Camping with the Scouts

Showing off his first Swiss Army Knife!

Sitting around the campfire.

Whittling a stick to roast weenies on.

The Hooks Men head for the woods!

Last weekend the Hooks men escaped the concrete jungle of Moscow and headed into the wilderness for a camping trip with the Cub Scouts.  Well, I say the wilderness, but it was actually a dacha about 2 hours south of town, but we were surrounded by a patch of woods so I guess that counts.  Now, for those of you who know me, you know that I love the outdoors.  I like to hike, love to build fires and cook over them, and life is even better if I am near the water.  However, sleeping in tents is just not for me... especially when there is a perfectly good house only 25 feet away.  

This was John's first camp-out and we had a really good time.  Our big man got his first Swiss Army knife and learned to whittle and we built a birdhouse together.  We roasted weenies over the fire and made a "hobo" dinner where you wrap your food in foil and burry it in the coals of the fire for 40 minutes.  So, it was a lot of fun.  The weather, on the other-hand was horrible.  We had rain for most of the weekend and overnight temperatures hovered right around freezing.  As a matter of a fact, when we packed the tents on Sunday morning there was ice all over the rain covers!  Did I mention that I think this is a perfectly good waste of a house?

Anyway, it was great to be out of the city.  I saw stars for the first time in over a year.  And, not just a few of them.  As a matter of a fact, I am not sure I have ever seen as many stars as I did on Friday night.  It was simply breathtaking and caused me to take a minute to sit and stare in awe and remind myself of the majesty of God. 

All in all, the weekend was a big success...but I am glad the Scouts only do it twice a year!