CAMPAC 2011

Every year the agency Shane works for does an end of the year retreat for all of the employees. It is a fun way to get to know the other agents, make some friends and compete for awards. This year it was at the Summit Chateau in Brian Head. Let's just way we signed up for the adventure pack and didn't even realize it. It all started with a long car ride to Grandma's house. Brody was left with Grandma and Grandpa Chappell so that he could enjoy some time there playing with his Aunts and Uncle. Shane, Elsie and I made our way up to the parking lot where the shuttle was supposed to pick us up. After waiting an hour+ for the shuttle (We were determined not to miss the shuttle) a member of our group got a message saying that the shuttle had broken down and they were coming to take us all in by snow mobile. I'm thinking to myself, "Holy crap how is this going to work with a baby?" I had her in my wrap and tucked into my coat but that didn't make me any more comfortable about the situation. We also had a lot of stuff since we had to pack for Elsie which included a Pak 'N' Play. When they showed up I was happy to hear that they had a ranger that I could ride in for the 2 miles up to the cabin. We were all able to make it to the cabin safely and Elsie slept through the whole thing. The first thing we got was our room assignment which I was very hopeful that we'd get to stay in a yurt. We ended up in the cabin which in the end was a lot better since we had Elsie there. We didn't have to trek through the snow to our room or the bathroom. We also had our own bathroom in our room so that was a plus. After settling in we were able to go down and mingle with the guests that had already arrived. Within an hour of being there I had already made a friend and was getting to know a lot more people. As more people showed up the competitions started to get going. Every couple got to compete in pool, dance, air hockey, ping pong, foosball, poetry and even a triathlon for cash prizes. The triathlon was a couples thing and the events were a crossword puzzle, snow shoeing and cross country skiing (I did snow shoeing and Shane went skiing) and the final event was target shooting with a BB gun. We took 4th in that and we made it to the semi-finals for air hockey where we were quickly eliminated. I got a nice slice of humble pie when we competed in the dance competition. It was Dance Central for the kinect and I had never done it before. I was lucky to make it to the second round out of 4. On the last night we were there we hadn't had any success at winning any of the competitions so far but there was still one that was to take place during the banquet that night. Shane was working on his poem for that evening when we started to smell something burning. Everyone kept asking if the food was burning and kept checking on it but it was fine. Finally someone went into the room where the linens were stored and someone had stacked the linens clear to the ceiling under a light that got left on. The top comforter was smoking up a storm and may have been on fire but I'm not sure on that detail. All I know is that there was a lot of smoke and the comforter ended up outside in the snow. No damage was done to the cabin and we were able to stay in it after all the doors were left open and the fans left on to air the whole place out. Luckily the smoke didn't reach the bedrooms upstairs so it didn't stink up there. It's kind of ironic that something like this happened in a cabin full of insurance agents. After all that fun stuff we ate dinner and had the banquet. They started off with all of the awards for the competitions that took place so far. After that they gave out the serious awards and honored a lot of agents. Once that was all over they had the poetry contest. Most new agents don't know the secret behind the poetry contest so they end up going first and reciting some love poem only to realize by the end that all the experienced agents end up roasting each other. Shane was lucky to be in a crowd that helped him learn the ropes before this so his poem fit right in. We were very happy about that because the judge ended up picking his as the winner. After everything settled down and the kiddos were in bed many of the adults brought the night to a close playing mafia. This being the second night we'd played this the mafia hadn't won a game yet. I was able to put that to an end by somehow with my horrible acting skills deceiving a room full of people into thinking I was a citizen and winning the game. I'm still confused as to how I pulled that one off. The next day quickly came with good news that the shuttle was fixed and we didn't have to worry about riding out on snow mobiles. The entire trip was a blast and I am excited for next years adventure. I'd post pictures but in the move we lost our camera charger and our camera was dead so we only have video footage of our trip. If I figure out how to make it work on here I will post some footage but so far every time I have tried I've failed. Apparently I'm not very tech savvy and have a lot to learn. Until next time, have a great day!