1997 National Scout Jamboree

Who are the Boy Scouts of America?
What is a Jamboree?
Information on past Jamborees
The 1997 National Jamboree
Patches from the Jamboree

Who are the Boy Scouts of America?

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is an organization with a goal to provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness. The BSA was founded on February 8, 1910 and is currently in its 87th year. It is organized into 4 regions, which are further divided into local councils to better serve the troops. A troop is the functional unit of the BSA. Outings, meetings, and rank advancement are done within the troop. Scouting is broken down into different levels for different ages. Tiger Cubs, for ages 7 and under, Cub Scouts, for 7-10 year olds, and Boy Scouts for ages 11-18. Exploring is a level for both men and women, ages 14-21, and usually each Explorer Post has some sort of specialty, such as Law Enforcement, Scuba, or Sea.

Rank is earned in the Boy Scouts. The first rank is that of Scout. Next are Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star and Life. The highest rank, Eagle Scout, signifies a Scout's mastery of skills and leadership. Requirements for this rank are include earning 21 merit badges and planning and executing a service project. After completing the requirements for each rank, a boy must go through a Board of Review to check his progress.

More information can be found at these web sites:

Official Boy Scouts of America Site
EagleScout.org

What is a Jamboree?

A Jamboree is a gathering of Scouts. There are two types of jamborees: national, and world. Both occur every four years, with National Jamborees occurring in 2001, 2005, 2009, etc., and World Jamborees occurring in 1999, 2003, 2007, etc. A World Jamboree is a gathering of Scouts from around the world. A National Jamboree, the focus of this web site, is a gathering of Scouts from the United States. Both have similar goals: to meet new friends, to share experiences, and to learn from one another.

Information on Past National Jamborees

Year	Location	Attendance
1935	Washington, DC	Canceled due to Polio epidemic
1937	Washington, DC	27,232
1950	Valley Forge, PA	47,163
1953	Irvine Ranch, CA	45,501
1957	Valley Forge, PA	50,100
1960	Colorado Springs, CO	53,378 50th Anniversary of BSA
1964	Valley Forge, PA	52,000
1969	Farragut State Park, ID	35,000
1973	Farragut State Park, ID / Moraine State Park, PA	64,000 (in two locations)
1977	Moraine State Park, PA	28,637
1981	Fort AP Hill, VA	29,765
1985	Fort AP Hill, VA	32,615 75th Anniversary of BSA
1989	Fort AP Hill, VA	32,717
1993	Fort AP Hill, VA	34,449
1997	Fort AP Hill, VA	35,000 estimated attendance

The next National Jamboree, in 2001, will be held at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia.

And now, the good stuff......
The 1997 National Jamboree

Thursday, July 24, 1997

I left for the Jamboree today, not knowing exactly where I was going, what I was doing, or who I was going to meet. My mom drove me to Los Angeles International Airport at about 5:30 in the evening so that I would have plenty of time to catch Southwest Airlines flight 1351 to Phoenix at 8:30 PM. I checked my baggage, an enormous blue bag full of everything I would need for the jamboree. After waiting in the terminal for an hour or so, I gave my mom a hug and boarded the plane.

The plane was late in taking off for Phoenix. Since it was a pretty empty flight (very unusual for Southwest), I stretched out across three seats of the Boeing 737. The stewardess gave me my customary ration of two bags of honey roasted peanuts and a cup of soda, which I promptly consumed. I could identify many of the landmarks below me. We flew out over the ocean, then circled back around over Orange County with all of its lights and freeways, and out over Palm Springs. Out the window, I could see the blackness of the Salton Sea surrounded by the lights of towns surrounding it. After about 45 minutes, we began our descent into the Phoenix metropolitan area. I stared intently at a map of Sky Harbor International Airport as we circled around for an approach from the east. The map made almost no sense.

I walked off of the jetway carrying my backpack full of valuable Scout patches and my walkman and tapes. I entered into a long terminal with gates on either side for a long ways. I noticed a sign overhead pointing to the baggage claim, and followed it. I walked into a large terminal with just a few travelers milling about. It was 10:00; the flight had been a half-hour late. I looked around, but did not see the baggage claim. After walking halfway to the other end of the terminal, I noticed that there was an escalator going down to the first level. I went down into a maze of baggage claim carousels, all of them operating and none of them telling which flight they were for. By chance, I found my bag after a few minutes of waiting. My next task was to meet up with the rest of my group. We were going to meet on the ticketing level by the AmericaWest ticketing counter. After 15 minutes of walking around trying to find out where the ticketing counter was, I started to panic.

The whole experience in the airport reminded me of another experience I had had earlier in the year in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had flown out to New Mexico to meet a couple of guys that I knew from the Order of the Arrow, a Boy Scout service organization. We were going to meet in the Albuquerque airport, along with some other people from the local OA lodge in Albuquerque. From there, we were going to go to Philmont Scout Ranch, a camp in northern New Mexico, for a Section Conclave, an OA gathering held once a year. As it turned out, my flight into Albuquerque was a little bit late, and I did not meet up with the rest of my group at my gate as we had arranged earlier. I wandered frantically around in the airport for at least a half hour looking for them. That time, I found my group at the baggage claim waiting for me. Would I have the same luck this time?

After going up a couple flights of stairs, outside into the 100 degree Phoenix heat, and back into another terminal, I finally found a group of people in tan uniforms with red epaulets. I was so relieved! I found Don Marshall, the man in charge of the Jamboree staff group I was with, and he gave me my plane ticket and showed me where to check my bag. After checking my bag and getting my boarding pass, I plopped down into a chair and cranked up Prodigy on my walkman.

After sitting in the chair for a few minutes listening to music to get myself calmed down, I became aware of my surroundings. To my left was the AmericaWest ticketing counter. To my right were a bunch of airport terminal seats, most of them empty. Most of the rest of the group was behind me, either sitting in seats facing the opposite direction, or standing around talking. Directly across from me was a girl in a Scout uniform who looked to be about my age, but I wasn't sure. She looked at me every now and then, but I tried to avoid eye contact, and turned up the volume on my headphones. I got up and looked at the screen where departures were listed. We were on flight 2266, scheduled to leave Phoenix at 11:40 PM. From scrutinizing my boarding pass, I figured that we would arrive in Washington at about 8:00 AM, or 5 AM Pacific time, which meant that there would have to be a stop somewhere since it can't possibly take five and a half hours to get from Phoenix to Washington.

At about 11, Don announced that we should go to the gate. He was going to wait until the last possible minute at the ticket counter since he was still waiting for two people. I walked to the gate with three other guys. We talked about our journeys to Phoenix, and school. One guy was from Riverside, California, and had flown on Southwest out of Ontario International Airport. I gathered that his name was Eric based on the fact that his name tag said "Eric" on it. I found out that the other two guys were named Nick and Josh using the same method. Nick was from Las Vegas, and ran Cross Country. Josh was from somewhere around Phoenix. We let Josh get ahead of us as we were walking to the gate. The peculiar thing about Josh was that his Scout shorts were really small. This earned him the nickname of "tight pants." We could barely keep ourselves from laughing when we saw that his wallet chain hung down below the bottom edge of his shorts.

The four of us sat down in a row of airport chairs near our gate and talked about nothing in particular until it was announced that our flight was boarding. We boarded the plane. I had seat 20E, between the window seat and the aisle seat on the right side of the plane. Eric had seat 20C, the aisle seat on the left side directly across from me. Nick and Josh had seats a couple of rows back. I saw more Scouts walking on the plane. The girl who had been sitting directly across from me in the terminal sat down in seat 20D. A middle-aged man occupied the window seat next to me. I greeted the girl next to me when she sat down. Her name was Sara. AmericaWest seemed to do things much slower than Southwest, so I turned on my walkman again since it would be a while before I would have to turn it off for takeoff.

