Our trip to Camp Bob Harden was an adventure. When we got there, we were under the impression we would be sleeping in an Adirondack. It turns out we were bumped to a tent, or kind of a tent anyway.
The problem wasn't the comfort, we are used to roughing it, it was the breathability. It was 98 degrees that day, but with both sides of the tent opened up, we did okay.
Ian was a pack by himself this year, so we were teamed up with some other loners. One didn't show (guess it was too hot), but Ben did come, and Ian made a new friend.
At the opening campfire, the staff always does some skits for the Scouts. By far, the favorite was Sugarboy. Sugarboy passed out during the skit, and the only way the other actors could revive him was by pouring sugar down his gullet. In went the moonpies, the honeybuns, a can of coke, and finally straight sugar.
The young man (Andrew) was hence forth known as Sugarboy, and everywhere he went, the Scouts would chant, Sugarboy, Sugarboy, Sugarboy.
Part of Webelos Camp is classes. Ian had two clear favorites. The one he liked best was boating. This is the first time he has had the chance to go out in a canoe, and he loved it. The coolest thing we learned was how to help someone that has capsized in their canoe by dragging their canoe across ours to empty any water out of it, and then helping them get back in without tipping it again.
After boating, Ian liked Ready Man best. This is were the Scouts learn how to administer CPR, how to deal with crisis situations, and how to generally be aware of their surrounding. I think, more so than just the fact that this is a topic of interest to Ian, that he liked this class because of the teacher. Dave really enjoyed teaching the kids and they could tell it. Kids are not dumb, they can tell when someone is genuinely interested in them, and Dave really poured himself into each of the Scouts. He's a very impressive young man.
Anthony, the activities coordinator, is another great example of someone willing to pour himself into the next generation. He donates 8 weeks of his time each year to help Scouts grow and mature (the rest of the time he works in drug enforcement). This year the camp had a Pirate theme. You can tell he is dedicated! He wore this outfit half the day in 100 degree heat!
One of the highlights of our stay was we did get to move into an Adirondack, which was fun, I've never slept in one before.
Our least favorite part of our stay was a latrine.
Let's just say Ian and I are still pumping ourselves full of laxatives to get over "holding it" for a while. :)
Would I recommend Camp Bob Harden? Absolutely! Ian and I had so much fun! The camp is older, but very well run. The staff is great, the director was dynamite, and we learned a lot. I look forward to going back with Aidan one day.
