Well I figure I will start at the beginning of the summer and work that way…as long as I can remember all the details!

The first trip we took was actually a Cub Scout Pack Family Camping trip that we try to do every year. This was our second trip and also our second time going to Brendan T. Byrne State Forest. The pack likes this campground because they are on the approved cub scout campground list, they have large group sites so we can all fit in one site (saves money and promotes comaraderie) and the restrooms are clean and close.

Several of the parents spent a good amount of time planning the trip this year and had an amazing array of events and activities scheduled for the kids. The theme for the weekend was “Robin Hood & His Merry Men.” They went fishing, made and shot bows & arrows, created and decorated shields, and swords, they participated in a pseudo-joust, went on a treasure hunt, navigated an obstacle course and a whole bunch of stuff. The weekend was jam-packed with stuff for the kids so they wouldn’t be bored and it paid off as each night (Friday & Saturday) not a single one of the 17 kids attending gave anybody any fuss about going to sleep.

We took our big 8 person multi-room family tent and sleeping bags so the trip was a little more primitive then our family trips but it wasn’t a big deal as we’ve slept in this tent as a family for several years now. We ended up having to take both of our vehicles since we were responsible for bringing most of the gear (I’m Cubmaster and my wife was part of the planning committee).

The only downside was that I must have eaten some bad kielbasa Saturday night as I spent most of the night violently ill and trekking back and forth to the bathroom all night and all day Sunday.

All in all, it was probably the best pack camping trip we’ve had and the kids are already looking forward to next year!

‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!”

Eric