I turned off my walkman again when Eric started to talk to me about something. We got into an involved conversation that gave Sara the impression that we had known each other before. To prove her wrong, I introduced myself to Eric. "My name's Mark," I said. Eric introduced himself to me, and we shook hands, but Sara didn't believe that we were meeting for the first time. We continued to talk until the stewardess interrupted us with aircraft safety instructions. Finally, the plane took off and circled back around to head east. Since I like nothing better than listening to bumpin' music, I turned on my walkman as soon as we reached cruising altitude. I started to doze off, but was interrupted when it was announced that a movie would be shown. The movie was "volcano," a flick about a volcano that erupts from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. It was pretty uninteresting, but I watched it for about an hour since it was free. If you had your own headphones, you could plug them into the port in the armrest; otherwise it cost four bucks to get a set of headphones from the stewardess. The man next to me seemed uneasy, and tossed and turned for awhile before he complained to the steward that he was hot. The steward, a man about six foot four with flaming red hair, replied that he would see what he could do to fix the problem. After about another twenty minutes, the man complained again. Meanwhile, Sara and several other people were curled up, shivering in airline-issue blankets. When the man complained for the third time, the steward basically told him to shut the heck up, only in a more polite way.

Friday, July 25, 1997

Exactly a year ago, I was having a Christmas-in-July party at Lost Valley Scout Reservation, where I worked on the archery range staff. I just thought I'd point that out. This year, I am 3000 miles away from where I was last year.

The day probably began sometime during "Volcano" on the airplane, but I'm not sure since I wasn't paying attention to time until we got into Columbus Airport at 3 AM, actually 5 AM local time. This is the first time I've been in Ohio, but I guess it doesn't really count since I didn't get off of the airplane and actually set foot there. When we landed, Sara and another girl two rows in front of me got off of the plane, along with some of the adults. The complaining guy next to me also left the plane. I guess with AmericaWest, you're allowed to get off of the plane and then get back on again before it leaves. With Southwest, the planes are in and out of the gates so quick that there isn't time to get off and then board again. I stayed on board the plane while it took its hour-long break in Columbus before getting back into the sky again to head for Washington.

The girls got back on the plane, and in place of the complaining man, an african-american man probably in his 60s with white hair sat down in seat 20A. He asked me where we were going, and I explained to him about the jamboree, but I'm not sure he fully understood me. By the time we left Columbus, the sun was up, and most of the group was asleep. I was awake and when the stewardess came around, I got a glass of orange juice. We started to descend, and the plane turned so much that I lost my usually keen sense of direction. I recognized the Potomac River, and realized that we were landing at Washington National Airport, not at Dulles as we had before when I had gone to Washington DC in 8th grade.

The plane pulled up to the gate, and we all stood up, anxious to get off of the plane that we had been on for what had seemed like days. We walked out of the jetway and into an ancient circular airport terminal. After Don made sure that all of us were there, we walked down a cave-like hallway and out to the parking lot. We waited there and talked while Don and another adult went to get the rental cars. There were three girls and ten guys on the youth staff. Actually, four of them were on Scuba staff, and two were participants in the jamboree but had come along with our staff tour group. So that meant that there were seven of us on Subcamp 8 Youth Corps staff. After waiting for about a half-hour, Don arrived with the rental vans that we were using. We loaded our bags into the vans until they were packed to the roof, and then we jumped in. Don was driving our van, and another adult leader was driving the van behind us. We pulled away from the airport and headed north.

Don passed out maps of Washington to us as we were driving. Upon his suggestion, it was decided that our first stop would be the Jefferson Memorial. Don insisted that we had buddies in case lost or something happened, so Eric was my buddy. When we arrived at the Jefferson Memorial, it was under construction, so we walked around to the back and then up a long wheelchair ramp to the memorial. We all took our pictures of the monument, and I got one of Eric imitating the statue of Jefferson. Sara and the other girl whose name was Holly had their picture taken trying to hug one of the great white pillars that held up the monument.

From the Jefferson Memorial, we drove to the Lincoln Memorial, and took more pictures. Eric and I walked around with Holly and Sara and looked at some stands that were selling T-shirts. I suggested that we should go to the Smithsonian, and after driving around in the traffic of Washington for a half-hour, we were dropped off in front of the Air and Space Museum. I was amazed by the number of Scouts there were when we entered the building. We traded a couple of patches with some of the scouts from the Great Salt Lake Council. Don had mentioned earlier that we were not supposed to trade patches with any of the youth participants, but we ignored his remarks. However, Holly and Sara noticed what we were doing and promptly pleaded with us to stop ripping off the younger scouts. Which of course, we were not doing. Trading Jamboree shoulder patches 1:1 is not ripping anybody off.

We had about an hour at the Smithsonian before the vans were due to pick us up. After spending about 30 minutes in the Air and Space museum, Nick, who had caught up with us, suggested that we go and see the Star Spangled Banner. Eric, Nick, Holly, Sara, and I walked out the door and across the Mall. I recalled that the flag was in the Museum of American History, but Nick thought he saw it in the National Archives. Nick, Eric and the girls headed towards the National Archives, dragging me along, complaining that it wasn't in the Archives. As soon as we got there, Nick realized that he had been wrong. Since we were there, we looked around at the Magna Carta. The line to view the Constitution was really long, so we started walking around out of line to look at some other exhibits about the Louisiana Purchase. We were looking at one exhibit when suddenly, a large black security guard started yelling at us. He seemed to enjoy nothing better than yelling at people. "Please form two lines!" As he kept blabbering on, his voice resonated throughout the rotunda, and everyone looked at us. We walked around in the back of the archives, completely embarrassed. From there, we made it just in the nick of time back to the steps in front of the Air and Space museum, where the vans picked us up and whisked us away to lunch at the Holiday Inn.

There were at least 25 of us at lunch, all sitting at a long table. The food was not all that great, and most of us picked at our food. Holly barely ate anything at all. After lunch, we again battled the Washington traffic on our way to Ford's Theater. It was exactly as I had remembered it from three years ago. After taking some pictures of the place, we walked across the street to the house where Lincoln died. There wasn't much to see there, so Eric and I went to a tourist shop and bought key clip thingamabobers that hang around your neck and have a place to clip keys and other stuff.

We walked back past the Hard Rock Cafe to a McDonalds, where Don offered to buy us sodas. It was here that we first talked to Bryce, one of the youth on our subcamp youth staff. We thought he was pretty dorky, since he kept daring the two kids from Las Vegas to eat a whole packet of Sweet-n-Low with the paper for a dollar.

From McDonalds, we headed towards the Capitol. When we arrived, there was a long line to get in, and no places to park. We were dropped off in front of the Capitol, but walked over the the Supreme Court across the street. Since the Court was not in session, we got to go into the actual courtroom, something that I didn't get to do when I went in 8th grade. The tour guide talked about stuff straight out of my government class.

While we had been in the Supreme Court, Don had somehow gotten us to near the front of the line for the Capitol. We were ushered into the great rotunda, and then down a hall filled with statues. Then, we were herded into the Senate observation deck. There was nothing to see there since nothing was going on in the Senate. From the capitol, we walked about 6 blocks back to where Don had parked the vans. On the way, we stopped at a convenience store, and Don again bought us stuff. All the guys bought sodas, and Sara and Holly bought apples. We got into the cars, and got lost driving around in Washington until we finally were able to cross into Virginia and go to Arlington national cemetery. We walked into the visitor center and waited while Don figured out what we were going to do and see.

