Camporee 

I went on the Camporee with Boy Scout Troop 208. We left at 6:00 PM on October 14 and came back October 16 around 11:45. I was ASPL (Assistant Senior Patrol Leader) and Zeno was SPL (Senior Patrol Leader). For the first time in a year we had some Webelos 2’s camping with us. There were some big disappointments that annoyed everyone. However the camp out had some very good points.

I enjoyed the part of the camping weekend when we were working with pneumatic rockets. I got to pump up the rockets because the two 9 Volt batteries didn’t have enough power to release the pressure. My dad, who was also on the trip, was sitting next to the launcher and his job was to release the pressure. Once he found out about the batteries not working he had volunteers pump it up. I was the only volunteer. The good part in this was I got to pick how far the scouts had to run to retrieve the rockets.

Another great part of the camping weekend was the movie night. The movie was The Martian. The book and movie were all about the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut who got stranded on Mars. He was a botanist and engineer. He used his botany skills by growing potatoes so he could survive until he was rescued. He used his engineer skills to fix everything that broke because most of the things with him were needed to survive. I think the book was much better than the movie. The book was filled with more crisis’ and colorful language.

The biggest drawback was not being able to go up in the planes. At the SPL meeting I secured my troop some early flight tickets. We had planned on going up in Cessnas in groups of three. I organized the entire troop’s tickets at the SPL meeting. However, all that organization was for nothing because we were grounded due to weather conditions. The weather for that day was low fog. Almost everyone was disappointed that we didn't get to fly in the planes.

There were two interesting choices for merit badges: space exploration and aviation. I completed space exploration, and I think it was the better choice because it only took up the morning. In the afternoon, I was able to check out all the other special activities, like paper airplanes, hot air balloons, and drones. However, with space exploration, I had to finish the requirements on my own, before the Camporee. The people who took aviation had to go to several different stations throughout the entire day to complete the merit badge. I think everybody liked the merit badge they chose. But I got to shoot off a rocket with my merit badge!

All and all, I was really glad I went on the campout. We had fun playing with the pneumatic rockets and watching the movie. I think camping was a great experience for the Boy Scouts. I enjoyed the time talking to my friends and working on my merit badges. I hope next time we will get to ride in a plane.