Wow... A lot has changed in my world since my first post about welcome to the wonderful world of Boy Scouts....
My 14 yr old son is now a CIT at BS camp for most of the summer. For those who are not aware of what CIT is, its Counselor in Training. If he does a good job at it, they might hire him next summer to work and get paid for playing all day. The dream job!
So Sunday, we drove 4.5 hours to the middle of no where to drop him off. We found staff city and his home away from home for most of the summer. They call them quads, I call them bunk houses. I dont know why they call them quads as only two people live in them. They are shacks on cinderblocks. Honest! They sway in the breeze! His bunk make brought two floor fans which they promptly tied to the rafters pointing down. Brilliant idea! They are allowed electronics etc since they are staff. So, one boy brought a mini fridge, microwave, small tv and his xbox. AWESOME! Yes, I know its scout camp, but that is sweet! and they are not campers, they are staff. They should be allowed creature comforts.
Now my son left here on antibiotics. he gets this cough every year. We normally just keep an eye on it, but since he was going to be gone for two weeks straight, we thought it best to be preventative. He calls me and says, mom I need some cough medicine. I say, well see if one of the older boys or staff is going into town and you can get some. He texts me last night on the way home from the store, excited that he bought a pink dress shirt, a 12 pk of pepsi and something else I cannot remember. But no cough drops or medicine.
See this is just plain weird. Yes, he's 14 and a big boy...but he's gone...4.5 hours away for most of the summer. he's be home for the weekend in two weeks, then gone till mid july when he's home for two days then away at boundry waters for 10 days. This is just odd. this boy could never even find his own socks and how he's responsible for doing his own laundry! I send him to buy cough medicine and he buys a pink shirt. And no, I didn't ask why he was buying a pink shirt. I really dont want to know...actually, I really dont care. You want a pink shirt, buy a pink shirt :)
I have gone from talking to him every other minute, ok not quite since he is a teenager after all, to, if i'm lucky talking to him once a day.
Is he eating ok? According to him they had hamburgers the other night but he wasn't sure it was meat
Is he sleeping ok? Other night didn't get to bed till late cause they were up late watching the princess bride. What??!?
How is his cough? He has a pink shirt.
I think its going to be a long summer...for me...not him!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Boundry Waters....here we come....shopping
So my son BS 1st class, 14 yrs old....is heading to boundary waters this summer. His first of course. He'll be canoeing for a week in MN. He will be gone for a week.
He had his first meeting with his trek and brought home a list of supplies needed. UMMMM???WOW?
Ok...I am thrilled I have a list..but maybe a little more information is needed?
Here is a partial list..
water drain shoes
gel inserts for shoes
dry bag bright colors....ummm...how big and why bright colors...is it going to go swimming on its own and you will need to be able to find it later? Where should I buy it? What brand?
Small sleeping bag...ummm...you have one...oh that's to big..I need to buy you a new one? smaller? but you are 5'9...how will you fit into it if its smaller?
Sham wow...I think this should be in every house, car and backpack, PERIOD
A smaller sleeping bag....ummm...two sleeping bags...one small and one smaller? What am I missing?
Compression bags...what are compression bags and why
2 nalgine water bottles wrapped in duct tape...he had to explain this one to me. if they drop one of the bottles on a rock, the duct tape will protect them since there are no stores around to replace one.
There's more but wow..the rest is the basic first aid kit, clothes etc etc.
So...when they provide this list to a 14 yr old, it should also include where to shop, although the boy does list Ace hardware next to some of the items) and what brand or kind to get. I can pretty much guarantee that MOM will do most of the shopping since the boy doesn't drive yet!
so....I bought two water bottles today...I think I have duct tape around the house....
what is a wicking sock anyway and where do you buy some????
He had his first meeting with his trek and brought home a list of supplies needed. UMMMM???WOW?
Ok...I am thrilled I have a list..but maybe a little more information is needed?
Here is a partial list..
water drain shoes
gel inserts for shoes
dry bag bright colors....ummm...how big and why bright colors...is it going to go swimming on its own and you will need to be able to find it later? Where should I buy it? What brand?
Small sleeping bag...ummm...you have one...oh that's to big..I need to buy you a new one? smaller? but you are 5'9...how will you fit into it if its smaller?
