Last Frontier Council 2010 Jamboree Blog

All three troops came together for the final step of their Jamboree journey to unload the trailer. All gear was removed and taken to storage for the next Jamboree in 2013 at The Summit.

The boys retrieved their footlockers and duffle bags to take home and empty of all their Jamboree booty……..and dirty clothes. Word to the wise, open them in the garage.

We’ve touched down in OKC and are approaching the gate. Our Troopmates won’t be far behind us. I’ve enjoyed blogging for the 2142 family, but I’m going to give my thumbs a rest. Signing off.

The Cobras have made it to Memphis and our next stop is OKC at 3:56 PM!!! The Buffalo and Dragon Patrols were also leaving from Baltimore and I saw them at their gate waiting for their plane when we left. It won’t be long!

Amazingly, we made it thru security.

Rain chances overnight were 20% or so said the weatherman. Around 4:00 AM, that chance turned to 100%. We got about a 15 minute warning from Jambo staff and kicked into action. We got duffle bags on the truck and hustled everyone down to the commissary tent for protection. Yes, we got a little wet. Yes, some were in their underwear. But everyone was safe.

We are all now dry, fed, dressed and on the bus headed to the airport. We’ll see you soon.

Tents are packed, cots are folded, most tables are down………just waiting for the truck to show up. A few guys are out finishing up odds and ends, but most are just kind of hanging out.

Not too much to report today. The tone has changed as we wind down. The visitors are pretty much gone and the roads, venues and buses are not nearly as busy. We had another nice weather day that was partly cloudy and around 83 degrees.

Today was the last full day to get anything done that the boys might have missed over the past week. Most went out with a plan. Some came back to camp during the day just wanting to chill. Normally, we run them out of camp during the day, but they have been going so hard that they are wearing out and thinking of home.

We’ve been working a phased camp breakdown since yesterday evening by cleaning and packing what we don’t need. The boys will come back to camp tomorrow at 1:00 PM so we can do our final breakdown. The bus is scheduled to arrive at around 4:00 PM and has to be loaded and off the base before sundown. We’ll enjoy a cool evening under the stars.

The bus should be in before 6:00 AM on Wednesday and we will be winging our way home to you. As of right now, we still have the same 36 we left OKC with and we will do our best to keep it that way.

I apologize for not posting any pictures. I ended up at the medical tent last night with I nice blister and was ordered out of my boots and into my crocs. They are comfy, but not made for walking on gravel roads or across open fields.

This morning there were probably almost 50 different opportunities to worship with other Scouts across the Jamboree. Our Subcamp 20-21 had 2 and there was another service about 150 yards away from our subcamp HQ.

The service put on by the United Methodist Church(also Scouting’s largest Charter partner in number of Scouts registered) was right behind our staff area.

Several of the Scouts from our Troops attended worship there. It was a good service, but it is also very different when you are in church with a hot sun beating down on your neck than in a nice air-conditioned building – as you can see from some of the below photos…

Look--even in the grass, they still have Sunday bulletins!

This cross is decorated with mosquito nets in reference to the nothingbutnets.net campaign to wipe out malaria!

Sunday at Jambo. A Scout is reverent. The worship services of many faiths were held this morning and the boys took a buddy and attended the service of their choice.

Following the services, the boys scattered in every direction to do their Jambo thing. It is hard to believe that it is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is the last full day to accomplish anything left on their list that they want to get done.

After a dinner of Asian stir fry, we held a troop meeting tonight to discuss our plans for breaking camp and loading the trailer on Tuesday evening so we can be up bright and early Wednesday morning to head for the airport.

Regardless of the smell moms, give the boys a big hug when they get home. However, glove up, put on a mask and stand back when you finally open the footlockers. My suggestion, open them in the garage.

I wish we could manage to follow the boys and get pictures of them in action, but cat herding isn’t as easy as it sounds. So instead, I can show you some pics of some of the activities they might have done. These are from the climbing and rappelling area, pioneering area and the buckskin games. I threw in a scene of patch trading too.