How I spent my summer vacation

by Charlie Thayer.
Okay, this isn't formal essay. But I wanted to share (and encourage others to do the same) my most memorable 4th of July.
I had just joined the youth group at my church in Dallas when I found out they were going a summer road trip to a Young Life camp in northern California. I signed up knowing only one person and set out on 4 day roadtrip to Woodleaf. (don't worry, this isn't a story about friends and caring and sharing, keep reading)
Our last day/night before we got to the camp we stopped in Tahoe and somehow our leader arranged it so we could set up camp on local church's sunday school floor.
That day was the 4th of July and after swimming in the freezing cold water all day (which is very unlike me) we sat on the shore and watched the fireworks over the lake. :)
That's makes it on the top 10 list of warm fuzzy teen memories. It's funny that now that I live within a day's drive of Tahoe, I could go there anytime I want. But I know that if I went up there now, with strangers my own age from our church here, it totally wouldn't be the same. It think it was the combination of other people in charge, no job or school to worry about and being hundreds of miles away from home.
Happy Independence Day.