Rainy camping trip

Last weekend Amelia and I went to Sky Ranch with Amelia's girl scout troop for a mother/daughter campout. Sky Ranch is a camping facility located about 90 miles east of Dallas that is run by Sky Ranch, a Christian camping organization. Sky Ranch is used primarily during the summer months as a sleep-away camp and is rented during the rest of the year to independent groups that want to use the facilities for retreats and private events.

The campground is well-developed with pools, water slides, playgrounds, soccer fields, a zipline, giant walking maze, horseback riding, and other recreational facilities. Sky Ranch is located on a lake that has inflatable bouncy things that the kids can jump on into the lake. There are dozens of cabins with multiple rooms with stacks of bunk beds and nice meeting rooms as well.

Amelia and I were most looking forward to participating in the zipline and horseback riding activities with the other girls and their moms. Unfortunately mother nature had a different plan which pretty much killed any ideas we had for outdoor recreation. It rained all day Saturday and didn't stop until midday Sunday when we were back in Dallas. We had mostly large fat drops mixed with a short periods of drizzle in between. Needless to say, we were not able to participate in any of the activities mentioned above.

Our cabin was located next to a pretty lake. We had planned to use this nice fire pit for roasting marshmallows for s'mores, but unfortunately that didn't happen either.

But what did happen was that we got to participate in other activities that are not regularly open to outside campers. The girls visited two nature centers where we heard talks about the various reptiles, snakes, turtles, lizards, and fish on site. The girls were thrilled that they got to pet a chinchilla, a large rodent from South America that has amazingly soft fur. We played volleyball and other games in the indoor recreation center, and the girls had no problems running through the outdoor maze in the rain. The girls laughed and enjoyed their time together and really didn't complain too much about the rain. They ate their s'mores dry with cold marshmallows and still licked their fingers clean from the treat.

There was also time for earning a Girl Scout badge and performing skits to demonstrate the skills they had mastered. The girls earned a health and safety badge and made first aid kits to keep in their backpacks. The photo below shows come of the girls participating in a skit where they learned important steps to perform when in an emergency medical situation. Amelia is wearing the purple t-shirt and kneeling on the floor, where she is pretending to administer first aid to someone with a wound.

While many aspects of the weekend were disappointing, the girls had a great attitude and the moms went with the flow as best we could. I enjoyed getting to know some of the other moms a little better, and we laughed and played games during the two hour interval it took to get the girls quiet and asleep.

I hope we can continue the mother/daughter campout tradition next year, but I will cross my fingers for much better weather!