Thursday, December 10, 2009

Who Let The Woodpecker Into Camp Part Two, The Frostbite Edition

Some of you may remember two years ago when I wrote:

It was still dark when I awoke last Saturday morning, wondering who let the woodpecker into the camp grounds. I was unaware that woodpeckers were nocturnal and lived in the cold. Then I realized that the sound I was hearing was my teeth chattering because I was freezing! I didn’t actually sleep last Friday night. I shivered through a light doze, listening to the gentle lapping of water as it hit the banks of the tiny peninsula that we camped on called “Scout Island.” I listened to the sound of the wind whip through my tent because I was sleeping in a strange tent that I had to set up in the dark which meant that I didn’t know there were two mesh windows on either end of the tent, one of which I set up into the wind. I didn’t realize that I failed to cover the mesh windows with the rain fly, which I attached sideways. My house for the night was a small nylon Coleman wind tunnel. Add to that the fact that I was sandwiched between the tents of two other dads who left chainsaws running in their tents all night, my answer to the most frequently asked question on Saturday morning, “How did you sleep last night?” was “The coffee better be good!”

Guess what? We’re going back there tonight. I’m almost as excited as I was on that very first Boy Scout camp-out. And at last night’s planning meeting, our Scout Master casually mentioned that there were scouts he would not allow to come on this trip. Why? Well, because the weather forecast calls for a high of 23 degrees and a low of 10 degrees. At least that is +10 degrees. I guess there are scouts that he doesn’t trust to prepare for dangerously cold camping temperatures. I suppose I should be proud that I am the father of one of the responsible ones, but if General Mayhem was a dirt bag I could be spending the weekend in a warm house in front of a brand new large screen TV.

When I thaw out on Sunday I’ll fill in the details.

Have a good weekend!

9 comments:

CrossView said...

Oh, yayness! LOL!
And I turned the heat up inside since it actually hit the high 30's outside last night.

I hope YOU have big fun! I'll be sleeping in my ever-so-comfy bed with my awesome heater - Guy. *insert evil laugh here*

I'm so glad I'm not a Dad! ;o)

CrossView said...

And I'm wondering why this blog isn't on your links??!! ;o)

http://www.enlightenedredneck.com/

Unknown said...

Well, because up until now, I'd never heard of the enlightened redneck.

Brownie said...

Camping in the cold.... what a good dad you are! I would never do it!

I suppose "roughing it" in the cold does build one's character.

I think I'll check out Enlightenedredneck, too!

TobyBo said...

oh, man. My two brothers were Eagle Scouts and I remember thinking it was the parents who deserved the badges.

Michelle said...

You are an awesome dad. We camped once when Trey was in Cub Scouts. With an infant and two little girls too. After not getting much sleep, and not being able to walk the next day because my back can't take sleeping on the ground, we packed up before the monsoon hit the next night. Some of my friends stayed. One had to sleep in her car because her tent flooded and the other had a child throwing up all night long. We learned that we are not good campers. Which is why, we purcashed our camper adn now we camp all the time-with our big flat screen and fresh hot coffee and breakfast-and a shower!

Kid said...

Arby, Reminds me of my first real tent camp out as a Boy Scout. It rained that night, and we knew it was coming. We set up our tents on a hill and were instructed to dig out a trench above and either side of the tent so water would be directed away.

Somehow I woke up in 3 or 4 inches of water in the middle of the night with my head on a log. A hard bark log.

The coffee wasn't worth a damn in the morning. There was no coffee. We had Teaberry tea, which we had to go out and collect the teaberry leaves first from the cold wet forest.
Then make a fire with wet wood.

Kathleen said...

Frozen butt cheeks? No kidding! Not that I'm a dad, but I would certainly be on that don't-let-her-on-the-freezing-cold-camping-trip-because-she-has-never-been-outside-in-10-degree-weather-except-for-once list. I refused to go on a camping trip because the forecast called for lows in the 40's.

You're a brave soul. I hope you are still alive!

TobyBo said...

oh dear

here it is almost Monday and you have not filled in the details. I hope that does not mean you are frozen stiff.