Scoutmaster Shane’s Troop 560

OUR MISSION: Go on a campout and have fun.
THE REASON: All our boys needed another overnight campout for the Camping merit badge and the new scouts needed to set up a tent, cook a meal and other requirements for First Class rank.
OUR FIRST CHOICE: Snow Camping in Payson on Friday and sledding at Woods Canyon Lake on Saturday.
THE PROBLEM: Not enough snow in Payson for sledding resulting in just plain bitter cold camping instead of snow camping.
THE ALTERNATIVE: A modified campout in Bro. McCook’s backyard on Friday night then driving up to Flagstaff where they actually had snow for sledding at Cowley Pit. Some may say that we wimped out by “rouging it” in McCook’s backyard but we had a blast!

Even though the forecast called for rain all day Friday it was bone dry by the time everyone arrived and started setting up tents.  We borrowed Bro. Pike’s firepit and set up our “campfire” in the driveway. We cooked a glorious meal of roasted polish sausages, chips and root beer and we all agreed that Trace was the master hot dog roaster. We told jokes and stories as the fire burnt down, then we went to the school soccer field to play a game of Pitch Black Capture the Flag.  After a few bruises (and Bro. Layton’s and Bro. McCook’s bruised egos from getting taken out by 12 and 13 year olds) we headed back to cook our dutch oven dessert. An hour later at 12:30 we enjoyed a new creation of Bro. Layton’s - Carmel Apple Crisp Cobbler and a can of Redi Whip. By 1:30 everyone was asleep and all the neighbors breathed a collective sigh of relief!

We woke up at 5:30am when Bro. Crane joined us and we wolfed down a hearty breakfast of danishes and chocolate milk.  We packed up the sleds and our cold weather gear and started our for Flagstaff. We got to Crowley Pit at about 9:30 (about 16 miles north of SnowBowl) and realized just how cold it was.  Everyone decided we made the right choice by not trying to sleep in a tent in this weather.  We all had fun sledding down the slopes for the next few hours. After a little exploring, we found a steep drop at the back end of one of the surrounding hills - perfect for nose-dive sledding.  After a while the scouts started jumping over the ledge to land in the powder below. Just as we were beginning to think it was time to pack up, Connor took one last jump. He heard something pop in his foot as he landed and was down for the count. His Dad carried him to the truck and took off his shoes. The ankle was swollen and tender and we all feared that he had broken it. After a priesthood blessing, Bro. McCook and Connor went to the Flagstaff Walk-In Clinic and the rest of us went to McDonalds for lunch. An hour later we heard the good news that it was not broken but just a bad sprain. Bro. Layton was relieved to know that his tenure as Scoutmaster would not be defined by the number of broken bones his scouts suffered. On the drive home we got stuck in stand-still traffic for about two hours but finally made it back around 6:30.  What an adventure!

Setting up the tents - check out Brandon’s pup tent!

Campfire Fun

 
Sledding at Crowley Pit

The Leaders got into it too. Bro. McCook broke his sled and his bum

We closed the day with cliff jumping, hosptital visits and McDonalds

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On Thursday evening, every single one of our deacons (along with 2 teachers and 2 priests) went to the Temple to do baptisms for the dead.  What a great activity for us to do as an entire deacons quorum.  This was the first time for Trace Young and the last time for Nathan Fish (as a deacon of course).  Afterwards, we went across the street to Dairy Queen and ordered large dipped cones for everyone.  Particularly funny was when Brandon tried to share his ice cream with his pet dragon and Brother McCook acting twice his age with Daniel’s walker.

On Saturday Morning we met at a widow’s house on Whitten & Driftwood (the house that always used to have the garage sales) to pick oranges.  She has two big orange trees in her backyard and needed help picking them clean.  Of course, we started with donuts and milk and then got to work.  Her neighbors were there to help and we got it all done in less than an hour and a half.  You can see from the pictures how many oranges we actually picked.  We started out on the ground with citrus pickers but it wasn’t long before all the scouts were climbing up the trees.  After a while the rest of us played catcher as oranges would randomly fly out from the tops of trees to our waiting hands.  The only injury of the day was when Bro. Layton looked away at the wrong moment just as an orange came sailing down from above. He still has the bump to prove it!  The boys were also fascinated by the hummingbird that visited us.  We had a lot of fun and the neighbors were very appreciative of our help.  All of the boys got one and a half service hours towards their next rank.  Plus, we got to take home all the oranges we could carry!

