The Appalachian Trail

Click the links below to follow us as we section hike the Appalachian Trail. Each number on the map corresponds to a section of our journey.

Spivey Gap to Allen Gap - NC/TN - 42.2 miles

100 Mile Wilderness - MN - 100 miles

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My First Merit Badge Bike Ride (or, How I Relearned to Make a Cue Sheet)

We haven't had a chance to take an archery lesson - translation, I kept forgetting to email the local archery teacher this week about beginner lessons - and so today, in the absence of a new challenge, I decided to start ticking off on the cycling merit badge. The requirements for the badge are naturally more for the novice cyclist, so like other aspects of our journey, I plan to tailor the requirements to suit my level and desire for experiences and gaining knowledge. I started out by making a cue sheet. For those of you unfamiliar with cycling, a cue sheet is a way of planning a ride. It entails the turns onto different roads and often incorporates the length of time spent riding on that road. I haven't made a cue sheet in years - my style of riding is more often to go out and go adventure cycling by taking turns onto roads previously undiscovered. However, I wanted this to fit in with the planning and preparedness aspects of being a Scout. It was a really gorgeou...

Establishing the Raven Scouts

As we prepared for merit badge requirements, we also began reading about the Boy Scout Oath, Law, Motto, Slogan, Sign, Salute, and handshake... these figured fairly prominently in some of the merit badges so we wanted to have a firm grasp... we liked a lot of what we read, but didn't really feel like certain aspects were a great fit for what we were doing. It's important to remember we're amending something written for boys and we're adults... some of these tweaks are to be expected :) Ultimately we felt that, in the spirit of this whole process, we should come up with our own oath, etc. We also thought we might be able to approach this a bit more efficiently and combine some of the above... so we whittled it all down a bit and made it our own. To start, I got us all cool journals to document everything we'd be doing. Before we get into what we created, it may be worthwhile to share the boy scout versions so you can have a basis for comparison. Scout Oat...

Dog Care and Pet Care Merit Badges

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 p...

Raven Scouts

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