Camporee 2009 - Girl Scouts Making A Difference

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Wow!! That's just about all I can say. Wow!!

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What a weekend!!
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At the beginning of the month, my Girl Scouts and I headed north to Clewiston, Florida to enjoy a weekend of adventure and fun at the famous Camp Nocatee. The theme was: "Girl Scouts Making a Difference - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". It was a great theme to have up in the beautiful wilderness of Nocatee. The girls really got to see raw nature away from the hustle and bustle of city life, and appreciate the beauty of the planet.

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We got up there in the early evening on Friday and were assigned to Camp 5.

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It was very appropriately named "Sleepy Hollow". Doesn't it look peaceful?

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The girls had their own cabins, and had to learn to sleep in the black, black forest night BY THEMSELVES (leaders stayed in another cabin on the same site). They had to learn to use showers divided by wooden partitions, and how to navigate their way around the ENORMOUS campground. They LOVED camp food (everything tastes better in the wild...especially after a 10-mile hike!!), and quickly learned the value of water.

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We played kickball and went swimming.

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Next year, my Brownies will be able to go canoeing on this lake. They can't wait!!

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We earned patches and badges, hiked 10 miles (did I already say that?), and visited the nature center. We exercised on the outdoor fitness circuit,

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and even found a couple hours to lay back and relax. (I took this picture from a camp chair while waiting for the girls to take their showers).

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We saw LOTS of deer, armadillos, raccoons, and a HUGE GORGEOUS owl that graced our campsite with his presence for almost 30 minutes on the first night. We also heard wild boar, and poor Miss Karen (my faithful co-leader) had a run-in with a little snake. It was AWESOME.

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The girls learned songs and chants, played games, preformed a skit, and had a dance party. I don't think they fell asleep until 1 in the morning each night and had to be up by 7 am each morning. By time they got home, they were dirty, tired, but HAPPY.

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I can't wait to go next year. Neither can they.

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The only bummer was the death of my faithful camera. Already subjected to daily abuse, this sturdy little point-and-shoot cutie was no match for my bag being set in a puddle of water, where it soaked for over an hour. *Sigh* I was luckily able to save the memory card and load these onto my scanner, but they're not as good as "straight outta the camera" prints.

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Let this be a lesson...NEVER leave your camera off your person. And get a waterproof bag for next year!!