2013 Troop 101 Family Picnic

Darth Vader BBQ illustration by Kim Herbst

My god, is it that time of year already?  It really is amazing how fast time flies when you are Scouting. May starts coming to and end, and so essentially does our Scouting year - which means it was time for the annual Troop 101 Family Picnic.

It was a great time had by all (as far as I know) with a major thanks to Mr. Emmetts our committee chairman who once again was the... Prince of the Propane...? (I was looking for some sort of whitty title, but there aren't any B noble titles.)

No wait; Maharaja of the Meats!  

Hmm...yeah. We'll go with that for now. *ahem* Let me try that again.

It was a great time had by all (as far as I know) with a major thanks to Mr. Emmetts our committee chairman who once again was the Maharaja of the Meats and worked the grille like a master. Mrs. Emmetts also gets a special thanks for assisting with the food prep and work. Thanks to all who helped set up.

Mass quantities were consumed and lots of volleyball was played, and all in all, a very nice evening.

Wish I had more, but since we are a family show at a dry church, there aren't very many whacky antics shenanigans going on. 

 

May 2013: Camp Yawpaw

I screwed up.

There. I said it, and admitted it to everyone out there on the interwebz.

Generally, I make a tentative schedule during the time that I am up at summer camp with my 1st assistant Scoutmaster, Mr. Foray. We sit there, pondering what we are going to do with the troop during the coming "normal" Scouting season.

While up at camp, I have limited access to the internet, and therefore, I pull dates out of a hat during the month while looking at a calendar, and figuring out when events are that we can't move, things that we can, and making sure to schedule a camping trip sometime during each month.

In my effort to fill out our schedule, I had a camping trip down for Mother's Day weekend.

Yep, Mother's Day weekend.

Now, I love my mother... most of the time. I did not intend to have a camping trip that weekend, but we had so many other things going on during the month of May that it was the only weekend that was open to have a camping trip. Dances, proms, Memorial Day weekend, birthdays, Mother's Day, family trips... the list goes on. On top of all that, what better way to celebrate than having your child out of the house and the weekend to yourself? (I think you'll understand this better when he is 30 and living in your basement.) Not to mention that many people go out for dinner, or brunch or something for Mother's Day.

I figured I could have them back early and no one would be the wiser.

I was 50% right.

Half my mom's had an issue; half didn't. My mother threw in her two cents but it didn't count - I was back with plenty of time to go to a not-so-great brunch (which is a whole other rant in itself) with the rest of the clan.

In an effort to appease everyone, we chose Camp Yawpaw since we would be really close to home; the plan being to skip breakfast and pack most of the gear the night before.

So, we got there Friday night, and immediately got lost. Usually, we stay in the cabins at YawPaw in February for our build up to the Klondike Derby. This time, we were on the other side of the camp, where (apparently) no one really stays anymore. The site had a lot of dead trees laying about, and it was apparent that no one had been there in a while. The same trees that had been blown down in Sandy were also the ones that had the markers for the different sites on them - which is how we got lost. Trudging through the night with a humidity north of Equator, we found a nice campsite - though no the campsite we were looking for. Which didn't really matter as there was no one else there... since it was Mother's Day weekend.

The guys were up bright and early, and practiced there knots and lashings making quite the variety of items. First was our usual dual tripod set up for cooking, a flag pole, then a trash bag holder, and finally a practice door for their gateway at summer camp this year. Most of which was done before lunch! (Yes, guys, there is a 6am as well...)

Despite a mild downpour and the echoes of thunder around the mountain, for the most part the weekend was quite pleasing in the weather department.

Two major milestones happened this weekend: 1) this was the first weekend where we had 3, count them 3 meals on Saturday and 2) Danny ate cheese and butter! (Why he doesn't like them, I'll never know).

Speaking of Danny, I have to give him a lot of credit. He woke up Saturday looking like he went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson - his eyes were red, his sinuses swollen, and his nose a' running. (He wiped it so much he wound up with 3 mild nosebleeds during the course of Saturday). Despite his new found seasonal allergy condition, he powered through the weekend and worked with CJ getting all the lashing projects done. He's a real trooper sometimes.

As Saturday night wound down, we packed up as much as we could, so that we could get an early start on Sunday morning. As the morning came, it was pretty much packing up personal gear and tents and checking out with the Ranger.

We managed to get back to the church by 8:45am.

I think this is a new record for us.

That being all said, I'd like to give an apology to our Scouting moms - I'm sorry for scheduling a camping trip on Mother's Day weekend... though in all honesty, I'll probably wind up doing it again next year. So, sorry for that as well.

We actually contemplated taking the moms with us next year - but realized we'd be better off taking all the dads, kids, uncles and grandfathers fishing.

Think of it as our mother's day gift to you. For an extra fee, we can even leave them out there...

______

Pictures to come soon... I hope.

April 2013: An Undisclosed Location

April's camping trip. What can I say about April's camping trip... actually I can't say a whole lot.

Why? Well, we got skunked again by a series of events that forced all of our Scouts to stay home. However, after polling all our adult leaders, it appeared as though everyone wanted to continue with the trip, without our Scouts.

Hmm...sounded ok to me.

So, instead of heading to our intended destination in the South New Jersey area, we opted for a more established site that required far less effort on our part in setting up shelter (a cabin). I won't tell you where the cabin is as it is a well guarded family secret, but I will tell you that it is in the state of PA, and it is much closer that the camp that we had intended to go to that was almost 2 full hours away.

So, off the adults headed with two Jack Russell Terriers in tow, and made our way Friday night to PA.

I can't go into details since this was an adults only trip and therefore it is classified, what I can tell you is that it was quite chilly for April (though no in the mountains, where is was actually about the normal temp for this time of year), and if you ever have an opportunity to hike through Bushkill Falls, I highly recommend it.

Bushkill Falls is located just over the Delaware River in PA and is about an hour's drive or so from the Wayne area. It is a series of natural water falls that cascade through a gorge which is part of the tributary system for the Delaware River Valley. Within the gorge are several walking trails and paths that combine with man-made bridges and walkways in the actual gorge that make for something out of the Lost Boys hideout in "Peter Pan". I would have liked to have seen actual lashings holding the whole thing together, but I guess the "10 Penny" type will have to do.

During the Spring right through to the Fall, the falls do get a little crowded as it is a touristy destination during the summer months, but if you head out there in the spring or fall, the crowds are lighter, but so is the temperature. In the gorge itself, since you are below ground and in the shade, combined with the watery mist, it can get quite cold. Be careful as you traverse the various stairways and walkways as the water and cool climate can create quite a slippery mess for the unprepared and careless.

When you complete one of the 5 trails throughout the gorge (or all of them) you can then wander through the Bushkill falls museum, nature center, gift shop, fudge maker... what have you. Like I said, its a bit touristy.

Pets are allowed through the trails as well, as long as they are on a leash, so the pups got to come along for the ride as well!

All in all a nice quiet weekend. Sometimes we adults need a break to not only recharge but also take the quiet time to discuss some troop matters and figure out the future of T 101.

Well, that and we eat a whole lot better. ;)