September 2016 Rappahannock River Canoe Outing – by Tyler Syring and Lucas Anderson (Eagles Patrol)
Our first outing of the year went well. All scouts stepped up and helped in the cooking and cleaning in the Eagles patrol, and although we only had 3 people, we ended up being first to finish cooking and first to finish cleaning. Everybody did equal work and efficiently got two meals done in the time it’s taken us to just make dinner at other outings. Our newest scout, John Burke, kept up with the work we assigned him well. One thing we should work on, is to make sure that when we are done earlier than the other patrols, we should help them out too, or do something to keep ourselves from just sitting around.
We had to wake up very early on Saturday morning to get to St. Francis by 7 AM. When everyone was there, we did patrol lines. We were there for about 1 hour waiting while the final details were being set (we reviewed the numbers buddy system). When we left, the car ride was not very long (an hour or so.) When we arrived at the campsite, we set up camp and prepared the chuck boxes for when we got back from canoeing, and left around 11:15 AM. We went down the Rappahannock River for about 7 hours. Along the way, we discovered a rope swing and some scouts went on it. It was very fun. Whenever we had the chance to get out of the boats, everyone did, and we all got soaked! After we got back to camp, we started preparing dinner (spaghetti with meatballs and sauce), and began our submission for the dessert competition. The Eagles and the Dragons both made the same thing: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, but we added coconut to the top for more flavor. They were both really good. However, the Eagles beat the Dragons to win the competition! After dessert came the cleanup. We started Scoutmaster Conferences after dinner while there was a PLC, and then went to bed. We woke up at 7:30 AM after a good night’s sleep. When we woke up, we started to cook breakfast – English muffins and eggs. We figured out that there is a toaster you can put on the stove, and used that to warm up the muffins. We cleaned up and finished scoutmaster conferences. Around 12 PM we left after a police line was done to ensure that the campsite was clean. Most people stopped for lunch. After that, it was a short car ride home with little traffic. Everyone enjoyed the trip. It was a good start to the Troop 55 outings!!
Our Pineapple upside down cake (minus the coconut)
Mr. Pan poses with our cake
Our dutch oven hole
Our newest scout enjoys his 3rd serving of our breakfast: poached eggs and English muffins
The morning after, we are first to have our chuck boxes successfully inspected and lined up for the trailer.
