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Hej Ladies! Episode 03—Ryan Klint
53 Plays1 month ago
In this episode, we talk to Ryan Klint who has a lifetime of experiences at Mission Springs—visiting his maternal and fraternal grandparents, working at the flat and Frontier Ranch, and bringing his kids to enjoy summers at camp. At present, Ryan, and his wife Isabel, are working as Wycliffe Bible translators in Mexico translating the New Testament into an indigenous Mexican language alongside indigenous language speakers.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Purpose
00:00:03
Speaker
Hi there, this is Kala and Jenny Holmgren, otherwise known as the Holmgren Twins, or just Hey Ladies. Hey, Hey Ladies. We have been coming to Mission Springs for our entire lives. So as part of the Centennial Celebration, we decided to start this podcast to talk Mission Springs memories. We invite you to listen and share in 100 years of what's been happening at Mission Springs.
00:00:27
Speaker
Welcome to Hey Ladies.
Mission Springs Centennial Focus
00:00:30
Speaker
Hi, Kala. Hi, Jenny. Okay, we're back. We're back for another episode of Hey Ladies, talking about the centennial of Mission Springs Christian Conference Center. And Kala, one thing I wanted to talk about before we get started with our interview today and our question and our interesting things about Mission Springs was just I've noticed something in our first two podcasts, and I think we should work we your work on it.
00:00:53
Speaker
Okay. Is my annual knowledge base? No, no, no. It's not that. It is First of all, it seems like we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about snacks. Oh, I know. And food.
00:01:06
Speaker
i know. You'd think we were we grew up and we were starving, which was not the case. No. I mean, it true, it was a little harder in the 80s and the 70s to find snacks. Kids can get yeah stuff sent now.
00:01:21
Speaker
There wasn't as much food just around, and I don't feel like we had just any money laying around. which is very different nowadays. But maybe that was just a kid's perspective.
00:01:32
Speaker
When mom didn't really bake things. No, we didn't have a lot of snacks in our house. Mom's very healthy and always had like healthy food.
Origin of 'Mission Springs'
00:01:40
Speaker
I mean, if I'd wanted to eat an apple, that would have been readily available or a carrot.
00:01:46
Speaker
Cottage cheese. I don't know if we had cottage cheese in the house. But there wasn't like, like there weren't snacks. So. So, okay. So I just noticed that. And then the other thing I noticed was just that we, sometimes we talk about people and we don't explain who they are.
00:02:04
Speaker
Oh yeah. That's a good point. That's good point. Maybe just we should be cognizant of that going forward. I agree. I agree because. For people who may not know who some of these people are. Right. Well, and because we are.
00:02:16
Speaker
A lot of them we are either related to or have known for a long time. So yeah, we need to be a little bit more cognizant of that. i agree. Yeah. Okay. So those are the two things. But to start out this episode, I thought I would give you just some more information about Mission Springs history.
00:02:32
Speaker
Knowledge base. the not Yes. Building the knowledge base. So one of the questions in the historical narrative from fiftieth anniversary, one of the questions was, did you ever wonder how we got the name Mission Springs?
00:02:46
Speaker
Um, I don't think, cause I asked dad about it a couple years ago. And so I didn't feel like I did wonder about that, but you go ahead and tell me. I mean, did he tell you something?
00:02:58
Speaker
No, because I thought it had to do the springs have to do with the springs that come out the ground, I thought. as We already talked about, right? and We didn't know where they're located. And according to, you know, we're not really, I'm still not 100% sure. And I'm going to investigate that this summer. And I welcome anyone from who's listening to this that will be there for the centennial. Feel free to show me where they are. i will go with you. i would like to, I would like to learn. If you're like, learn more though.
00:03:26
Speaker
Yeah, for this phrase but mission, I thought that the mission came from the mission friends. maybe Yes. Okay. Well, so there's something to this. So actually, an invitation was issued through the California, which was the conference newsletter, for people to send in their choice of a name.
00:03:44
Speaker
So basically, they made it a contest. oh Now, I always think that contests are a little can be a little dicey. Whenever I've had to do them, when I've been working at different nonprofits, you just never know what you're going to get. And sometimes the submissions... are either inappropriate. It's like that episode of Parks and Rec when they're going to... What were they doing? They were trying to come up with a motto for the town.
00:04:08
Speaker
Yeah. People vote online. Yeah, I thought that was a bad idea. But anyway, this is what they did. And they got a lot of submissions. And then, of course, in true covenant fashion, they had a meeting to decide...
00:04:22
Speaker
the the final selection. So apparently a Miss Carolyn Engstrom of Oakland was called upon to give a reason for her suggestion of Mission Springs.
00:04:32
Speaker
So I'm like, Okay, they wanted to hear it from her, why she suggested that. And she said what you said, the folks interested in this place are mission friends. And the purpose for the summer conferences to be held here is to work for missions. Then too, we have a spring of crystal clear water on the grounds, a spring which according to folks living in these mountains will never run dry.
00:04:52
Speaker
So after listening to these reasons and remembering that the word of the Lord, the In the word of the Lord that the followers of Christ should be springs or rivers of living water, they decided that Mission Springs was a fitting name.
00:05:06
Speaker
Great. And so that's what they named it, and that's why it's called that. do we Do you have any of the other options that were? Well, they didn't list any of those. That is a bummer because I feel like I would like to know what the other ones were. I like Mission Springs a lot. I can't imagine it being called anything else.
00:05:22
Speaker
It would have been fun to know what the other things were. Well, I just look around at the other covenant camps and it kind of makes sense what they call different camps, you know. Well, here in the Midwest, everything has a covenant before. It seems like Covenant Harbor, Covenant Point.
00:05:35
Speaker
Right. But like further out, like I know Mission Meadows, that's in, is that New York? And then Pilgrim Pines is in New Hampshire, right? It's New Hampshire, right?
00:05:46
Speaker
Yeah. Boy, sometimes when I get back east, some of the states all blend together. Yeah, so they have, yeah, they kind of come up with different things. But yeah, I don't know why they didn't include the word covenant in there, but that's okay.
00:05:57
Speaker
Yeah, that's okay. I think that's okay. It's it's actually hard in the Midwest because we didn't go to camp out here for me to keep track of which one is where. Like, I can't remember which one. You can't remember?
00:06:09
Speaker
i can't. I can't. Covenant Harbor is in Lake Geneva. Is that the one? Yeah, I know where that is. Yeah. And Covenant Point's way, way up in Wisconsin, high, high up in Wisconsin. Yeah. Okay, I remember, but I didn't for a long time.
00:06:21
Speaker
Well, like Josh, they went to Portage Lake up in Michigan. here That's up by Muskegon up there. And then um it's not by Muskegon, Josh? Yeah.
00:06:33
Speaker
It's further north than Muskegon, apparently. Sorry, Michiganders who may be listening to this. And then Covenant Pines is in Minnesota. Oh, right. Okay. I didn't even know that was a thing. Okay.
00:06:45
Speaker
And then what here we have Camp of the Cascades. Right. Yeah, which makes sense. In Washington. Yeah. So, and it's, I think they all just take their names from kind of the natural, you know, whatever's around them, nature-wise.
