Hello Thursday.
I could not sleep.
I had to pack.
Had to finish work I would miss Friday.
I was going to Bud Camp.
Call time: 3AM. Mississauga on a bus for 6:30 AM. I decided I would just stay up – at least that was the plan. “I can catch up on sleep later,” I thought.
but I thought so wrong.
It’s Friday, 7AM & I’ve been up all night. We board the Bud Camp bus & its on – & there’s no end in sight. Bud Camp has officially started. We arrive Friday afternoon after a long ride, to arrive at an Ottawa river campsite . We were told the first bus of lucky Bud Camp winners would pull up soon. ‘Put on your smiles ladies and let’s light up the room!’ The energy in the air for the bus was insane. There was a lot of cheering, stomping, jumping, yelling, whistle blowing & much more of the same.
Winners stoked hanging out bus windows, wide-eyed at what they saw.
Was this heaven?
No.
It’s BudCamp. Pick up your jaw.
After we greet 5 or 6 bus loads of Bud Camp Winners, we are all now being treated to fantastic dinners. Every morning noon and night we rock a buffet fam. Friday night, the party kicks off with the official Budweiser Cover Band.
We danced, hung out on the Big Rig, & got to know as many of the winners as we could.
We were told to focus our attention beside the stage. “Oh this should be good”. Luckily I landed a front row spot with Shalla. We found ourselves staring at a man strapped to a massive jet pack whose name was Allan.
Allan had a beard, the crowd nicknamed Allan & cheered, (a hangover throwback is what it appears?). With the crowd chanting ‘Allan’ as Shalla and I watched, it became accepted that this WAS his name. It is amazing how, when once person starts to chant, the rest do the same.
A hilarious act he had actually. Allan would plan these ‘false blooper’ explosions. People were running out to extinguish the fires in the commotion. The crowd buys it and says “You Messed up!” “You messed up!”, only to begin chanting “We love you!” a minute later, when the gig kept up.
I later found out his real name is Bryce. For this moment though, I go with it. Shalla and I chant for Allan.
He is going to do something epic.
He jets into the air, explosions happen, fireworks go off. We are amazed at his show.
Things got a little crazy as the entire camp grounds literally turned into a massive dance floor.
This was Bud Camp. Everyone wants more.
I kind of forgot I hadn’t slept. At 1:30AM we said goodbye to the winners. We knew they were in for a big wake-up call.
We headed back to the campsite early Saturday morning.
After roughly 2 hours of sleep we were back in uniform. Blowing our whistles harder than ever. Ready to wake up the winners. Bud Girls can make a lot of noise. We pounded on their doors so hard.
We also encountered some interesting sights that morning…
Evidence of a legendary party.
Namely, the cabin whose occupants decided it would be a good idea to haul their mattresses to the front porch.
We ate breakfast. It was then time for the winners to suit up for white water rafting.
It was around this time it started pouring rain. It did not stop.
Back at the camp in time for lunch, we ate, and then split into groups for ‘Bud Camp Games’.
The rain held off… kinda… although we had moments of downpour.
There were stations set up everywhere for Bud Camp Games.
ATVs, Paintballing, Rock Climbing, Slip n Slide Bowling, & more.
I ran the ATV station. It was pretty awesome. Due to the rain, the track became nice and muddy.
After all teams were done on the track, it was my turn.
On the track, a hose was intermittently spouting cold water onto the muddy course.
This cold water, coupled with the rain, made me not want to attempt the course. Can you blame me?
I kindly asked the powers that be, to turn off the water for me while I ran the course.
Nods all around.
“Oh sure we will!” They said to me, smiling.
Great.
I got on the ATV, manouvering corners, revving up piles of dirt. ‘This rules,’ I thought.
& then I arrived to the spot. The water is pumping at full blast & I stop at the top of the hill. I am laughing. Yelling at them to turn it off, but they stand in a line to cheer me on, “GO!” they say.
So I did.
Plummeting through a gorge of freezing water. I regretted it later, like I knew I would.
6PM. It is dinner time. We are finally able to get dry outfits. Hot tubs are a good idea.
Then, the party started again for the night. We were looking forward to who the mystery band was.
Turned out to be the Arkells. Nice.
Midnight signaled the end of our night. We had to be rested up for closing ceremonies the next day.
Sunday morning came bright and early again as we drove back to the camp site.
Out in full force, Bud Girls made for one last memorable wake up call for the Winners.
We all grabbed breakfast, the winning team for Budweiser Games was announced, and then we had another dance party until it was time to say goodbye.
