We awoke at dawn in the newly built cabins of the Sanctuary. It was scorching in there in the night, but we survived (barely). After that humid taste of Davy Jones locker (in part due to the mistake three of our men made of turning on the heaters), we ate a quick, hearty breakfast and nearly immediately got onto the waters. Knowing the treasure would show its face soon, we paddled for two miles in fierce winds. Your beloved authors for tonight, the great pirate crew Riptide, had an epic battle with our scurvy rivals, the Pineapple Punishers. Obviously, we won.
As we hinted earlier, the sea faring journey was difficult. Rough waves and their large whitecaps (which be the term for the tops of waves), searing winds, and beastly fish ramming into the sides of our vessels, made for a tough adventure. Captain Luke of Riptide kept running his ship into others, for example *cough cough* Bryant. We arrived at White Oak for some much needed, but rather muddy, therapeutic cooling where Captain Luke became a swamp monster. We heard tales from Deckmaster Lydia about the mystical green glass door. We bonded over the generational cabin snack of G.O.R.P., and Cabin Boy Issac earned his legendary nickname, “Gorpsac”.  We then came to the final destination of the great grassy plains of “Family Camp”.
 
Shipmaster Debbie blessed the journey several times with her sacred motivational dance. (Cue Debbie demonstrating)
 Here at the camp of crews, we worked hard to gain our treasure (the crabs of the Patuxent River that we most definitely fished and cooked ourselves.)
 
The crab feast we have been anxiously awaiting has finally arrived!
After all that hard work, we had a great feast. We are sad to have come to the end of our amazing adventure, but the real adventure was the friends we made along the way.       ;’7
Siginoing off, the great and legendary pirate crew Riptide: Luke, Calla, and Demi
THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING CREW FOR THE WONDERFUL EDITION OF THIS YEAR’S TEEN LEADERSHIP PADDLE
Gunman Bryant
Wayfinder Calla(fornia)
Team motivator Debbie
Demigod Demi
Deckswabber Embry
Cabin Boy “Gorpsac”  Issac
Captain Luke
Deckmaster Lydia
Michelle the Mermaid

Facilitators note: GORP stands for Good Old Raisins and Peanuts

There once was a teen paddle camp
At night we write poems by lamp
River god Greg talks so much
About Ospreys and such
Can't wait for Friday, my clothes are quite damp.

Authored by Matt

Daylight descended rather suddenly upon the campground, startling the fatigued campers awake. Scratch that, it was just the bright flashlight of someone going to use the bathroom after the horrendous potatoes from last night’s dinner; word spreads that the ghost of a swindling Irish potato pirate, Mattheus Jacoby Felperin the 3rd, stole our potatoes and replaced them with not so scrumptious rocks. Undeterred by the adversities of the last night, we quickly packed up and made our way to our next destination; the ship of endless chatter… (ominous music). They say whoever boards the ship will be haunted by the endless chatter of the zombie captain Greg but gain useful knowledge for their future endeavors. Later, a failed robbery led to an intriguing endeavor of learning indigenous hunting tactics. Just know, the dragonflies are the best hunters. A quick game of rubbing feet and playing mafia-Bryant’s feet stink-we set onto sea yet again. We were plagued by mosquitos the entire voyage, flying monstrosities the size of small aircrafts that would drink every last drop of blood from our bodies if we let them. They were so gargantuan we could see or reflections in the bulbous and beady eyes. The endless lapping waves continued and it felt like at any moment our party would reach worlds end or the river Styx. Achilles bathed in the river Styx to get his power and the ultimate weakness in his heel. We bathed in the river Patuxent to gain no powers and a treasure map of bug bites adorning our ankles. I aint seen skeeters this big since Nam.  The day was long and hard, baking in the sun while waiting for Captain Olivia to figure out where was safe to dock, we finally arrived at el dorado. The home of showers and cabins. A few seconds in, Matt and Bryant capsized and started drowning in inch deep water. Finally, we made our way to the beautiful cabins, with actual bathrooms, working bathrooms, fancy showers. Amazing, we know. Everyone could finally escape the assault of the pineapple punishers funk and Bryant’s feet. 

Written by Lydia, Isaac, and Michelle
 Facilitators note: There was no real danger to Matt or Bryant. Our facilitator Matt tripped while getting out of his boat and got a little wet.

