A Weekend To Remember

We got back Sunday afternoon from a Girl Scout camping trip in the mountains. Eleven girls and seven parents. We always have a high girls/parents ratio in our troop. It's a fun thing to watch the girls grow and learn and gain confidence.

We drove up Friday afternoon to a lovely campsite not too far from the lake but not within sight of it. I guess you could call the campground "partially improved" because although it had paved roads, a shower house and flush toilets, there wasn't a speck of grass anywhere within the group campsite area. There was bunch grass elsewhere, but the ground at our site had nothing but dirt, pumice, and lodgepole pine cones.

And mosquitoes. We can't forget the mosquitoes. They were large and plentiful. As they say, there wasn't a single mosquito there - they were all married with several hundred children. One dad told the girls that they were hired by Red Cross for a blood drive. And you had to be ready when you unzipped your tent because they just might shove you aside and enter first. We had repellent but the only one that stood a ghost of a chance against the thirsty little buggers was the one with 98% DEET content. Yes, I know DEET isn't all that good for you, but neither is slapping yourself black and blue and scratching until you have skin under your nails. Two girls got together and counted bites and came up with about one hundred each. Note to self: Do not, under any circumstances, camp at a high mountain lake in June when there's been a long spring.


One parent was coming late Friday night so we made up a scavenger hunt for the girls and then told "Your Most Embarrassing Moment" stories around the campfire while we waited. One girl told a story on her sister and was giggling so hard we had to have her repeat some of it. I don't usually remember embarrassing moments but I did tell of when I was a Senior in High School doing work study at the local clinic and managed to pass out when I was supposed to be assisting at a mole removal. At least I didn't wet my pants when I keeled over like a felled oak.

Late Saturday morning, the girls got into an all-out water fight using water bottles with wide necks, three-gallon buckets, and plastic dishpans. It started when one girl threw water on one of the dads and it quickly escalated. One table was the "dry" zone and the adults sat there watching and cheering. The water was ice-cold coming out of the faucet so there were a lot of shocked expressions and rigid postures.

We have a couple of girls who have a problem staying hydrated so I came up with a deal that each time they finished the 1/2 liter water bottle that the troop provided, they could get a small piece of candy, also provided by the troop. I got the (large) bag of candy out and transfered them to a zippy bag while one by one the girls gathered around me. I felt like Santa Claus. One girl's parents also brought her little four-year-old brother. He found out what the candy was for and promptly left with his water bottle. A minute later, I happened to look up and watched as he poured the water out behind a tent. Smart little guy. I told him I saw him pouring it out and that he had to fill it up and drink it to get a candy. So he filled the bottle and then stood right in front of my chair. Remember I mentioned the water was ice-cold. He'd gulp four or five times, his hand coming up to his throat and his feet beginning to dance. Then he'd stop drinking, clutch his throat and dance around for a few seconds making gargling noises. Finally, he'd come to a stand-still, burp, and eye the bag of candy. A second later, up went the bottle for the next round of gulping.

The girls took turns that afternoon going out on the motor boat to earn a badge and they came back into camp that evening tired and happy. They weren't so happy a few hours later when a thunderstorm took two hours to travel east to west almost right overhead. Three of the girls were downright scared out of their wits. We all sat under the awning of the trailer and I sat next to the frightened girls, talking to them and giving encouragement and started the other girls singing. Between "Pink Pajamas", "The Quartermaster's Store" and doughnuts being fried inside the trailer and passed around, all three of the girls pulled themselves together. We were lucky that the storm started at 8:15 and only lasted two hours. I'm not sure I want to imagine what would have happened if it started after the girls had gotten to sleep!

I have no pictures because Mike took both the still and movie cameras with him to Christmas Valley. He went with Nick and Cameron, his dad, and two of his brothers to scout out their hunting prospects for their October hunting trip.

I love camping out. I love watching kids learn new skills. I love watching them build on what they learned last time camping. I could have done without the mosquitoes and thunderstorm but even those were very good learning opportunities.