It's one hell of a system!
Then I went out to talk to Sherry about anything coming up for votes or committee action. Nothing significant seemed to be on the horizon involving either Science or Veterans Affairs, but that didn't mean there wasn't work that would be involved. After Congress convened, I'd start officially attending committee meetings, but before that I would be learning my assignments and meeting with top committee staffers.
Then I went home for a few days. I would be back on Monday morning, and I expected to find some decent office furnishings and a functional staff by then, by hook or by crook! Meantime, I had to go home and be husband and daddy for a few days. In particular, the Cub Scouts were doing an overnight camping trip this Saturday night, and I needed to attend. Charlie was looking forward to this. He was a Webelo now, and they could go camping. They only did one night at a time, not two or more like the Boy Scouts did. I had missed an earlier trip during the campaign. I couldn't put it off again.
That Thursday night, all that Charlie could talk about was the upcoming camping trip. Needless to say, both of the twins wanted to go camping, too, to which their brother replied, "No way! You're girls!"
I stifled a laugh and shook my head. "I think you two should stay home and help Mom."
Holly whined, "Mom!"
Molly whined, "Dad!"
I just looked my wife in the eye and shook my head, "NO!" That was all I needed to do - a winter camping trip with three women who had never been camping before! I'd rather go camping back in Nicaragua.
Thank God Marilyn had the good sense to tell the girls they'd go shopping and to a movie, which almost made Charlie change his mind. I just reminded him that we would be able to go out and do 'guy things' and he changed his mind back to camping. I just rolled my eyes at Marilyn. "You know how to use a microwave oven in the woods?", I asked her.
"How?"
"Look for a tree that's been hit by lightning."
"Very funny." Charlie giggled at that.
The camping trip was Saturday morning to Sunday morning. I had volunteered to be a 'people mover' and thought I would switch cars with my wife and use her minivan. A couple of the other fathers had pickups and would haul equipment. The rule with the Cub Scouts was that each boy had to be accompanied by an adult, preferably male. (Really, really, really preferably male - it makes life so much simpler that way.) Back on my first go when Parker had gone through the Scouts, I had done it with him, so this was old hat to me. I spent the day sorting through some old gear and running into Towson with Marilyn to pick up a few things.
This actually led to a serious argument with Henry Donaldson, about my security. He wanted a couple of his guys to go camping with us, which I refused. That would make us stick out like sore thumbs. For one thing, half the parents in the Pack would yank their kids out of the Pack. If my children and I were in such danger that we needed permanent security, then we were much too dangerous to be allowed near their precious offspring! It wasn't Charlie's fault his old man was a big shot.
Finally we compromised. "Alright, I'll have a guy drive you all up in one of our vans. We can say that your minivan broke down or something.", he said.
"Fair enough.", I agreed.
"I'm not done yet. After he drops you and the boys off, he's going to hang around somewhere down the road. In the meantime, we'll give you a little radio transmitter with a panic button on it. If there's a problem, hit the button and we'll come running." He pulled what looked like a big key fob out of his pocket. "Here, take this. Your wife is getting one, too."
I stared at it for a moment. It was plain black plastic, with a single red button, and a clear plastic cover over the button. You had to flick off the cover before hitting the button, so it was safe from accidentally setting itself off. "You're kidding me, right? How's it work?"
"You know about GPS? The military uses it. It's a bunch of satellites that can tell where anybody is in the world if they have the right receiver." He pointed at the gizmo in my hands. "That's got a GPS receiver built in and a radio transmitter. Once you hit the button, we can track you down."
I knew what GPS was, and could probably have given a lecture on it, but this was much more advanced than I expected. "What, like in that James Bond movie?"
"Something like that. Don't lose it, either. You don't want to know how much these things cost!", he finished.
There's nothing all that difficult about camping with the Scouts. Back when I was a Cubmaster and Scoutmaster, I had distilled it down to three simple rules, Buckman's Rules for Camping:
1 - Keep 'em warm!
2 - Keep 'em dry!
3 - Keep 'em well fed!
Do those three things and the kids won't care what you make them do! Five mile hikes in the snow? No problem - just follow the three rules. March them off a cliff? No problem - just follow the three rules. Violate those rules and you can turn happy campers into miserable whiny brats in minutes!
It's a lot like being back in the Army!
Of the three rules, Number 3 is the easiest. Boys running around in the woods burn up a lot of calories. Even the boys who are the pickiest eaters will eat not one sandwich, but two. It doesn't have to be fancy, just hot and filling. For breakfast feed them pancakes and scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon. For lunch it's not soup or sandwiches, it's soup and sandwiches. Make sure there's enough for seconds. Keep a bag of apples around for anybody to munch on.
Rules 1 and 2 are trickier, and require discipline. You always have some kids who won't dress properly because it's not 'cool.' So they don't wear jackets or boots or long underwear. You can tell them until you're blue in the face that they won't have any place to go inside and hang around if they get chilly. Hell, half the parents aren't smart enough to figure this stuff out! The only way to make them understand is by having an inspection before you load the gear up and send home the kids who flunk. For that you need a tough and fair leader.
You can usually tell who's been around for awhile - they look like a bunch of ragamuffins. They certainly don't look cool, but they do look warm and dry and comfortable. Marilyn and I went out in the late morning and picked up some new long underwear for Charlie and me, and some heavy socks for the both of us. Otherwise, we'd survive the night. He had a good heavy coat and some gloves, and some hiking boots that he hadn't outgrown yet. Otherwise we'd just throw layers on him. For equipment he had a day pack that would suffice, along with a small gym bag, and a lightweight sleeping bag that we would line with a couple of light blankets to beef it up.
My gear was pretty routine. I didn't give two shits about looking cool. I had a pretty decent sleeping bag I kept in my trunk for emergency use, so I threw a liner inside (one of the girls' Care Bears blankets) and threw everything else into a duffle bag. We weren't doing any hiking, so that was good enough. I had some Carhartt overalls and a matching coat that I wore at times when I was working outside, and an old pair of jump boots. I also threw a pair of insulated barn boots in the back of the van in case it was wet. Lousy for hiking, but great for snow or mud.