1107 camping

My niece and older nephew came by for a visit today, along with their nanny. I was told that my brother-in-law took my youngest nephew on a weekend camping trip with the Indian Guides. My parents reminded me about my very first camping trip, which I’ll share with you now.

It was about thirty-seven years ago. It was my first weekend camp-out as a new Scout. I had just “graduated” from my Cub Scout pack the month before, so I wasn’t even a Tenderfoot yet. Fortunately, it was at a Scout Reservation in Long Beach, so I wasn’t very far from “civilization”.

My father dropped me off and I headed for the check-in table. There were some senior scouts at the table, giving directions. It was a Camp-o-Ree of about 50 troops, so it was easy to get “lost”.
I saw two friends of mine, Scott and Eddie. I knew both from grade school and we came up through cub scouts together. They looked at me and asked if I was ready. I told them I was, so we went to check-in together.

The scouts at the table asked me if this was my first camp-out. I said that it was, but how did they know. They just laughed and told us to wait, as one of our troop’s leaders was nearby.

Sure enough, our scoutmaster emerged a minute later and asked if we were ready for a fun weekend. We told him we were. He looked at my feet, sighed loudly, and said, “I’ve got to talk to your mother.”

I looked down. At Scott and Eddie’s feet were two fully-loaded backpacks. At my feet was a fully-loaded suitcase.