We got onto a tour mobile, and headed for Kennedy's grave site. We got off of the tram there and walked to his gravesite where we saw the eternal flame. Several people wandered off, and we had to count to make sure everyone was with us before getting back on the tram. The next stop was the tomb of the unknown soldier. We walked through the amphitheater behind the tomb, and Eric, Sara, Holly, and I took pictures of each other sitting in the stone chair on the stage. From there, we went to the display of the war medals, and then went to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. All four of the troops from Orange County were there, and I saw Matt Fleischman, a guy I knew from the Order of the Arrow back in Orange County. He and I talked for awhile about the jambo, and I gave him one of my 500 business cards that Don had given each youth staffer in the airport in Phoenix.

After the changing of the guard, we got back on the tram and were taken back to the visitor center. Don and another adult went to get the vans to pick us up, and we all piled in, and got on the freeway and headed south. The group of brothers and sister, who I learned were Jay, Justin, and Christy Chapman got into one van, along with Bryce, and John and Jacob, the two dorky participants in
the jamboree from Las Vegas. Holly, Sara, Nick, Eric, and I got into the other van.

As we drove south on I-95, we told jokes and stories. I wasn't too talkative since I was so tired after having to listen to the guy next to me complain about how hot he was all night long. I watched the road. We were driving in the carpool lane, and we were probably doing at least 85. We were kept in contact with the other van via radios from Don's company. By now, it was getting to be about 4:30 PM local time, and Don wanted to find a place to eat. We saw a road sign with a fork and a knife, and decided to take the exit. We exited the freeway onto a small country road. The bridge under the freeway was only one lane wide. There was no restaurant in sight, and Don thought for sure that we had taken a wrong turn. We followed the road, and saw the fork and knife road sign again, but still no restaurant.

Finally, we got onto a main road, and saw a supermarket complex with a Bob's Big Boy and another little restaurant. We went to the little restaurant. Don allowed us to order whatever we wanted to. Several people had swordfish, but I ordered a bacon cheeseburger. Our food arrived. Holly had a look of surprise on her face when an enormous plate was set in front of her. I knew that there was no way she could eat the whole thing. Dessert was ordered after the meal, but most, including me, did not order anything. After spending about an hour and a half eating, we got back into the car and headed under the one-lane bridge and back onto the freeway. It was starting to get dark. We talked in the car, about everything from jokes to religion. Sara and Holly, as well as most of the contingent, were Mormon. Eric was Catholic, and Nick was some sort of Protestant religion. One joke I remember being told was about a fat pig and a cork-pulling monkey. The girls were disgusted. After a while, the conversation died out, and people started to fall asleep. I listened to the Smashing Pumpkins on my headphones. I recognized Fredricksburg as we drove through, and helped Don to look for the exit that we were supposed to take. There were jamboree road signs on the freeway, so we had no trouble finding the exit. From the exit, we turned left, and headed northeast on highway 301. By this time, it was dark, and we sped along towards the entrance to the jamboree as everyone slept except Don and I.

The entrance to jamboree was through the main gate of Fort A.P. Hill. Don woke everyone up as we drove in. On either side of the entrance were tanks, and an MP (Military Policeman) stopped us as we entered to make sure we belonged there. We drove in past several buildings, but mostly the road, called A.P. Hill Drive, went through trees. We turned right onto a road, and went into Longstreet camp. The camp had several single-story masonry buildings, and there were large army tents around. It was mostly dark except inside the barracks and in the tent. We got out of the car and stretched our legs and walked around in the parking lot. Don went into the headquarters tent to find out where we were supposed to go. All of the scuba staff, which consisted of the Chapmans and "tight pants," got into one van so they could go to their scuba area, and Eric, Sara, Holly, Nick, myself, and the two scouts from Las Vegas got into the other van and drove to our subcamp.

We got out and unloaded our gear. An adult staffer showed us where our tent was. It was a large green army tent, about 15 feet by 30 feet. Suspended from the two poles in the middle of the tent was an electrical cable. Attached to this were two bare light bulbs, which we turned on. The floor was packed dirt. Stacked in a corner were about ten or so cots, which were dismantled. We dragged our equipment into the tent, and started to set up cots. Several of them were very difficult to set up, but we eventually got all of them assembled. My cot was set up in the corner of the tent. Next to me was a cot that Eric and I placed our gear on so it wouldn't get wet if it rained and water came in along the
bottom of the tent. Next to that cot was Eric's cot, and on the other side of the tent was Nick, Bryce, John, and Jacob. After everything was all set up and our gear was stowed, we went over to the phones across the road and called home. We went to check out the staff restrooms and showers. They were constructed of wood and plastic sheeting inside of an army tent. There was a concrete floor upon which the flushing toilets sat. From there, Eric and I walked up to the trading post, which was near our camp. There were a few people up there chatting with Military Police. One guy had a large gut and spoke in a southern accent. He started cracking stupid jokes, and threatened to send us home if we went into the trading post, so we decided to leave. We walked back towards the tent, where we met
Don. He talked to us about things happening the next day, and told us to get plenty of sleep. Holly and Sara were not around, and we assumed that they were sleeping over at Longstreet camp and not in our subcamp. As we walked back to our tent, I had the feeling that I was alone. Even with the other youth staff around, I felt that I didn't know anyone yet. At about midnight, we finally went to sleep in the hot, humid Virginia night.

Saturday July 26, 1997

This morning, we woke up at about 7:00. Breakfast was at 7:30 in the mess hall. Actually, the mess "hall" is a mess tent. There are wooden picnic tables inside to sit on. Pancakes were served for breakfast. While we were eating, Don came in and told us that he was going into town to get some supplies for the camp, and he wanted to know if anyone wanted to come. Of course, everyone raised their hand. Two people had to stay in camp to help out, but I can't remember who they were. It was probably Bryce and Nick.

Clinton and Joey came in today. They are two other Scouts on the youth staff for our subcamp. Joey was scheduled to come in this morning, which he did. Clinton, on the other hand, was supposed to go with us out of Phoenix. Unfortunately, he read the schedule wrong and showed up at the airport a day late. Nevertheless, he made it here safely.

At about mid-morning, Holly and Sara came into camp. We left to go to Fredricksburg at about 11 AM. Once in Fredricksburg, we ate lunch at a steak sandwich place. From there, we went and visited the Fredricksburg National Historic Site since we were near it. Next came the task of finding a Wal-Mart, and a task it was. First we tried to follow the directions that had been given to us by the owner of the restaurant where we had eaten lunch. No luck. Then we tried asking a person who was crossing the street. After following their directions, we wound up in the middle of nowhere and had to head back towards town. Finally, we spotted a Target on the other side of I-95, and we headed over to it. We picked up a bunch of supplies for the camp, including fans, light bulbs and socket converters, and pillows. Next we went to a sporting goods store to get some Sterno fuel to heat the food warmers. Then we found the Wal-Mart and bought more fans and some lawn ornaments to put outside our tent. By the time we were done shopping, the van was piled to the roof with fans and other miscellaneous goods for the camp, and it was 4:30. We arrived back in camp just in time for dinner.

I don't remember what was for dinner, but it was pretty good. After dinner, we played cards and had a meeting of the entire Subcamp 8 Youth Staff for the first time, at which we made a work schedule for the rest of the jamboree. After our meeting most of us were so tired that we went to bed. Holly and Sara are staying in a tent in the camp. As it turns out, they got to spend last night in a hotel in Bowling Green.

