We had perfect weather for a busy day of activities.

We started with a bike ride on the Greenbrier River Trail. This is a "rails-to-trails" conversion giving us a scenic, traffic-free ride alongside the river. The terrain is virtually flat so the biking was easy.

One group and a set of leaders biked eight miles and the other group traveled twelve. The biking outfitters gave each of us a souvenir water bottle which was a nice added bonus.

Before packing up and heading back to the motel we tried another team-building activity. I'm happy to report that just about every boy knows everyone's name on this trip.

Click to see photos.

After the bike ride it was time for eating. Actually, it's always time for eating. We had lunch at the Subway within walking distance of our motel and then had "rest hour" in the motel rooms until swimming time. Dinner this evening was at When Pigs Fly Barbecue. It was excellent if you're a barbecue lover and most of these boys were. Of course, the portions were way bigger than any of us could handle.

Then from dinner it was bowling with the boys and leaders dividing up across four lanes. To spice up the fun, MTA offered $10 to the high scorer in the first game. Will Rasco, pictured here, was the happy winner. We upped the ante a bit for the second game with a $10 prize for the first place scorer, $5 for second place, $3 for third place, and $2 for fourth place. Dominic Arnel won the $10 first-prize money.

Oh yeah, we've declared Wednesday to be a sugar-free day! I doubt that will last long.

Click to see photos.

This time tomorrow we'll be settled into our rooms in Lewisburg, West Virginia with a bunch of excited campers.  And for the next several days we'll be hiking, biking, tubing, geocaching, gemstone mining, taking a train ride, and  a whole lot more.




We hope you'll return to this page often to follow us so you can read about some of our happenings and see the photos. 

It has been a busy few weeks as the pieces start falling into place for our two upcoming summer trips. 

It's been over a decade since we last visited West Virginia and I had no clue if I would find enough boys to make this trip certain. All of our recent trips have been to relatively far-away places so didn't know if kids would want to do some exploring closer to home. Happy to report we have a packed trip with 20 boys and five adults all raring to go. I've been making reservations for some really great activities like the Cass Scenic Railroad, Lost World Caverns, a bike ride on the Greenbrier River Trail, and more. I'm especially excited about getting a chance to tour "the Bunker" at The Greenbrier Resort. This was a Cold War era "secret" for over 30 years until it was exposed by a reporter and had to be declassified. This bunker was built to house hundreds of top-level government employees like the president and congress in case of war. 

And even though our Europe trip is mostly a "plan it as we travel" experience with boys deciding where to go, what to see, how long to stay...I have made reservations for our first two nights hotel stay in Bruges, Belgium and our last three nights hotel stay in Munich, Germany. The rest of the trip is completely up to the boys. Bruges is about a 75 minutes train ride from Brussels and is a UNESCO World Heritage Cultural City and I'm really looking forward to starting our trip there.

Stay tuned to this blog this summer for photos and reports about both trips.

We had a great time out in Wyoming & Montana this past July. It was the first MTA experience for 60 percent of our group this summer and I think most would agree it was a fun time. The other 40 percent of the boys have been on two, three, four, and even five MTA trips before. They knew what they were getting into, but of course - every trip, every day is a different experience. It's just one of the things that differentiates these programs from a typical summer camp experience. The boys this summer hiked and explored in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, rafted the Yellowstone River, took a horseback trail ride in Cody, visited a couple of museums, saw a rodeo, and of course - got glimpses of lots of wildlife including a mama bear with two cubs, bison, elk, antelope, and bighorn sheep. Click to see some photos from our most recent trip.

And we're always looking ahead...

Boys are already signing up for our 2013 trips. The first up (June 2013) is a seven-day experience in the West Virginia mountains. We'll base in the Greenbrier River Valley area which has plenty of great activities to keep us as busy as we want to be. We'll get to hike, explore, tube, take a train ride, visit America's best-kept secret, bike on the Greenbrier River Trail, and much more. The activities are suitable for all ages starting with boys who will have finished the third grade. Click for more info on West Virginia.

The Europe by Eurail expedition will be our major trip for 2013. This is our fourth adventure across the Atlantic. Can you imagine traveling across Europe by train getting to choose where you want to visit, how long you want to stay, what you want to see? This is exactly how we do it. We will have reservations for the first two or three and last two or three nights - then every day in-between is up to us. This trip already has a waiting list, but if you're interested in joining us there's always a chance. Most of the boys have been signed up since January or February and circumstances do change. So click to read more and let me know if you want to add your name to the roster. There's a chance we'll do another trip to Europe as soon as 2014 or 2015 since these trips have always had very strong demand.