I have heard so much about Forest Home, a retreat area here in Southern California, over the years, but hadn't ever had the chance to go. Suzy went on a Women's retreat there last year, and loved it. Now that Daniel is heading into third grade in the Fall (wait, that can't be right?) he was able to go to Indian Village this year with the school/church kids. Some kids his age have no interest in going to some strange place hundreds of miles away from their parents, out in the woods with the bears and mosquitoes. Not a problem with Daniel. He was sold from the get go.
'We get to sleep in a teepee? I'm in!'
When I dropped him off yesterday for the bus ride up there he never even said goodbye, I turned to say hi to another parent, and when I turned back around I caught a glimpse of him scrambling onto the bus.
'Uh, bye, bud. Have a good time.'
Well, lucky(?) for me I got to visit Forest Home much sooner than I expected. Around two o'clock today I got a call from a nice sounding young lady who identified herself as 'Nightengale'. She informed me that Daniel was ok, but he had been throwing up all day. I thanked her for calling and told her that I would be up in about two and a half hours. After checking Google Maps for directions (thank you internet) I hopped in the car and headed north.
Two point five hours later I pulled into the parking lot of this enormous facility and realized that I had not a single clue about how to track down my little vomiting nugget among all of these acres and acres of retreat facilities. Thankfully I soon ran into Pat and his golf cart, who called around for me and got me on the right path. As an aside, all of the folks that work up there, while strangely named (excepting Pat I met Buffalo, Sand Piper, Fox Fire and Nightengale) were very nice. Poor Nightengale had to tend to Daniel all day in the medic's teepee and she had the grace to thank him for keeping her company all day. As someone who has taken care of Daniel when he's not feeling well I can attest to the fact that it can be a trying and difficult day, but she seemed to genuinely care about him.
No one wanted Daniel to have to go home, so we decided to see how he tolerated a light dinner. Not well, so off we went. Another aside, kids are so into other kids throwing up.
'Did he just throw up?!?'
'Yes, yes he did, back to your dinner little fellow, nothing to see here.'
Quick stop at the bottom of the mountain for Daniel to take care of his business in a gas station bathroom (don't recommend that, an unpleasant experience for everyone), and once more into a bowl while driving south through Perris, but other than that we had a pretty pleasant trip home. Despite his disappointment at having to leave, Daniel was chatty and in good spirits. He's hopeful that he will be able to go back up on Wednesday if he has a good day tomorrow. I don't know if that would be a good idea or not, but I am trying to be open to the idea of another five hours in the car. I guess God will make it pretty clear.
All in all, I wish that I could have waited a bit longer before going to Forest Home, but it seems like a great place!
