Danielle's Girl Scout troop is still going, but hanging on by a thread. The seven remaining girls are just not as invested as they once were -- their interests and priorities have changed over the years. However, there is one thing that keeps them coming back: camping! The hardest part is finding a date that works for everyone, but this year, we did manage to overcome that initial hurdle. Unfortunately, I procrastinated and did not immediately reserve a spot at a Girl Scout camp. All the Girl Scout properties were booked solid, so we were forced to find an alternative non-Girl Scout location (and I was required to complete extra training). Thankfully, Texas has several state parks (and a great website for locating things) and we found one that met all the criteria: available on the specific date, less then 2 hours away and offered cabins. The winner: Fort Richardson State Park.
Leading up to the event, I was pretty nervous about not being within the safe confines of a Girl Scout property. It would be more challenging to manage food without a kitchen, it would be more complicated to manage bathroom runs in a public area that were not close and there were no planned Girl Scout activities to fill the time, like archery and horseback riding. I was quite stressed but a friend said, "It'll be OK -- it's new adventure". That totally helped me change my perspective, and turns out she was right! The weekend away turned out great -- and the park was wonderful and had tons to offer!
I was concerned about the cabin arrangements, but in the end it worked out. The cabin had bed space for 5 (one bunk bed was a double -- for leader and her daughter), and Danielle and I slept on air mattresses. There was A/C (which we didn't really need) and heat (which we didn't really figure out at first). It was incredibly basic, but provided just enough space to safely accommodate us. Luxurious compared to tents -- and NO bugs!
Regarding food, we kept meals super simple - all things that just needed assembly: cereal, sandwiches, fruit, veggies and only one meal that required heating pre-cooked food. Everyone found something to eat and the propane stove did its job to heat the popular "walking tacos" meat and beans for dinner!
As far as activities, there was a TON to keep us busy. Nature is amazing like that...
This state park is also a historical site with ties to several battles with Native Americans and World War II. The girls enjoyed the interactive center and toured the historical buildings. History is cool like that...
In honor of the upcoming Easter weekend, my co-leader came prepared for an Easter egg hunt! The park offered tons of sneaky hiding places for eggs. Holiday traditions are fun like that...
BONUS: There was a sand volleyball court!
The weather was near perfect - ok, maybe a tad chilly, but plenty of sunshine to warm things up! And thankfully no rain.
Yes, there was still a little time to relax and enjoy the peace of the outdoors.
Camping would not be complete without 2 more things...First, there was a campfire. Our campfire was used for s'mores!
And we also hosted a flag retirement ceremony -- 4 flags were honored and respectfully retired from duty, per the United States Code which stipulates, “When a U.S. flag is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, it should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”
The second required camping event is...animals! We saw deer, frogs, birds, fish, rabbits, and a raccoon (or two!). If fact, one raccoon helped himself to our last remaining food items in the ice chest (yes, shame on me for breaking camp rule #1: secure all food items!) The little guy (or gal) moved the container on top, opened the ice chest and carried away a gallon-sized ziplock bag filled with our leftover cucumber, pepper, tomato and grated cheese!
I'm thankful for the fun, drama-free and successful weekend, and happy to report that we all came home safe (although a little stinky, hungry and tired)!
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