The Police Came to Our Camp
Although we froze our tails off and had to call the police, Girl Scout camp was wonderful this weekend. In the two years since our troop started, the girls are growing up to be caring, thoughtful, and amazing pre-teens.
Having heard that it was supposed to be quite cold over the weekend, I called the Council ahead of time to see if our cabin had heat. I was assured that the facility was heated, but had no cooking facilities. Well, they were half right. It didn't have a kitchen, but it also didn't have heat. So my coleaders and I worked very hard that first night to keep the girls warm. We took them to the cars to warm up, gave them hot chocolate and hot apple cider, told them to layer, gave up our own coats and socks when their's were too thin, etc. It was still oh-so-cold. Sleeping actually wasn't too bad except for our noses and faces that were outside the sleeping bags. It was hopefully a character-building experience for the girls, although they seemed non-too-pleased about it! We did put them back in the cars Saturday morning to warm them up again.
Saturdays are always our busiest days at camp, so we hit the ground running (after we thawed out). After breakfast, they went the high adventure course and learned about team-building (they need to work on that) and tried out the obstacle course. It was really neat ... I took some great photos while the girls did their stuff.
I did make the decision to miss the Belmont University panel because in good conscience, I knew we had to find another heat source for Saturday night. I stayed with the girls while my coleaders went to town to buy some space heaters (with permission to use them from the site manager, of course). We also bought gloves for every girl, more hot chocolate, and DRY wood so the fire would be roaring that night.
After roasting marshmallows and making s'mores around the fire, the girls made wishes using "fairy dust." It was amazing hearing these girls share their dreams with us. One wished to see her father again before he died (he lives in another state and is ill), one wished for her Mom to quit smoking, one wanted her Dad to stop drinking and get a job, and one wished her Daddy would come back home. There were several "I wish we could all still be friends when we grow up" too, but most were incredibly serious. I felt privileged to be there hearing these girls pour out their hearts and dreams to us. It was amazing.
Because we heard coyotes howling nearby that first night, we told the girls we didn't want them to go to the bathrooms after bedtime without an adult. Because they were sissy girls, they freaked out every time they went. One girl finally shouted, "Those damn coyotes won't hurt you!" Then she clapped her hand over her mouth realizing that she used a curse word. I nearly fell over laughing, but tried to hide it and just looked at her.
We took the scouts to Stratton's in Ashland City for lunch on Sunday and treated the girls to dessert since they were all so well behaved and awesome that weekend. Afterwards, we went back to the camp and were getting ready to leave... cars all loaded. We had to wait for my husband to come since we needed that third car to haul our stuff. He drives up right on time (my mother-in-law and oldest daughter came along too to enjoy the foliage), so we start loading the back of the truck. Then I walk over to my car to open it. My keys were in the ignition. And the car was locked. One of those little angels locked my doors. I was ready to KILL! The facility managers had all disappeared and the auto club said we had to find somone to unlock the car, then they'd reimburse us. We were stuck so finally had to call 911 since there were no police numbers listed anywhere.
After we reached the police, two cars had to go on home, so I remained with three girls to wait for help. The other two cars had to leave because parents were waiting at my office to pick up their girls, and one of the leaders had to get home to take her medicine. After about an hour and a half, two squad cars showed up with three extremely helpful officers. It took them a good 10 minutes to lift the lock, but they got it open. I was very grateful!!!
All in all, the weekend was one of our best camping trips ever. If it hadn't been for the extreme cold with no heat and the locked car incident, I'd say the trip would've been perfect. I'm definitely ready to go again!
Swinging bridge that went from our cabin to the main part of the camp via the horse field.
The cabin without heat.
It was gorgeous at camp!
This tree is sometimes used for the adventure programs. Our girls participated in a team-building exercise and did an obstacle course.
And the police to our rescue. Dang.