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On Wednesday evening we met at Brother Layton’s house for what has become a bi-annual video game night.  We had 4-player "Test Drive: Eve of Destruction" going on the big screen.  This game is commonly referred to as "Chicken Bombs" because you get to shoot exploding chickens from the grill of your car and wipe out other drivers in a destruction derby event.  It’s a favorite of all the boys…and the adults.  On the other TV we had "Guitar Hero I and II" going and Daniel Peterson schooled us all in the finer points of guitar work - broken hip and all.  Some of the boys played the gameboy DS and Connor’s PSP.  Everyone brought goodies and treats to snack on and the McCooks even brought a pizza!  And JT topped everything off by bringing eggnog.  What a blast!


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Three of our deacons, one teacher and two 11-year old scouts came to Merit Badge Advancement Day this morning.  Best of all, Daniel Peterson came!  Wearing a body brace and sitting in a wheelchair Daniel came to pass off Emergency Preparedness along with Brandon and J.T.  Ironically, all 3 boys actually passed off 2 prerequisites for the merit badge the night that Daniel broke his hip.  The requirements had to do with running an emergency drill with the troop - we just didn’t realize that we were going to do it for real.  Kaleb and Cameron passed off their First Aid merit badge so they will be all set for scouts when they turn 12.  We even got to see Drew Crawford - see if you can find him in one of the pictures below. And with all of the hot dogs, candy and pop the boys ate at the snack bar (it was a zoo) we are just glad they made it home - stomaches intact.

We have been trying to put together an overnight campout for the last two months without success.  We finally decided on a "mini campout".  We would drive to Picacho Peak after school on Friday, set up a tent, build a fire, cook tin foil dinners, eat a dutch oven dessert, listen to a devotional, then take down the tent and then drive home at 10pm.  Not an overnighter, but technically a campout to count towards the camping merit badge.  We had everything planned and reserved Thursday morning and by Thursday afternoon reminder flyers had been delivered to all the scouts.

Friday morning we found out Arizona was under a high polution advisory and we could not build a fire at Picacho Peak.  We felt it was not worth the late night drive or the gas money if we couldn’t even have a campfire.  So we decided to have a "tin foil dinner activity" at Mountain View park from 6 to 9pm.  We had a nice big ramada with lights and two BBQ gills so we could cook our dinners over hot coals.  We prepared a dutch oven fruit cobbler (complete with traditional Redi-Whip) and the tin foil dinners were cooking beautifully. 

Unfortunately, Daniel Peterson tried a trick move on a skateboard around the basketball pole and fell down in pain.  Daniel was in agony and complained about his hip.  We couldn’t tell whether he had actually broken something or if it was just a really bad pulled muscle.  We helped him over to a bench and called his Dad.  Duane came right over and took Daniel to the emergency room.  That was the last we heard of it that night.  We played a game of "Bump", ate our fruit cobbler, listened to a devotional by Nathan then cleaned up and went home.

This morning we received an email from Brother Peterson telling us that Daniel had broken his hip - a nasty break, the worst kind.  They rushed him over to Phoenix Children’s Hospital and he had surgery at 3:30am.  They were able to put a pin in, but his leg was still off.  Daniel will be fitted tommorrow with a body brace that he will have to be in for 6-12 weeks.   Plus, he will have to be in a wheelchair or laying flat the entire time.  What a crummy way to spend the holidays.  We encourage everyone to keep Daniel and his family in their prayers and hope for a speedy recovery. 

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The deacons set up breakfast for the Annual Planning Meeting early Saturday morning.  We had a wide assortment of "cold breakfast" items including muffins, danishes, yogurt, fruit, doughnuts, mini bagels with cream cheese, orange juice and milk.  All of the Young Men and Young Women adult leaders and class presidencies came to plan the next year’s worth of monthly combined activities and BYD topics.  As you can see, the deacons couldn’t wait to sink their teeth into breakfast . . . after the young women went first or course!

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