00:06:58
Speaker
But it's nice and it also has that. Because there are no pines in Mission Springs, right? Oh, sure. There are pine trees. Really? about you geez this is just This whole podcast is just what does Calla not know? It's going on the legal pad of things that Calla doesn't know about. i mean It's getting to be a long list. We could just have everybody keep a list. The next podcast will be about...
00:07:23
Speaker
Delivering babies, I guess. Then you'll know all the answers. But when I'm back there for Centennial 2, that's a pine tree. I know the redwood trees. Which ones are the pine trees? Well, I think pine is a general category of trees, right? So okay there's fir trees and pine trees, and there's different types of pines.
00:07:42
Speaker
I don't know what category hemlock trees fall into. We really need to have Omerson here. Yeah, we probably need to. Because she's working at Outdora this year and she would know all about the trees. But anyway, so that's how they got the name Mission Springs. And that is, I think, kind of a nice little nugget of information.
00:07:58
Speaker
I agree. All right.
Guest: Ryan Clint's Experiences
00:08:00
Speaker
So today on the show, we are going to be interviewing Ryan Clint. Ryan has grown up at Mission Springs Both sets of his grandparents lived at Mission Springs. So he came up to Mission Springs often, was there every single summer. Now Ryan lives in Mexico with his wife, Isabel, and their children. And he's working as a translator for Wycliffe.
00:08:25
Speaker
They are translating the New Testament into an indigenous language. a Mexican language alongside the people who live there. He was gracious enough to volunteer after being asked to come on the podcast and talk to us about his experience at Mission Springs.
00:08:41
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah. So that should be fun. All right. Have a good time listening to Cal and I talk to Ryan.
00:08:57
Speaker
Okay, welcome back to Hey Ladies with Kala and myself. And we are joined today by Ryan Clint, who has had Mission Springs as part of his resume for just about as long as we have. So welcome, Ryan. Thanks for joining us today.
00:09:14
Speaker
Thanks. Thanks, Zena Maeve. Thanks, Kala. Nice to be here. Oh, the great. And we told you a little bit about Ryan's bio in our previous segment, but Ryan, just tell everybody where you are joining us from today.
00:09:27
Speaker
So I'm in Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico, so which is in the south of the country. It's a Zapotec town. And so Zapotec is one of the indigenous um areas of Mexico. And so it's sort of like a reservation, I suppose you could say, in an American context. But um yeah.
00:09:45
Speaker
And so I work with Wycliffe Bible Translators. And so this is where we have one of our centers where we do a lot of training and yeah. So that's call. That's exciting. And now, have you officially earned your PhD or? I have. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah. I successfully defended in November up in Mexico City. That's amazing.
00:10:08
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you. appreciate for you we have to call you Dr. Clint throughout this whole thing. um ah You know, i prefer you didn't. Okay. Calla doesn't want to be known as a doctor either, especially if she's on an airplane. She's like, I don't want to help anybody. No, do not make me take my seatbelt off. no like All right, let's talk about Mission Springs. Our first question that we've been starting with everybody is, what are your first memories of Mission Springs? So both of my grandparents lived at Mission Springs.
00:10:37
Speaker
and They were both on staff at the at the kitchen at different times. And so my memories are really old. And I think my earliest memories are of the hollow log, just like kind of right out by the front of Christie Van Piper's place. And I remember climbing up there with like a bunch of cousins there must have been mean don't know how many but i couldn't see over the top you know and i remember having to climb on top of people to see so very very early memories of their hollow log and of also walking down by the creek so yeah real sensory and picking berries you know they have the berries oh yeah memories of of that so that's cool and your family was living in cupertino at the time
00:11:19
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah. Okay. So it wasn't that far to get over to Mission Springs from where you were. came over all almost all holidays and birthdays and stuff. And so, yeah, we had cousins that were in Watsonville. And so we oftentimes would kind gather at um grandparents' house.
00:11:34
Speaker
ah Did you stay there with them too when you were up there or did you go back and forth? Yeah, like I remember on the holidays at the old staff house at Mission Frontier, before they made the huge, new, beautiful lodge, there was a house and we would stay there for Thanksgiving. but we like We rented out. And I remember stay like sleeping in the boys' like bunk area with my cousins.
00:11:57
Speaker
And oftentimes, it depended on how many people we are, whether we would stay there or whether we'd go back over the hill to Cupertino. Were those primarily your cousins on your mom's side or your dad's side or both? Yeah. So both. So my, my, I had more cousins on my mom's side, but that's the Anderson side. And so I think there's 16 of us. And so, and they were, yeah, and they were in Santa Cruz and I had set for a while. Some of my cousins were working at the, flat at the flats or my aunt and uncle, the mixes were living at the flats and yeah.
00:12:29
Speaker
and But on my other side as well, I only had two cousins on that side of my dad's side, but they were, see, I'm not even sure. I think they were also in Wathomville and then we'd meet them at my grandma of Judy's house from time to time as well.
00:12:40
Speaker
So it wasn't just a summer thing. Because I know we would go up, when we lived in San Jose, we would occasionally go up during the wintertime. And so we'd have Thanksgiving up at Mission Springs or something like that. So it wasn't just a place to go to during the summer. You went out all year long?
00:12:53
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, definitely. Definitely every summer and definitely every Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter, for sure. Like the the big holidays were definitely there. And then birthdays and as well.
00:13:05
Speaker
Okay. And then you were on staff. So what made you decide to be on staff and what jobs did you do? So I started at the flats back when there was summer flat staff at 15. um And I just wanted to, just cause we were there all the time and i don't know, I liked it. And so when I started working there, my grandma Norma was still working in the kitchen and, or maybe she was across us across at the at the the trading post ah the treasure gift. I'm not sure, but I would, yeah. And so just a busboy dishwasher from 15. I think I worked at the flats when I was 15 16.
00:13:40
Speaker
maybe 17, I forget, at least two summers, maybe three, and then moved up to do dishes up at Frontier after that. And so I was on, I did washes dishes, I washed dishes, and then I was a counselor. And then I was, and that's when we worked together. yeah yeah And then I was after you, I was on, what do you call it? Not administration, program. Program staff, yeah.
00:14:05
Speaker
Did you have a favorite job? ah Because I definitely had a favorite job. Oh yeah. i Let's see. Counseling was hard. i was called a le Yeah. wow yeah go And that was before we even had like, we only had 50 minutes of break a day. Yeah. There was no afternoon off or anything.
00:14:24
Speaker
I don't know. i So I really did like the program side of things. And I think I sort of became even more extroverted at that time, which I enjoyed.
00:14:35
Speaker
but it was kind of stressful as well. So, but I'd say probably program is my favorite, but also afternoons off at the flats was the best, you know, um living in the, great. Housekeeping was the best. Cause you could drive the golf cart and you were outside, you weren't stuck and then you'd get some time off.
00:14:50
Speaker
The first summer that we worked, I worked housekeeping and Cal worked in the kitchen. And then she was like, you got the better job. So we're going have to switch the next summer. so much better. So you understand like the scraping of the dishes, like at the end, and then having the occasional person complain because you ran out of fudgesicles when you're passing out and then they could only have a creamsicle or a popsicle.