Sunday July 27, 1997

I got up at about 7:20 this morning, went to breakfast, and then put on my Class A uniform for church. My church service, Protestant, was held at Action Center C, just a short walk from Subcamp 8. The service was pretty neat, but it was really hot and humid, plus it was hard to hear. But nevertheless, I enjoyed it. Eric went to the Catholic service, and just about everyone else went to the Mormon service. I was the first one back in camp after church. There were a few people hanging around camp getting ready to put up the gateway. So I offered to help. The next thing I knew, I was 20 feet in the air up in the gateway, tying banners to the wooden frame. The banners had pictures of patches from the troops in our camp. Along with me was another kid who I remembered from the National OA Conference the year before. His name was Brian. Also helping was a guy named Russell. When Eric got back, he helped. The gateway was pretty shaky, and we were always throwing stuff around, such as knives to cut the rope that we were tying the banners up with. Finally, we were done tying up the banners. Carefully, I climbed back down.

After spending more than an hour in the sun putting up the banners, I was soaked with sweat. However, showers were conveniently located in our subcamp. So I went over and took one. The only problem that I've found with taking a shower in humid weather is that you don't dry off. I felt the same after the shower as I had before, except that I didn't smell quite as bad.

Lunch was served at 12:30. One thing I notice is that there are more and more people at each meal. Jamboree is almost ready to start, and all of the staffers are starting to show up. After lunch, several of us went over to the Western Region headquarters just down the road and brought back five bicycles for our subcamp staff to use. Bryce, Eric, Holly, Sara, and Nick took the bikes for a ride. I stayed in camp and helped finish up the gateway.

When the group returned, we began to set up the volleyball net that Don had bought in Fredricksburg. What at first seemed like a relatively simple task turned into a major project. I put up one side of the net ok, but the other side sagged. Nick, Eric and Sara all tried to work on it to fix it. Finally they gave up and we started a game of volleyball with one side of the net sagging. We were having too much fun to care about the net.

Again, I can't remember what we had for dinner, but it was good as always. After dinner, we went to the Staff Arena Show. Featured in the show was an army band that performed to various types of music. The show was entertaining but it was pretty long. By the time the show was over, we were tired and went to bed.

Monday July 28, 1997

Today the gates opened and the troops started to pour in. This morning, the field out behind the dining hall was completely empty. In a matter of hours, the place came alive with Scouts running around, and gateways being erected.

Well, you probably have been wondering where everything is at jamboree. Here is a map:

After breakfast this morning, Don informed us that we were going to be guiding the buses in from the gate to the subcamp. Eric, Sara, Holly, and I were assigned to guide the buses into camp, and Clinton, Joey, Bryce and Nick worked in camp headquarters. We grabbed four chairs from the camp, and Don drove us out to a point where representatives from the other subcamps were waiting to meet up with their buses. The first hour or so was pretty boring, because there were no buses coming into subcamp 8. We waited around what seemed like forever, watching buses come in headed for just about every other subcamp except 8. Finally, we heard someone yell out "eight!" Sara ran up and got on the bus headed for subcamp 8. After taking the bus to camp, we hitched the next ride back to wait for the next bus. At one time, the head commissioner needed three people to take buses to other subcamps since there were no representatives from those subcamps to take the buses in. Sara, Eric, and Holly all wound up taking buses to different subcamps, some which were not even in the Western Region. Eric got stuck in subcamp 2 after he brought the bus in and they refused to give him a ride back out to the meeting place. Sara and Holly made it back ok.

At about 3, Bryce and Nick came out to help. At about 5 o'clock, buses stopped coming in, and everyone who was there packed up and left. Everyone except me and Bryce had just gone in on a bus. Since we had brought chairs out to the meeting area, Bryce and I were stranded since we couldn't easily carry all of the chairs and other stuff the two miles back to camp. We sat and waited for a while, but no one came to pick us up. The weather was miserable; it was 100 degrees and 100 percent humidity. Finally, we decided that we'd better try and walk back to camp with all of the chairs. We had gone about 50 feet when Don came out and picked us up in the van. We were so relieved that we didn't have to walk.

We played volleyball after all of the buses had been brought in. Some of the staff from the trading post came and played, along with two or three scouts from one of the troops. We stopped at about 5:30 and ate dinner. After dinner, the sky started to get cloudy, and there was lots of lightning and thunder. Nick, Eric and I went to our tent to close the side flaps and make sure we were ready for the rain. At about 7, it started to rain. It poured for about ten minutes, and then stopped. Eric and I went to the phones thinking that all the scouts would have gone to their tents. Wrong! The phones were still packed with Scouts calling home on their first day. Eventually, we got to a phone and called home.

After the rain, the air was much less humid and it was cooler. We all slept well.

Tuesday July 29, 1997

This is incredible. Two days ago, there were maybe seventy people in camp. Today, the population of camp has jumped to 1600. There are scouts everywhere.

Eric and I worked in the commissary and the kitchen today. We woke up at 5:30 to go help in the commissary. Troops started to come in to check out their food at 6. Working commissary is pretty easy. All you have to do is wait until a troop shows up to get their food. When they tell you their troop number, you go and get their boxes of food and give it to them.

After commissary, we worked in the kitchen, serving food to the staff. I served up the sausages, and Eric dished out pancakes. After eating, we washed dishes.

We had no more duties to the kitchen until lunch, so we decided to go to the merit badge midway. Since things are so spread out at A.P. Hill, we took a bus from Longstreet camp to the midway. The place was alive with Scouts. We looked around at all of the different merit badges. Some of the ones we looked at were railroading, textiles, engineering, and weather. Since there is a great demand for most of the merit badge classes, we signed up to come back tomorrow and start engineering. Another thing we tried to get into was Odyssey of the Law, a program put on by the Order of the Arrow. The program has something to do with the Scout Law. I saw a few guys there that I knew from the OA, but they couldn't get us in. So Eric and I, and Clinton and Joey, who had come along with us walked around some more and then started trading patches for a while before we took the bus back to our camp.

After serving lunch, Eric and I washed some more dishes and hung around camp for a while with Holly and Sara. At about 3:30, I went over to the other side of the road near the phones where there were Scouts sitting all along the edge of the woods trading patches. I sat down in a vacant spot and displayed my patches on a blanket. Within seconds, people were crowding around me looking at my patches, desiring to trade. One patch that I had that everyone wanted was a "ghost" patch from Navajo Lodge. The patch is all white and the stitching is in different directions so that the design on the patch is visible. It is shown below.

After an hour and a half of non-stop patch trading, I packed up my patches and went to the commissary to help check out food to the troops. After commissary duty, Eric and I went to the kitchen to help prepare dinner. I diced up some onions, which made me cry. I also peeled carrots. We served dinner, and then got ready for the 5K run. The run started at Travis Lake Road, just north of the intersection with Lee Drive. There was already an enormous crowd near the start line. I tried to push my way towards the front of it. Finally, the race started. I probably passed five hundred people on the first half-mile, trying to work my way towards the front. After getting to the far end of Travis Lake, I stopped passing people, since the people around me were running at about the same pace I was. We looped back around on the other side of the Lake on a dirt trail. I was beginning to get tired, and I was drenched with sweat. The dirt trail met up again with Travis Lake Road, and we headed back towards the start line, which also happened to be the finish line. I ran up the last hill before the finish line and checked my watch. I finished the race in 20 minutes and five seconds, not bad since I haven't run for about a month. I walked back to camp and took a long, cold shower to cool off. Afterwards, we played cards in the dining hall and talked with Don before we went to bed.

