Color War

Hello Trip 4 Followers,


Our guest scribes did such an amazing job in the last email that we were happy to have their help in writing this edition-Thanks Julia and Taylor!

“Bandanas-bus tomorrow no questions asked” was the note taped to Trip 4 member’s doors on the last night at the luxurious Monte Carlo Hotel in Vegas. The next day an unknowing band of bandana clad trip 4 members boarded the bus to the normal morning song mix; except when the “Don’t Stop Believing/Just Dance” mashup began counselors Ditty and Jess made quite the entrance dancing onto the bus dressed as Journey and Lady Gaga. This was the way to announce the surprise break out of Color War and separated the teams into Gaga and Journey.

The captains of team Journey were Ally H and Matt, and for team Gaga, otherwise known as the winning team, the team representatives were Sam B. and Emma. “I am so happy I got captain woohoo Split the “V” dot the “I” curve the “C-T-O-R-Y “ VICTORY VICTORY VICTORY GO GAGA” said Emma. Both teams quickly got into meeting sessions where they began writing their songs and performing cheers. One of the first Color Ear events was a soccer game. It was a very competitive game! The ending score was 1-0, team Lady Gaga with the win! Dan scored the winning goal for the team! Brooke and Alec both shifted the job as goalie while for team Journey Matt was a fantastic goalie!

Later that day, Trip 4 hiked Zion National Park! “It was definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen!” Cailin said. After an exhausting hike, we walked around Knab, Utah’s little Hollywood where movies such as Thelma and Luise, Mission Impossible, and Indiana Jones have been filmed. For dinner we went to the Chuckyard Cookout where we all got to dress up as cowboys and cowgirls, Indians, soldiers, and saloon goers! Once we got dressed up, we all had a role to play and we made our very own old western movie! “I loved being able to dress up as an Indian and shout!” said Julia. The actors that played the pioneer couple were our very own counselors, Paige & Ditty! The wagon riders were played by Alec and Brenna! Everyone had a blast; it was most definitely a monumental night!

Once we got into the serious part of color war, everyone was very excited; spirit and team pride overcame everyone! Team Lady Gaga all dressed up and painted their bodies in their team colors: pink, purple, red, and yellow! Team Journey showed the same pride with colors of blue, white, green, and orange! We had the Apache Relay Race, which was one of the main events of Color War. There were multiple tasks the teams had to accomplish and each team mate had a couple events to do… whichever team finished the fastest won the Apache Relay! “I had to eat a pie without using my hands with 3 other boys… none of the other girls would do it! I had pie all over my face the rest of the day!” said Taylor from team Gaga. Ryan was so excited to represent team Gaga and eat dessert as a competition, and Sam B showed off his football skills in capture the flag. Josh had the important job of running for his team in the Apache Relay while Cami and Vito were vital to their team’s human pyramids. Deena searched for bubble gum in flour and then blew a bubble, and Camille drank juice out of a baby bottle while sitting on Taylor’s lap. Jessi R searched for pink Good and Plenty’s in a plate of whipped cream, Samantha’s superb memory was utilized to name all 28 trip members, and Jessi B used her balance to pin the tail on the donkey. The Apache Relay ended with a neck-in-neck bucket brigade in which teams had to fill a bin with water by passing buckets down a line over on team members heads and under the others legs-needless to say everyone was soaked and laughing!

The evening event consisted of team presentations of a team flag, skit, and song. Joni was integral to team Gaga’s winning team flag featuring a guitar and all team member names. All of the team skits were creative and hilarious- poking fun of the trip leaders dancing on the bus and other antics. Sam K did a great mimic of Jared’s crazyily energetic dance each morning to “Love Today” and Anna did a great Jared during the rap session in “California Girls.” While Ali R and Judy both impersonated Jess on the bus microphone. And Laura led her team with awesome enthusiasm in their dance routine. Our trip 4 members had an amazing time and they consider Color War a highlight of the trip.

Later, we all relaxed by the camp fire and made our final smores and banana boats. We will miss each other so much! The friends we made are everlasting, and the memories will forever remain.


Let’s end this email with some Color War cheers…

“Extra, Extra, read all about it-Journey’s gonna win and there’s no doubt about it…”

“Our team is what?-Gaga! Our team is what?-Gaga…”



Talk to you soon!

Your Trip 4 leaders

Jared, Jessica, Paige, Ditty, and Caitlin