Sham wow...I think this should be in every house, car and backpack, PERIOD
A smaller sleeping bag....ummm...two sleeping bags...one small and one smaller? What am I missing?
Compression bags...what are compression bags and why
2 nalgine water bottles wrapped in duct tape...he had to explain this one to me. if they drop one of the bottles on a rock, the duct tape will protect them since there are no stores around to replace one.
There's more but wow..the rest is the basic first aid kit, clothes etc etc.
So...when they provide this list to a 14 yr old, it should also include where to shop, although the boy does list Ace hardware next to some of the items) and what brand or kind to get. I can pretty much guarantee that MOM will do most of the shopping since the boy doesn't drive yet!
so....I bought two water bottles today...I think I have duct tape around the house....
what is a wicking sock anyway and where do you buy some????
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Entering a new realm!
Dear C1 and C2
To get to it, go to xxxxxxxx and then click on login. I will provide you with your pw.
Don’t use it to sign up for things without my permission...if you do you will get tons of spam
Don’t send emails you wouldn't want your grandmother to read. In other words no bad words, no talking behind peoples backs etc etc.
If it would hurt your feelings it will hurt someone else's.
I have access to your email account. I will be reading your emails. Inappropriate emails received or sent, will be cause you to loose your email access for 1 day.. Second offense 2 days. Anything Very very inappropriate and you will lose access for 1 week.
If you abuse this email in any way, spamming other people etc etc, I will delete this account.
You will use proper grammar when communicating with anyone other than direct friends. That includes boy scouts, girl scouts, relatives or mom and dad, teachers, etc. If you do not, I will make you retype it and resend it with an apology for incorrect grammar.
Please note...just because you can delete an email does not mean its gone. It is NOT. All computer systems store information forever. If you throw something in the trash don’t think its gone...it can be retrieved. Never send an threatening email! Never send a sexting email. Never send personal information like your phone number or house number in an email. This information can be tracked. Emails are not secure. People have lost their jobs and even arrested because of what they sent in an email.
Because you are so young, email is a privilege. Don’t abuse it and you wont loose it!
Love
Mom and Dad
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
How to balance it all???
So, in my world, we have to balance, Boy scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Piano lessons, Band, Football, committee meetings, Mom meetings(wine is usually involved!) and stuff that that older kids have not yet signed up for. so basically, your typical family.
How the heck do we fit it all in. This year is going to be even more interesting! Hubby is the Cub Master of sons pack. Son has started football. Football, once school starts is three days a week. Right now its 5 days a week. CS meetings are on Mondays. Football is on Monday, Tues, Thurs.
Yeah conflict! Bs's is on Tuesday nights, I have no idea when to schedule Piano lessons right now. I think Band is 4 afternoons a week?
You should see my calendar!!!
So, basically its like this. At least in my world its like this. WE DO THE BEST WE CAN. Yes, my son will miss a lot of CS's due to footbal. Oh well. He will not be the only one. We will miss pack activities due to Football. Oh well. He will not be the only one.
When our oldest was a CS, we didn't get it. We figured if you made a commitment to CS's you should be there! Of course, we had the luxury of thinking that way since our other children were in diapers! Boy were we clueless!!!
You can't do it all, and if you try to do it all, you will destroy the fun in it for your scouter. If he's exhausted from football practice and you drag him to scouts, he will learn to hate scouts.
Dont force it, enjoy it. Relax...the world will not end if you miss an event, or your son doesn't get a rocker, or daughter misses an activity. Such is life.
This time we have with them, the running around, dropping kids off at the wrong place at the wrong time, sitting in the rain for 3 hours at practice(last night for me), eating dinner at 9pm, stuffing newspapers in the toes of cleats to dry them, finding music books, running a quick load of laundry at 10 pm that you will forget about for two days, etc etc etc....forgot my point here!
Its hard enough. Dont add more stress into it. If you miss a meeting, oh well. If your leader or CM is not cool with it, inform that that this is life. sometimes things get missed. Then, feel free to cuss at them under your breath as you walk away. Its probably their only child, or they have a live in nanny :)
Monday, July 25, 2011
Facebook group or Website..what is right for your pack/troop
So a recent question asked on CubScouts Facebook group asked the question, which was better, a facebook group or a website for communication. Both have their pros and cons...
Of course, since I run a website for scouting, SMDScouts, I am more partial to websites! Most of them offer more features than a facebook group. But, let me try to look at this impartially.
