Camp Grice.

(Based on real-life events. Camp Grice is a real place, I've actually been camping there. They are going to sell soon, so soon it may be called something different. I go camping often, but this was my first and last as a cub scout. This one was really fun, and even though some of the things that happened bugged me, overall it was a really, really fun thing. I hope all of you enjoy my story!)

Camp Grice. My first two-night camping trip was to camp, Grice. First, all afternoon I had been packing. Then my dad packed. After we were done packing, we went to go pick up another boy in my weblos den and his dad. After we got them, we got to go to the supermarket. We had to get some steaks. My dad's dad always made steaks when he went camping. So my dad continued the tradition. We were just going to grab them. At first, he debated it, but then he gave in and bought them.

My friend and I grew up together. We went to church together, even when we were young. He was a year older than me, but so was everyone else. I was the only first-year weblos. So they just put me in with the other kids and told me to do my arrow of light and weblos at the same time. This weekend was going to be a big one. This weekend I was planning to get a bunch of requirements knocked out. For both weblos and arrow of light. I was a tiny bit tired. I knew it would be a long night, and we were already behind everyone else. But we were going to get there for sure. Maybe we were going to take some time though.

Grice was not far from the supermarket. Only like thirty minutes or so. It was a bumpy entrance. When we did enter, a man was welcoming all of us. He told us a campsite to go to, and then we drove there. There were a lot of other campers all around the place. Grice was not the first place I had ever been camping. I had been to summer camp before. And I had been backyard camping once when I was little. But never camping a regular campout with the scouts. I was very excited. By the time we got there, we had to hurry and get unloaded. We were able to quickly.

All the other kids had eaten hot dogs. They were already roasting marshmallows and having cracker-barrel. We ate on the way, so we were not that hungry. I made a more so that way they saw I did indeed eat something. I went to the latrine. It was gross and dark, but I washed up and did feel better. Well, all I remembered about our campsite was that there was a fire and in the one near ours they were cutting down a tree. Well, when I got back, all I could see was the biggest fire ever. So of course, I started walking towards it. I was very lost, so at least I could get some directions.

Well, I made it about five yards when I started to debate in my head what was going on or where I was and start yelling at myself. But then, a couple of kids came yelling at me. "Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you with 106?" They asked. 106 was my pack. They were very unfamiliar to me, and I began to run away. Then I found myself where I was supposed to be. I had seen a couple of the other kids run towards the fire and not be yelled at. Why was I any different? Besides the fact, I was a girl.

All the other kids in my den were boys. Older boys. I was a girl. So getting treated differently was something I was used to. Well, by the other kids. A lot of the time. But with other scouts, I had almost no contact. Just my pack. And they were accepting. Well, as I soon found out, they had surrounded our entire campsite. We were like an island and they were the sea surrounding us. Well, quickly I changed. I didn't know what to do really. Camping around other people like this was a completely new experience. But I was trying. So I changed quickly.

As it was November, I was quite cold. So I wrapped myself in my sleeping bag and tried to fall asleep. As I had told you, I was quite tired. And so was everyone else who was there. In my den and the parents of course. So around ten at night, we were all dozing. I had already fallen asleep. And then there was a loud noise. The kids that had yelled at me earlier were playing. I was sound asleep, as many kids were when all of a sudden, these kids decide to start playing. I tried to go to sleep but was woken up again. In the morning, I was told that our den leader and the assistant told them to be quiet yet continued until midnight.

My dad said he slept a few hours. He must have been really tired. I woke up early and began cooking. We ate within the hour. All the food was good. Then, we went to this hall, and we were directed to do our own thing. We had a blast with all the fun activities. Although, we were all standing around the fire trying to keep warm on the cold day when one of the kids in our den tried to push my friend into the fire. His mom had to take him home. He already kind of had a behavior issue and forgot to take his medicine. So she had to take him home.

Well, we were about to go to lunch when we found out we had to take a hike to get to our lunch and they were providing the food for us when we got there. We walked for five miles in mud and dirt before getting there. We had ramen, which was good before heading back. Then we shot arrows, played some games, and headed back to the campsite. We also practiced our skits to make sure they were perfect. I thought they needed to practice it differently, but they wouldn't listen to me. We played Gaga Ball in a Gaga pit. It was quite literally, the worst experience of my entire existence.

Not even joking. I hated it. Anyway, we had dinner and then headed to the fire circle at the camp. We were extra careful to make sure that we didn't step out of our campsite. Which was impossible, because as I have described before, the other pack or troop was the ocean and we were an ocean. We had no choice but to cross the ocean. Our skit was probably the worst one as apparently, no one could hear us but clapped anyway. It was about a penny. A guy was looking for it and a bunch of people was helping him until the last person asked where he lost it.

In the dark, the person who lost the penny would say. Then the last person would turn around and look at the person who lost the penny. They would ask why they were not looking in the dark. "Because the lamp was there and it was easy to look in the light." So the joke was that we were looking in the wrong spot because the person thought they could find it because of the lamp. Which was dumb because you could move the lamp to where you lost the penny. I was super confused about it, but I did not have a choice. I had to do it for a requirement.

After the campfire, we did another cracker-barrel and the boys played cops and robbers. In the dark never-the-less. I wanted to play but told them that I would only play if we used flashlights and Carried around first aid kits to be safe. Then they stopped playing and told me that was no fun. So I was not allowed in their game. Fine by me. I got to get requirements done and signed off on. After that, I went to bed. The troop/pack that had stayed up late the night before went to bed at eleven but woke up early the next morning to play at our campsite. Even though we kicked them out. Multiple times. We packed up quickly.

We had breakfast, dropped my friend and his dad back at their house and then I went home. I was so excited to go home, see my family, take a bath, and relax. During my bath, I saw how gross I had gotten. Which was fair. I thought the place was disgusting. They had a pool, as you could see all the hook-ups for it. But where the pool was supposed to be, there was just a bunch of plants and wildlife. There was trash everywhere, and everything was extremely overgrown. Having seen what a good camp was supposed to look like, I knew it was disgusting.

I knew it was the outdoors, but it was maintained wilderness. But not really. The bathrooms were worse, but they were so gross, that I tried to push the thought of them out of my head. Even though it was gross, and my dad and I believed it should be called camp Gross instead, it was still really fun. I knew that the place could be cleaner, and the surrounding pack and troop could have been better, but it was my first one with the scouts. I was pretty sure that it was really fun.