Photo by T. Robertson
Yes, the men and boys arrived home safely yesterday from two nights in the woods. This was a highly frustrating trip for those who like comfort and order. It was a highly amusing time for those who like to laugh in the face of confusion. And it was a highly entertaining time for ALL the boys. They’ll remember this trip for the rest of their lives.
The Royal Rangers (fondly known as Ritalin Rangers) from the Arizona District had their Grand Fall Pow Wow with several churches participating from around the state. Poo Bah Poo Bah. My dear husband is one of many commanders at our church and arranged for our RR boys to go. The plan was to leave on Friday around noon and head to a Boy Scout’s camp near the Grand Canyon, 3.5 hours northwest of us. Then Tuesday they get an email that states that the camp in closed for construction and the Pow Wow had been moved to Payson, 1.5 hours east-north-east of us. OK. No problem. Then THURSDAY they got an email that said it was indeed back at the Grand Canyon camp. FINE. Off they went on Friday.
Photo by T. Robertson
Can I just add here that on Thursday night close to midnight, my dear husband handed me the grocery list for the 26 campers and asked me to put quantities beside the items…. AND put the list in the order of the Walmart aisles. Well, one look at the list and I started crossing off stuff. Saturday morning breakfast included eggs, bacon, pancakes, syrup, bagels, cream cheese, coffee, hot chocolate, milk and orange juice. No names mentioned, but the list was made by two of the cushy-hotel-campers. I chiseled it down to pancakes, syrup, bacon, coffee and milk. There. (And there were no fruits or vegetables on the entire list for five meals…….) I digress. And yes, I put it in Walmart order and saved my dear husband at least two ours of wandering time.
SO, they get up to the Grand Canyon camp to find the gates locked… and an Under Construction sign. Sigh. They couldn’t just turn around and head to Payson because there was another truck load of boys and dads on their way. For the next three hours they drove around and around and around looking for a camp ground. By 9:30 p.m. they pulled off a lonely road into the trees and set up camp. No bathrooms. No running water. My husband was in his Native Canadian Indian element… this is how he spent his summers growing up. No big deal. But for the clean-fingernail-crowd, it cramped their camping style.
They returned with smiles on their dirty, unshaven faces with every sleeping bag, foamy mattress and pillow WET! Lovely. I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad it was a father-son trip. :o)
Tags: camp, campground, camping, church camp, father, Grand Canyon, grocery list, hilarity, men, mom, Payson, Royal Rangers, son, tent, walmart
My Sister's Jar 
October 6, 2008 at 11:08 am |
My grandpa did RR for years. I can guarantee you he is frowning disapprovingly at this adventure. I’m sure his grocery list was done at least a week in advance.
Did they end up staying beside the road the whole weekend or did they go to the other campground?
October 6, 2008 at 11:12 am |
They stayed put. It turned out to be a lovely spot. It did rain and hail, but a good time was had by most.
October 6, 2008 at 11:29 am |
I guess Jennie C’s statement above is correct, at least my wife agreed with her statement. Didn’t get caught in any So. Calif. rain storms. Beside drive-to campouts, we also did some overnight back pack trips. So good to get the boys out and about. Did have one boy sit on a tiny rattlesnake during a trail-side rest period. A sad note though was one boy from a terrible background. He was prone to explosive temper outbursts for minor reasons and he was convinced that we leaders were paid well for our efforts. Just couldn’t accept that someone would volunteer to do such things. He left for Texas to live with his father and we later heard that he had committed suicide.
October 7, 2008 at 8:59 am |
Wow! What a trip and what a test of everyone’s patience. Something like that could go very badly…very quickly!
My wife insists she wants to camp in a tent. I will NEVER let her stay in a place without hot water. The rest of us would be good…it would be bad for us to have her with us.
October 8, 2008 at 9:02 am |
Now that is what I call making lemonade out of lemons! Kudos to all the campers.