Congrats to James on passing his Eagle Board of Review at the end of September! James becomes Eagle Scout #125 for Troop 48.
For his project, he built a new stairwell at historic Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia.
A flag flew over the grounds of the US Capitol building the day of James’s Board of Review in honor of his achievement, which is pretty awesome.
Troop 48 ended September as we do each year, helping out the 7000+ bikers at the MS City-to-Shore Bike Ride.
On Saturday, Troop 48 worked our usual spot at the Century Stop at Sweetwater Fire Company, stop for those bikers attempting to ride 100 miles in a single day. We set up the rest stop (including dragging around pot-a-potties, which was fun!) served food and water most of the morning and early afternoon, cheered on the bikers, and then cleaned up the rest stop at the end. By all accounts, the Scouts did a great job. One biker who did 175 miles in two days shared with the director of volunteers at the end of the ride, ““Who were those volunteers at the Century Loop? They were incredible and organized – please thank them for me.”
In the meantime, Magnus cycled his way 100 long miles from Cherry Hill to Ocean City. He raised $1640 for the MS Society from his ride!
We spent Saturday night on the Ocean City Boardwalk. After a pasta dinner, the Scouts walked the boardwalk, enjoying all the fun (and junk) that can be found on that famous Jersey landmark. Then it was back to the campsite for a night’s sleep.
Sunday, we were up early, packed up, and headed to Hammonton to help at the second day’s lunch stop. The Scouts again spent hours helping the bikers to successfully complete their two days ride. Mike, the site supervisor, said, “Please give ACIT, Glassboro, and the boy scout troop a special shout out from us. The boy scout troop was integral in our packout – we were all drained at that point so it was great to have them waiting in the wings to tag in.”
All in a weekend’s work.
This was another great day. We spent most of the day climbing Cadillac Mountain, a tough climb with some stunning views of Mount Desert Island and the Atlantic Ocean. We then dropped down into a chasm before tackling the steep climb out and over Dorr Mountain before heading out at Sieur de Mont.
That night, we went to the Ranger Program on geology, where James did a great job as magma while Magnus did his best impression of a sedimentary rock.
On our fifth day in the park, we started our day by driving out on the Acadia National Park loop road. We started at the Visitor’s Center, then drove over to Sand Beach. We walked on the rocks and checked out Thunder Hole. We drove over to Jordan Pond, where the Scouts got a view of Bubble Pond.
After checking out the park, we headed into Bar Harbor. The patrols split up and went on their own adventures. Some got ice cream. Others walked out on the sand bar that gives Bar Harbor its name. Some bought super annoying (also, funny) chicken toys.
The Bar bought some lobsters to eat that night, which made them the best fed patrol of the week.
On Day 2 of our adventure, we went to Acadia Arial Park and Ropes Course in Bar Harbor, where we went up on the three level high ropes course. It was fun (or terrifying)!
Afterwards, we did mini-golf, go karts, the trampoline, and the rock wall.
We then went back to camp for dinner, then ventured out to Bass Harbor Lighthouse for a world class sunset.
Our last full day in Acadia National Park, we woke up to a wet and rainy day. We pulled out our rainy day plan, which was a trip to the nearby Seal Cove Auto Museum, which houses one of the finest collections of early automobiles anywhere in the country.
After touring the museum and doing the scavenger hunt, the director offered to show the Scouts the back garage where they do maintenance on the cars, where one of the cars was started up and the Scouts had a chance to sit in a car that was having its interior restored. It was really something.
Afterwards, the rain had let up, so we spent a few hours tidepooling on the Ship Harbor Trail. We found sea stars, crabs, and some other interesting sea life.
Then it was dinner and packing up the camp before one final ranger program.
It’s a month later, but we had an AMAZING time at Acadia National Park this summer! We braved a high ropes course (some of us were braver than others, meaning everyone was braver than Mike), climbed Cadillac Mountain, sea kayaked around Bar Island, watched meteors fall by Sea Wall, and found all sorts of great things while tidepooling.
Dinners were cooked (even lobster for one patrol one night!), rain fell on our head, our SPL did geologic dances (we have video!), rabbits attempted to steal food at our campsite, we saw old cars, and great times were had!
Can’t wait for next year’s trip!
For Day 3, we woke up late and had breakfast. We then went to Echo Lake. A few of the leaders climbed straight up the Echo Lake Trail (four ladders!) while the Scouts and a few leaders went directly to swim in Echo Lake, where everyone ended up eventually. It was a hot day, and the usually cold lake was perfect!
That evening, we drove to Bar Harbor and kayaked out around Bar Island and one of the Porcupine Islands. We saw the beautiful islands, plus the departure of a cruise ship and A BALD EAGLE!
We woke up bright and early, catching a beautiful sunrise at 5 AM on our way out of the campground. It was then a loooooooooooooong drive back to New Jersey. Part of our group stopped at the World’s Largest (Rotating and Revolving) Globe in Yarmouth, Maine, another car stopped at the Palisades in New Jersey, and everyone arrived back at the shed by dinner time.
Great summer trip, can’t wait to see where we go next year!
The night before the summer trip, we showed up at the shed to pack for the trip. We loaded the trailer and James put a call into Skippy to figure out how to set up the tent. The Scouts then “went to sleep” around 11 PM to get ready for a 4 AM start…