On July 30, 2021, the last camp for junior counselors had finished, and it was time to pack up and go home. We would stay the night in Torrance at Dave’s brother’s house. The last cleanup item was packing up the canoes and putting them onto the trailer.
As we left the camp for the pond, the rain poured and caused mudslides. We got out a couple times to remove obstacles from the road before finally arriving. But the rain did not stop for us. I hate the rain and getting wet, but that didn’t matter. We had a mission to do. I stepped out of the van and started helping the group drag the canoes to the trailer. The heavy rain quickly drenched my clothes and made me shiveringly cold.
“Smile,” Dave said multiple times.
I did my best to work with a happy heart beneath the gray clouds.
After finishing, we headed back to the camp, but the mudslides continued, and the road became a river. We couldn’t drive past this one. We would have to wait for the storm to die down and for the road to be cleared. After some time, we made it back, and the director graciously let us take showers and put on dry clothes. Next was the two-hour drive to Torrance, where we stayed the night.
The next day, we did a Bible study and then hit the road. We drove through Los Angeles and then through Santa Clarita. We passed the I-5 sign for The Master’s University. Oh, how I wished we could stop by the campus, but I knew that we would not. We needed to keep going if we were to make it back to Oakdale by dinner time. That’s all right. In just a few short weeks, I would be moving into my dorm room and experiencing the hype of WOW week.
As we were about to go through the grapevine, Bob called to ask how we were doing. At that moment, the van broke down, forcing Dave to pull to the side of the freeway in 99-degree weather. Dave called multiple people he knew to see what his options were.
But in the meantime, we were stuck. So, we had a little fun. We explored the grassy hills. We watched the beginning of Hot Rod. We had the passing trucks honk at us. And we even offered cookies to a California Highway Patrol officer, who declined and asked if were high.
After a few hours, Dave found a friend of the girls’ camp leader who could pick us up. That friend, Nate, would also tow the trailer. Dave would ride with the truck towing the van.
Nate eventually found us, gave us water, connected the trailer, and brought us back to his place. The initial plan was for Nate to make two trips, one with the minors and a second one with the adults, but we decided to all just squeeze into his truck. That ended up being the right choice because a fire on I-5 caused heavy traffic, which would have delayed getting back to safety by at least a couple hours.
As we were on the drive, I learned that Nate’s home was in Newhall and that he was a member at Grace Community Church. Taking us to his house basically meant that he was taking us to The Master’s University.
Upon arriving, a few of us wanted coffee, and we decided to go to a place that I had only been once before—Trophy Coffee. And I met a couple seniors working there and asked them for advice. After drinking my coffee, I cooled off in Nate’s pool and ate dinner. During that time, I met Daniel, a leader at the college Bible study for Grace at Nate’s house. A couple hours later, we walked to Newhall Market, got some snacks and soda for the drive back, and returned to Nate’s house.
Around 11 p.m., our friend and his girlfriend brought their family van to pick us up. We could finally drive back to Oakdale. I hopped into the van, but I didn’t want to leave. I was in Santa Clarita for the second time, and I desired to stay near TMU. I had made connections at my future church, met upperclassmen at my future school, and drunk coffee from a campus-wide popular coffee shop. But I would soon return.
Goodbye, TMU. I’ll see you on August 21, only a few weeks away.