00:15:14
Speaker
Sure, sure. I'm sure it was in the Slavic group. Yeah, it yeah it was very stressful. Like, Bel Air would come back. I had a grown man complain about that fudgesicle. And I'm like, have 50 cents in my pocket. i will go buy you one, sir. You have to just stop.
00:15:28
Speaker
I remember one pot. It was an Alfredo sauce pot that we'd gotten burnt to the bottom. There's probably a stick of, you know, burnt Alfredo sauce in the bottom. And you have to almost climb into those things to scrape it all out. And I do remember that being traumatizing. Yeah. Yeah. Because you have to spray it out and you've got all of this sort of cleaning.
00:15:47
Speaker
ah Yeah, that was right. And did you did you stay over behind the trailer park? Yeah. just We were talking about that on a previous podcast. Cal and I had no idea where the actual springs were for Mission Springs. We don't know. And figured out they're behind that area. But we were never allowed to go over there because that's where the boys stayed. so okay Exactly, yeah. One summer I roomed with Eric Hedstrom and the other one with Mike Wickham.
00:16:10
Speaker
Oh, thank Yeah. So, but there are other springs like out behind like frontier and like going down to wild Oak. So there's some other springs over there. That's what dad said. So my dad said, cause we had a debate where are the springs? And I kind of felt like this is crazy. How am I? The springs were by the water towers. I'm like, that's not right. just said that's where they were collected into that. That made sense to me. Just whatever that you'd need a water source and you collect the water in the water towers. Right. Yeah. It's reasonable. We didn't know where it came from, like where it originated from. Cause you don't like have to tap the actual source based on the limited knowledge I have about water collection from Homestead Rescue, which has been mentioned multiple times on this podcast. Homestead Rescue. All right. Yeah. I love Homestead Rescue. Oh, I've, I've not seen it. That sounds like. It's fascinating.
00:17:00
Speaker
You would be good at it, Ryan. You know how to do all that stuff. Yeah. Well, I'm not handy at all by inclination. However, living in rural Mexico makes you have to do stuff, unfortunately. So I do, but not because I'm awesome, just because I've to. It's like a dix like dyslexic person who just had to learn how to read because what are going to You have to learn it.
Exploring Mission Springs
00:17:20
Speaker
you do but on the vineyard trail yeah there's one like there's one bend where there's definitely still a trickle coming down it's a spring there and then there's also one sort of off trail actually i'm not even sure it's mission if no it is on mission springs property but it's just it's kind of off the main trail system where there's more okay okay this summer i'm going to find it because i haven't seen it and this is crazy i feel it's crazy i don't know you got it it's in the name for springs exactly yes
00:17:46
Speaker
How do you think it was different working on the flat staff versus working on the frontier staff? the time off, right? So if you worked in the mornings, you had all morning off. And if you, or you had all afternoon off and vice versa.
00:17:59
Speaker
So I remember my friend and and I going to the beach and skimboarding almost every day, you know, and then, or go to Creekside, which is where the staff used to hang out and, you know, go to Blockbuster. to movie no like Watch a movie. Exactly. Which is super, super fun because you felt like you're a cool kid, you know, hanging out on the, on the flats grounds.
00:18:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think one time in Creekside, we went to Blockbuster and the two movies we got were, one of them was maybe Do do the Right Thing by Spike the Thing by Spike Lee. And then the other one was a Room with a View.
00:18:34
Speaker
Wow. Like, this is a really diverse movie. were good at picking out movies. Those are really, really good movies. I know, and they've they've stood the test of time. I think they're still really good movies. For real. oh I was thinking what we did is probably like, i don't know, The Fog and like weird... yeah B-movies. So you guys have better taste than us. Well, I think we might've been, you know, made people watch them.
00:18:57
Speaker
yeah So there's a lot of free time at the flats, which was awesome. And at Frontier, Frontier is completely engulfing. You know, you see your entire emotional life, your entire, all of your energy is directed, which is wonderful in many, many ways, but it's just amazing.
00:19:14
Speaker
elevated in a way that the flats wasn't. So I think as an adult, I would not be capable of being here. It's exhausting. I don't know how the kids do it. I mean, it's harder than like being on call, even for me, like right now, because the the next day you're like, okay, after that, I'm going to get to sleep. You don't, you're going six days in a row with kids. you You don't get a good night's sleep the whole time. Something's always happening or, you know, how many kids do you have? I mean, something's going to be happening to one of them. Yeah, exactly. You have nine kids. I had one week with a kid with with night terrors. you know Of course, you got to get up and calm them down in the middle of the night Holy cow.
00:19:50
Speaker
No, it's hard. I've never had any kids with any of those things. I wonder if I was just a heavy sleeper and they couldn't get me up. I don't remember. Emily will talk about the types. My sister, Emily, she'll talk about the types of kids that she had to get up in the night for. And I'm just like, right. really don't remember, Jane. What was I... The whole time they're like, hey, lady. Hey, lady. You remember the performative incompetence where you just pretend that you can't do something? I think you had a didn't just pretending to be asleep. and they were like... You'll be fine. Go back to bed. You didn't see a spider. It wasn't a spider. Go back to bed.
00:20:26
Speaker
It is pretty exhausting. But when it came to my spiritual formation, I think Frontier was was way more important because...
Impact of Frontier Ranch
00:20:34
Speaker
Maybe the exhaustion is part of it, right? But just the the giving of your everything of yourself and um and really yeah being selfless in a lot of ways is a beautiful way to make friendships, to forge friendships, and also to find out you know what you are and aren't capable of. And it turns out we're capable of a lot more than you think. you know When you're younger, for sure. When you're younger, yeah.
00:20:58
Speaker
I feel like now I'm like, I don't know if I'm so capable of it, but they, you know, it's, it's pretty amazing that that ministry has continued to, I didn't, my daughters have been counselors. Calla's daughter worked at Frontier Ranch. Like it's just a ministry that's continued for a really long time. So that's nice.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah. Now my daughter and my son have both you know worked there. They probably will again this next summer. And as my daughter's LIT, she's ah turning 17 this week, actually. Oh, no. That is amazing. Yeah, which is which is fun. But so my my grandmother worked for a week as a counselor. She was like a stand in. I think it was the first summer that Frontier Ranch was open. So my grandmother, my mother and I and my kids. So my kids are fourth generation like Frontier Ranchers. Oh, cool.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah. That's very cool. What are some funny stories that you can remember either about working at Frontier Ranch or being at Mission Springs or you know, anything that you're like, when you sit around as a family group, you just, those are the short, the stories you share, right? Yeah.
00:22:02
Speaker
I remember one difficult movie night. So when it came to movie night, the the program staff would send all of the, mostly counselors away to go to Mary Ann's for ice cream. And then there would be some um yeah program and some red hats would stay around to sort of like hold down the fort while we watched a movie.
00:22:21
Speaker
And so as program, we were supposed to like... watched the movie to make sure it was okay. And it was usually the bed knobs and broomsticks or something G rated. And so it was my responsibility. And I thought Sandlot would be a good movie.
