The Camping Trip from Hell, 2012-3

As I've mentioned before, I love Scouting.  The main reason I love it is because of the wonderful lessons that are learned from the Scouting experience.  If done "thoroughly", the Scouting program will grow a well-rounded boy.  Although the Scouting program lays out everything very well, much of the responsibility to grow this well-rounded Scout rests squarely on top of the parents shoulders.  I speak of the Cub Scouts specifically, because as the Scout gets older the responsibility has to shift proportionately from parent to them.  

There are a slew of Cub Scout Belt Loops, Pins, Webelos Activity Badges and other Miscellaneous Awards that are centered around camping and nature.  Hard core camping.  The kind I vowed never to do again once we got the Popup Camper.  Enter the Camping Trip from Hell.  I thought about not using the world Hell in the title, but the shoe really fits here, so Hell it is.

Somehow or another, I (yes, me... Joe had nothing to do with this, he thinks I'm insane) thought it would be a great idea to camp at Meeman Shelby State Park during the most miserable heat wave of forever so Justice could get down and dirty with some Cub Scout sign-offs.  When we arrived at the park, it was 104 degrees outside, and with the heat index it was 111.  The humidity felt like 200% and it was absolutely miserable.  But it was also absolutely beautiful.  The campsites there are very wooded and spacious, and honestly it is so peaceful.  Please note that the only reason this camping trip was not the worst camping trip of my life is because of the air conditioner in the Popup.

We set up camp and immediately Justice saw a snake.  If you read the post about Scout Camp, you know he is absolutely terrified of snakes.  What color snake was it, you ask?  Oh, you know... brown with brown markings, like a Copperhead.  Awesome.  I'd like to post a picture, but I was too busy peeling Justice off of my head to get a picture.  I never saw the snake myself, and of course since we are camping in Hell and I would assume that there would be snakes in Hell, I'm really not shocked at this point.

One thing I enjoy about camping is that Joe cooks our dinners.  The only downside to that is that whatever he cooks is always really unhealthy, but I always suck it up and enjoy myself no matter what he fixes.  This trip we had burgers, bratwurst, steak, and pork chops.  And plenty of S'mores and dutch-oven cobbler.  Yum.  And now I'm three pounds heavier.

Jack picked his own marshmallow roasting stick.  A little big, maybe?

And just a random shot of Joe laughing, because I love it when he laughs and lately I've been getting better (sneakier) about capturing that on film.  Notice his little mini-me in the background, again with a stick...

Joe was working most days, so it was really just me and the boys together.  I decided to take them to the Zoo on Monday, and we had an absolute BLAST.  We all love the zoo so much, and we never tire of it.  In the summer, they let the kids play in the fountains which is awesome.  I already mentioned how hot it was, so having that cool water to play in was wonderful.

One thing about Jack, he's a class act all the way.

I suppose once you reach the age of being to big too ride on the carousel you ride with no hands to make yourself appear cooler?  I don't know, but I had to promise I would only post a picture of him without him holding on to the pole.  So here it is.

In an effort to help Justice overcome his fear of snakes, I actually forced him to go into the Reptile House.  During the dozen trips to the zoo we've taken, he has refused to go see the reptiles until this time.  And only because I made him.  Literally drug him in.  But, once we got inside and started out with the tiny snakes he loosened up somewhat and he was all right by the end.  He got a little queasy watching the snakes eat their mouse breakfast, but other than that he was OK.  There was a Zoologist there with some reptiles and Justice learned how to tell the difference between poisonous and non-poisonous snakes and started to chill out a little.  Finally.  I was started to wonder how in the world he was ever going to become a full blown Boy Scout unless he got over this fear of snakes.

The reason I chose Meeman Shelby State Park for this trip was because on the 4th of July they had so many nature programs scheduled at the Nature Center that were all centered around things that Justice needed to get signed off for Scouts.  They had a Map and Compass program, Emergency Survival Program,  Birds of Prey program,  Snake and Reptile Program, Forestry Program, Naturalist Program, and Leave No Trace information and challenges all over the park.   They also have hiking and biking trails galore and fishing lakes.

The staff was very knowledgeable and even worked one on one with Justice in between programs to answer questions and help him get things signed off that weren't in the scheduled programs.  I was so grateful to them, they were really and truly fantastic.  Justice learned so much that day, and we spent a total of 7 hours straight at the Nature Center.  It was a hot and miserable day, but so worth it.

Learning how to start a fire using a bow, string, and random wood.

Map and Compass Program

This picture is a HUGE DEAL.  Justice is actually touching a snake.  Yes, he looks scared to death but that's nothing compared to how he used to act when you would even mention the word "snake".  I'm super proud of him, he has come a long way in a short period of time.  Education is everything.

Just to get back to civilization for a quick minute, we took the boys to the drive in to watch the new Spiderman movie.  We had a great time, I love the drive in.  Jack was so tired from the campsite festivities though that he slept SO HARD on the way to the movies that we didn't think he was going to wake up to see the movie.  I mean he is really knocked out in this picture.  Don't let that open eye fool you, he was literally sleeping with one eye open.

Once he smelled the popcorn he woke right up.

This was Jack's first time fishing.  What a riot.  He was quick to learn how to use his fishing pole, and was very serious about fishing.  He did not catch any fish, but caught a few hooks full of mossy grossness and was convinced he caught "eight fishes".  We ran into a huge problem when he expected us to take the mossy grossness back to the camper and cook it. 

We have decided Justice will never take to fishing.  He is too impatient.  He casts, reels, casts, reels, casts, reels... he reels in so fast the bobber doesn't even touch the surface of the water.  He will be really hungry if he ever needs to fish to survive.

In addition to all the nature programs, they also had a bunch of kid games for the kids to enjoy.  They had egg/spoon races...

And they bobbed for apples.  And Justice, true to the competitive gene he inherited from The Coach, did everything he could to win every single thing... including bobbing for apples.  He literally got into the bucket to his waist.

Winner!  There was also a major water balloon war, but I got as far away from that fiasco as possible.  

Meeman Shelby must have been a beautiful park some time ago.  Most of the buildings are now old and in desperate need of renovation, and it's honestly sad to see it because you can tell that it must have been something else in it's former glory.  I took the boys on the hiking trail and it was eery.  The hiking/bike trail is five miles long and meanders through a part of the park that obviously was a beautiful picnic area some time ago, but over the years neglect and disrepair makes it look like a shadow of what it must have been.  There are still remnant concrete old-style picnic tables buried under plant growth, and pieces of old barbecue grills here and there.  It is absolutely beautiful, though. 

It reminded me of the movie Cars, where you could tell what Radiator Springs used to be like.

We also took a boat ride on the lake, and it was beautiful.

I mean really, really beautiful.

I was so glad to get home after this trip was over.  Five days in Meeman Shelby State Park was about five days too many.  I am sure we will go back there to camp again, but I'm aiming for fall when the bugs are dead and the air is cool.  

It was a very productive trip though, and Justice worked his tail off on his Scout work.  I was really proud of him, and I'm glad he worked so hard.  It was entirely worth it.  He spent most of his time with this clipboard, taking notes and writing things down.  And most importantly, he enjoyed 95% of it.  And he overcame his fear of snakes.  Well, for the most part.  He's still scared, just not petrified.