Wednesday July 30, 1997

Today Eric and I had the day off. Holly and Sara worked in the commissary, and Bryce and Nick worked in headquarters. I woke up just in time for breakfast, ate, and then took a shower. They have restricted the shower times for the youth. We can only take showers from 8 to 10 in the morning and 4 to 5 in the afternoon.

After breakfast, Eric, Clinton, Joey and I went back to merit badge midway. We were late to our class at the textiles merit badge, and they wouldn't let us in, so we walked over to engineering. The counselor there told us that we would have to wait and see if there was room for us. Fortunately, there was. We sat down, and the counselor talked about engineering for awhile. It wasn't really all that interesting. Finally, we got to do some hands-on stuff with an electronics kit. It took us a while to figure it out, but we finally got the wires connected correctly so that the little red LED would blink. After the class, we went to the trading post to get some sodas. We found a grassy spot, sat down, and proceeded to trade patches. Joey and Clinton were bored, so they went back. After trading patches for an hour or two, we also went back to camp. By the time we returned, it was getting late in the day, so we hung around camp. Dinner was earlier because of the opening arena show in the evening. After dinner, we walked to the arena.

I have never seen so many Scouts in my entire life. The arena was filled with everyone at the jamboree plus thousands of visitors. President Clinton was due to arrive at the show and give a speech. The eight of us on youth staff spread out a tarp that Clinton had brought, and we sat down on it. Excitement was in the air as army sky divers performed overhead. Suddenly, a helicopter came in low over the trees. We had seen helicopters practicing flight patterns ever since we had arrived at the jamboree. The chopper landed to the right of the stage. The crowd was excited. Don informed us that they usually send in a decoy before the helicopter carrying the President arrives. The next helicopter came in from the north and landed near the first one. Still no President. The theme to Star Wars was playing over the P/A system. The third helicopter that arrived was black and white, as opposed to the camouflage-colored helicopters that had landed before it. Everyone was standing up as it was coming in, and it was difficult to see. Eric boosted me up onto his shoulders to get a better view, and to take some pictures. The helicopter touched down, and two military officers in full dress uniform hopped out. I thought for sure this would be the helicopter, but just then, another black and white helicopter came in from the same direction and landed. This one had the Presidential seal on the side of it. I climbed down from Eric's shoulders before I had a chance to see the President get out.

The entire arena was alive with excitement. I had heard from Don that there were going to be 120,000 people there to see the President and the show. After a few minutes, we were told to sit down. Finally, the Star Wars music stopped and someone started to speak. After the Jamboree Chairman said a few opening comments, a Scout came on stage, and introduced President Clinton. Right at that moment, two Air Force F-14s flew in low over the arena and then shot skyward. It was an awesome sight to behold. The crowd went wild with excitement as President Clinton started to speak.

Clinton's speech was pretty good, but it wasn't all that exciting. After he was done speaking, he walked around in the audience and shook peoples' hands. From where we were sitting, President Clinton looked like a dot on the stage when he had been speaking, so we knew there was no way he'd ever get back to us. So we kicked back, told jokes, and enjoyed the pleasant Virginia night. After about a half-hour of walking around, President Clinton got back into the helicopter and took off.

The show started after the President left. An army group performed on the stage, and afterwards, there was a spectacular laser show. Don advised us that, in order to beat the crowd, we should leave just before the laser show ended. Apparently, several thousand other people had the same idea, and it took a half-hour to walk the quarter mile back to our subcamp.

After the show, we stood around outside our tent and talked for a while before we went to bed.

Thursday July 31, 1997

I am so tired. Today was probably the longest day of my life, and I can sum up everything I did in two words: I walked. I probably walked 25 miles today. This morning, we had our staff pictures taken, bright and early. The sun was so low in the sky that we were looking directly at it, squinting. After pictures, Eric and I worked in the headquarters tent. Being the helpful person I am, when someone asked for one of us to help the photographer for a few minutes, I jumped up.

Well, I helped the photographer for just a little bit more than a few minutes. I returned back to camp at 6 PM, after ten hours of helping the photographer, and walking from troop to troop, getting them arranged for their pictures. I was tired, sunburned, and felt horrible. Dinner was steak and lobster, but I didn't eat much since I felt so bad. After dinner, I took a shower and felt somewhat better.

After dinner, we had a party with some of the people from scuba in the program tent. We were kind of ticked off because we were going to use the dining tent, but the commissioners took it from us so they could have a meeting. Don took Nick, Bryce, and the girls into town today to get some supplies, and they also got some music so that we could have a dance. Nobody really felt much like dancing, though. After playing music for a little while, we all gave up on the party since it was just not happening. I was really tired, so I went to bed, and the others came after a few minutes. Holly and Sara sat outside the tent since they are not allowed to come in, and we rolled up the tent flaps and talked for a few minutes. I probably fell asleep while they were talking since I was so tired.

Friday August 1, 1997

Thank god today was a free day. I slept in through breakfast and woke up at about 9. Eric and I grabbed some apples from the dining hall, and decided that we would go back over in the direction of the merit badge midway. It took about an hour to get over there. When we got there, I mailed some postcards that I had written. Holly and Sara joined us. We walked around in the midway for awhile, and tried again to get into the Odyssey of the Law, but couldn't. We walked over to Brownsea Island, a re-enactment of the first Scout camp. There, we tried out some of the games that they had there, and had our picture taken with Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. We talked with a guy named Chip who got mad at us because we were ruining his British accent.

From there, we went to the BMX area at Action Center A. We waited in line to try the bikes. After a quick safety and rules course, we strapped on our pads and helmets and got bikes. The course was a race course with bumps and turns, but they wouldn't let us jump off of the bumps. I used to be into BMX type stuff, and I was mad that we couldn't do any jumps or tricks. The whistle was blown, and we were off. Eric and I started out pretty close at the beginning, but I quickly lost him and Holly and Sara. It wasn't until I got to the upper turn of the race course that I saw Eric in the dirt. He had "biffed," as Sara called it. He was ok, except for a cut in the back of his leg and a scrape on his elbow. The bike's handlebars were out of alignment. A staff member came over and fixed the bike. Eric got back on and we finished the race. At the finish, the medical staff person there insisted that Eric get bandaged up on his leg, since the chain ring had dug into his leg and he was bleeding. After Eric got a nice band-aid, we walked back past the midway and headquarters. Sara and Holly headed back to the bus stop so they could go back to camp. Eric and I took our time and traded a few patches before we got back on the bus and headed back to subcamp 8.

Eric and I got back just in time for lunch. After lunch, we hung around the kitchen and helped the head cook, Steve, wash dishes. After that, Eric and I hung around in the Headquarters tent with Holly, Sara, Bryce and Nick. We talked for awhile, but I got tired of sitting around, so I went over and looked at all of the patches that people were offering to trade. I made some trades, and then I threw down my blanket and set up my patches so people could walk by me and trade with me. One kid came along and I picked up some stuff from Sha-Cha-Quoi Lodge, a merged OA lodge in Fresno, California. We talked for awhile about patches and the OA in general, and exchanged addresses. I gave him one of my 500 business cards.

I must have been trading patches for a couple of hours, because Eric came over to find me, knowing that I'd be sitting somewhere along the side of the road, bargaining with some kid. Eric threw out his patches onto my blanket and traded for awhile. It was getting close to dinner time, so we packed up and went back to camp.

Dinner was good. We had some of that weird pudding stuff for dessert, but it was good, too. After dinner, we sat around camp and ran a couple of errands for Don. We played cards and talked, and borrowed Steve's CD player so we could listen to music. Chris, one of the commissary staff, came over and we started talking about the LDS faith. He brought over his Book of Mormon and we started talking about it. I lost interest in the conversation and started to play cards again, but Eric really seemed interested.