00:22:34
Speaker
And I had one and I went back and watched it, but it kind of not the whole thing just because I was busy. And so I didn't realize how much cursing was in it. Yeah. And so, you know, we're watching with the kids and some curse word comes out and we're like, oh no. And then we're like, okay, we need to have someone on the the audio system to be able to turn it down in case there's another swear word. Well, they became too many and we just, we had to abort the movie, but that was the program. That was what we're going to do for the whole camp, the whole camp for, you know, i don't know, two and a half hours.
00:23:03
Speaker
So we had to cut the movie and then me and and Abby Thompson, who's married now. i don't remember her. I don't know her married name, but Casper. We had to like ad lib, you know, just do skits and songs and stuff from the stage for like an hour and a half. And people, kids were were not happy at all. And I distinctly remember one kid scream out, be funny.
00:23:29
Speaker
Which is super stressful and obviously indicating that we we were not being funny, you know. Getting heckled by the French ranchers. Exactly. And it was junior camp too, or like the the younger kids. So it wasn't even like the junior hires you're like, eh, swearing happens. It's like we're sending home a fourth grader and they're using some questionable language. I guess I i don't remember that movie having a lot of swearing. i would not remember that.
00:23:55
Speaker
I know that when I was at camp, they just showed us a Swiss Family Robinson every year. That was the movie every year. Yeah. that's true As a 50-year-old man, that's what I'd be like. Yeah, do one of the Disney movies. That's fine.
00:24:07
Speaker
That's fine. Well, the first summer I worked at like at Frontier Ranch, our theme was Robin Hood. And we watched the Disney version of Robin Hood. And this was before the program people got magnanimous and sent the counselors away. This was when the counselors were still required to be there and watch the movie. We watched that movie every week all summer. And it's not interesting.
00:24:31
Speaker
It's not. I was like, oh my gosh, please don't make me watch this stupid Disney movie again. Oh, I love Alan Adele. I love that rooster. Every one those is on.
00:24:43
Speaker
Jenny's just been, I guess she was torn by tip. I don't have a problem with that movie. I don't think, I don't remember it very well. It was so boring. I was just like, please don't make us watch it again. I'll just fall asleep. And I, hopefully my students won't like, or my campers won't run away or something, you know, it was so boring.
00:25:00
Speaker
I feel bad at camp. I was always trying to do the thing that was, didn't require that much activity. So I'm like movie. Great. Uno. Great. Please don't make me run around in the forest.
00:25:10
Speaker
I know that's a good question. Like what's the best activity when we were campers? So when I was a camper, the best activity, Steve Pierce was, what was it called? Commando is what we called it. Oh, oh yeah. I know we played that. yeah Yeah. But it wasn't during, it wasn't at night.
00:25:25
Speaker
It was during the day. And it was, it must have been a variation on commando. I mean, we played it in the night as well. But the activity that we did during the day was basically just run around all of Mission Spring. You had to run down to the pool. and You had to had to run to to Ridge Camp. And you had to run to the stage. And then the counselors. And on each place, you put a mark on your arm.
00:25:45
Speaker
But a counselor could like hunt you down and then they would have a black marker that they would cross out your different colors. And so you'd have to start again. But these counselors were just like chasing kids down off trail.
00:25:57
Speaker
When we were at camp, they called it Rambo. It was Rambo. Maybe Rambo. Maybe I'm getting things confused. Yeah. Well, I don't know, but that's, I think they had to stop calling it for some reason, but it was like, who wants to play Rambo? And all the guys would put things around their head like Sylvester Stallone. And you're just like, I'm going to be playing Uno in the wagon wheel. I don't know what you people are doing. It's hot.
00:26:17
Speaker
And we don't get to go to the pool for two hours. I think you're right. I think it was Rambo. That's exactly what I'm thinking about. And it was the best. It was amazing. Yeah.
00:26:26
Speaker
Brian, I feel like your judgment's a little questionable, like the Brewster and Rambo. This is definitely camper me. Yeah, actually, yeah questionable as a camper, questionable as a staff member. I think that's accurate. Well, what was the other thing they did when we were at camp one year, they decided to do this activity at night that they called, what did they call it? That where they were, we were pretending Romans and the Christians. Oh yes. They call it catacombs or whatever. And we were supposed to be going around camp at nighttime.
00:26:59
Speaker
Like it was, did you have to do this too? So when I was on program, we did not do that. We had a different one, but um I think, but I remember being on staff when we did that, when I was a counselor.
00:27:09
Speaker
Okay, when we were campers, they did it and they were shoving kids into the bathroom and like spraying them with hoses and stuff. Like if you got caught by the Romans. It was awesome. Cause they were just the lifeguards and we had to run around at night and everybody was all freaked out. i'm like, this is great.
00:27:24
Speaker
That's the only, cause it wasn't hot. At least it's at nighttime. And there was like candles everywhere. And then you go to the different places and have a Bible study. I'm like, oh, I think it must have been really hard to be an early Christian. Much harder than being in the Bay Area in the nineteen eighty s Yeah.
00:27:41
Speaker
yeah Not exactly a peripheral cultural. No, no, no. As a counselor, what was your favorite activity to be in charge of or get assigned to? Because I know our worst, like which one did you not want to do?
00:27:52
Speaker
So I loved um the polar bear plunge. I'm kind of a morning person and there's something, and yeah, when I was a camper, I loved it. But when I was a counselor too, to be able to get up and you know walk down, something about the fog and the redwood trees is just, I love it so much. Even to this day, there's nothing I like more than walking through the fog and then through the midst of the redwoods. And then walk back up, it was just the best. I loved that. So you always earned those patches for the ending ceremonies? For sure, for sure, yeah.
00:28:22
Speaker
I'll try to talk me into that one time. I'm like, I got a run and then you'll go jump in the pool. i don't want to do that. You didn't do it one time? We did it. Yeah. did it one time. And then I was like, no, I don't want to do that.
00:28:34
Speaker
Or a patch? Okay. I kind of liked, I liked leading horseback riding because it was easy. I just walked them down there and then the horse ranch people did all the work.
00:28:47
Speaker
Oh, you didn't do years? Oh, I did, but I didn't have to tell the kids how to do it. I didn't have to be in charge of the horses. I'm just like, I'm just here for a trail ride and that's fun. That's true. And I'd walk up and down the hill, but that's okay.
00:28:59
Speaker
But i it wasn't like I had to like lead. What I really, what's kind of funny, I did not like ranching. like I didn't want to go and have to feed the donkeys or touch the chickens or anything like that. Yeah.
00:29:11
Speaker
i didn't I didn't like ranching, but I did like milking Nana. Oh, really? like go yeah That was super fun. Oh, okay. Calla worked in the gift store one summer, and then after that, she didn't like it, and so then she didn't ever work at Frontier Ranch. Okay.
00:29:26
Speaker
You know what? it you It was too hard. Like at some point I just recognized it was really hard and I like to sleep and I didn't want to do that. Really? The gift store was a car? No, not the gift store at Frontier Ranch.
