I haven't said too much yet about the camping last weekend. The Boy and Cub Scouts (starting at the 4th grade level, I think, which is Webelos) from the whole CSRA (Central Savannah River Area) are invited to camp at the private airport in town for the weekend. One runway is barricaded off and there's a small grassy area running along an access road (and another grassy area between the access road and the runway) parallel to the runway where tents can be set up two deep, if the tents are small. Most troops try to arrive together and set up camp together in one area, including a cook area. It's incredible to walk down the access road and see all the different tents - round ones, oblong ones, square ones, every shape and color, every size and brand. We even saw a Swiss brand one that I had looked at online and considered buying that has three separate rooms. The middle section is huge and can be used for a living room while there are two smaller rooms off each side with a divider separating them for sleeping areas. Stick the kid on one side, Mom and Dad on the other end, and have a card table and chairs in the middle - a great way to camp in rain.
I mention rain because RAIN, IT DID! Don and I had planned on arriving early Friday afternoon to set up our camp. We were taking two large tents, one for most of our family and the other for Dane and a friend's son that was going with us. We figured the second tent, which sleeps 4-5 men, was large enough for some of Dane's classmates to join him, also, making it a lot more fun for him. We made arrangements with another Dad, whose wife is a close friend of mine and whose daughter babysits for us, to share their camp stove in exchange for me making dinner for him and his crowd Saturday night. I cooked two pork roasts in the crockpot and made a huge batch of barbecue, which seemed pretty elementary school boy-friendly. We were also taking our 10' X 10' stand-alone awning and lots of camp chairs and were encouraged by a former Boy Scout Leader (of 20 years) to get there early because of the size of our tents. Don and I had planned on leaving around 1:00, but it was after 2 before we finally got underway.
Almost no one was there when we arrived. We chose a nice spot near where our Boy Scout Troup had set up last year, and unloaded. I helped Don raise the canopy and we got started on the first tent, then I had to take off to get the kids from school. They had laid out their clothes for Friday in advance and packed their bags, so all they had to do was change, and we could head back. Deanna had a slumber party Friday night and I had made arrangements for her to go to a friend's house after school and to have dinner with them, then to go to the party with that friend. I was picking her up at 10 the next morning.
When we got back to the camp, Don had both tents up and the camp pretty-well set up, other than some minor rearranging to make things a little more convenient for me. When we had arrived, it was beginning to sprinkle. By the time I returned with the boys, it was downright pouring. Don had gotten the tents erected and the rainfly's over them just in time.
It poured ALL NIGHT. Our family tent held pretty well, but there were a few drops of water that accumulated in the ceiling and fell inside just because of the volume. The other tent, however, didn't fair as well. When we first bought our family tent, our friend, Ken (camper extraordinaire), helped me seal the seams, which I had never done before, and helped me provide a little water-proofing. He was concerned that it was a cheap tent and "you get what you pay for". It was an Ozark Trail, which I find to be a pretty good camping brand, though newer than Coleman or Titan. That night, after sealing our seams, it rained pretty hard, and our tent held fast. Ken was suitably impressed and changed his opinion about the brand. Once again, this last weekend, our tent stood up to the rain challenge. But our older tent, the one we bought when we only had 2 children and was never seam-sealed, leaked through every floor seam. There were puddles of water around the entire periphery of the interior. Don went home for something and I had him bring back extra towels, which we laid around to sop up the water.
Suffice it to say, by the end of the weekend, everything in that tent was pretty well soaked. The children played in the rain, pretty oblivious, until they started getting cold. Dane had taken his three bug jars (spaghetti sauce jars that I saved for him) and he and his brother and all their friends spent the evening catching crickets. They also found a toad, which they practically mutilated by taking turns holding him. Saturday morning, I was walking by the awning. Dane and several friends were sitting in the camp chairs. I heard Dane say, "Watch this. He can play dead!" and when I glanced his direction, he was holding the toad upside down in his palm, the white of his belly showing and his legs flopped out to the sides.
I snorted. That poor toad is praying, "Please, God, let them think I'm dead and bury me. Put me out of my misery." He was force-fed crickets, he was dumped into a water puddle and, when he jumped out time and again, put back in the middle, he was held, squeezed, talked to, then dumped back into a jar for the night. I talked them into letting him go Saturday night. The poor guy barely had the energy to hop away. They weren't mean to him, they just wanted to "hold" him, as boys are inclined to do.
Saturday night was clear and cold. I had packed numerous layers for my children to wear to bed, including knit caps and gloves. We had also used air mattresses for everyone to get them up off the cold floor. On Saturday night, we had the only shelter. The Boy Scout's awning had collapsed from the wind the previous night and another friend's screen house had blown away. Ours was the only one remaining, so almost all the Dads and Grandpas gathered at our camp. Another friend had a long table and we played cards. I made coffee on the cook stove. It was way fun. Then we all made our way to the Cracker Barrel. Lest you think we broke camp for a restaurant and store, the Cracker Barrel in scouting is a gathering, like a Jamboree, or at least that's what they call it at this campout. Each Troop put on a skit, providing entertainment for the night. Scout Leaders had filled out tickets with the names of their scouts on them and the tickets were put into a drawing. Tons of names were drawn between skits. The adults also had tickets for a different drawing and several of the leaders won prizes. Probably 1/4 to 1/3 of the boys won door prizes. Dane was one of them. He won an awesome tent. Truth is, we're not sure it was him. They announced the Troop Number, then stumbled over the last name. Before he had a chance to announce the first name (which, truth be told, was probably Daelyn, since his name is much more difficult to figure out), Dane jumped up and claimed the prize. Dane, Daelyn and Deanna's names were all put in the drawing, so it could have been any one of them. We decided it didn't really matter much. Deanna wouldn't want a tent of her own (I don't think) and Dane and Daelyn will share this one, so it all worked out. Sunday afternoon, the boys put it up in the backyard by themselves. Dane is really learning to be a Scout. On Monday after school, he and I worked on sealing the seams and spraying Camp Dry on the rain fly and sides to waterproof it. It had to dry for 24 hours, but it's all packed away now.
Since this is turning into a VERY long post, I'll close by saying that we had a wonderful time. Deanna was a little unsure about camping out there with all the boys, but our family usually goes camping one weekend in October and this was the only chance we would have this year, so we decided to use this opportunity for our family campout. When she and I got back after her slumber party and showers at home on Saturday, she was sitting in a camp chair under the awning. Various boys would stop by to visit, the dads were all sitting around drinking coffee and visiting. Deanna observed for about 45 minutes, then said, "Mama, this is TOO COOL. Can we do this again next year?"
I'd love to do it again, but I hope more Moms bite the bullet and join us. It really was a fun family activity.
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