The Grand Scheme of Things No Comments 
change lives, making a difference
Just change out a few personal details, and this article sums up why I owe the Girl Scouts a huge debt: Why I’ll Be Forever Grateful to the Girl Scouts
Hikes & Outdoors No Comments hiking, outdoors, waterfalls, wildflowers
As a follow-up to my previous post about wildflowers and nature journals, I’d like to share some info about an easy hike with oodles of wildflowers called Station Cove Falls. If you’re in the Upstate of South Carolina, Northeast Georgia, or Western North Carolina and want to see some wildflowers, then go on this hike in April during wildflower season. You will not be disappointed. This is a very easy and short hike and would be perfect to take troops that haven’t been hiking very much or have younger girls.
It’s one mile round trip and has very little change in elevation. It features a 60 foot waterfall surrounded by so many bloodroot plants I couldn’t believe it. I missed them blooming, but I’ve got to get back sometime to witness it. It’s located in Oconee County near Walhalla and the trailhead is right off the main road. Continue reading
Hikes & Outdoors, Ideas 1 Comment camp mary elizabeth, hiking, meetings, outdoors, tina, troop 2562, wildflowers
I love the outdoors! I love nature! I love showing my love of nature and the outdoors to my troop! I don’t know if my troop likes it, but oh well! That’s what they get for having me as their leader!
I have an incessant curiosity about finding out the names of plants and birds. I think it’s because my dad would point out the names of them while I was growing up, and I just absorbed it. Many times people will ask, “How on earth do you know that?” and most of the time it’s something my dad shared with me at some point. If you ever go on a hike with me, I might annoy you after a while because I like to stop and stare (and take pictures) of *stuff*. That and I’ll talk your ear off like Donkey does to Shrek. Man, now no one is going to go hiking with me anymore. 🙁 Continue reading
Reminiscing No Comments make new friends but keep the old, our cabaña
The other day I was going through some old things to see what I could find and scan to share. I realized that I have been extremely remiss in talking about our troop’s trip to Our Cabaña in 1988. I cannot believe I have been so neglectful of it considering it is a tie with the Trip Out West™ for my favorite GS trip.
If you are not familiar with Our Cabaña, it’s an International Center of WAGGGS with Our Chalet in Switzerland, Sangam in India, and Pax Lodge in England as the other three. It’s located in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Continue reading
Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me No Comments backpacking, camping, comics, hiking, outdoors, squirrel
Do they make lightweight sleeping bags these days that you don’t have to have relations with in order to get it back into the bag? I’m trying to decide if I should get a new one for my birthday.
I have an old school sleeping bag that I’ve owned for about 30 years. It’s warm and toasty on those cool nights, except it’s too toasty for those not-so-cool nights. Plus, the zipper on the side comes apart too easily, so halfway through the night, my leg is hanging out of it. Or, it’s unzipped itself and half of it is on the floor, leaving my back exposed to the creepy crawlies of the night. Continue reading
Hikes & Outdoors, Ideas No Comments camping, outdoors, samona, tina, tips, troop 2562
My friend Samona (ALL HAIL SAMONA) asked me the other day on Facebook how I had time to post on this blog since my youngest daughter is just FULL of energy. It’s a nice break, and I’ve been posting a lot over the summer because I probably won’t get to as much when the school year kicks in. My juniors will be working on their Bronze Award this year, so most of my GS time will be directed toward that goal as it should be. Continue reading
Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me No Comments camp wabak, lois, mrs. vickers
WOW – some things are completely intersecting and happening all at once. It’s like the Girl Scout trefoil stars are aligning or something (I have no idea what that means – I’m just rambling which I do quite often if you know me well….)! It’s kind of Twilight Zone-like right now. Continue reading
Traditional Stuff 1 Comment camp wabak, greenville sc, history, lois, old 96 council, traditions
Wow, I’m on a roll here about Camp WaBak! Thanks again to Lois Graves for scanning in a booklet published in 1998 to celebrate WaBak’s 50th anniversary. I’ve been searching for any kind of history about Camp WaBak because there doesn’t seem to be anything published about it online. Hopefully this blog post serves this purpose.
Lois scanned in the booklet’s pages, and I converted them to a PDF file that you can download here: Camp WaBak Booklet
You can find more detailed information inside the PDF file, but here are a few highlights: Continue reading
Hikes & Outdoors, Ideas No Comments activities, camping, outdoors, stem
Many families don’t camp in this day and age, so most kids are missing out on a lot. It’s a shame, because God’s wonders are free of charge and open 24/7. I applaud the fact that GSUSA decided to make the outdoors a priority recently and offer new badges (and the requirements are free of charge – bonus!).
Now that I’ve gotten that comment out of the way, here’s a pretty cool activity you can do with your troop that they can take home. One of the neat thing about Scouts is that you never know what will pique a child’s interest that eventually blossoms in the future. It sounds pretty cheesy, but it’s true! Continue reading
Reminiscing No Comments I get injured, jenny, mrs. vickers, stories, the 80s, trips
It’s time to finish the saga that was The 1982 World’s Fair Trip™! After thinking through it, I probably could have just added this post to the original one because there’s not much to it. But I couldn’t think of the name of the waterpark featured in this post at the time, and I wanted to go on and publish what I had. It had been lingering out there for a couple of weeks. This memory has nothing to do with Girl Scouts, so feel free to skip it unless you’re interested in another probable self-absorbed post. Continue reading