00:29:39
Speaker
No, working in the gift store wasn't hard. No, I didn't want to work at Frontier Ranch as a counselor because I'm like, you have to watch children for 24 Like, I'm like, until I plan to have my own, I'm not taking that responsibility.
00:29:51
Speaker
yeah i saw I saw it as a big responsibility and I said, I'm just not cut out for this. And I think it's an important thing to recognize. As you said, Ryan, you're like, you know what you can do, which is, I mean... I think right now, like, I think it's really hard to be a counselor at camp. Like it so really hard. no ah JD asked me if I would do a program after my counseling summer and thank goodness he did because I had a, I was a tough summer counselor. I don't know if I would have been able to do it again.
00:30:18
Speaker
No, it's it's hard. Like, I mean, it's a big responsibility and then it's not just our physical, you know, you have to make sure they don't hurt themselves. They don't, you know, get poisoned. Okay. They, they, you know, don't get sick. Other than spiritual formation, you're like, oh my goodness, can I be responsible for more things? You're like, you know, feel like this point they should make me the Pope for something. I mean... Although, so we would have to do one-on-ones and I love, well, some, a lot of the one-on-ones are totally sort of just pro forma. You sit down with each of the kids and, you know, you don't know what to talk about and have awkward conversation. But I remember several kids that talked about having their parents go through divorce and feeling like i was doing real pastoral, like real work and feeling really super rewarding, you know? Yeah, for sure.
00:31:03
Speaker
Yeah. So that, yeah, that spiritual formation side of things. Yeah. Huge responsibility, but also extremely rewarding. Yeah. sure. Without doubt. think that kind of prepared you for ministry too later on?
00:31:14
Speaker
Oh, no doubt that my, well, I don't know. I mean, I'm Bible translator, which is a particular kind of of um ministry. I mean, I've always been extremely involved in every church I've been part of and always wanting to lead Bible studies and, you know, went to college and I did, you know, intervarsity and did small group. And so I've always wanted to have that.
00:31:36
Speaker
part of my ah walk and I've never been a part of my life where I haven't had that. And I think that was certainly formed by Frontier, not by the flats. Okay. Flats are great. I love flats, but it was definitely Mission Springs that got me addicted to that, like real, you know, real spiritual work.
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah. That's cool. Okay. Going back earlier in time when you're younger, because your family's cabins or houses are way up there, up on Free Me Circle. how was How was that as a kid, having if you wanted to go down to the flat, having to go all the way up to Free Me Circle? like what How did you feel about that?
00:32:15
Speaker
Yeah. We didn't have, i mean, no one was going to give me a ride. So like a ride was never on the table. And so walking down is always kind of awesome. you know Walking up was a bummer, but um but it's not too bad. i was good friends with with your little sister and with um with Gretchen Weiss and Alison Bowman. I'm using all of their maiden names because yeah you to this day, I have a hard time switching. Forgive me. yeah Yeah. And so we'd walk up together or walk up with groups. It was never too bad. Sometimes I'd walk up the, um there's that a trail that goes like behind the old tab. and yeah like This old, what is it?
00:32:52
Speaker
Pipe, you know yeah yeah yeah you know, some concrete blocks on it. And I remember scraping my you know legs in the dark on that a few times, which was not fun. Yeah, I i didn't mind that. I love the nighttime. I really like being outside at Mission Springs. And so I never begrudged any of those moments.
00:33:09
Speaker
And i also, i was when you grew up in the 70s and 80s, being bored wasn't unusual. what I didn't begrudge being bored. It's sort of like just the way life was. And so, yeah, I kind of liked that.
00:33:21
Speaker
yeah And did your parents give you a lot of freedom to do that, to just kind of wander around Mission Springs? I mean, yeah, would, I would walk off trail, wander around for hours doing who knows what I can't imagine letting my kids do that. And, um but I think it was more par for the course back then.
00:33:40
Speaker
yeah I did let Emma do that all the time. I mean, really, I am not a great parent because I just I remember one time it was Josh and I and it's it's partly his fault. Jenny's husband, Josh.
00:33:55
Speaker
OK, too. It was Memorial Day. Jenny wasn't there because she was doing something for her master's program. So we were opening the cabin for Memorial Day and we had Isabel, Emma and Emerson.
00:34:10
Speaker
And I don't even know if we had Mary too. We might have had Mary too. And we were like power washing and stuff. So we're like, they're like, can we go for a walk? we're like, sure. And Isabel's like four. So Emma's what, like eight or nine or i don't know. She's the oldest and she's nine. We're like, yeah, just, you know, just, yeah, come back in a little while. Fine. So they go off and then for a while, we're like, they're not coming back. I wonder where they went.
00:34:35
Speaker
Like, how long has it been? do you think we should go look for him? And at that time, we both made the decision to not do that, which was like, it was a choice, not a great choice. mom Okay.
00:34:46
Speaker
And then he's like, Josh was like, well, as long as they didn't go down to the creek, I think it'll be fine. like, yeah. So then like 10 minutes later, we see them running down the hill from the yellow cabin and Isabelle's like, we were down in the creek. but Like, oh my gosh, I said low point as a parent, low point from now on. Got to keep track of them.
00:35:08
Speaker
But now parents totally do this free range parenting. And they like letting like I think letting kids, you know, have those experiences and figure out where like how comfortable they are or aren't with danger, you know, and risk management.
00:35:21
Speaker
Yeah, I went down to the creek all the time, all the time. And went down to horse ranch all the time. And this is in the off season, not, you know, during, you know, when we weren't allowed to go to Frontier. But it was the best to go, you know, down to Frontier and down to the horse ranch when there wasn't a camp in. Yeah, that is pretty cool. I love going to Frontier when there's not a camp in. It's neat. Well, we used to go, like, over Thanksgiving, we'd go down behind the wagon wheel, and that's when the BB guns were behind the wagon wheel. And we'd just spend, like, hours collecting stray BBs. I don't know why that was so fun. But we're like, there's these little metal things in the ground. Let's collect them. And that was good for a few hours of time, you know? Yeah, for sure.
Influential Figures at Mission Springs
00:36:00
Speaker
For sure.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's so funny. what who Who are some of the people that you would say um were significant people who made an impact on your life from Mission Springs?
00:36:12
Speaker
JD definitely make ah made a big, I don't remember his camp name. had Flash, I think it was Flash. JD Larson? JD Larson, exactly. Yeah. yeah oh So he was Flash because Kevin Neugren, which is more my peer, was also Flash. They doubled up on some of those. Yeah, yeah.
00:36:28
Speaker
So he was huge. And just because he saw something in me that I hadn't seen in myself, and that was you know really affirming and really nice. I hadn't seen myself necessarily as ah as a program person, and he saw that in me. And I still remember what he said because I was so... it was um so nice. He said, I think you'd be good on program because you don't have to be up front, but you can be up front.
00:36:51
Speaker
And so that felt really affirming. And I really liked that. And then my first counselor when I was in mini camp was Dale Lusk. Oh, sure. Yeah. I remember Dale. Huge personality and um just wonderful and kind and continued to be in the ministry and just, um yeah, real, yeah.
