May 1, 2013

I had the opportunity to camp with the boy scouts a few weeks ago.  It was actually something I set up for them to do and was at a local mine that had an observatory.  When I planned it out with management it was with the agreement that I would camp as well, which I looked forward to.

Then the forecast called for serious rain on Fri night, so I bailed for the first evening.  The boys went and The Husband was our representative.  They actually were able to work on most of their geology merit badge so the evening was not a waste.

The rain brought in a front, so while I was in shorts on Friday, long johns were needed on Saturday.  I arrived in time for the boys to prepare lunch.  That was actually a bit of the draw of this camping trip for me.  I arrived to my tent set up and knowing all my meals would be prepared.  That didn't work out so well.

Unaccustomed to boy scout cooking, I was surprised to learn that grilled cheese could be produced with a cold slab of cheese in the middle while the outside was charred black.  Tasty.

The afternoon was spent hanging out by the fire.  Rather than wait for dinner, I grabbed some hot dogs and roasted them myself for Youngest Child and I.  That turned out to be a very good idea as the meal was not prepared for another 2 hours.

We attended a great class on astronomy with the boys, which worked towards their astronomy merit badge then had to kill 45 minutes.  Then came the highlight of my trip - getting to use the observatory.  It cleared up and we had an awesome view of Saturn with rings and moons.  I have never visited an actual observatory before and it was well worth it.

I was fortunate enough to get Youngest Child and myself in the first group and we were able to get to bed by 11:30pm.  That night the temperature dipped to 30 degrees.  The water in the pickup truck beds from Friday night's rain all froze solid.  But I had brought lots of bedding and we did pretty well.  One more layer, or toe warmers probably would have made it better.

Watching a troop of scouts tear down and pack up is something to see.  First there is an organized tent city, then absolute chaos, which is gradually reorganized into groupings and then packed.  YC and I left early and headed home to clean up before The Husband and Eldest Child returned.

I'm not sure that I'd go out of my way to camp with the boy scouts again but if they went somewhere cool, I'd probably be willing to go again.  But I'd bring my own meals.

Comments

[The Husband]

Yes, meals are always 'interesting' and drawn out. Not sure how to make that work better.