Why Moms Don't Go to Scout Camp

John called at about 12:30 yesterday to tell us he was home. I jumped in the truck and hurried over to the Church parking lot to pick him up. I pulled up beside the trailer, got out and greeted him with a big hug and Scoutmaster said "Whoa! Look at that brave Momma! She's gonna hug you without making you take a shower first!" At first glance he looked pretty clean, he smelled a little campy, but that's about what I expected. On the drive home I had a chance to give him a little closer inspection and after looking at his fingernails, I said "How many times did you hit the shower?" He gave me a sideways grin and I said "JOHN! TELL ME YOU TOOK A SHOWER WHILE YOU WERE GONE!" "Well, I showered off at the pool after Lifesaving." "So what you're saying is that you didn't use any soap." No comment.

Evidently the facilities at George W. Pirtle Scout Reservation were a little on the primitive side. He said that the "toilets" were buckets sitting over holes with metal toilet seats on top. He said he trooped over to the Camp Store once every other day and asked to use the real facilities. He only asked every other day because he didn't want to push his luck. He said "They had soap and everything in there."

Remember how we negotiated about what clothes he would be taking and that I won the argument over taking six (count em) SIX pair of underwear? And of course he took a week's worth of shirts and two or three pair of shorts and one pair of jeans and a bathing suit....


This is the bag of dirty clothes he brought home....

That one gallon bag had one shirt, one bathing suit, a pair of socks and one (count em) ONE pair of underwear!

This is what the bathing suit looked like after a weeks worth of Woodcarving, Ranger Corps, and Lifesaving, followed by a shower with no soap...

His feet and legs are covered in bites. Mosquitoes, horse flies, and ants. He has a rash from wearing a bathing suit 24/7 and the bites on his arms are swollen and angry. And he got a bee sting on his leg. But he didn't get lost or electrocuted.

I'm so glad he's home.