FB...You can make your group private, invite people to events, post pictures and photo albums and use it to generally communicate information. Oh and you can email your group. There might be more, but these are the features I have used. Now, it does seem that some people are more likely to use a fb group than a website. I think this is basically a personal preference. I mean, who isn't on fb now! If you can believe it, I am on fb more than I check my own sons scouting website and I built the silly thing! Of course, hubby is the CM so I just rely on him for information!
Now..websites. Of course I am partial to SMDScouts.com. For obvious reasons. Its my baby! I have scoped out the competition and we all seem to be basically the same, (i'm just cheaper) :)
Since I am more familiar with my own website, I will use that in the comparison . Now website, Memo field on home page along with calendar of events. The ability to auto email event reminders. Links to other sites, yes FB has this too. Photo albums, yes on FB. And on my site you can pw protect the pictures or the entire site. On the admin side, you can enter rosters with complete information including parent information and addresses and emails and phone etc. And you can email from these rosters. Fb you can only send out a mass email, SMDScouts can email the entire roster or individual dens or only board members. The admin also has access to advancements which can be printed and taken to your local scout store for your list :) Oh and event registration. This is a big one for those of us with big groups. Forms are another big feature of most websites. Upload them for your parents to download and print. I for one am always losing forms so its a great feature for me! Now these are only some of the features that SMDScouts offers. A Few more than FB.
I see it as this, fb is a social media..good for floating ideas, chatting up events etc etc,. A website is an informational outlet. You have info you need to get out and keep out.
Well that is my two cents worth.
Of course, since I run a website for scouting, SMDScouts, I am more partial to websites! Most of them offer more features than a facebook group. But, let me try to look at this impartially.
FB...You can make your group private, invite people to events, post pictures and photo albums and use it to generally communicate information. Oh and you can email your group. There might be more, but these are the features I have used. Now, it does seem that some people are more likely to use a fb group than a website. I think this is basically a personal preference. I mean, who isn't on fb now! If you can believe it, I am on fb more than I check my own sons scouting website and I built the silly thing! Of course, hubby is the CM so I just rely on him for information!
Now..websites. Of course I am partial to SMDScouts.com. For obvious reasons. Its my baby! I have scoped out the competition and we all seem to be basically the same, (i'm just cheaper) :)
Since I am more familiar with my own website, I will use that in the comparison . Now website, Memo field on home page along with calendar of events. The ability to auto email event reminders. Links to other sites, yes FB has this too. Photo albums, yes on FB. And on my site you can pw protect the pictures or the entire site. On the admin side, you can enter rosters with complete information including parent information and addresses and emails and phone etc. And you can email from these rosters. Fb you can only send out a mass email, SMDScouts can email the entire roster or individual dens or only board members. The admin also has access to advancements which can be printed and taken to your local scout store for your list :) Oh and event registration. This is a big one for those of us with big groups. Forms are another big feature of most websites. Upload them for your parents to download and print. I for one am always losing forms so its a great feature for me! Now these are only some of the features that SMDScouts offers. A Few more than FB.
I see it as this, fb is a social media..good for floating ideas, chatting up events etc etc,. A website is an informational outlet. You have info you need to get out and keep out.
Well that is my two cents worth.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Twilight Camp
I know I talk alot about Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, but rest assured, I have a Girl Scout too! I used to be her leader but after a run in with a parent spreading lies about me( I still have no idea why) I quit and now I only help out. and Boy do I help out!
Twilight Camp. A week long camp held in the evening 5 nights a week with a campout/lock in for the Jr's and up on the last day.
Its a wonderful wonderful time, despite those mom's who are just plain cranky and try to ruin it. You know exactly what I am talking about. We all have at least one of those moms!
My job at camp is the MCL. That is the Mean Craft Lady. This was bestowed upon my by the PA's. I am not quite sure why they call me mean. Over the past 4 years Only one girl has ever cried under my tent. and yes, I did feel bad about it! Last year, they called me CCL, Crazy Craft Lady. That one I understood.
How did this happened to me, how did I become the CCL or MCL for a GS Twilight camp which averages near 300 girls each summer? I answered the phone. I bet there is at least one of you reading this that knows exactly what I mean. 4 years ago, my phone rang...I answered and next think I knew, I was a committee member and in charge of crafts!
