katie's last day/visiting day at camp

this doesn't look like a girl ready to leave camp for home!

last month, when we dropped katie off at the start of camp, parents don't stay longer than takes to settle daughters into their bunks. this time around, however, it's a much more leisurely process. parents arrive early, spend the morning at various camp activities with their daughters, and then head home after a farewell lunch. last summer our "visiting day" was mostly spent on the lake waterfront, watching katie water ski with her friends, followed by some sets of tennis.

yesterday's visiting day was completely land-centered. we spent most of the morning at the ropes course, watching katie and her friends scale the climbing wall and fly down the zip-line. in between those activities, lunch was almost became unnecessary because of the huge number of marshmallows the girls consumed at the campfire! but some tennis, and a rest at the pottery wheel, quickly restored everyone's appetite by lunchtime.

it took us 5+ hours to drive home, which included the typical traffic nightmare on the mass pike, as well as a couple of rest stops along the way. we pulled in just after 6:30, and after i unpacked the car, changed into some running clothes and headed out for an easy 4 miles before dinner. the was a certain symmetry to this mileage, as i had kicked off the day with 4 miles at sunrise (albeit foggy and hilly) and now ended it with 4 more miles (flat and punctuated with the sounds of crickets and cicadas) at sunset.

after all that travel and activity in a hectic 24 hour period, it was great to be home. my one goal for the remainder of the night was to stay awake long enough to catch the new episode of law and order: criminal intent (which was christopher noth's final episode of the series).