Adult Summer Camp – Austin, TX

When a vacation starts with your friend getting stuck in an elevator, you just aren’t sure how things are going to go from there!!! Thank god she is so cool and has a tremendous amount of patience. She was in there for 10 minutes and laughed her way through it….THAT was the indicator the trip was going to be like no-other :-).

I don’t know how many of you were able to go to summer camp when you were a kid. My parents didn’t have much, but I was able to go for 10 days at a time to place outside of Dallas, called “Camp Grady Spruce”. I always envied those who got to go for the entire summer. Camp days were some of the best in life outside of my freshman year of college.

I was able to experience all kinds of fun activities, like canoeing…..my BFF and I would just go around in circles in our canoe – no clue why we couldn’t figure out the rhythm, but we didn’t, and laughed hysterically about it. I also recall being by ourselves the entire time too – those were the days of ‘dangerous’ independence from adults. It was blissful to an 11 year old and guess what? We survived.

Fast forward 40+ years to an adult-like summer camp experience, otherwise known as, a spa on a lake. It’s been on my bucket list for 20 years….in the meantime, I have spent years hiking in remote areas, pooping in pit toilets, and pushing just about every mental and physical envelope out there. For the first time in my life, I chose a relaxing vacation – on purpose.

Thank you COVID – I must give credit where credit is due.

One of the greatest gifts in life are the friends who are up for anything, no matter what you throw at em. I texted AB and asked if she would be interested in the Lake Austin Spa (outside of Austin, TX) for a long weekend….no joke, we had the entire trip booked within 15 minutes, rooms, airfare – all of it.

After weeks of time moving at what felt like a snail’s pace, we FINALLY got to our destination….the only difference between this trip and Camp Grady Spruce was the price, spa treatments, hot-tubs and availability of wine – ok maybe the food was a little better too. There were kayaks, SUP’s, ski boats, pools, hiking trails, fire pits, s’mores and all kinds of cool places to hang out on the lake.

All the things.

I won’t go into the minutiae, but the weekend was incredible. Between clean eating, empathetic, loving, open conversations, good sleep and a reasonable amount of exercise, I am going home with a full heart. Between, this and the outcome of the US presidential election – life is AMAZING at this very moment.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow? I can’t worry about it. I won’t worry about it.

If you have the opportunity, take some time for yourself and a loved one or a friend, I PROMISE you will come back feeling like an amazing human. If it’s not a spa, go do something you have been putting off. I personally didn’t find airports/planes too crazy. People are pretty good at social distancing, and we didn’t encounter massive crowds anywhere we went, including downtown Austin.

Although my spa treatments didn’t come close to eliminating my fine lines and wrinkles, the whole experience has kicked started a strong desire to be conscious of food choices and a few other healthy habits. One of them being more exercise – the hot summer was demotivating. In fact, I have a skateboard waiting for me at home to add an exciting new way to get outside. I am sure my neighbors will get a good kick out of it…I hope they do. Maybe I will shock everyone and get out there in a prom dress and scoot around the hood.

…i choose this….

Pam