Clinton, Bryce, Nick, Joey, and Holly went to bed at about 11, but Sara and I weren't really that tired, so we offered to work the midnight shift in the commissary. At about 11:30, the next day's newspapers arrived, so we read them. We went over to the commissary at 12. Our first task was to unload the ice from the ice truck and put it into the freezer. Twenty freezing cold minutes later, we were done. From there, Sara and I went to the commissary to place food into the troop containers so they could be checked out in the morning. Eric came with us, but after about a half-hour, he was tired and so he went to bed. Sara and I spent the next hour and a half placing cereal boxes, oranges, juice mix, and lunch packets into the 160 containers in the commissary. At 2 in the morning, I said goodnight to her and went to bed.

Saturday August 2, 1997

Today was a work day. Eric and I had to work in the commissary. However, we slept in until almost 6:30 before I realized what time it was and woke Eric up. We hurried over to the commissary so we could help out. However, the head commissary officer wasn't too mad at us and thanked us for our work the night before. I went over to the refridgerator where the milk was kept and gave out supplies of milk to the troops. After working the commissary, we went into the kitchen and served breakfast. We had pancakes, which I had the privilidge of serving up. Eric served up the grits. We ate breakfast and then ran a few errands.

After running the errands, which included a trip down to the Region headquarters, I can't remember what we did. I think we traded patches for awhile, or at least I did. At lunchtime, we went back to the kitchen to serve lunch. Following lunch, Eric and I washed some of the dishes, and helped out in headquarters. I traded patches (again!) for a few minutes before I had to go with Eric to the kitchen so we could help cook dinner. Steve set me to work peeling potatoes and dicing tomatoes. We served dinner, and then ate.

Following dinner, Clinton, Eric, Nick and I went to the OA Rendezvous at the arena. There were thousands of arrowmen there from all over the nation. As we entered, the OA service corps gave us each a ticket so we could buy the OA rendezvous patch. We sat down almost as far away from the stage as we had been when President Clinton came. After awhile, we got restless. Nothing was happening, and we had been sitting there for almost an hour. The stage was playing music, but it wasn't very audible. Finally, an army performing group came on stage and performed to various types of music. It was almost the same thing we had seen at the staff show. Since we had already received our tickets to get the patch, we left.

When we got back to camp, it was around 9 PM. We found Holly, Sara, Joey and Bryce in the dining hall, talking and playing cards. We joined them. I showed Nick and Sara how to play a few more card games. One by one, people left to go to bed. Sara and I were very tired from the night before, but we decided to go for a walk. We walked up past trading post C over by Longstreet camp, and then back, talking about everything, and nothing in particular. When we returned, we went back to the dining tent and listened to the Chicago CD that Don had bought for our party on Thursday that never happened. She was very pretty sitting there across the table from me in the light cast by the bare bulb suspended from the top of the tent. After listening to a few tunes from Chicago, we were both feeling the effects of working in the commissary the night before. We wished each other sweet dreams and went back to our tents to catch some z's.

Sunday August 3, 1997

This morning, I slept through breakfast, but got up to go to my church worship services. A week ago, they were held at Action Center C, just a stone's throw from subcamp 8. This morning, they were moved to Engineer Road Camp, a considerably longer walk.

I put on my class A uniform and headed past the shower house down Lee Drive to Engineer Road. It was probably about a mile's worth of walking. The services started at 8:30 and lasted about an hour. It was a nice service, but it was incredibly hot and the sun was beating down on me. There was an almost constant buzz of army helicopters flying low overhead. After the service, I walked back to camp and worked in headquarters. Eric was the next one back after me. We were put to work sorting mail, even though it was our day off. The LDS service lasted considerably longer than ours because the head of the LDS church was speaking to the jamboree group. Finally, Sara, Holly and Bryce returned. They said they were going to bring us along but that we weren't up when they left. We all hung out in front of the headquarters tent for awhile, and Don came over to talk to us about what we wanted to do in Washington when the jamboree was over. Since headquarters required the assistance of some of us, Eric and I volunteered to take some messages to other subcamps.

For most of the rest of the day, we hung out in the headquarters tent or we traded patches along the side of the road. After dinner, we played cards again and Eric had a discussion with one of the guys who worked in the commissary about the LDS faith. I talked with Holly and her mom about school life. For once, I went to bed at a decent hour.

Monday August 4, 1997

It is becoming more and more apparent that the jamboree is almost over. Nothing has been taken down yet, but I just get that feeling.

Today Eric and I worked in headquarters, sorting mail and delivering messages. He answered the phone for awhile. After I took a message to subcamp 9, I walked back by all of the patch traders on the edge of the road and traded a few patches. I also made a trip to the trading post to buy my OA Rendezvous patch, as well as some other jamboree stuff.

After lunch, there wasn't much to do in headquarters, so Eric, Nick, Sara, and I went to Action Center C to go rappelling. On the way over there, we passed a guy with a box on his head. He called himself "Box-man." He was passing out hand-written notes asking scouts to stay in school and save the universe. It was pretty weird, but kinda cool. After a short instruction course at the rappelling area, we were given our harnesses and we climbed up the steps to the top of the tower. After a short wait, Eric went down. Then, Sara went down. It was her first time rappelling, but she didn't seem too scared or nervous. I went down off of the helicopter skid. Since I go rock climbing and rappelling in Joshua Tree National Park with my troop every year, it was a piece of cake for me.

We returned to camp just in time for dinner. Dinner was earlier today so that there was enough time for the closing show. As usual, we were still pretty far back from the stage. However, we were more towards the center of the crowd. The closing show was pretty spectacular. Chief Scout Executive Jere Ratcliffe came and talked to the audience about the jamboree. Then the show started, and it wasn't performed by an army group. The show was put on by country singer Louise Mandrell, who thrilled the audience with her ability to play a variety of instruments. Country music is not my type of music, but I must admit that it wasn't all that bad. The show finished up with a spectacular display of fireworks that lit up the arena as if it were broad daylight.

After the show, Sara and I went for a long walk all the way to the arena and back before going to sleep.

Tuesday August 5, 1997

Today was the last activity day of the Jamboree. I can't believe that tomorrow, we will be guiding the troops out of camp just like we brought them in on the first day of Jamboree. Time definitely flies when you're having fun.

After waking up at 8:30, I went over to troop 814's campsite, where I met Paul, a guy from my home troop. We had arranged before the jamboree to go running sometime since we both run Cross Country for our schools. We started running at about 9. We ran from our camp past Action Center C and the scuba area over to the merit badge midway. From there, we ran back towards Travis Lake on a dirt road that went by Bullock Lake. From there we went down to Travis Lake and then back to Subcamp 8 along the route of the 5K run. The entire run took about an hour and a half, and I figured it was about five or six miles.

Following the run, I took a cold shower and went to the headquarters tent to hang out with everyone else. Shortly, Don came in and told us that we needed to take down the gateway banners. Eric, Sara and I climbed back up the gateway and started to untie everything that we had put up a week and a half earlier. It had taken us at least an hour when we put it up, but it only took 15 minutes to take down. We dropped all of the banners to the ground, and just like that, the gateway appeared as bare as it had when we had arrived at jamboree.

After lunch, Eric, Sara, Holly, Nick, Clinton and I went to go and do some of the activities. Holly's mom also came along with us. Archery was the closest activity to our camp so we went there first. As I walked by the patch traders, a patch caught my eye and I had to make a trade. As it turns out, I think the patch might be very valuable since it is the first OA flap from Hyas Chuck Kah Sun Klatawa Lodge 442, an OA lodge that merged in the 1960s.

