' Wood of all people. Sy picks up one of the tent poles and throws it at Jacob without warning. "You even fuckin' know what you're doing out here?"

Addy and Clem HAVE AN ADVENTURE

[addytives]

It's a beautiful day. Between herself and Clem, despite Addy's general incompetence at such tasks, the tent got set up fairly quickly. There isn't anything scheduled for a little while, so Addy and her tentmate decided to go on a little victory hike. There's a trail through the island that Addy hasn't explored before, and Clem's a good partner for that kind of mission. Addy will never say so, but she's finding it kind of nice to walk through a forest without looking over her shoulder, wondering who else is there. (If there's a tree just a little ahead with a very odd nest in its hollow, Addy doesn't see it quite yet.)

She has a certain spring in her step as she walks down the trail, brushing a shock of impossible blonde hair over her eyes. She pauses to try, for the millionth time, to try and tame it with a humble elastic band. (It will never work.) The sun is beating down, but that just makes her smile too, even as she casts a semi-apologetic glance back at Clem. "As soon as we get back, I'm gonna jump in the lake and use mud water for hair gel. Like our ancestors." She assumes.

Dimi tags in super late whee

[evercretin]

This is only Dimi’s second time trying out this whole camping thing. Last time, there had been substances to make the event seem far more tolerable than it actually was. The realization that camping without magic is actually completely awful hits Dimi sometime between his standing over a heap of tent parts and his accidentally flinging a tent pole off into the brush when he let it bend too far.

"Bollocks," he says as he watches the vital piece of tent construction disappear into the foliage.

SWIMMING, FISHING & BOATING

[goosemods]

Levi Day 1; Fishing & Open

[gdilevi]

Levi is all about that aquatic recreation. As soon as camp's set up and all their belongings are situated in their tents, Levi breaks out his tackle box and rod and grabs a boat with [Open] to see what they can catch for dinner.

Dahlia Day 1, Swimming!

[dollywould]

Dahlia's basically already gone swimming, but she's leaving Lachlan's jacket on the shore this time. Barefoot and hoping the water is slightly warmer than it was earlier, Dahlia takes a running start and launches herself into the lake, where oh shit it's still cold, oh shit she's shivering she has goosebumps she's fine you guys.

Sy & Clem! (Day 2)

[neattrick]

All unsettling discoveries aside, Clem's been having a pretty good camping trip. Getting away from school every now and then is good for her morale, and honestly as far as creepy encounters go this hasn't been the worst of them for her. Plus, Sy's here now! That increases her interest in any given activity by at least 50%.

When she'd dragged him down towards the water, she'd had the general intention of grabbing one of the boats and making their way out onto the lake (not that she's any good at fishing, honestly, but it's kind of like privacy). Before that had happened, though, she'd gotten distracted by one of her favorite lake-related activities: claiming she can skip stones further than anyone else can.

Whether or not she's just full of hot air remains to be seen, because she's still collecting skipping rocks. Most of the good ones are out in the water, but after sticking a single bare foot in she'd decided immediately that it was too cold. Which means her only option for retrieving rocks is talking Sy into doing it for her.

"Go get that one," she says, indicating a particularly smooth rock about three feet out into the lake. Persuasion is not a particular strong suit of hers.

Wyatt Day 2 - Fishing and OPEN (to whoever's open to being trapped)

[keepsmovin]

Wyatt is probably not the best at fishing or boating. But he gamely TRIES anyway. It's the thought that counts, right? And the thought of fishing actually sounds really exciting. He may have forgotten to account for the fact that one's fishing pursuits may not always reap any actual fish.

He checks to see if he's got all the actual equipment that he needs. And then as he heads to where the boats are, finds [open] there already preparing to head out with similar intentions. Wyatt invites himself onto the boat and enthusiastically helps to row them out into the middle of the lake.

Awhile later, miraculously, [open] manages to catch something. Wyatt, in his infinite excitement, helpfully extends to try to get the rather heavy fish on board. And then he hears a very distinct 'plop'. "Uhhhh. Oh crap. Was that our oar?" Because in his excitement to secure the fish, he may have forgotten to secure the oar and let it slide rather easily off the boat and into the lake instead.

Cecil & Levi (Day 1)

[choneychurch]

Cecil had known that the water in the lake would probably still be cold this time of year, but after an afternoon of hiking around the island and generally goofing around like the teenagers they still were, it had felt warm enough to take a dip and Levi had seemed so excited by the prospect he would've found it difficult to say no anyway. And the water had been cold, but not unbearably so, and it had fun. They'd talked and swam and splashed each other (a competition which he always inevitably lost) and Levi had tried to dunk him under the water by jumping on his shoulders (a competition which he always inevitably won).

Now, treading water and looking at the other boy with a broad smile, he asks, "So. How bad an idea would it be for me to turn my back on you right now?"

CAMPFIRE & DINNER

[goosemods]

Re: CAMPFIRE & DINNER

[notacad]

Will only just realised that Covington was from Colorado, and he listens to the stories with rapt attention.

CAMPFIRE & DINNER - SONG REQUESTS!

[keepsmovin]

Wyatt spends maybe not enough time eating, but instead very enthusiastically chipping in for live music. He won't actually sing to any of these, but if people want him to play accompaniment to any particular song, just let him know! He brought his guitar along for this exact reason.

Addy & Lachlan (Day 1?)

[addytives]

There's something pretty magical about campfires. It erases all of Addy's fears from her discoveries earlier in the day, and reminds her exactly why she wanted to come on this trip in the first place. Her classmates are talented, the stars are bright, and she's been dragging as many people as she can off the sand and into dancing. Eyes bright and a little out of breath, she throws herself on to the ground instead, dramatic, but grinning.

She looks up and sees that she's landed next to Lachlan without entirely meaning to. "You're going to dance with me in exactly three minutes." She informs her friend all too casually. "I'll recharge, then watch out."

NIGHTTIME

[goosemods]

FIRST NIGHT

[goosemods]

RETURN HOME

[goosemods]

OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

[goosemods]

Re: OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

[lachlangalbraith]

Volunteer C for Lachlan, please? ALWAYS PREPARED.