00:37:11
Speaker
So where is he right now? think he's in, last I knew he was in Texas. Oh, okay, cool. whatssa And he's doing ministry and those sorts of things down there on the border. Yeah, cool. That's neat. Because he had been the youth director at at San Francisco first of when we were in high school.
00:37:28
Speaker
So then he was our counselor at camp and then he was the youth pastor. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. He was the one person, no, there were two people. When when the 49ers won the Super Bowl and we...
00:37:39
Speaker
We were coming back and then we were, for some reason we were all in the parade. I don't know why why we were in the parade, but I think it's just because they're like, we don't know what else to do with you. So yeah get on a cable car and ride down Market Street or whatever. um It wasn't a real cable car. is one of those, you know, ones that were just ornamental. But like, we're like, I don't know who any these people are. And then all of a sudden in the crowd, it's Dale Lusk.
00:38:00
Speaker
I'm like, I know him. Hey, hey. That's awesome. I'm sure he was. Yeah, that's pretty, that's awesome. Yeah, his parents went to Foothill Community Covenant. foot hill covenant church uh when i was younger and so um yeah i think he grew up in that church before he was a youth pastor so i know him from there but mostly remember him from being my counselor when i was a kid and then arrowhead and chipmunk um yeah who were um alan and jesus so funny how i just remember their nicknames
00:38:31
Speaker
Oh, I don't remember anybody's real name. it It's hard. Exactly. But the Pinnells were also awesome. Just really, really sweet and kind. And they I remember them listening to me. And as a as a small kid, it's it's so weird to have a an adult actually listen. you know, and and be interested in what what you have to say. And I remember them, and I remember they came back as did like um family adventure camp, which we had a little bit at the end of the year. And so families would come and do Frontier, like with their kids.
00:39:02
Speaker
And so they came and did that. And as adults, you know, as parents with little kids too, they were also just super kind and generous their time. And yeah, being very impressed by them, really enjoyed them.
00:39:14
Speaker
That's cool. So can you think of anything? I asked this question of Kala last time we had our podcast, scandalous. And by scandalous, I mean, quote unquote scandalous, right? Like not as I said, not dateline worthy, Mission Springs scandalous. Can you think of anything scandalous that you might have done at Mission Springs? I'm a pretty older brother kind of Christian. My sins are definitely the sort of self-righteous, not the son never spray painted the the ah water towers. Thank you, because it's really ugly. Well, they do't do a good job. i thinking It's really ugly. Every summer.
00:39:52
Speaker
It would be better. Every summer I'm going to go paint. And I apologize to whoever painted on there, but they know it's ugly. Like it is. If there was more artistry, then I might be more forgiving. Yeah. If it's a mural. Yeah.
00:40:04
Speaker
Yeah. yeah a Good point. Trying to think if I did anything scandalous. I was, I was pretty straight laced, man. I really was. I was, I remember getting mad. ah i but this is not me being scandalous. This me being scandalized by, by Emily, Emily Holmgren and Gretchen Weiss, because they would send their campers down the the pool trail with other counselors and then you drive to the pool.
00:40:29
Speaker
I'm like, Or they would drive down the one way because it was easier to go to their cabins. And so they would just go down, you know, they turn left at at at the frontier rather than go down the one way. I was also scandalized. I'm showing you my older brother, you know, the judging kind of side right now.
00:40:47
Speaker
I love them both dearly. Obviously, it's fine. But I remember scandalized that. They know what they did. Yeah, we'll have to bring that up when we talk to them. Please do. We're going to talk to them, Ryan. We are going to talk to them. I asked Bella what scandal, and she's like, Jenny, I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. We got out with boys in our room one time. And she goes,
00:41:07
Speaker
Oh, oh, I did do something scandalous. It was a day's prank when we were on the staff. We were on the staff we're on the flats. okay And so the girls were away for some weekend, like like a getaway, an overnight sort of thing. And so I think at two different points during the summer, the the boys went and had a beach like night.
00:41:23
Speaker
And then the girls went had a beach night. So we went we went through. This is kind of, well, whatever. This is what we did. So we went through and we raided Cedar. So we went upstairs and like got all of the girls like like pajamas and underwear. And then and put them in like those big buckets and fill them with water and froze them. So when they came back, they were frozen and there was a huge just bucket of ice with all the pajamas and underwear. Oh my gosh. In a big, you know, just block of ice.
00:41:51
Speaker
That is way worse than playing board games with boys in our room. Yeah. oh Yeah. Yeah. The girls are not charming or amusing. They were pissed.
Family Traditions at Mission Springs
00:41:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ah Did they retaliate? ah Maybe. i don't remember. them me i don't know I don't remember. yeah Oh, I 100% would have slashed your tires. 100%. It would have been bad. I would have slashed Mike Wickham's tires then because I'm pretty sure he had a car.
00:42:17
Speaker
You did. You definitely did. Just ah upgraded to misdemeanor. Yes, misdemeanor. We're committing crimes now. That's not good. ah The other question I asked Cal was her favorite tradition on the 4th of July. So has your family spent the 4th of July always up at Mission Springs? And what's your favorite part of that particular holiday?
00:42:39
Speaker
Definitely. Yeah. Every 4th of July that I haven't been Mexico has been at you know, at Mission Springs. So I really like, I really like the Cathedral goal of Service. It goes, but I love to stand and stare up and it's the only time.
00:42:52
Speaker
that I really have to go to a service there. And it's it's just, it's always gorgeous. It's always clear. And i remember specifically one year they had the the national anthem was played on trumpet and they had people sort of like at around the top. And so they had one trumpet kind of come from the back, you know, they started it and then held the ba-da-dum-bum-bum.
00:43:14
Speaker
And then from off stage left, someone else sort of like came in. And then a third one came in a little later. And then they came in as ah all playing harmonies together. And it was just, it's so pretty. It's just such a pretty place. And yeah, I love that service.
00:43:30
Speaker
I remember that because it was Mark or was our music minister in sound state. He could really play the trumpet. yeah So he did the music one year at conference and it he it was him and John crew and somebody else. I don't remember who the third person was. So if anybody who listens to podcasts knows what was the three of them. They did. I mean, I think they've done it since then, but I think they were the first ones to do it. And it was very nice, like very.
00:43:53
Speaker
Like, yeah. And you see the sun coming through the trees, like, cause it'll start off sometimes a little foggy and then the fog will roll out and then you see the sun coming through the trees and it's almost like, i mean, it's like God, right? I mean, it just feels like God is there.
00:44:06
Speaker
Totally. and In Masatek, there's a word for those beams that come through the fog or that come through the clouds. They call it they call it God's beard. oh oh that's That's the word for those sort of beams. That's great descriptive. That's what I would say it looks like. Yeah, that's what it looks like to me. Cool. Yeah, definitely like impacting. Just, yeah, transcendental and gorgeous. Yeah. That's cool.
00:44:27
Speaker
It might have been Jack Martin, the third one. He might have been. You know what? It probably was. That's right. why How could I forget that? That's silly. of me He just can play so many instruments. I think sometimes you forget all the things that he's good at.
