January is not anybody's favorite month. Except maybe those of us who have birthdays that month. We have to find ways to make the month tolerable, as the snow gets stale, the air gets even more stale, and the temperatures stay frigid.
In past years our winter camp for Scouts consisted of going to Jorgensen's cabin and making the boys sleep outside while adults threw another log on the fire and slept where it was warm. This year though, our stake was in charge of the Klondike Derby, so we were obligated to attend the district event. I was annoyed from the start because of the lines and disorganized parking situation. Then we had to hike a quarter mile up a hill with all our gear to get to the camping area. We had to make several trips with our sleds in the dark to set up camp. By the time we were set up, the boys didn't even want dinner. My new assistant, Brandon Taylor, helped me cook some chili dogs while the boys huddled in their tent playing cards. That is the first time I've ever seen scouts not interested in food. Kaden Staker was the exception. He's not the nerdy card-playing type like the others, so he ate and then found his friends and disappeared for the rest of the evening.
Since fires were also not allowed, Brandon and I went over to the big bonfire the staff had to get warm before bed. I woke up at about 3AM when people were shouting and running around near the tent. I know scouts were out sledding at all hours but this was ridiculous. It turns out that some genius in a camp near us noticed his propane tent heater was out, so he lit a match and literally blew his tent up with his two kids inside. Nothing warms you up like some 2nd degree burns.
In the morning I was anxious to get camp cleaned up before the events started. It's frustrating to get the boys moving and breakfast cooked in the cold. Carson Saunders was particularly helpless. He's a little tiny kid who is smart and about to get his eagle, but I have never seen a scout so completely helpless. It took him twice as long to get dressed and get his gear together as the others. I had to help him with the simplest things like buckling his boots. I kind of yelled at him, so he went to find his brother, who was staff at the district fire, where he finally warmed up.
The events were a little lame. They had to make a fire without matches, which took them almost an hour but they finally did it using a magnifying glass. There was some kind of blindfolded sled race, some knot tying and a rescue scenario. I was happy to get out of there by noon, but my work wasn't done until I had parked the scout trailer and cleaned up all the dishes. There is nothing fun about winter camping.
On a positive note, it was fun skiing last week. We finally got a decent storm, and Chad was in town for a meeting so I went night skiing at Brighton with my brothers. It was a good business meeting as we talked about our real estate investing business on the lift and enjoyed nice snow and fast runs. Eric came late and was the first one wanting to leave. The poor guy worked on his feet all day and then tried to keep up with Chad and I on the slopes. We played Chad's new game, 7 Wonders at Eric's house after.
We went skiing with the girls at Sundance on Saturday. Meg went to ski school, and it's expensive but worth it. In 3 hours she went from never skied before to riding the lift and skiing down and actually liking it. It was not fun teaching the other girls to ski and they didn't like it either. I talked Brita and Leah into going to the back mountain but we only did one run. The snow is much better there, but the reason is it's much colder, and the girls couldn't take that. Rachelle came up too and hung out in the lodge after taking pictures. We will get her on the slopes next time.
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