Our first campout of the new year…our focus for the month was the Winter Camping program and for the most part, we did pretty darn well with it.

We met at the Lodge on Friday night and trekked to our site…no, not outside. The scouts don’t think that they are equipped well enough, and a couple of them would like to take OKPIK before trying in out on the troop. I respect their decisions, so I was fine with staying indoors.

We drove to Camp Rokilio…the council’s Cub Scout Camp. Yea, back to where almost all of these guys started. We didn’t stay in one of the theme buildings, but instead, we stayed in one of the 3 room lodges. One center room, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and a water closet. Not really roughing it, but the accommodations are not the point. We arrived to camp later, around 8 pm…about enough time to get set up, squared away and have a bit of cracker barrel. With our tummies full, the scouts went off to bed, and played the goof-off game for awhile. I poked my head in the room and recommended that they get some shut-eye, as we would have a busy day the next day.

We rose the next morning, and each patrol’s Grubmaster prepared breakfast and everyone ate. They got squared away and assembled in the commons. I pulled out our new Brunton Orienteering Education set. I went through the nomenclatures and handed out the compasses. We then went outside, out on the lake and practice pace counts and “Red in the Shed”…they did wonderful and were really into it when they realized that they made a square…not individually, but as a team.

The rest of the day was filled with designing their ideal patrol site and sledding. One scout wanted to earn his 2nd class, so we went out to the fire pit and he struggled to build the fire…yes, he didn’t need to light it, but even if he would have had to, it would have never lit. So with the help of the Scoutmaster, the SPL guided the scout to building a fire. We tried to light it later, but things weren’t going our way, and we decided cracker barrel and cocoa were better options.

The scouts played some games, but for the most part, they were ready for the sack…lights out and all sleeping by 9:30, with the adults soon behind.

I awoke first on Sunday morning. I decided to clean up all the food, and get breakfast ready for the scouts before we departed. Fruit, cereal, bagels and milk was placed out…the adult patrol, decided on Mountain Man. As I got the food out, one of the dads came in and asked why I was getting the boys’ breakfast…

“Well, it’s kind of my penance for what I am about to do…” and I started to hum Zippity-Do-Dah…

Let’s just say that the more experienced scouts knew what was going on, so they were awake…the rest of them got waken up to a rousing chorus of the song, along with what they must have thought was an earthquake, as their beds were shaken ever so gently.

Welcome to 1363, newbies…you are now “my boys”…