Yesterday afternoon was full of fun activities and merit badge work at the pool, waterfront, handicraft lodge, field sports, and across campus. The boys are making progress on their merit badges and rank advancements and are generally getting into the swing of things here at camp. They’ve also fully figured out when the trading post is open for snacks and slushies, but somehow still need to ask when classes start. I wonder what that’s all about…
It was “Taco Tuesday” at the dining hall last night, which means nachos with beef and cheese and beans. But the camp put on a special “Scoutmaster Steak Dinner” for those of us mentoring scouts here, so the adult leaders peeled off after flags and enjoyed a sit down dinner of steak, baked potato, rolls and salad.
After dinner, the adage that “man plans, and God laughs” was out in full display. After a day where it alternated between dark clouds in one half of the sky and bright blue in the other side, we had a thunder, lightning, and downpour that led to the SPLs deciding to (again) take hard shelter in the shower house to ride out the storm.
So, the boys took down their hammocks, sealed up their tent flaps, moved most of the stuff that could get wet under the tarps, and generally “battened down the hatches.” We still ended up with some wet towels and chairs (and I found yet another way for my tent to leak), but overall they did a good job of securing the camp.
After the worst of the storm passed, we moved our watermelons from the campsite to the covered landing in front of the shower house. The boys had an impromptu game night, snacked on watermelon and Bugles and wondered when the storm would end. So, the Scout Jeopardy will be saved for another night…
We got back into camp around 10:30 and it was quiet by 11:00pm. Lots of running around plus the excitement of the storm left the boys (and us mentors) exhausted. Everyone collapsed into bed and feel asleep instantly, if not faster.
My day began early today as usual with my phone alarm at 5:45 AM, mostly to be fully ready for the boys when they begin the wakeup process around 6:15, and also to get some coffee and check out the campsite before all the boys are up and running around.
The wakeup music again was AC/DC, but now there are complaints that there’s not enough variety. Feedback is a gift, right? 😉 There are some deep sleepers in our group. Not naming names, but one scout was able to sleep through AC/DC blaring at full blast next to his tent. Your son?
Breakfast this morning was biscuits, eggs, and bacon (MY FAVORITE! – ask your son). We’re starting to get into the routine of having buddies to travel together with, bussing dishes and wiping the tables if you’re on KP, etc. Some of the scouts have new classes for Wednesday – Thursday, so there’s a little bit of schedule adjustment, but they seem to have worked out how to get around camp by now.
The weather rock this morning predicted an 85% chance of no rain (looking at the positive side of things), which I hope means the boys will get a chance to spend the entire 7th period (7:00pm 8:30pm) on the waterfront obstacle course. There’s also a flag retirement ceremony and some OA special events tonight. I’ll recap those in the email tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow, Lissa Smith-Cote will be sitting down with the campers and going over their requirements so that they understand what they have completed at camp and what they still have left to do. “Partial” merit badges from camp are a way of life, but at least we can help remind the scouts of what they need to finish. We make recommendations, they make decisions…
And, as they say here at Bert Adams, “It’s always a great day in Scouting, where every day’s a holiday, and every meal’s a feast…Thank you Lord Baden-Powell!”