Our meetings start in January for a June camp. And theres never enough time to get everything done. And trust me, GS's have the same problems with getting volunteers as BSA. Camp was almost canceled this year due to the lack of a chair person!
My job is to come up with the swaps and then one or two other crafts that they can do. We also do scrap book pages, but a good friend puts those together for us! (THANK YOU) Swaps are the hardest. This year our theme was Mystery. Each group was named accordingly.
Scooby do made scooby snacks
Goosebumps made ghosts
Blues Clues (PA's) made little paw prints on paper
etc etc
there were 11 groups total..each member of each group makes 10 swaps. this year we only had about 200 girls, so that was 2000 swap!
So with scooby, each girl received a zip loc with 10 pieces of clay and 10 pins. (they were the youngest group) as the girls get older, their swaps get more complicated. The pink panthers made pink panther faces, so they had bags with 10 pink pieces of foam. they had to cut out the pre draw shape then color it and add eyes and pins.
Can I just say that crafts takes over my house in April and doesn't leave until the day after camp! That would be today! Its insane and annoying and frustrating and I dream about crafts, about miscounting or forgetting something at home etc etc, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Ok, maybe some days I would, some days I stop my feet and say 'I will never do this again' but every year in January we have our first meeting and there I am.
On top of being the craft lady, I am the only one with a trailer...so, I get 7-8 coolers that I prepare with koolaid and water, the two giant wagons and the giant ice cooler. oh and this year two fire pits, first aid, and a giant box of swim noodles, and more things that I can even think of right now.
its exhausting!!! I do 99% of the crafts myself, that is putting them all together. most of the crafts have pins pre hot glued to them. They have to due to lack of electricity at the sites and time constraints. I can tell you that before I discovered low temp hot glue guns, there was a lot of cussing in my house as I did this!
This year was a new experiment. The older girls made borax goo! I actually dreamt about this one! It didn't quite turn out perfect, but the girls thought it was disgusting so it must have worked out ok!
The last night we did a lock in instead of a campout. I HATE LOCKINS! I like sleep. I need sleep, I am getting to old to go without sleep! I stayed up with most of the other adults and way to many girls, all night. Its not fair for the camp director to do it herself! I made my daughter to lay down around 3am as she was a walking zombie. Most of the other girls did pretty good. We had one medical/exhaustion/kickball to the stomach around 4am? enough that we had to write up a medical. and we had one temper tantrum at 6am but it was not a surprise and I have known this child since forever, so I just kicked her butt so to speak :)
Wow, I'm rambling...well, I did come home and sleep for a couple of hours, but I am looking forward to bed time!
Overall, it was a wonderful time..200 girls plus parents, some whom we would have rather not volunteered, a monster storm that shut us down 1 hour into camp on Tuesday, cold and rainy the rest of the week, one anxiety attack, one exhaustion attack, one twisted ankle, one blood sugar issue(I'm fine now, a midnight run to Taco bell fixed that) I have cleaned out my house, taking everything back to storage...and am already looking forward to next year...I think I have a theme idea suggested by my daughter already!
Oh..one more thing...if you dont like something VOLUNTEER!!
Twilight Camp. A week long camp held in the evening 5 nights a week with a campout/lock in for the Jr's and up on the last day.
Its a wonderful wonderful time, despite those mom's who are just plain cranky and try to ruin it. You know exactly what I am talking about. We all have at least one of those moms!
My job at camp is the MCL. That is the Mean Craft Lady. This was bestowed upon my by the PA's. I am not quite sure why they call me mean. Over the past 4 years Only one girl has ever cried under my tent. and yes, I did feel bad about it! Last year, they called me CCL, Crazy Craft Lady. That one I understood.
How did this happened to me, how did I become the CCL or MCL for a GS Twilight camp which averages near 300 girls each summer? I answered the phone. I bet there is at least one of you reading this that knows exactly what I mean. 4 years ago, my phone rang...I answered and next think I knew, I was a committee member and in charge of crafts!
Our meetings start in January for a June camp. And theres never enough time to get everything done. And trust me, GS's have the same problems with getting volunteers as BSA. Camp was almost canceled this year due to the lack of a chair person!
My job is to come up with the swaps and then one or two other crafts that they can do. We also do scrap book pages, but a good friend puts those together for us! (THANK YOU) Swaps are the hardest. This year our theme was Mystery. Each group was named accordingly.
