I woke up at 7:00 or so, which was amazing considering that I did not fall asleep until 2:00. One of the other guys was already up, starting to get breakfast ready (the cabin was responsible for one breakfast and one lunch on day two). I went out onto the enclosed porch to do my morning devotions, and I was joined there by another student. We talked some – he is about to head off to Taiwan until Christmas, so we had some good discussions about travel.

Maumee Bay has an amazing boardwalk walk though the woods and a marsh, and there was a scheduled nature walk there at 9:00. I wandered over there and waited for a few minutes, until I was eventually joined by three other chaperons and three girls. That was not surprising, since most students were still waking up, and a group of seven was a good size for the walk. The boardwalk is about a mile long, in a loop, and it goes out to an observation tower in a marsh at one end, which is a very pretty spot. We saw a ton of birds and about a half dozen deer along the walk, and Booch and I got to chatting for much of the walk. It was a quiet way to start the day.

I headed back to the cabin, to arrive just in time for a breakfast of pancakes and eggs. It was good, but a bit light on fare (there were six teenaged guys in the cabin, after all), so after breakfast I headed to the lodge with Mer, where I bought a hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll. We wandered over to the edge of the bay, where I ate the food fairly quickly because of the cool temperatures and the strong wind. We headed back to the cabins to make sure we could be ready for the afternoon activities – students could have free time, or go paint-balling, or go to the Toledo Zoo (Mer and I were going to the zoo).

I got back to the cabin and had time to make chocolate peanut butter bars for the guys. I had brought along the (simple) ingredients, and I wanted to do something nice. I whipped those together in about twenty-five minutes, and then I headed back to the lodge so I could get ready for the zoo trip.

The zoo trip was mostly fun. Toledo’s zoo is really modern and well designed, and we saw pretty active hippos, seals, polar bears, and otters. We saw lounging tigers and snow leopards and wolves, and saw super active and entertaining leaping and jumping lemurs. The only downside was the weather – it kept trying to rain, and when it finally did rain for about fifteen minutes, the temperature dropped quickly, and a strong wind sprang up. I was not dressed for that in a t-shirt and shorts, and I finally told Mer I was miserable, and I retreated to the main gift store, where it was warm and I could get a hot chocolate. Mer joined me a few minutes later, and we got some cookies and brownies for the trip back.

Once back in the cabin, I crashed in bed for over an hour just to get warm again. I don’t think I slept any, but at least I got warm. We again had a dinner at the lodge, and this one was (sort of) formal – no jeans or t-shirts. I sat with my cabin, and we had a good meal and a good time. After supper, we heard from two more speakers – LT Newland and Rick Lyons. I’m afraid I did not process much of what they had to say, as my poor sleeping and eating caught up with me and I started feeling a little ill; I even had to spend a fair amount of time in the restroom during Rick’s talk.

After the speakers were done, the tradition of “senior share night” continued. Each year, we open the microphone up for any senior who wants to say something positive. This year, about twenty-five students spoke for about an hour total, and it surprised me that about a third of them were members of my Royal Fools improv club. Some of the seniors were silly, but most were genuine. The only thing I would have liked to see were some more specifics – it means more to thank individuals than entire groups, but that is the way of it some years. It went well, and that is what matters.

The seniors had free time until curfew at 12:30, and I played a student, Skyler, in racquetball. I used to love racquetball, but it had been at least twelve years since I had played, and it showed as I blew shots and misjudged the ball. Skyler built up a five- or six-point lead before easing off a bit, and that gave me time to come back. I eventually won, 21-19, but I have no doubt that Skyler could have beaten me if he had wanted to.

After the game, I went back to the cabin and showered and waited for the guys to get home. They were all in the cabin on time, but then stayed up until about 2:00. Since the walls of the cabin are thin, I was up until 2:00 as well, but that was okay, as I knew I’d be back in my own bed Friday evening.