Friday, October 19, 2007
Camping and Rain
Last weekend Pierce’s Cub Scout troop had a families camping weekend, the Scoutoree. We borrowed a 6-person tent from Billy (and an extra sleeping bag), met with rest of his den at Pierce’s school, and drove out to an old golf course that’s been converted to a camping site. We got a late start, so setting up the tent was a race against the setting sun (we were successful).
The campground was interesting. With direction from park employees, we all parked on an old fairway, then carried and wheeled our gear to a different fairway to setup camp. Generator powered lights ran up the center of the fairway, along with a string of port-a-potties. There wasn’t much rhyme or reason to where tents were setup, so everyone just grabbed the closest piece of ground. Guestimates were about 900-1000 people camping. The Cub Scout troop occupied one fairway, with a Boy Scout troop occupying a different fairway.
Most of the kids, Pierce and Anna included, ran around playing tag with flashlights. Anna and a couple of boys found a hole to dig in and found a slug. When it was fully dark, all the camp’s attendees attended an evening of presentations. There were skits, Native American dancing, and a ritual flag burning. Unfortunately, none of us could hear a thing. The flag burning took forever. Pierce and Anna both repeatedly asked if we could go back to the tent so that they could, to quote Pierce, “Hit the hay”.
Returning to the tent, Pierce’s den shared cupcakes, then, somehow, I got wrangled into shepparding several of the boys to the edge of the woods for a team “pee” session. Did I mention Pierce pulls his pants down to his ankles before he pees standing up? Several of his den mates had questions about that…
Pierce and Anna were both starting to get colds, so Pierce fell asleep almost immediately. Anna was too interested in the tent and all the kids running around us to settle down. The gas powered lights were turned off about 10:15 and everyone, adults included, went to bed. Anna fell asleep about the same time we did.
Of course, within a couple of hours a thunderstorm blew in and took up residence in the area for about 10 hours. I think we had about 4-6 inches of rain. The thunder and lightening were non-stop. Fortunately, our tent stayed dry and we mostly slept through the night. But many of the campers, especially the kids, couldn’t deal with the thunderstorm and broke camp and left before sun up.
In the morning, while Nora and Anna went to use the bathroom, Pierce and I went to go get the car and bring it back to the tent. Slogging through the pouring rain, when we arrived at the car, the formerly grassy fairway had turned into a giant mud pit. There were countless minivans and Honda Accords stuck. Nora’s SUV made it out with a minimum of trouble, but we weren’t allowed to bring the car back to the camp. More slogging and schlepping of gear ensued. Nora and the kids waited in the car while I broke down the tent (I think I set a speed record). Fortunately, the rain eased while I was getting the tent stowed, but by then it didn’t matter. I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet in my life.
The pack was supposed to have breakfast and activities Saturday morning. I can’t imagine what happened to all the food the pack brought in –someone must have eaten well. We spotted a donut shop on the way home and figured that would serve quite nicely.
-Eric (Dad)
The campground was interesting. With direction from park employees, we all parked on an old fairway, then carried and wheeled our gear to a different fairway to setup camp. Generator powered lights ran up the center of the fairway, along with a string of port-a-potties. There wasn’t much rhyme or reason to where tents were setup, so everyone just grabbed the closest piece of ground. Guestimates were about 900-1000 people camping. The Cub Scout troop occupied one fairway, with a Boy Scout troop occupying a different fairway.
Most of the kids, Pierce and Anna included, ran around playing tag with flashlights. Anna and a couple of boys found a hole to dig in and found a slug. When it was fully dark, all the camp’s attendees attended an evening of presentations. There were skits, Native American dancing, and a ritual flag burning. Unfortunately, none of us could hear a thing. The flag burning took forever. Pierce and Anna both repeatedly asked if we could go back to the tent so that they could, to quote Pierce, “Hit the hay”.
Returning to the tent, Pierce’s den shared cupcakes, then, somehow, I got wrangled into shepparding several of the boys to the edge of the woods for a team “pee” session. Did I mention Pierce pulls his pants down to his ankles before he pees standing up? Several of his den mates had questions about that…
Pierce and Anna were both starting to get colds, so Pierce fell asleep almost immediately. Anna was too interested in the tent and all the kids running around us to settle down. The gas powered lights were turned off about 10:15 and everyone, adults included, went to bed. Anna fell asleep about the same time we did.
Of course, within a couple of hours a thunderstorm blew in and took up residence in the area for about 10 hours. I think we had about 4-6 inches of rain. The thunder and lightening were non-stop. Fortunately, our tent stayed dry and we mostly slept through the night. But many of the campers, especially the kids, couldn’t deal with the thunderstorm and broke camp and left before sun up.
In the morning, while Nora and Anna went to use the bathroom, Pierce and I went to go get the car and bring it back to the tent. Slogging through the pouring rain, when we arrived at the car, the formerly grassy fairway had turned into a giant mud pit. There were countless minivans and Honda Accords stuck. Nora’s SUV made it out with a minimum of trouble, but we weren’t allowed to bring the car back to the camp. More slogging and schlepping of gear ensued. Nora and the kids waited in the car while I broke down the tent (I think I set a speed record). Fortunately, the rain eased while I was getting the tent stowed, but by then it didn’t matter. I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet in my life.
The pack was supposed to have breakfast and activities Saturday morning. I can’t imagine what happened to all the food the pack brought in –someone must have eaten well. We spotted a donut shop on the way home and figured that would serve quite nicely.
-Eric (Dad)
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