Sunday: We loaded our gear onto the bus at 5:45 AM.
When we got on the bus, William S., our Chaplain's Aide, led us in prayer.
Once we got started, John H. kindly offered me a PopTart.
A little way into the bus ride, some people started falling asleep,
including Matt P., Gregory W., and Mr. Watler.
Some people were swapping CDs to listen to on their portable CD players.
Others, like Teddy C., were peacefully reading books;
still others, like Trey H. and Ian S., were talking with their friends.
While I ate my lunch on the bus, others enjoyed a tasty meal when we stopped in
Paris, Texas for a lunch break.
After lunch we watched the movie "Hoosiers," about the Hickory
basketball team in Indiana.
We got to camp, unloaded, and took a tour of camp.
We ate dinner and took our swim tests. Then we went to bed.
Monday: In the morning we all went to a chapel service provided by Hale,
teaching us about God.
We had a troop meeting at 7 AM and went to breakfast,
which was pancakes and sausage.
After breakfast, everyone went to his Merit Badge classes.
We had lunch and then went back to our MB classes.
After class we ate dinner and had free time, where people could go climbing
on the climbing wall, skiing, swimming in the lake, and many other things.
There were also a huge water slide, "Iceberg," and "Blob" in the lake.
After free time some people stayed up until lights-out playing Magic
the Gathering (MTG), a great card game, then went to bed.
Tuesday: We had French Toast for breakfast, then went to our classes.
Some classes were rained out because of a thunderstorm in the morning,
including Whitewater and Rowing MBs.
Students of those classes were practicing another skill, napping.
Also, the Climbing MB was inside that day.
Today at around lunchtime boys started receiving
"Ask the Senior Patrol Leader" cards; these were also popular with the Hale Staff.
Throughout the day, we played MTG, sang oldies, yacked about cars, and
enjoyed the fellowship of all the other scouts.
Mr. Watler and Louis Ryan built a rock-lined path for us to walk on;
We put up a sign identifying it as Louis Lane on one side and Watler Way on the other.
Teddy C. finished Horsemanship MB, the first MB completed in the whole troop.
Then we all went to bed at around 11 PM.
Bradley started sleeping outside tonight when he made a bet with Chris D.
to sleep outside the tent for four nights in a row.
(He eventually won the bet, bringing home $10.)
Wednesday: There was another chapel service at 7:35 and then breakfast at 8.
There was no rain today during classes.
In Mammal Study we made a tracking pit to get footprints of a mammal,
in First Class emphasis (FCE) we worked on knots and lashings,
and in Show Sports, Joseph H. got a face full of plastic while trying to ski.
Today was also "Swamp Canoe Day," where people in Canoeing MB
learned how to rescue a swamped canoe.
For lunch it was hamburgers and for dinner there was chicken.
Also, after dinner, there were SPL shootouts in Riflery and
PL shootouts in Archery, which were competitive and fun. Then we went to bed.
Thursday: Today's breakfast was EggMcMuffin. Judge Halbach had 362 chigger bites.
Mr. Wolz and Mr. Watler made a circular driveway for the campsite that the
Hale staff enjoyed.
For lunch there were corndogs. More people completed MBs today.
Dinner was steak fingers.
Mr. Watler remarked, "It's not Cafe Annie, but it's definitely a
culinary improvement over Camp Orr."
After dinner there was a closing ceremony and
at it, our troop sang the song "The Cat Came Back" on stage.
Then, after the ceremony, we went to bed.
Friday: Today was "Make-up" day, where people would work on things in their
MB classes that they never finished during the week.
Mr. Wolz, John H., and I went on a 12-mile hike up a mountain with a
group of scouts from other troops, which I think we all enjoyed.
There wasn't too much action later in the day so I shall end today's
writing here.
Saturday: Today we got up at 5AM and immediately began packing.
After breakfast, we loaded the bus to Houston and started the trip,
though Mr. Wolz, Mr. Simpson, Erich W., and I rode in our car.
We stopped off to eat lunch, which was hoagies, and continued the trip.
On the way back, we passed a shop called "Queen Doughnuts and Chinese Food,"
a very weird combination of food you don't see very often.