00:44:40
Speaker
That's true. That's true. Okay. So for the final part of our podcast, Ryan, we do this thing called shooting the Gulch. And it's just quick fire questions. All right. I mean, you can elaborate, but you don't have to think too hard about these. It's just mostly for fun. Although Calla didn't agree to all of them, but I ask them all anyway. Absolutely not. Okay. And the first question is, have you ever participated in shooting the Gulch?
00:45:02
Speaker
I have. For sure. And I can make it back past the bend. not It's not great. But so you go down. with yes, I have. I've done it. We do do a disclaimer too, saying we don't think it's super safe, so people shouldn't do it now. And yeah, maybe we shouldn't encourage kids. It's a much busier road than it even used to be. Like, it's a much busier road. For sure.
00:45:23
Speaker
For sure. um Part of the road is falling into the creek, so that doesn't help either. Yeah. OK. If you ran the Mountain Go Run at any time in history, where would you place? I've run it many times and i don't know, and the the bottom fifth is probably consistently placed. Yeah.
00:45:41
Speaker
You still run it now? ah this Last year I didn't, but the summer before that I ran it. That's cool. Yeah. too I haven't run it since high school and I'm not going to. Not unless somebody's chasing me.
00:45:54
Speaker
always training for But the new mountain goat run is way harder than when I was a kid. It's cool. Yeah. Just the route. It's hard. It's hard to have a new one. Well, because you have to run up Cathedral and then immediately game.
00:46:09
Speaker
Like all the, like could you run uphill and then you run down. and then as you go up behind Redwood Memorial, it's just a slog. It's just plodding all the way up until you get up to to Eagles. It's brutal. guess that's true because the old version, like you would go up the whole time to begin with and then it was down and flat pretty much. yeah so You mostly kind of walk almost up to Frontier and then you run down to Horse Camp and then back out Nelson and on Lockhart, which was easy.
00:46:39
Speaker
Yeah. I just remember when I did it the one time, I felt like Nelson Road was longer than I thought it was going to be. Like, I'm like, wait a minute. It's true. We're still on this road. Why? It's longer on foot than it is on in the car, isn't It feels that way. Okay. If you're at the pool, again, anytime in history, if you're you're at the pool, what are you ordering at the snack bar?
00:47:00
Speaker
Can I travel in time? Sure. Absolutely. I'll go back to the slushy days and would get, so there was raspberry. It was like blue raspberry pump. So it's a blue raspberry pump and then Sprite and then slushy.
00:47:13
Speaker
Oh, so good. My drink. So good. And then Abba Zaba was my. Oh, also great. I love those. Anything with peanut butter. That's a win. and then the tap And just make sure it doesn't melt into the pool deck. That's the one thing you have to be careful.
00:47:30
Speaker
I guess it's not as bad as now and laters. Like now and laters were absolutely, dentists everywhere have been either happy to have patients because of those things or being like, what are kids doing to
Nostalgia and Snacks
00:47:41
Speaker
their teeth? They were so hard.
00:47:43
Speaker
Or remember the um the ah Jolly Rancher? Like not the little. Oh yeah, but got the stick. Yeah. Exactly. The sticks. Those were awesome. They'd last forever and you can get them for a dime. You're like, this is the best deal ever. Remember the candy canes? They used to also have candy canes from different flavors. They did. They did.
00:48:01
Speaker
and like the cinnamon one. we We have spent an inordinate amount of time on this podcast already talking about snacks. yes I just think Mission Springs was a place where small children could find snacks. For no other reason, it was good to be there. It was because they had lots of things that were were good.
00:48:19
Speaker
And that wasn't even like Swedish fika or anything like that. It was just the pool, the trading post. Donuts at the movies. Yeah. Yeah. yeah So good. You remember the donut making machine down in the the kitchen?
00:48:32
Speaker
hundred percent. Yeah. I remember. Yeah, totally. Those were so good. And I remember we'd make them, it'd take a long time because they're kind of labor intensive and you put them out and it was almost like piranhas in water. Like they were gone immediately. Or the staff would eat a lot of them before the people came out because they weren't it wasn't for a conference it was like for bella presbyterian or la canata or something we put them out on the table and then the people would come out for the service and they were gone what happened to the donuts totally totally so good i thought remember the machine oh so good okay have you broken a mission springs rule and i say rule like with quotes because i don't think there are a lot of rules but there are unspoken rules and have you ever broken one and which one yeah
00:49:19
Speaker
I don't know. Well, definitely that prank about you know putting girls' clothes and and in an ice cube. Broken a rule. I mean, I must have. I don't know. Again, I'm a pretty straight-laced kid. So I'm going to say no. I've never broken a Mission Springs rule.
00:49:32
Speaker
How fast do you drive up the hill? um dude I'm pretty – when I was younger, I'm sure I drove i would drive too fast. But as a 50-year-old man, i never go over 11. You're 11? Okay. Okay.
00:49:44
Speaker
I have a great idea for an entrepreneurial opportunity for someone at Mission Springs, and that is in Chicago. We have these speed cameras that take your picture and give you tickets, and I have gotten a few of them. A few? No, more than few.
00:49:58
Speaker
ah More than a few. And they're almost always right by the Home Grid Athletic Complex at North Park. So that's... fine that stings but i said if they think that people are driving really fast some of which are my family members they could put a little camera take your picture send them at the os 25 you've been speeding we got you on camera yeah public it's a great idea i know for sure you make some money for the conference center that's right yeah a little bit
00:50:27
Speaker
Very few people are going 11. I know that. Okay. And here's the last question. This is one Kala doesn't like, but I think it's funny. What is the best kissing spot at Mission Springs?
00:50:38
Speaker
who um You know, the Madrone Grove, like off of back door. is Oh, yes, I do. Yeah. There's this lovely little Madrone Grove and when the the bark is coming off and it's sort of just, you know, you get those different sort of orangey spots.
00:50:57
Speaker
It's lovely. It's beautiful. Again, I was not a particularly romantic, you know, a teenager, you know, un unhappily, you know, single through all of my younger days, but, you know, but I'm older and so when I go go and walk with my wife, then that's much better. We don't have to hide or do anything sneaky at night. That's nice. I think like we've interviewed my parents and they had a lot of opinions on this. So I'm like, okay, I didn't need to know that. That's why I objected to the question. I mean, that's fair. That's kind of a, that's kind of a huge. You know, you're just like, and who knows? Like maybe somebody will mention a spot you hadn't heard of before and you're like, okay.
00:51:32
Speaker
I don't, I don't want, I don't, I don't i don't want to think think about it. We'll kiss wherever they want to kiss. I'm going to think about the Bible. Yeah. Yeah. That's right, Bella. What does the Bible say to kiss each other? Am I right? I have to say my favorite part of Fourth of July was the ice cream. Ice cream.
00:51:50
Speaker
True story. and She didn't actually know why we went to church. I'm not really sure why we're going to church today. This isn't really a Christian holiday, but whatever. Although the ice cream at Mission Spring or at Frontier Ranch on, um I forget, do we always do it every week? We used to have that trough ice cream. The banana split.