Having heard that it was supposed to be quite cold over the weekend, I called the Council ahead of time to see if our cabin had heat. I was assured that the facility was heated, but had no cooking facilities. Well, they were half right. It didn't have a kitchen, but it also didn't have heat. So my coleaders and I worked very hard that first night to keep the girls warm. We took them to the cars to warm up, gave them hot chocolate and hot apple cider, told them to layer, gave up our own coats and socks when their's were too thin, etc. It was still oh-so-cold. Sleeping actually wasn't too bad except for our noses and faces that were outside the sleeping bags. It was hopefully a character-building experience for the girls, although they seemed non-too-pleased about it! We did put them back in the cars Saturday morning to warm them up again.
Saturdays are always our busiest days at camp, so we hit the ground running (after we thawed out). After breakfast, they went the high adventure course and learned about team-building (they need to work on that) and tried out the obstacle course. It was really neat ... I took some great photos while the girls did their stuff.
I did make the decision to miss the Belmont University panel because in good conscience, I knew we had to find another heat source for Saturday night. I stayed with the girls while my coleaders went to town to buy some space heaters (with permission to use them from the site manager, of course). We also bought gloves for every girl, more hot chocolate, and DRY wood so the fire would be roaring that night.
After roasting marshmallows and making s'mores around the fire, the girls made wishes using "fairy dust." It was amazing hearing these girls share their dreams with us. One wished to see her father again before he died (he lives in another state and is ill), one wished for her Mom to quit smoking, one wanted her Dad to stop drinking and get a job, and one wished her Daddy would come back home. There were several "I wish we could all still be friends when we grow up" too, but most were incredibly serious. I felt privileged to be there hearing these girls pour out their hearts and dreams to us. It was amazing.
Because we heard coyotes howling nearby that first night, we told the girls we didn't want them to go to the bathrooms after bedtime without an adult. Because they were sissy girls, they freaked out every time they went. One girl finally shouted, "Those damn coyotes won't hurt you!" Then she clapped her hand over her mouth realizing that she used a curse word. I nearly fell over laughing, but tried to hide it and just looked at her.
We took the scouts to Stratton's in Ashland City for lunch on Sunday and treated the girls to dessert since they were all so well behaved and awesome that weekend. Afterwards, we went back to the camp and were getting ready to leave... cars all loaded. We had to wait for my husband to come since we needed that third car to haul our stuff. He drives up right on time (my mother-in-law and oldest daughter came along too to enjoy the foliage), so we start loading the back of the truck. Then I walk over to my car to open it. My keys were in the ignition. And the car was locked. One of those little angels locked my doors. I was ready to KILL! The facility managers had all disappeared and the auto club said we had to find somone to unlock the car, then they'd reimburse us. We were stuck so finally had to call 911 since there were no police numbers listed anywhere.
After we reached the police, two cars had to go on home, so I remained with three girls to wait for help. The other two cars had to leave because parents were waiting at my office to pick up their girls, and one of the leaders had to get home to take her medicine. After about an hour and a half, two squad cars showed up with three extremely helpful officers. It took them a good 10 minutes to lift the lock, but they got it open. I was very grateful!!!
All in all, the weekend was one of our best camping trips ever. If it hadn't been for the extreme cold with no heat and the locked car incident, I'd say the trip would've been perfect. I'm definitely ready to go again!
Swinging bridge that went from our cabin to the main part of the camp via the horse field.
The cabin without heat.
It was gorgeous at camp!
This tree is sometimes used for the adventure programs. Our girls participated in a team-building exercise and did an obstacle course.
And the police to our rescue. Dang.
posted by Kathy T. at 9:59 AM
4 Comments:
Ya know, there are things about camping that sound appealing...campfires, marshmallows, but, that no heat thing and coyotes howling....neh eh.
tehe, did you lock the keys up. :) Don't worry, Todd did the same thing today. LOL
Hey Kathy,
You should have been plenty warm! 37 degrees isn't that cold! Try an igloo next time!
That sounds like such a great time! I went troop camping every summer from 3rd grade on and it was a wonderful character building experience. If it isn't too cold it's buggy or too sunny, but it's always so much fun anyway. Camping with girl scouts is what I miss absolutely the most from being a kid & teen.
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