Last week, 7/24/12 to 7/30/12, I stayed at Camp Powhatan. Camp Powhatan is in southwest Virginia. There is a creek that runs through it called the Big Mack and also a lake in it, called Lake Powhatan. It was a Scout camp that offered merit badge courses and stuff. We had a campsite right on the creek, it was called Big Max, and it had outrigger tents with cots. The cots had no mattresses so we had to use a sleeping pad to make ourselves comfortable. Underneath the cots, we could store the stuff that we brought along. The outrigger tents are the ones seen in a picture like this. Camp Powhatan was a huge step up from Camp Raven Knob. It actually had real bathrooms and showers. Our real schedule began on Monday because we drove there and got an orientation on Sunday. On Monday, we all got up and ate breakfast. Breakfast and dinner are both meals where you have to line up in front of the dining hall with your troop and then file in like civilized people. Lunch is "free range" so there's always a mad rush of about 700 something Scouts trying to eat first. I had Canoeing first thing after breakfast and all we did in that class was do the swimming test. The swimming test is where you have to swim for 75 yards on your stomach, 25 yards breaststroke, and then float for a couple of seconds. After that, I was all wet and stuff but I didn't have enough time to change into dry clothes. My next class was Geology where we talked about rocks and minerals. Next was Medicine where we played a sort of name game and then relaxed for the rest of the time. After Medicine was lunch. During lunch period, which was about 45 minutes long (although no one took that long to eat), I went back to the campsite and changed into dry clothes. My next class was camping where everyone was tired and lethargic. We reviewed first aid stuff in that class. Then, my last class was Nature. We took a hike and played a name game. At the Nature lodge, where I have Geology and Nature, they have an ape, a goat, and a horse. After dinner, we all went back to the campsite where we played poker and relaxed. Then, we went to a campfire thing in the Amphitheater. The staff did some lame skits and tried to get the bonfire bigger with a leaf blower. Here is my schedule for the week.

Tuesday
Canoeing= Not much, just some basic strokes but we actually got to get into the canoes. That lake is nasty, it is probably 10 ft deep but with 9 ft of it covered by leaves.
Geology= Our instructor told us about more rocks.
Medicine= We learned about the different types of doctors. I thought Medicine would be about drugs and stuff but it wasn't.
Camping= We planned a fake camp out.
Nature= Took yet another hike, however, this one failed because it started to rain heavily.

Wednesday
Canoeing= We had to overturn our boats in that filthy water and swim it to shore. Then, we had to do a solo paddle.
Geology= Our instructor was sick so we did some random stuff with a map. I learned that Hiwassee town has a big pigment factory.
Medicine= Talked about more doctors.
Camping= Talked about different types of tents.
Nature= Took another hike.
* Today, the Norovirus started to spread in the Cherokee campsite, luckily it was far away from ours.
* A bear was heard from across the Big Mack creek so we were not allowed to go into it anymore.

Thursday
Canoeing= We had to do a T- rescue. That's where we buddy up with another canoe, one person flips and then the other person drags one end of the flipped canoe onto their canoe. We did it fine except just as I got it onto our un-flipped canoe, my steersman decides to stand up and at the same time, the flipped canoe's crew lets go of their canoe and it slides off our canoe and then we flip. So we got two flipped canoes in the water. Another group graciously helped us and then we helped our partners.
Geology= We panned for gold because our instructor was sick, again.
Medicine= We learned how to take blood pressure.
Camping= We talked about camping stuff and purified water from the Big Mack with iodine.
Nature= We took a hike.
* Bear was seen sitting on trash container during breakfast. Apparently the electric wire surrounding it didn't work.
* I had to take a Frog Walk to listen to frogs.
*Norovirus infected folks taken home.


Friday
Canoeing= Random "Battle Boats", which was a bunch of canoes, and kayaks and rowboats running into each other. The kayaking instructor went berserk and rammed and flipped all the canoes.
Geology= I was absent because I had to take a shower. I was in that nasty lake for about an hour since no one would help us.
Medicine= We took our Scoutmaster's blood pressure.
Camping= We did our conservation project, which involved us kicking rocks.
Nature= We fooled around in the creek.
*Bear was seen down in the Big Max/ Little Max campsites.
*For breakfast, our troop did the flag ceremony. I had to shout out the orders, "Color guard advance...", Victor and Stephen/Steven raised the Powhatan flag, Luke, Griffin, and Thomas raised the American flag, and Nalin and Knox raised the Virginia flag.
*Later, during the campfire, there was a severe storm which might have become a tornado. We ran from the Amphitheater to the Dining Hall. One of my Scouts was just walking along since he kept on tripping over random people.


On Saturday, we went home.