00:52:11
Speaker
Gross. Gross. Gross. Yeah. Gross. But so cool as a kid. I remember being like, again, it's just very food based maybe, but just the whole length of the field is just a giant ice cream sundae. I don't know who thought of that, but that was just a little bit of, an it's a little bit of genius. I mean, kind of gross, but genius. Kids don't care. You know, they're little. Equal parts genius and, and and you know, lovely and gross. yeah Yes, and an infectious morbidity. Yeah.
00:52:38
Speaker
ah All right. So Ryan, that's our interview. Thank you so much for participating. It's so great to talk to you. And congratulations on all of your finishing your studies and all the work that you're doing through Wycliffe and stuff like that.
00:52:52
Speaker
Thank you. Wonderful. It really good to talk to you All right. Well, that's it. We'll talk to you later. Bye, Ryan. Bye-bye.
00:53:11
Speaker
Well, that was fun talking to Ryan. Super fun. Ryan's great. Yeah, he has a lot of good insight, especially about his time at Frontier Ranch. I thought that that was particularly interesting. No, we it's interesting. and Yeah, his work experience and especially at Frontier Ranch. I mean, I think I really don't think people realize how hard a job that actually is, being a counselor and working up there with the kids, both both physically and Mentally, spiritually, all of it. It's very, very, very hard. Very important, but very hard.
00:53:40
Speaker
Yeah. Well, it was interesting to talk to him and he tells great stories. So yeah I always like talking to Ryan. Okay. So here is how we're going end the podcast today. Possible examples of ending questions. And I came up with this one and I think it's a good one.
00:53:55
Speaker
What is your favorite trail at Mission Springs and why? There's so many trails to pick from, but which one is your favorite? Yeah. My favorite trail is the dirt road, which is connecting. That counts, right? That's a trail.
00:54:10
Speaker
It totally counts. But I think this is one of those examples where you're going to have to explain it more because we call it the dirt road. And I'm not sure anyone else affiliated with Mission Springs calls it that. Yeah, which is interesting. I don't know how we started calling it that.
00:54:21
Speaker
But it connects like over by the water towers. It's a cutoff to get to the pool. So by the water towers, as you're going down the do not enter road, you hang, hang right up. And then you follow, I think they used to call it the fire trail. I think at one point it was paved and then that just goes directly down to the pool.
00:54:42
Speaker
Okay. Why is that your favorite trail? Well, one, it it significantly shortens the amount of time it takes to get to the pool. i mean That is true. I mean, if you're going to have a trail, it's a good cutoff trail.
00:54:55
Speaker
And then also there's ways that you can, they've since, We were kids, they've made other back trails that go up and you know connecting over by the high elements by Frontier. And it's just, that's really pretty and cool out there and in the Redwoods. and But yeah, mostly I just thought, wow, this is really ah great fast way to get to the pool.
00:55:16
Speaker
so yeah Yeah. And you don't have to worry. I remember being a kid and thinking, i don't have to worry about cars. Right. you know what I mean? So if you're even if you're a little kid, anytime you're on the trails at Mission Springs, now you might encounter a mountain lion, I suppose, but you don't have to worry about cars. And so that was an added layer of safety.
00:55:34
Speaker
Yeah. Whereas, you know, sometimes people don't drive so well around Mission Springs. They should really drive slower. Yeah. For us, it was, yeah, when we were at little at the old cabin, it was, yeah, was, yeah it was A nice path. It was always well-maintained, easy to get to the pool. i don't know. What's your favorite trail?
00:55:52
Speaker
um Well, it's hard to pick. like Yeah, I like the trail that and Emerson, because she's working it out to read, like I said before, she would know all the names of the trails. She starts to name the trails, and I'm like, you're going to have to describe what you're talking about because I never called them those names. Right.
00:56:08
Speaker
But the one that goes off of the dirt road, kind of, and it kind of goes alongside of it. I really like that one. It's pretty back there. I can tell you which one I don't like. What's that? And that's the trail from the pool up to Frontier Ranch.
00:56:22
Speaker
That trail, which I called the torture trail when I was working at Frontier Ranch, because we had to go up and down it so often. was never in such good shape as when I was working at Frontier Ranch, because we were constantly going up and down that that trail. But it just basically goes up the side of a mountain. Like it's it's just up. And you know after you've been at the pool and you've been watching kids or you've been swimming, and then you have to hike up and it can be dusty and you're behind like 70 or 100 other kids who are hiking up the trail and you get up there, And everybody's like smelling of chlorine and covered in dust. And yeah, that one, I mean, it's very pretty trail and it's not easier to go down because it's, you know, it's really, it's very efficient. I mean, maybe that's what they're thinking about trails, but if you had to go the long way around, which would probably be back by like Ridge camp, but Eagles landing,
00:57:16
Speaker
That would be the long trail around. Well, it's got a name. Yeah. But yes, there's some trails. I think they're named after trees too. I think there's a fur trail. Oh, we've already identified. I don't know anything about trees. There's a Madrone trail. That's not going to help me at all. Like with the Madrone trail, where's the Madrone? I don't even know. I was talking about a trail and I'm like, oh yeah, I know what you're talking about, but I didn't know it was named that. yeah I'm like, um so yeah, that's it's it's very efficient, but it it is very steep. It's kind of amazing. More people don't get hurt doing it, but.
00:57:46
Speaker
I remember once being at the pool and this is after, I already was married and stuff. So it was later. But we were sitting at the pool one day and all of a sudden we hear this big bang. And all of a sudden this dust comes out from the bottom of the trail where the upper parking lot is. And there's this this cloud of dust. I'm like, what just happened? And it turned out a giant tree had fallen down. Oh, man. In the summertime, which, you know, here in Washington, trees fall down a lot, but it's usually in the winter when it's windy. And it had fallen down and they just went up there to make sure everybody was safe. But it was a really big tree.
00:58:19
Speaker
but That's scary. And then every once in a while they have to do trail maintenance to get rid of some of those. Like the trail from Cathedral Grove up, there was a giant tree that fell across that too. And I think they just sawed a section out of it so people could through it because they couldn't. That's very efficient too.
00:58:37
Speaker
That's very nice trail. It's not as nice anymore. Well, it's hard to get, yeah, I know it's it's gotten more steep. Maybe I'm just, yeah, we're out of shape, but it seems to have gotten more steep to get between the different stairs.
00:58:50
Speaker
Yeah. As a kid, I remember thinking that cut down a lot of time too. I mean, the trails at the very least are just quicker ways to get places than being on the road. So many trails are going pretty, but most of the time they're just faster to get places. Well, and honestly, I think a big part of it is like how how little Poison Oak is on that trail.
00:59:09
Speaker
Yeah. like I'm not going on a trail with poison oak. I had poison oak once. I am not having it again. No, that's thank you. Yeah. no Anyway, if other people out there have a favorite trail and a reason why it's a favorite trail,
00:59:22
Speaker
please let us know, share that with us. And we hope that you will come back and listen to us again in our next episode. Yeah. And again, open invitation to point out trees and teach me anything about the nature that exists. I'm on a podcast and teach Carla about trees. Maybe we'll have to know somebody from Outdoor Ed on here. Are there pine trees in Michigan Springs?
00:59:46
Speaker
I'm sure there are. We'll have to see. so All right. We'll talk to you guys all later. Bye.