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Troop Family Campout at the Sand Dunes National Monument (Park), May 2005

Our Troop takes an annual trek to the Sand Dunes National Park in south west Colorado.  We camp two nights at the Sand Dunes Oasis Campgrounds intheir group campsites.  We invite our families to join us for some fun car camping.  Our tradition is to drive down from Denver on Friday evening and set up our camp.  We then all drive to the Sand Dunes parking lot and are each given a glow stick.  We wade across the cold river to the Dunes and spend an hour hiking the Sand Dunes in the dark with head lamp flashlights and glow sticks.  Saturday we go back to the Dunes in the daylight and enjoy the challenge to climb to the top of the tallest dune.  We also play in the water and fly a kite if we remembered to bring one.  Saturday afternoon is for dutch oven cooking of desserts and rank advancements.  We all enjoyed cooking dinner in the different patrols or adult groups.  Iron Chef Rohde and Iron Chef Earle had a dutch oven dinner competition and both were winners using the master ingredient of baked potatoes.  Congratulations to Mrs. Korn for making her first dutch oven cake dessert.  Seven newer Scouts poured campfire ashes from Mr. Wally Werner's last campfire as Scoutmaster into our Saturday night's campfire.  Mr. Rohde started by singing a song and everyone joined in the chorus.  Mr. Byrd conducted a US flag retirement ceremony and Mr. Earle presented the flag grommets to Tim Hartbarger and Mr. Kevin Korn.  The comedy skit "Who's on First" was narrated by C. Andrews and G. Byrd. The campfire ashes were collected Sunday morning and given to all Scouts attending.  Sunday religious service was conducted with views of the Sand Dunes. 

	Campfire Ashes from Mr. Earle's last campfire as Scoutmaster.

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