06/20/2026
Troop 15 was up a creek without a paddle. We did have sticks though!
Sorry I’m a little tardy on this post.
This year we couldn’t work out a schedule for summer camp so we decided to do our own mini-camp in Helen Ga. The boys planned 4 merit badges along with fun events. We also planned in some free time. Rain was in the forecast everyday.
Thursday May 28th, arrived and set up camp. We brought out the big tents for this trip. We were doubling and tripling up. Blaine brought a tent the astronauts could use on the moon. I think George got his from a Turkish Sultan. It actually had rain gutters.
The boys began working on their first-aid merit badge. Blaine was the instructor. We wanted the scouts to focus on merit badges so the adults pitched in more than usual with set up, cooking and cleaning. Sean and Rust arrived around 6 after a quick set up everyone helped make dinner. Walking tacos is always a favorite. You’re supposed to eat out of the chips bag. I used a bowl and was chastised for making an extra dirty dish. After dinner and cleanup the boys had free time. Ellison and I tried fishing, no luck. We did see a beaver and the boys almost capsized a boat.
Friday’s breakfast, boiled omelets and sausage. The boys finished up first aid, I practiced my fly fishing cast, Sean did some work, George continued to improve the glamp site. We had an early lunch, sandwiches, chips and fruit. Then headed to town to do a ropes course. Unfortunately, the course was down so we decided to go tubing. So, back to camp for swim suits. After a quick drive and change over we were ready for a float. The creek is fairly shallow so we would get stuck occasionally, that’s where the sticks came in. We had one mishap I won’t discuss but otherwise a fun trip. Grant made friends with some boys that called him noodle hair.
Back at camp we started on dinner. Deep fried chicken wings, french fries, salad or fruit. (We did not deep fry the salad or fruit) We didn’t have a deep fryer so we used a Dutch oven on the stove. Only boiled over once and no fires. The boys took turns making the wings and fries. I made a buffalo sauce, we had a variety of seasonings and of course ranch dressing. Everything turned out great, the boys really are good cooks.
Just as we finished clean up, the rain started. It came down hard and lasted most of the night. George had extra tarps so we added those on the tents but still had some rain come in. Ellison was taking the garbage out and found a bear digging in the trash. One of the other campers didn’t properly close the bear container. We all made noise so the bear ran off. Later we heard air horns around the camp site where other campers chased him away (the bear not Ellison).
Saturday morning was wet. Sean and Rust’s tent was flooded so Sean took everything into the laundry. Breakfast was 1 piece of French toast. We miscalculated our eggs. There were lots of pop tarts, sausage and fruit left so no one was hungry. The boys worked on geocaching. More sandwiches for lunch then off to the ropes course. It had been repaired so we got to test it. The boys did well. You could see them grow in confidence as they moved through the obstacles. We also did the zip line course, very fun.
Back at camp, more geocaching for the boys. I took a hike around the lake. For dinner we went to a really good pizza place. We all learned how much Rust loves Parmesan cheese. Later the boys built a fire and made s’mores. We all slept good.
Sunday morning we had a “eat it or throw it away” breakfast and started packing. Left overs were eaten and everything was put away in short order. After a stop for gas and coffee we headed back to Albany.
