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| The troop prepares to hit the road northward. |
We were introduced to our campsite guide, Matthew, and most of the troop was given a tour of the camp and had an orientation for dining hall operations. The scoutmaster and senior patrol leader checked in at the camp headquarters to turn in the medical forms, fill out some unnecessary paperwork, and be reassured that we owed no further money in camping fees.
Our campsite is named Mowogo, which is the name of the local Order of the Arrow lodge. The campsite is mostly made up of Adirondacks that sleep six scouts. We also have two tents for the adult leaders. There is another troop staying in the same campsite that consists of six scouts and two leaders. We kind of overwhelm them in size.
The scouts who just earned their swimming merit badge this year were exempt from having to take the swim test. Several scouts also decided that they were not going near the water this week (which baffles me since there is a very nice lake) so they opted out of the swim test. So, a limited number of the scouts headed to the waterfront for their swim tests while the remainder stayed in the campsite and helped set up a dining fly, lanterns, clothesline, and hand washing station in the latrine. The latrine in our campsite is in rough shape. I have seen better facilities in the backcountry at Philmont. Fortunately, we have a shower house close by so the scouts have already been choosing to head over there to perform necessary functions.
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| The staff lined up on the parade field following the flag ceremony. |
At 6:15 we headed to the parade field for the evening flag ceremony, which included the camp staff marching in formation singing a cadence as they marched. After the ceremony, we were called in to dinner by troop number and entered a cafeteria line. Tonight's dinner was penne pasta with sausage along with some type of succotash that I found hard to identify (I think I spotted some lima beans and carrots in there somewhere). The boys were much more interested in the Italian ice that formed the dessert portion of the meal. There was also a nice salad bar, boxes of fruit, and peanut butter sandwiches for the finicky.
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| The scouts dig into the dinner. |
After dinner, the scouts headed out for some free time. While the scoutmaster and SPL attended the leader's meeting in the dinning hall. The final event for the evening is the opening campfire. After a full day, the scouts should be ready for bed without a struggle. We'll see how it goes.
As a technology note, the camp has no cell coverage and the WiFi is limited in strength. I will be posting blogs as I can, but the photos are hard to upload. I am hoping that they will load at a lower resolution. Once we are home, I will replace them in the photo gallery with the larger file size. I will send the link for photos tomorrow once I am sure they can be loaded.