The Great Outdoors

I spent my Saturday out at the Clinton Nature Center undergoing B.A.L.O.O. training for the Cub Scouts. I am the den leader of my son's den and we are all going camping in October. My assistant den leader actually guilted me in to going when he told me he was going  - and then he didn't show up. (That's about how my life has been going lately.)

They told us that lunch would be provided but failed to mention that we would be making the lunch - over a campfire. It was a lot like making foil packets for the grill though. And then we had a dessert made on a Dutch oven over a campfire. (Dump two cans of the pie filling of your choice on the bottom, dump a yellow cake mix on top of that. Do not touch or stir. Slice a stick of butter on top. Cook over campfire for an hour or so. You've got campfire cobbler!)

I enjoyed the hour we spent talking about cooking and the 30 minutes we spent eating and the 30 minutes we spent hiking (I found a cool spider web), but the rest was rather dry. But I tried to act interested...and I took lots of pictures when no one was looking (and sometimes even when they were, honestly).

I overheard one of the guys complaining about the cooking instruction, saying the food was for "car campers." (This was not a compliment.) He then said, "There's two kinds of campers. Those who hike to eat and those who eat to hike."

I've done both, but I much prefer the former. ;)