Raven Scouts

It's been quite some time since we last posted but life has been a bit crazy - a new job, dealing with a new cat, getting into birding and possibly most importantly, learning to kayak.  The general consensus with kayaking is that you can jump right in and start paddling.  By and large, this is true.  But what if you want to up the ante a bit? We'll get to that shortly. Bobcat got a head-start when it comes to the Raven Scout kayaking adventures.  Not only did she go out on the water ahead of the rest of us, she ended up purchasing a kayak!  For Wolf and I, we started out with some rentals at a local reservoir with Bobcat showing us the ropes.  Our first day out, we learned some basic paddling techniques and got a major upper-body workout.  We also stumbled upon this amazing tree! After a few times out, Wolf and I decided it was time to get our own kayaks and we went with a sit-on-top model (no whitewater rapids in our future).  The model we chose, a Pescador Pro 100,

Part I - the Camping Trip:      Early Saturday morning we started driving to South Mountain State Park for a camping trip.  We took two cars with Bobcat and I in one.  On the way there, we talked about a lot of things... I told her about my new job, we talked about how we'd survive if society collapsed.  At one point I mentioned our failed attempts to get a puppy recently.  Bobcat commented that it was probably a good thing since it opened us up for something serendipitous to happen.  This way a pet could just walk into our life when the time was right.  She really said that... also, this is called foreshadowing. We hiked into South Mountain State Park on a Saturday around noon.  Wolf, Bobcat, myself, Badger, Dragon and a new Raven Scout... he hasn't picked a name yet so I'll call him Hawk until he decides. This was Badger's first camping trip and the weather was perfect. The time passed pretty quickly as we hiked up the mountain - Bobcat identified plants while

Mouse:  There are two merit badges around pet care, with one specifically focusing on dogs.  Since we already have a dog, we decided to get a new pet in order to complete both badges. Or at least, when we decided to get a new dog, it sort of worked out that we could focus on both :) Allow me to introduce you all to Badger, our Bernese Mountain Dog mutt! Mouse:  Badger was found in a junk yard where he had either been tethered or where he retreated after being tethered.  He was found with a rope wrapped around his neck and body, surviving off whatever he could find in the junk yard and covered in ticks. Needless to say, he was extremely excited to be a part of a loving family.  This is how he slept on my lap on the way home from Georgia. Wolf: I was in Canada for about a week, and Mouse found Badger online just before I left. I thought for sure I would return from my trip and have a new dog. Somehow he held off and we made a weekend vacation to to pick Badger up from his f