Trip to Memorial Park Sept. 26-28

Posted by Administrator on October 11th, 2008 filed in Outings

Trip to Memorial Park
By Jasmaer Sandhu

We headed out Friday around 4pm with enthusiasm and excitement and we came back waiting for the Memorial Park trip to happen again so that we could have the same great experiences together. The usual all troop outing is to Yosemite, but this year the troop decided to go to Memorial Park instead because of its proximity to Palo Alto and the fact that it was a great campground without the below freezing temperatures you get at Yosemite. The drive to the campsite that was about 1 hour the scouts walked over to their respective campsites and set up their tents. After the tents had been set up the patrols started to prepare their meals for dinner. Once everyone had filled their stomachs the troop got together to play a game of electric fruit. With Patrols 1-3 vs. Patrol 4-6 the rivalries were big and though the game was close Patrols 4-6 came out on top to clinch the victory. After the game everyone was tired and happy to go to their tents and rest for tomorrow where a whole new set of activities would present themselves. Once in our tents though we got some unexpected visitors, it looked like some raccoons had taken a liking to our food. Throughout the night you could hear raccoons scurrying across the campsite and sometimes even taking a sniff at someone’s tent.

In the morning scouts were quick to get a fire rolling and their food on the stoves as breakfast was cooked. As soon as everyone had gotten their food hikes were planned and it wasn’t long before each patrol set out on their respective trip to get to know each other better in their patrol and soak in the scenery of Memorial Park and the surrounding parks. Patrols came in back from their hikes one at a time and it wasn’t long before there was a football game with scouts thinking about the barbecue that would take place that night and the skits that their patrol would perform.

Soon the sun started to sink in the west and scouts filed into the campsite where the barbecue was taking place. Hotdogs, hamburgers, vegetables and beans were piled on plates, as scouts were eager to eat because of their hikes and the football game that had been played. After everyone was full we decided we could fit a few cookies into our stomachs. The next activity were the skits, scouts laughed and had fun as each patrol presented their respective skits. Once the skits were over we had jokes before we headed off to our tents to take a nice warm sleep in sleeping bags once again visited by the raccoons who seemed to have brought over some more friends.
As Sunday dawn approached scouts came out of their tents and ate a quick breakfast before cleaning and packing up. The trip had sped by and people were wondering where the time had gone thinking how happy they would be if the trip could continue. Finally cars drove out with scouts looking out the back window.