July 14 2015

Wildflowers Aplenty at Station Cove Falls

Hikes & Outdoors    No Comments    , , ,

Station Cove Falls
Station Cove Falls

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

July 13 2015

Nature Journals

Hikes & Outdoors, Ideas    1 Comment    , , , , , ,

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!

Ogres are like onions....
Ogres are like onions….

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

July 11 2015

Love for Our Cabaña

Reminiscing    No Comments    ,

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

July 9 2015

Old School Sleeping Bag

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me    No Comments    , , , , ,

Get In The Bag 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

July 7 2015

Camping Kaper Charts

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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

July 3 2015

Camp WaBak’s History

Traditional Stuff    1 Comment    , , , , ,

camp-wabak-bookletWow, 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

July 1 2015

Create Your Own Planisphere

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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

June 29 2015

1982 World’s Fair, Part Two

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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

June 29 2015

Camp WaBak Song

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(h/t to Lois Graves for sending this to me!)

Did you know Camp WaBak has its own song?  It was written by Jean (“Happy”) Ligon in 1968:

Big Boy Mountain
Big Boy Mountain

Song of WaBak

Back in the hills is a camp we know
It’s been there long and we have learned to know
It’s a place to learn, to love, to grow.

Shining sunlight greets the day;
Rain may come, but clouds will blow away
And sun will smile as campers play.

WaBak, WaBak, where the wind blows free;
WaBak, Camp WaBak,
It’s a home for hearts, for you and me. Continue reading