> About an hour before Flagstaff, the lead van blew a wheel. This was not good.

First of all, I am really jealous that your church sends people college-age off to camps. There aren't any camps that go above high school within any sane driving distance, and I miss going to summer camp. :(

Second, your story of van troubles reminds me of a similar incident that happened when our youth group was coming back from Hume Lake camp... this was when I was in eighth grade. (7 years ago? Aiiiie!) We had two of the big ol' 15-seater church vans, and we were coming up 5, through the central valley. It was July, and it was HOT and DUSTY.

A few hundred yards outside of the first town we'd hit since leaving Fresno - thank God (literally) that it was so close to a town! - the van I was in suddenly wheezed to a halt. We all piled out while the driver tried unsuccessfully to restart the van. So we pushed for quite a while until we got the van to a gas station. An... automated, staffless gas station. Oh, goody.

The next three hours were spent in trying to stay cool, and being semi-worried about what was going to happen to us. The driver figured out that we'd snapped a fan belt, and the adults did something or other to get a new one. I don't remember what, because we were mostly paying attention to the boys and their critters. The boys had brought back small frogs and snakes in jars (oh, yay) and were trying to help them not die. (I think they all died anyway.)

Finally, somehow we got a new fan belt, and after another hour we were on hour way again. Whew.

Sosi"Hume Lake camp ruled, too"qui