Scooby do made scooby snacks
Goosebumps made ghosts
Blues Clues (PA's) made little paw prints on paper
etc etc
there were 11 groups total..each member of each group makes 10 swaps. this year we only had about 200 girls, so that was 2000 swap!
So with scooby, each girl received a zip loc with 10 pieces of clay and 10 pins. (they were the youngest group) as the girls get older, their swaps get more complicated. The pink panthers made pink panther faces, so they had bags with 10 pink pieces of foam. they had to cut out the pre draw shape then color it and add eyes and pins.
Can I just say that crafts takes over my house in April and doesn't leave until the day after camp! That would be today! Its insane and annoying and frustrating and I dream about crafts, about miscounting or forgetting something at home etc etc, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Ok, maybe some days I would, some days I stop my feet and say 'I will never do this again' but every year in January we have our first meeting and there I am.
On top of being the craft lady, I am the only one with a trailer...so, I get 7-8 coolers that I prepare with koolaid and water, the two giant wagons and the giant ice cooler. oh and this year two fire pits, first aid, and a giant box of swim noodles, and more things that I can even think of right now.
its exhausting!!! I do 99% of the crafts myself, that is putting them all together. most of the crafts have pins pre hot glued to them. They have to due to lack of electricity at the sites and time constraints. I can tell you that before I discovered low temp hot glue guns, there was a lot of cussing in my house as I did this!
This year was a new experiment. The older girls made borax goo! I actually dreamt about this one! It didn't quite turn out perfect, but the girls thought it was disgusting so it must have worked out ok!
The last night we did a lock in instead of a campout. I HATE LOCKINS! I like sleep. I need sleep, I am getting to old to go without sleep! I stayed up with most of the other adults and way to many girls, all night. Its not fair for the camp director to do it herself! I made my daughter to lay down around 3am as she was a walking zombie. Most of the other girls did pretty good. We had one medical/exhaustion/kickball to the stomach around 4am? enough that we had to write up a medical. and we had one temper tantrum at 6am but it was not a surprise and I have known this child since forever, so I just kicked her butt so to speak :)
Wow, I'm rambling...well, I did come home and sleep for a couple of hours, but I am looking forward to bed time!
Overall, it was a wonderful time..200 girls plus parents, some whom we would have rather not volunteered, a monster storm that shut us down 1 hour into camp on Tuesday, cold and rainy the rest of the week, one anxiety attack, one exhaustion attack, one twisted ankle, one blood sugar issue(I'm fine now, a midnight run to Taco bell fixed that) I have cleaned out my house, taking everything back to storage...and am already looking forward to next year...I think I have a theme idea suggested by my daughter already!
Oh..one more thing...if you dont like something VOLUNTEER!!
Monday, May 16, 2011
I did it!
As I talked about in my last post, I went on the 'Mom's Camp out'. It was a canoe trip and I promised to tell you all about it....Phew...I'll be typing slow as my shoulders down to my finger nails are sore!
So we meet in the church parking lot(is there anyone that does not meet in a church parking lot?) and load up. We had 21 adults and 32 scouts? Something like that. Needless to say, a lot of people. Now our troop assigns kids to cars. Kids dont get to pick cars. I like this plan. Although my GF and I would have not complained if we didn't have our sons in the car with us.
Now we dont try to caravan because there are just to many cars. some with lead feet, some with out. we each have a map along with a list of all leaders cell phone numbers. 2.5 hour trip and we have to stop for dinner. I dont think that McDonalds will ever recover :) I wonder what they thought when they saw all of us walking up to the door! The trip went fine(not like last year when one of the trailers got Three! flat tires!!) We were only delayed once when the road was closed by a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE accident. It was very scary! This showed us why we had a list of cell phone numbers. After sitting for a few minutes, we received a phone call from our SM who was doing a head count. It could have very easily been one of us in the accident. Thank god it wasn't and we all said a prayer for those that were involved.
So we get to our campsite. Its raining and its dark. We have our rain gear easily accessible so off we go to pitch our tent. Did it very quickly. It was raining but slowed down a little. Mother nature must have been watching us! Tents pitched, tent organized, air mattresses blown up(hush)
It was quite interesting watching the boys. With seemingly very little direction, they moved picnic tables, assembled big tall dining tents? They didn't have sides but did have tops to them. then the assembled the cook area, and only when they were done with all of that, were they able to set up their tents. We looked like a military campground. 11 scout pup tents!