​Thus, it is Day 2. Groggily, we awake to the awe-inspiring dawn. The crew of the Riptide led by Captain Demi cooked us a tidy grog and bilge breakfast. And off we set, having to bear up and face the sun. And suddenly, shiver me timbers! Man overboard! Issac and Lucas’ kayak have capsized! We immediately turned around to rescue our men. Back on our journey we started. For the next few hours to come, our ships were filled with joyous cacophony. Sweat beading down our forehead, our paddling filled with passion, we encountered marvelous wildlife; beautiful bald eagles, vibrant cardinals, and wild rice fields, we continued our journey.  We paddled through traitorous tides and cracked on until we saw the beautiful bridge, our savior. We docked our trusty ships and were packed into a bus, set footloose on our campgrounds, and were cooked a tidy, delicious dinner by Isaac, Michelle and Lydia. The slop they thrust towards our faces could make even Davey Jones gag. The Pineapple Punisher team could clearly make much better food than the Dragonflies.
Written by Embry, Bryant, and Debby

Hello Teen Paddle parents! We wanted to give you an update that we avoided the big rainstorm that moved through the area by changing camping locations to our drop off site. Paddlers made their dinners while sheltering indoors and once the storms cleared we were able to have our reflection time around the campfire and set up out tents. We even made it to be on time (possibly a monday of teen paddle 1st).

Today we began our long and arduous journey on the great and mighty Patuxent River. To begin the venture,  we created treasure maps and asked our fellow pirates to finish them. This familiarized ourselves with each other before we embarked on a land journey on our metal steeds to the mountain called Calvert. We took a well earned rest in the cooling springs, blissfully unaware of the harsh weather to come. The mighty currents swayed our ships as we sailed and we were forced to perform rescues of those of us who were thrown overboard by the great gales. We returned to shore, exhausted, and had to heave our sailboats onto the slow metal steed. The clouds rolled in soon after and a terrible storm began; we found shelter as soon as we could. It seems our original plans are no longer possible and we set up a hurried shelter. Even now, in the dank cellar, with only the light of a kerosene lamp illuminating the parchment this letter is on, we await  the next day without patience, eager to continue the hunt for our treasure. 

-Authored by Luke, Calla, and Demi

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Day 4, 
We awoke later than usual this morning, and again met with the great Greg Kearns and boarded his mystic vessel. He enlightened us with his special knowledge of building and using mystic gilded cages. He allowed us to assist him with catching great dragons named sora. After several tries and fails (probably the monarch's fault) the birds were drawn in by their own melodies. We brought the beast upon our vessel, as well as the sea monster. The beastly behemoth bird pecketh our digits until they were down to the bone. After we returned from our adventure we feasted gloriously to celebrate our victory against the cruel beasts. We briefly went into hibernation so as to avoid the great outhouse in the sky suddenly opened up and forced us to avoid the vast ocean for the remainder of the day. We awaited the end of the apocalypse under cover in our stable. We consumed gorp so as to stay in good health. As we await the termination of our journey we leave you with this message…

     We the people who munch the dirt hold these truths to be self evident that all dirt is created equal and when it becomes time in that dirt is no longer free we are forced to emancipate ourselves from those who wish to keep us underground for these reasons we are forced to leave the rule of the monarchs so we can live fuller and freer lives to munch the dirt. 

Written by Abby, Isaac, Collin

At the break of dawn! we awoke from our slumber, we then assembled for our mighty breakfast, which consisted of yogurt, questionable eggs, wild berries, bagels, and this thing called “Cereal”. 
   We then met Matt, the mysterious bird man, who pointed out various majestic birds. Then we embarked on the longest voyage of the week, we overcame mighty obstacles like, the grueling heat!, beastly snakes!, mighty eagles!, flesh eating fish!, and undead deer! … 

We then took a brief respite under the shades of mount Calvert, afterwards we cooled off from the grueling heat by "Therapeutically cooling" because apparently we couldn’t legally swim there yada yada yada. 
            After a short while we met Greg Kearns, and his enchanted vessel, he took us on an adventure about the marshlands of the Patuxent.
 We then returned to the place where we first gathered at Jackson’s Landing, where we made camp. We hope dinner will be as good as last night. 

Ps: We don’t trust the Dirt Munchers.

​--Jesus, Demi, Tobias (The Tide)

Day 1,

Welcometh to the province of the wondrous Patuxent! In the early morn in thy Patuxent,at 8:30 a.m. the elites of each class have gathered round for the town meeting! To introduce the 3 elite groups, each from vast lands, the majestic queen ordered for the commencement of ice breakers. The queen asks of "thy’s favorite smell”, The peasants known as Dirt Munchers replied with the revolting smell…of an "Agitated stunk”!? The refined yet mediocre monarchs replied with the fine aroma of the “Hercules Beatle’s”. The clergy of tide replied with “The musk of vanilla bean”. Quite a questionable bunch gathered here. To make haste the guests were rushed into the sea of kayaks. The uneducated bunch were sent to the beginners class to learn the basics of kayaking, while the elegant and experienced kayak riders learned how to topple off the boat in a very ‘graceful' manner. The clock spins and we welcome 6 with their partner 7, 67. The ever so vile dirt munchers ignite thine fire, while the refined clergy of the Tide fabricated a beautiful dinner. Finally the beautiful, elegant, yet mediocre monarchs write this blessed letter to the far away place called the internet.

Ps: the mediocre monarchs are having withdrawal symptoms, they are in dire need of electronics.

Mediocre Monarchs

• Michelle
• Bryant
  
• Natalie
  
• Sagan

​