When I arrived at the archery range, the others were just finishing their safety course ahead of me. I had to wait and listen to some kid blab about archery safety while they were shooting. I would have paid more attention to the safety course, but last summer I was an archery instructor at Lost Valley, my council's summer camp, so I knew everything he was saying. Finally, I got to shoot. I didn't do too well. The bows were the same type of recurve bows we had at Lost Valley, but they had no sights on them. So I only hit the target 3 out of 6 times. Feeling a little bit embarrassed, I walked over to the air rifle range with the others. They teased me the whole way about being an archery instructor.

After looking for the rifle range for a few minutes, we finally found it on the other side of the trees by the guest parking lot. We went through the short safety instruction course and then started shooting.

After shooting, we went to some of the exhibits as we walked back towards our subcamp. There was one where you had to kick a soccer ball into one of four corners of the net. If you made it, you made a patch. Since both Eric and I play soccer, we took a try at it. My first shot I blasted and missed the corner. The second shot I placed squarely into the lower right corner of the net. I got a patch. Eric missed both of his two chances. We walked back to camp happy and content.

Since today was the last official day of the jamboree, the Scuba staff was having a party. However, we had dinner at our own subcamp since we were hungry. After dinner at our camp, the eight of us plus Don went over to the Scuba area near Trading Post B and joined in on the party. They were having steak and baked potatoes for dinner, but we weren't hungry. There were some Jamaican Scouts playing the steel drums in the tent. We sat around and listened for awhile, but we grew restless so we went and walked around. We walked back out to Thomas Road and across the road over to a couple of picnic benches by a tent. We sat around there for awhile and talked. Nick and Joey had found a bunch of oranges in a trash pile near the tables. They started to play catch with an orange. Pretty soon, Eric stepped in and got Sara to pitch it to him so he could hit it with a piece of wood. Sara pitched it and the bat made contact with the orange and there was bits of orange pulp and orange peel everywhere. We all laughed, and I gave it my best shot. Eric pitched to me and I hit the orange so hard that there a piece of it landed on the program tent behind us. After everyone had given it their best try, some Scouts who looked as if they were up to no good joined us at the benches. Among them was one who claimed to be an Irish Scout. We had Irish Scouts staying in our subcamp, and we could tell that he was definitely not Irish. His accent was bogus and we could tell that he was full of it from the mischievious smirk on his face. He tried to give Holly a pin that he said was from Ireland, but Eric pointed out that it had the name of an air-conditioning company on it. We all laughed and they left. Pretty soon, we walked back over to the Scuba party. There was nothing too exciting going on there, so we persuaded Don to take us back to camp.

When we returned to camp, Don briefed us of our duties on Wednesday. Sara and I volunteered to get up early to help the first troops check out. We sat in the dining hall for a few minutes and played cards before we went to bed.

Wednesday August 6, 1997

I did not sleep well last night. I could not get over the fact that tomorrow we will be on a plane going home. Finally, I fell asleep at about 2, and did not wake up when my alarm went off at 4:20. Sara came in and woke me up at 4:30 AM, dark and early. I got dressed and found Kay Hauser, the head commissioner, outside of the Program tent, along with the other commissioners and Sara. We had to go to the campsites of troops and make sure that their area was clean. As I walked out to the area where the troops were staying, I was amazed at what I saw. There was nothing out there. Two days ago, there had been towering gateways and hundreds of tents. Now, there was only a few tents and no gateways. Everything had been taken down. I began to meet with Scoutmasters to inspect their campsites and check them out of camp. After each troop I checked out, I went into the dining hall and grabbed a piece of carrot cake to eat. Finally, the sun came up. Eric, Holly and Bryce joined us in checking out troops. After most of the troops were checked out, Kay Hauser informed us that she and the other commissioners could handle the rest of the troops. Sara and I rode bikes down to subcamp 6 to deliver a message. Then, we loaded equipment into a truck that would be going back to Flagstaff with Kay.

I went back to the tent, packed up my belongings into my enormous blue duffel bag, and carried it out to the side of the road next to the vans. We then took apart the cots and stacked them neatly in the commissary. After we finished with the cots in our tent, we went to every other tent and took apart all the cots, and carried them back on platforms. Eric and I went back to our tent, made one last inspection of the place, and walked out towards the waiting vans. Josh, Jay and Christy Chapman, as well as Josh "tight-pants" Cluff had already been picked up and were waiting for us. We rode in the van driven by Don. We drove out the way we had come in, out Lee Drive to A.P. Hill Drive, past the lake where we had waited to bring in the buses on the first day of Jamboree. We drove out to US 301 and then headed north on I-95 towards Fredericksburg and Washington, D.C. We ate lunch at a buffet place in Fredericksburg. The food was pretty good. One thing that I remember about the restaurant was that it had a lot of mirrors in it that made it look really big.

At the restaurant, we had decided that we wanted to go straight to the hotel in Washington. The drive there was quite an adventure. I knew from the drive down to jamboree that Don was not exactly a defensive driver. But Bryce's dad's driving was even more.....well....."adventurous."  He drove us from Fredericksburg to Washington. Several times, we narrowly avoided being involved in a car accident. When we missed the exit for Connecticut Avenue in Maryland, he pulled over onto the shoulder and backed the van up. When it was apparent that we could not back up far enough to get onto the exit ramp due to a sign that was in the way, Bryce's dad took us on an offroad adventure through the tall grass over to the exit ramp. We all held our breath as the car went crashing through the bumpy median between the freeway and the exit ramp, and slammed down onto the ramp. I'd have to say that was more action then all of the Action Centers at jamboree combined!

We communicated with Don on the radios as we made our way along Connecticut Avenue to the Days Inn. Finally, we were there. We unloaded our baggage and entered the freshly-painted lobby. Don checked us in and gave us our keys to our rooms. The first thing I did when I got there was lie down on the bed. After two weeks of sleeping on a cot, a bed was a wonderous thing. So was TV, even though the hotel only got 12 channels. Best of all was a shower with a knob that let you control the temperature of the water.

We all took showers and relaxed for a few minutes before we went back to the lobby at 4 PM to meet up with everyone else. We got back into the vans and drove to the Holocaust Museum. Don and Bryce's dad dropped us off in front of the museums and went to park the vans somewhere. Eric, Clinton and I wandered around in the museum for awhile, looking at the tile wall painted by kids, and also, the Hall of Remembrance. That place was really creepy, with its candles burning and its pure white floors, walls and domed ceiling.

Jamboree was an incredible experience in itself, but this topped off everything. After the Holocaust Museum, Don informed us that he was going to try to get us into a nice restaurant for dinner. I thought, okay, maybe we'll get into something a step above a buffet. Wrong!  We ate dinner at a place called the Capital Grille. I have been to the Ritz-Carlton resort in Laguna Beach, California, and I thought that was the absolute nicest place there was. The Capital Grille beats it hands-down. Before we walked in, Don gave us a lesson on proper dining ettiquette. There were 17 of us that ate there, and we ordered all sorts of stuff, like calamari and shrimp cocktail appetizers, and dinner salads. For dinner, I had a Porterhouse Steak. It was the absolute best food I have ever eaten in my entire life. Steak, mashed potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms!  It was good. When I got up to use the restroom, I walked through the main part of the restaurant and figured that at least half of the crowd in the place were US Congressmen or other high government officials. I had a peek at the wine menu. They had wines for as much as $3000 a bottle. The place was incredible, it looked like a museum, with sculptures and priceless works of art displayed. What's more incredible was what Eric and I figured it cost for the entire meal. The cheapest dinner entree was $30, and we figured that, with all of the appetizers, drinks, side dishes, and desserts, it cost Don at least $800 with tax and tip. Don paid for it as if it were nothing, since he had raised something like $30,000 for the jamboree just for our subcamp. After dinner, we piled back into the vans, satisfied and content. We drove to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and walked around there, following the black wall from where it came out of the ground, to its highest point in the middle, and back to where it disappeared into the ground again. After the visit to the memorial, we drove back to the hotel. Sara and I were incredibly tired, since we had been up since 4:30. When we got back to the hotel, Eric, Clinton and Bryce watched TV for a while, and I went to sleep.

