[delayed - nonmember submission]
Sorry it took so long to continue my report - it's been a real busy week.
Any how, Ranger Steve had some stories to tell - he'd been all over the
globe hikin', campin', backpackin', mountain climbin'... As you can imagine
the boys were full of questions as Ranger Steve discussed surviving in
winters cold & other adversities. The main thing was to maintain your wit's
and be able think on your feet. To demonstrate this he pulled out an old
shoe horn (a metal pipe attached to a disc) utilized in shoeing horses.
Well he proceeded to as the boys - What if you couldn't lift that, and I
dropped a ping pong ball into that pipe - how could you get it out? Well
the ideas went flying as active imaginations went wild. First decent idea
was - dig under it and see if it will fall out. Second idea was - what
about a vacume cleaner (course no electricity dropped that one). The boys
wound up deciding upon 2 possible ideas - gum on the end of a stick, or
water to float it out.
>From there we started our firelight activities we started out with some good
booger stories ( nothing to aweful just enough to get their attention) then
gradually worked our way into our evening devotions. You know, boys are
more willing to open up when you get them out here under God's creation and
we sat and talked and ate roasted marshmallows for hours under one of the
most beautiful night sky's I can remember seein'. Then, time for bed.
For over half of our boys it was their 1st time camping, Commander Chris and
I were somewhat worried about how they would react, but they were so tired,
even the Coyotes that set up a howl at the base of the bass pond didn't wake
them. Bothered Commander Chris though, he had intended on sleeping in a
lean-to - wound up in the van (the rest of us slept in the old canvas pup
tents). Can't blame him though, I grew up in the country, he didn't, he
just has an enormous heart for boys - he'll get used to the Coyotes.
Next posting an exciting breakthrough at Sunday Services, Canoeing lessons,
Target shooting w/22 Rifles, fire craft, tool craft, & more experiences with
wild life.
Keep Prayin', Sowin', & Reapin'
Dewayne Ivy
Sr Commander
Outpost 201
Mesquite Texas
-----Original Message-----
From: Ivy, Dewayne [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 1999 3:19 PM
To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'; 'Tim & Rhonda Morris'; 'Pastor Mike';
'Don Grisham'; 'Lanse and Shelly Ivy'; 'Mechelle Ivy'
Subject: [RR] 1st Church Organized RR Campout
Afternoon all. I've received some requests 'bout our campout this past
weekend.
We started planning this campout a couple of months ago - the hardest part
at first was just finding a place to go, and it was quite by accident that
our Pioneer Commander (Chris) happened upon Parrie Haynes Youth Ranch in an
advertisement while on hold with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Seems that Mr. & Mrs. Haynes had donated their Ranch as an outdoor training
center for boys. The advertisement sounded great and Chris's 1st hand
examination of the site went well so we set it all up.
Now our Pioneer group has only 10 boys and initially only 4 were going, but
with some clever advertising and some gentle persuasion on our part we were
able to take all but 2 young men with us, half of which had never been
camping in thier entire lives. A good time was looked forward to by all
including the Commanders.
The camp site was a good 5-6 miles from the old bunkhouse (now the check-in
station) and was ever bit as spectacular and secluded as Ranger Steve had
stated. Our camp site was on top of a hill located in the center of a large
valley. Although dry the grass was knee high and mixture of oak and cedar
trees lined outer perimeter of the valley. A lone oak tree and a bass pond
were located at the base of the hill and other attractions near by were an
old windmill with a stone cistern (still in use, and quite interesting if
you never seen one), some horse pin's and the near by Lampasses River. The
oak tree was spectacular - our boys 1st reaction was "wow Commander this is
just like the one at Disney Land" - to which my response was yeah except
this one is a creation of God not Walt Disney. The trunk of the tree was
approximately 7 - 8 feet wide, it was approximately 40 ft tall, and about
100 ft wide according to our best estimates (tempting even for a Commander
to climb but we stuck to our orders and just observed the tree).
Anyway we set up camp on the top of the hill amid a grove of oak trees with
a spectacular view of the valley. Although half of our boys had never been
camping we buddied them up with more experienced boys and camp was set up
just in time for an early dinner cooked up by the boys. The burgers were a
little on the done side (cooking over an open fire takes practice) but
somehow that didn't seem to matter. Theres something obout simply
accomplishing something for yourself that smooths over any distaste for
overcooked burgers and any way we were all looking forward to Ranger Steves
wilderness survival talk.
Gotta go - stay tuned for more details on wilderness survival, stories and
devotions by firelight, and a pack of wild coyotes - all on our 1st night!!
Sr. Commander Dewayne
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