Guided to the cabin, we were given the opportunity for a light breakfast (three kinds of juice), a chance to run across the highway to get beer or wine for the trip (apparently, beer was the staple everyone wanted; there were cases and cases of it, as if we'd be gone a year), and a last chance at flush toilets for a few days. Everyone was told to choose a set of two numbered blue rubber bags that closed by rolling down the top and clipping the corners to one another with woven nylon drawstrings and locked with metal teeth. I picked B8. The big bag held your duffle and week-long clothes supply; the smaller was your day bag, which you would have access to during each day's trip. We hoisted them on top of two vans (see above) and were hustled into the cabin for a briefing.

For the first time, we got a good look at our fellow campers, and met our three Fearless leaders: Dale, Erica and Trey (he's standing on the far left of the picture). The briefing gave us the essentials: watch out for red ants. Avoid snakes, though mostly they'll avoid you. You will get wet. You will need to put on sunscreen. No littering of any kind. Eat and drink constantly: "You may not think you're sweating, but you are and can dehydrate." There was extensive information on bathroom procedures. I realized we'd be with a wide group of fellow campers -- included in our lot was a group of six: 2 70-plus year olds, along with their middle-aged children and their grandchildren, 9 and 12. Since six wasn't enough for that group, they also had a friend of the family along. A gay couple. An uncle and his nephew. A father and his daughter. Liz and Dave, and at least one other long-term couple, Harry and his ex-Catholic (I learned later) girlfriend. And a foursome of married-couple friends who stuck tight and provided both entertainment an annoyance in equal amounts. A threesome of a married couple and their friend -- Mike, Mike and Diana ("not Diane") who were hobbyists in the Polish dance -- from Tidewater, Virginia. And me. Many people told me how "brave" I was to come alone. I don't know how much bravery came into any of it, I just wanted to see if I'd get to night four and burst out in tears. (I didn't.)