Thursday August 7, 1997

This morning, we were up early again. We woke up at 5, took showers, and headed down to the lobby with our bags. Tony and Ray were there and told us to put our bags out by the curb so that we could load them in the car. Don came down to watch the bags, and we went to join the rest of the group at the Burger King next door. The sun was barely up, but Nick, Josh and Justin had ordered hamburgers and soda. I had hash browns and orange juice. After breakfast, we piled into the vans and headed for the White House.

We drove around on Constitution Avenue for at least a half hour looking for a place to park. Finally, the adult drivers decided to drop us off. They would park the vans and take a taxi back. Since our tour of the White House wasn't until 8:30, we sat around on a bench in the ellipse. I took pictures of Eric holding the Washington Monument in the palm of his hand.

At 8:30, we walked over to the White House and took our tour. It wasn't all that exciting. We had an obnoxious tour guide. We saw the red, blue, and green rooms, as well as the State Dining Room, and then we left. Since the vans were parked so far away, we decided to walk to our next stop, the Washington Monument. The next available time to go up to the top was at 3:30. Don gave us the option to basically do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day, as long as we were in front of the Smithsonian with the red castle towers at 2:45.

Eric, Sara and I walked over to the Smithsonian fine art museum. We walked around in there for a long time, looking at art from the  impresssionist era, and paintings from the 12 and 1300s. We then went to the  museum of American History, where we saw the star spangled banner, and the pendulum that hangs from the ceiling. We saw the dresses of the first ladies, and  several exhibits. By this time, Nick and Clinton had caught up to us and were walking around with us. After walking around in the maze of exhibits in the Fine Arts Museum, we were getting hungry, so we went to the Air and Space museum to eat there. The line was very long, so we decided to walk a ways and look for another place to eat. Finally, we decided to ask someone. We asked a Smithsonian security guard where there was a place to eat, and he directed us to L'Enfant Plaza. The plaza, on the other side of the Department of
Energy building, was like a mall. We ate at McDonalds. From there, we walked back to the red castle Smithsonian building, where we looked at antiques. We met up with the rest of the group, and yelled at them for ditching us in the American History museum. After walking around all day, we were tired, so we went out in front of the museum and sat down on several benches. A Mountain Dew truck pulled up and handed out free Mountain Dew sodas to everyone. We were supposed to meet the vans there at 2:45, and it was only 2:20, so Sara, Eric, Clinton, and I went over to a T-shirt stand on the mall and looked at shirts. I didn't see much that really appealed to me, so I didn't buy anything, even though the
shirts were only $5. We walked back to the front of the red castle smithsonian, and the vans pulled up.

We got in, and headed to the airport. We pulled up to the airport and unloaded our baggage, only to discover that the new terminal was now open, and our flight was leaving from there. So we reloaded all of the baggage back into the car, and drove to the new terminal. Again, we unloaded the baggage, and waited while it was checked into the airport. Don was on a tight time schedule, and had to hurry and take the vans back so he could get to the gate on time. We walked into the airport and put our stuff down near our gate. We then went to the a newsstand, and Eric bought a National Enquirer. Holly and Sara each got smoothies from a food stand. I tasted them and they were good, so I got one, too. We walked around for a little while, and then went back to the gate. As we sat down in the terminal, Bryce's dad informed us that Don had been involved in a car accident, and he probably wouldn't make the plane trip back. In addition to that, John had lost his plane ticket, and would have to stay in Washington with Don.

The first boarding call was announced just as I finished my smoothie. I boarded the plane, looking back at my shoulder for the last time at Washington National Airport. I had seat 20B, and Sara had seat 20A. On the other side of me was Bryce. We sat down on the plane, and were surprised when Don walked onto the plane. As soon as he sat down, we crowded around him, wanting to know what happened. He explained the accident to us. He had been driving quickly from the terminal to the rental car place when he hit another car going the opposite direction head-on. The other car was totaled, but the van was still driveable. Don got the police to give him an escort to the rental car place, and dropped off the car there. The police then escorted him back to the terminal just in time to board the plane.

The plane left Washington on time at 4:50 PM. Our plane made a stop in Columbus, Ohio. I talked to Sara the whole way from Washington to Columbus, and Bryce slept. We got off of the plane in Columbus and played video games for about 15 minutes before they announced that we had to get back on the plane. When I got back on the plane, I agreed to switch seats with Holly so she could sit next to Sara and Bryce. I sat next to Clinton, and we talked for about five minutes before he fell asleep. I
listened to my walkman, and tried to organize my thoughts. Could this really be the last day?  How could it be?  It seemed like just yesterday, I was wandering lost through the Phoenix airport, trying to find a bunch of Scouts who I didn't know. And now, here we were, heading back to the same airport. A movie was being played on the pop-down movie screens, but I don't remember which movie it was since I wasn't paying attention. After about an hour of staring at the back of the seat while music played into my head, Sara decided to get up and trade seats with Clinton. I got up to let Clinton out and Sara in. I went to the lavatory, and when I got back, Eric was talking to Sara about aspects of the Mormon religion. I couldn't quite make out their conversation over the constant hum of the engines, so I continued to listen to my music. It began to get dark. I took off my headphones and we played cards. The plane began its descent into Phoenix. It was now apparent that I had a cold, and I was very out of it.

It vaguely occured to me that this was it, that I most likely would never see any of the others again. As we got off of the plane, I recognized the gate across the way where we had boarded the plane. We rode the escalator down from the third floor to the first floor, the same way I had gone two weeks earlier. I picked up my enormous blue bag at the baggage claim, and suddenly, it hit me. It was over. I hugged Sara tight for one last time and said goodbye. I shook everyone's hand, and thanked Don for everything he had done for me. As I exited the baggage claim, I hugged Holly and her mom. Holly had overheard me say that I had no idea where I was going, so she agreed to accompany me to my gate. We rode up the escalator together in silence; neither of us knowing what to say. As we got to the top of the escalator, I recognized the Southwest gates, and I told her I knew where I was going from there. At the top of the escalator, Holly and I said our goodbyes. She had tears in her eyes, as did I. I walked towards my gate and took one last glimpse of her going down the stairs.

I checked in at the Southwest counter for flight 1102 heading for Ontario at 9:35 and it was dark when I got home.

Patches

OA Jamboree Service Staff Flap	Orca Lodge Jamboree Flap
Tu-Cubin-Noonie Lodge Jamboree Flap	Awaxaawe Awachia Lodge Jamboree Flap
The Infamous "Yoda" patch! (you had to be there)	Los Angeles Area Council JSP
Trapper Trails Council JSP	Southwest Georgia Council JSP
Orange County Council Staff JSP

Links

BSA Offical Site

So what did you think of my site? Please feel free to sign my guestbook or email any comments here.
You are visitor number since this site was created on August 12, 1997.

© 1997-98 Mark Stickel. All rights reserved. Last updated March 13, 1998.