The summer of scouting continues – first there was Cub Scout Day Camp then Cub Scout Resident Camp. I mentioned I had to leave early because I would be transporting the Boy Scouts up to their resident camp.
Leaving with a van full of teen boys int he van I was thankful the camp was an hour and a half away. I was not looking forward to transporting them back home after a week at camp.
We somehow managed to be assigned the best campsite, the most centrally located and completely encased by tall trees. This meant it was 5 degrees cooler in the campsite than pretty much anywhere else in camp.
One of the cool things about this particular camp was how many birds there were. Almost every building and shelter had a nest or two. Not every nest was occupied but some definitely had occupants. I was surprised to see so many young birds still in nests this late in the summer. I do have to say, however, that by the end of the week most of the nests were single occupancy.
The first evening was set aside for merit badge shuffling and sign-ups. August did not get the merit badge classes he was hoping for, but did manage to get into three classes. Two are on the list of requirements for Eagle Scout which he hopes to earn eventually, First Aid and Environmental Science. The third was a fun one, Space Exploration, and he would get to fire off a rocket.
There were, as usual with scout camps, other activities to be had, some of which I would miss because I had to return home for a few days. I was able to come back for the last bit of camp and when I did I saw August was having a great time.
That evening I returned to camp the troop was cooking dinner in their campsite. Everybody helped in one manner or another. And yes, there were vegetarian options for myself and August.
The morning of the rocket launch came and August was ready.
Then he pressed the launch button before I was quite ready to film.
Unfortunately something had gone wrong with the launch. It was still a successful enough launch that he earned his merit badge.
Later in the afternoon there was a competition with various skill and knowledge games all geared towards scouting.
And that last night the highlight of came was the nighttime ride down the zip line.
It was a quiet (though smelly) ride home the next morning.