Wednesday the white Mustang wound through the woods, climbing Mount Nebo to a secret land of dainty lace and sharp pleated skirts, of school uniforms and billowy pinafores, of ballet steps and steak and salmon and chocolate sundaes. Little Girl Camp 15 was dawning. We had the skirts, we had the hairbows, we had the peter pan collars and the mary janes, and we couldn’t wait to get ‘em on.
As Vickie drove and I admired the blooming greens, further up the mountain, beloved dolls were freed from suitcases and cuddly teddies were placed on pillows. Fingernails were being carefully coated in layers of pink polish. Videos and books and board games were being piled up in the lobby in the event of rainy weather. Camp does not officially begin until Thursday, but we girls have never been sticklers for silly rules.
Vickie parked the Mustang and I scampered up the steps to Cherry House with my little suitcase. Then I scampered up with the big suitcase, then returned for the dress bag, and the rest of my stuff. The rooms, I had heard, had been remodeled and I was anxious to see what had changed. My first thought as I entered the room was, “Where did they put the dresser?” Later I heard the dressers were deemed to be valuable antiques and were sold, soon to be replaced. There was a little end table with three little drawers, barely enough room to pack my underthings and ballet gear. Oh, and there was a fresh coat of paint on the wall.
I didn’t care, there were girls in the lobby to hug, so I scurried over and said my hello’s. Some of us were still in pants - it was a funny mix, with Pet pouffed up to perfection in fluffy auroras, and Amy in her white golf shirt and tan slacks. Our ‘big girl’ friend Cheryl was there, glamorous and sparkly, and a big girl I hadn’t met before, who looked a bit like Crystal from Iowa. Most of the U.K. girls had arrived -- Karla and Suzy May were there, and Rachel Bear, enjoying her first Camp weekend in the U.S. Close beside Rachel was a girl from the Netherlands, dressed as Alice, whose name was Alice. Princess Heather had driven all the way up from Texas. And Tracy from Connecticut was back for more fun. Lil Patty brought us a shoebox filled with cute DVD's. If a blizzard hit the mountain we could stay in and watch girl’s movies all weekend.
A cute red jeepy kind of car pulled up, and out hopped Stephanie and Heather Rose. I only knew Heather from her photos on Girltalk but I recognized her immediately, and she squealed happily when I introduced myself as Spinner. Stephanie’s reputation of course defies description and requires no introduction. She would want us to think she is the naughtiest girl at Camp, even after selflessly driving across New Jersey and back to pick up Heather at the airport.
When Karen Marie arrived, we all sat down to dinner. It was a pleasure seeing my cute Maryland sis again. In December we had gone with Meagan Alise to see the Nutcracker, Karen’s first ballet. The three of us enjoyed a Christmas evening in New York. Since then, Karen moved to a new house and had been hard at work customizing a new scooter. I still wasn’t quite ready to scoot on a scooter, I was sure I’d drive it into the hood of a Mack truck and end up a vegetable, probably a lima bean, and I don’t like lima beans.