I slept horrible..I think it was because the rain was so loud! I wasn't cold, heck was quite comfortable. It was just so loud!
Next morning we were woken up by one of the scouts and his bugle. WOW! He played beautifully and he's only a first year! So a quick breakfast...wait, what am I talking about. I knew this part would be hard for me. I want a quick breakfast and to go go go go! Well, that is not how it works.
Each patrol makes their breakfast. So, they get all of their gear out, all of the food, their stoves etc etc. Yes, even the youngest patrol, made up of those little bitty 11 yr olds, are playing with a stove! :) Once breakfast is made and eaten, then everything has to be washed and put away. Wait!Why can't they do this at home????
So, we are finally off. We have, at least my GF and I, and most of the other adults, have packed extra stuff, like clothes, etc for the trip.
So, we are lined up in the mud! and all of the boys are pairing up with each other, you know, best friend with best friend. Leaders come along and inform all of the boys that if they have never canoed before they will be paired up with someone who has, and of the youngest group, they will be paired up with older boys or leaders. Period! And, there was no complaining about this. No one whined or anything. They just did it!
Now my GF and I were very very very nervous and she was terrified we were going to tip. Just getting in the canoe was scary!!!! But, we did it, that is we got in without tipping and actually moved forwards. I was overall, totally impressed with ourselves. We never went sideways or backwards, and never ran into the shore!
We did hang back from the rest of the crowd though. It made me extremely nervous to have that many canoes around me. (canoeing accident years ago with my two then young children) So off we go. We have 5 miles to go till lunch. It was beautiful, cold but at least not raining.
So we almost hit the lunch portion, where we beach and eat, when we come upon a bit of a cluster. We quickly realize that there had been an accident, a canoe had gone in. BAD when it is this cold. Huge proud shout out to the older boy of the canoe. The younger boy, a first year, had forgotten the number one cardinal rule, besides not standing up, no leaning over the side. As soon as the they went over, the older boy jumped up and started shouting out for the younger boy until he found him and then got him to shore and somehow up the very muddy and slippery and steep bank!
We stuck around long enough to see if they needed any of our extra clothes or hot hands and got quite a kick out of seeing their canoe being rowed back up the river on top of two other canoes! and then we moved on. We knew they would be ok, they were in capable hands and to many adults in the mix will cause more problems. They knew what they were doing, so off we went.
So we get to lunch, simple stuff, sandwiches for leaders and whatever the patrols brought for themselves. Except for the one patrol that forgot to put their cooler in the truck! So, no lunch for them. Well, to be fair, they did get to eat, but only after all of the patrols ate and the leaders. If there was leader food left, we offered it to them, and if there was patrol food left, they could as for some. The scouts will never be made to go hungry, but they will have to wait and lean a lesson. and again, no one complained about it. no one accused anyone...it was just something that happened and they moved on.
BTW, the wet boys were ok. The older took some of his dad's clothes and hung his up to dry, the younger boy was given clothes by various leaders and wanted to continue. My GF and I offered to drive the poor wet cold lad back to camp and sacrifice the rest of our day, but he was good (grin)
So, off we continue. 5 down 5 to go. It was beautiful! To be honest, it got a little boring. The boys were having a blast. I think some of them went 15 miles in total instead of the 10. According to my son, it was pinball aquatic style. They went from shore to shore, zig zagging most of the time.
The last 1.5 miles were were told, would be a little harder. We would be meeting up with the mighty Mississippi and going upstream. The water was calm them so it will be fine.
It was very cool seeing where the Ole' Miss met up with the river we were on. You could see where the waters were hitting each other. One clear, one very dark brown. Now the Miss was quite over its banks and it was quite tempting to canoe through the forests! Some of the other boys did canoe through the grasses, there was no current there. but they kept getting stuck! We stuck with the river, stayed out of the grass and woods!
Again, it was quite beautiful, until we rounded one corner and then BOOM! WIND! I'm not talking just normal wind! I'm talking the OMG WHAT WERE WE THINKING, WHY ARE WE HERE, ARE WE GOING BACKWARDS WIND!
