The other den leader, Sarah, and I planned a Senior Webelo/Arrow of Light camping trip this fall. Since Sean joined scouts late in 3rd grade when COVID hit, he hasn't gotten to camp outside with the scouts. It was a major priority for our den this year. We had some Junior Webelos join us and booked Brownsea Island Camporee hosted at Kensington Metropark group camp area by BSA. It was very stressful leading up to the trip since more information came out that 800 campers would be there, there would be no electric hook-ups, no fire pits at each site, no picnic tables, and pit toilets. That's a bit too rustic for me, but we were committed.
We arrived Friday evening around 6:45pm to set up in the almost dark. Sarah and I carpooled together in her pick-up truck and opted to camp together in her 10 person tent. It took 4 adults and some scouts helping to pitch the darn thing since we were missing a pole, but it all came together. We walked around the camp ground and checked out all the spots with some of the boys and called it a night. It was a beautiful, clear night!
I didn't sleep well (I don't usually the first night camping) and it started to rain at 3am so I was up on and off worried that the tent would leak. Luckily we stayed dry, although it was cold and damp! I got up around 7, after the bugle sounded to get us up, and helped a few other parents start breakfast under some canopies we brought. We made eggs, pancakes, and sausage. It was a tasty breakfast!
We went to opening ceremonies and then got to start the activities. They had stations set up that you could rotate through. Sean got to do archery, sling shots, and tomahawk throwing. Each scout received a walking stick so other stations included branding, hammering on medallions, leather stamping tags to put on the walking stick, and yard games like gaga ball and corn hole. We got a bag lunch mid-day of a hot dog, chips, applesauce pouch, and drink. I ended up making my own lunch of PB&J since the hot dogs didn't look too appealing to me. We took a break and thankfully the sun had come out so we could start drying out.
After lunch and a break, we hit up other activities like life-saving skills, rope tying, and fire building. It ended at 4pm and we went back to the campsite to prep for dinner. We found a huge fire pit and luckily I had brought a huge bin of wood. We were able to grill burgers for dinner with baked beans, chips and salad. It was tasty and finally felt like camping since we could have a fire!
The kids ran around playing tag, hide and go seek, racing wagons, and gaga ball until it got dark. Everyone was exhausted so most of the scouts skipped the big camporee bonfire and show (scouts singing or performing skits - no thanks). Sarah, her son, Sean, and I enjoyed just laying in the tent and talking. The boys played Roblox together on their tablets. It was an early bedtime. Sunday morning we were up early again with the bugle, but caught the most beautiful sunrise. We ate dry cereal, donut holes, and apples. We packed up the site rather quickly and hit the road. We were home by 9:30am!
It was so much work and planning, but to see the boys have an absolute blast made it all worth it. We'll do another camping trip in the spring and a winter camp-in somewhere too. We are trying to do all the scout things while we can this year!
No comments:
Post a Comment