That's right. BACKWARDS!. We were paddling forwards yet going backwards! It was insane! 1, 2, 3, 4 switch, 1, 2, 3, 4, switch. rest for 1 second, go backwards 10 yards, repeat.
I would have quit but where were going to go? There was not AAA to call! it was insane! but, WE DID IT! I will never do it again, but I can say, I did! I canoed the mighty Mississippi and survived!
We got ourselves back to our tents, where it again started raining...changed out of our wet muddy clothes and got ready for dinner. Again, the boys all had to prepare their own meals. We did step in on occasion, to remind boys that we don't cut raw meat and then done meat with the same knife without it cleaning it, kind of things.
i think the cutest part of the day, was when a couple of the new kids asked their patrol leader that if they were done with everything, could they go to bed. AND THEY DID! It was still light out, barely even 8 o clock and off then went to bed!
The next morning, woke up stiff and tired. I didn't sleep as well as it was colder and wetter. It was just plain damp. nothing warms you up from damp.
We ate pancakes and sausage while the boys prepared their meals. One patrol forgot to buy breakfast so they waited till we were all done and then they scrounged :)
Then patrol lines, police lines, thorns and roses and off to heated seats in my GF's mini van!
I had a wonderful time. Despite the cold and the rain. Took a couple of great pictures, didn't lose anything except sleep. all and all, a great experience.
Would I do it again? Camping, yes, Canoeing 10 miles and camping in the cold damp rain....probably not.
My GF and I decided that the next camp out should be about surviving outlet malls and matching discounts with coupons...then....we are so there!
So we meet in the church parking lot(is there anyone that does not meet in a church parking lot?) and load up. We had 21 adults and 32 scouts? Something like that. Needless to say, a lot of people. Now our troop assigns kids to cars. Kids dont get to pick cars. I like this plan. Although my GF and I would have not complained if we didn't have our sons in the car with us.
Now we dont try to caravan because there are just to many cars. some with lead feet, some with out. we each have a map along with a list of all leaders cell phone numbers. 2.5 hour trip and we have to stop for dinner. I dont think that McDonalds will ever recover :) I wonder what they thought when they saw all of us walking up to the door! The trip went fine(not like last year when one of the trailers got Three! flat tires!!) We were only delayed once when the road was closed by a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE accident. It was very scary! This showed us why we had a list of cell phone numbers. After sitting for a few minutes, we received a phone call from our SM who was doing a head count. It could have very easily been one of us in the accident. Thank god it wasn't and we all said a prayer for those that were involved.
So we get to our campsite. Its raining and its dark. We have our rain gear easily accessible so off we go to pitch our tent. Did it very quickly. It was raining but slowed down a little. Mother nature must have been watching us! Tents pitched, tent organized, air mattresses blown up(hush)
It was quite interesting watching the boys. With seemingly very little direction, they moved picnic tables, assembled big tall dining tents? They didn't have sides but did have tops to them. then the assembled the cook area, and only when they were done with all of that, were they able to set up their tents. We looked like a military campground. 11 scout pup tents!
I slept horrible..I think it was because the rain was so loud! I wasn't cold, heck was quite comfortable. It was just so loud!
Next morning we were woken up by one of the scouts and his bugle. WOW! He played beautifully and he's only a first year! So a quick breakfast...wait, what am I talking about. I knew this part would be hard for me. I want a quick breakfast and to go go go go! Well, that is not how it works.
Each patrol makes their breakfast. So, they get all of their gear out, all of the food, their stoves etc etc. Yes, even the youngest patrol, made up of those little bitty 11 yr olds, are playing with a stove! :) Once breakfast is made and eaten, then everything has to be washed and put away. Wait!Why can't they do this at home????
So, we are finally off. We have, at least my GF and I, and most of the other adults, have packed extra stuff, like clothes, etc for the trip.
So, we are lined up in the mud! and all of the boys are pairing up with each other, you know, best friend with best friend. Leaders come along and inform all of the boys that if they have never canoed before they will be paired up with someone who has, and of the youngest group, they will be paired up with older boys or leaders. Period! And, there was no complaining about this. No one whined or anything. They just did it!
Now my GF and I were very very very nervous and she was terrified we were going to tip. Just getting in the canoe was scary!!!! But, we did it, that is we got in without tipping and actually moved forwards. I was overall, totally impressed with ourselves. We never went sideways or backwards, and never ran into the shore!
We did hang back from the rest of the crowd though. It made me extremely nervous to have that many canoes around me. (canoeing accident years ago with my two then young children) So off we go. We have 5 miles to go till lunch. It was beautiful, cold but at least not raining.
So we almost hit the lunch portion, where we beach and eat, when we come upon a bit of a cluster. We quickly realize that there had been an accident, a canoe had gone in. BAD when it is this cold. Huge proud shout out to the older boy of the canoe. The younger boy, a first year, had forgotten the number one cardinal rule, besides not standing up, no leaning over the side. As soon as the they went over, the older boy jumped up and started shouting out for the younger boy until he found him and then got him to shore and somehow up the very muddy and slippery and steep bank!
We stuck around long enough to see if they needed any of our extra clothes or hot hands and got quite a kick out of seeing their canoe being rowed back up the river on top of two other canoes! and then we moved on. We knew they would be ok, they were in capable hands and to many adults in the mix will cause more problems. They knew what they were doing, so off we went.
So we get to lunch, simple stuff, sandwiches for leaders and whatever the patrols brought for themselves. Except for the one patrol that forgot to put their cooler in the truck! So, no lunch for them. Well, to be fair, they did get to eat, but only after all of the patrols ate and the leaders. If there was leader food left, we offered it to them, and if there was patrol food left, they could as for some. The scouts will never be made to go hungry, but they will have to wait and lean a lesson. and again, no one complained about it. no one accused anyone...it was just something that happened and they moved on.
BTW, the wet boys were ok. The older took some of his dad's clothes and hung his up to dry, the younger boy was given clothes by various leaders and wanted to continue. My GF and I offered to drive the poor wet cold lad back to camp and sacrifice the rest of our day, but he was good (grin)
So, off we continue. 5 down 5 to go. It was beautiful! To be honest, it got a little boring. The boys were having a blast. I think some of them went 15 miles in total instead of the 10. According to my son, it was pinball aquatic style. They went from shore to shore, zig zagging most of the time.
The last 1.5 miles were were told, would be a little harder. We would be meeting up with the mighty Mississippi and going upstream. The water was calm them so it will be fine.
It was very cool seeing where the Ole' Miss met up with the river we were on. You could see where the waters were hitting each other. One clear, one very dark brown. Now the Miss was quite over its banks and it was quite tempting to canoe through the forests! Some of the other boys did canoe through the grasses, there was no current there. but they kept getting stuck! We stuck with the river, stayed out of the grass and woods!
Again, it was quite beautiful, until we rounded one corner and then BOOM! WIND! I'm not talking just normal wind! I'm talking the OMG WHAT WERE WE THINKING, WHY ARE WE HERE, ARE WE GOING BACKWARDS WIND!
That's right. BACKWARDS!. We were paddling forwards yet going backwards! It was insane! 1, 2, 3, 4 switch, 1, 2, 3, 4, switch. rest for 1 second, go backwards 10 yards, repeat.
I would have quit but where were going to go? There was not AAA to call! it was insane! but, WE DID IT! I will never do it again, but I can say, I did! I canoed the mighty Mississippi and survived!
We got ourselves back to our tents, where it again started raining...changed out of our wet muddy clothes and got ready for dinner. Again, the boys all had to prepare their own meals. We did step in on occasion, to remind boys that we don't cut raw meat and then done meat with the same knife without it cleaning it, kind of things.
i think the cutest part of the day, was when a couple of the new kids asked their patrol leader that if they were done with everything, could they go to bed. AND THEY DID! It was still light out, barely even 8 o clock and off then went to bed!
The next morning, woke up stiff and tired. I didn't sleep as well as it was colder and wetter. It was just plain damp. nothing warms you up from damp.
We ate pancakes and sausage while the boys prepared their meals. One patrol forgot to buy breakfast so they waited till we were all done and then they scrounged :)
Then patrol lines, police lines, thorns and roses and off to heated seats in my GF's mini van!
I had a wonderful time. Despite the cold and the rain. Took a couple of great pictures, didn't lose anything except sleep. all and all, a great experience.
Would I do it again? Camping, yes, Canoeing 10 miles and camping in the cold damp rain....probably not.
My GF and I decided that the next camp out should be about surviving outlet malls and matching discounts with coupons...then....we are so there!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)