Valley Forge

We stopped in Lancaster Co. for an Amish meal. It was so good and everyone was stuffed.

Washington's Headquarters

Inside Washington Memorial Chapel

We made it to Philadelphia and our hotel is right next to the stadiums for the Philly's, Eagles and Flyers. We had an outdoor BBQ and swimming.

Fort McHenry - Gettysberg

We went to Fort McHenry on our way to Gettysburg.

Birthplace of the National Anthem
O say can you see, by the dawns early light, a large red, white and blue banner? Whose broad stripes and bright stars . . . were so gallantly streaming! over the star-shaped Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, September 13-14, 1814. The valiant defense of the fort inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner.

We toured the battlefields at Gettysburg and learned a lot about Civil War History. We also got to have some fun Saturday night playing pool, mini golf, soccer and go carts.

Washington DC

This morning we drove back to DC. Our first stop was the Holocaust Museum. That was a very somber and eye opening experience. We then had a couple hours to visit a place of our choice. Some went to Museums or other sites. I walked to the Jefferson Memorial. On our way back another HUGE storm hit and soaked us all. We looked like we had been swimming in our clothes. Hard Rock Cafe was the next stop for a great meal. Our awesome bus driver Don took us around to some of the monuments (Jefferson, FDR & Iwo Jima). Friday morning we went to Ford Theater and saw where Lincoln was shot. We also got to tour the house across the street where he later died. In the National Archive Museum we saw the original Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It looked just like what we saw on the movie National Treasure. We had a group picture in front of the White House before we went to Arlington Cemetery. We watched the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then our Patrol Leaders got to participate in a Wreath Ceremony there. It was really neat. At night we went to the Marine Barracks Parade. We got to watch the President's Marine Corp Band perform as well as the Marine drill team.

~Tyler

Laundry

Finally we got to do Laundry. We went to a big laundromat and had everything done in less than two hours. We smelled good for a short time.

Williamsburg - Busch Garden

After our rainy exit from the Jamboree, we drove to Colonial Williamsburg. We saw a lot of neat things and even got put in a jail cell. It wouldn't have been very fun to stay in there. Then we went to Busch Garden Amusement Park. There were lots of roller coasters and water rides. It was fun.

Jamboree

We arrived at Fort AP Hill on Monday afternoon. By the time we got our gear to our campsite and everything set up, we were all hot and exhausted. Our campsite was at the end of a long row of troops, on a hill and we were surrounded by "Tick" trees. Everyone was told to stay out of the trees because of the tick population. We were also warned about dehydration because of the high temperatures and humidity. It was over 100 degrees and very very humid. The heat index was announced throughout the day and it was mostly in the Black category. This meant we were to drink one quart of water every hour. There was a little time for exploring, but mostly everyone went to bed. Tuesday was the first full day at the Jamboree. We started the day off early by walking several miles to go the the OA Mysterium Compass at 8:40 am. When we arrived we found out that our tickets were actually for the following Tuesday. :( Some of us decided to wait in the standby line and we were able to get into the show. It was AWESOME! Some of the other activities on that side of camp included the Brownsea Island area, a Conservation Exhibit, Disability Awareness activities and Mountain Boarding. It was another very hot day and some of us even ended up in the medical tent being treated for heat related illnesses. Wednesday morning we all lined up by troops and marched to the Arena for the Opening Show. It started with a flyover of military jets. The 2,000,000th Eagle Scout was the host for the show. Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, was the guest speaker. He is an Eagle Scout and gave a great talk. The best story was him telling about going on a campout with his son while he was the CIA director. They were accompanied by the Secret Service and various intelligence vehicles. He joked about this being a Scoutmaster's worst Nightmare. It was pretty neat to see 50,000 scouts and scouters all together. A few members of a troop from Scotland visited our camp and entertained us with bagpipe music. Their scoutmaster gave Scoutmaster Gene a neckerchief from thier troop. It was fun to meet scouts from another country. For the rest of the week, the scouts worked on merit badges, visited exhibits, traded patches, and enjoyed all the activities of the Jamboree. Some of the favorites were mountain boarding, scuba diving, patch trading,black powder rifles, rappelling, canoeing, fishing, more patch trading, religious meetings, cold showers and spam for dinner. Some of the boys wrote articles at the Hometown news booth and then sent them to be published in local papers. Friday morning at 6:00 am the whole troop participated in a 5K run/walk. Way to go 609. The 10 days went sooooooooooo fast. Everyone was scrambling at the end to get all the activities done that they wanted to. The last day we took down our tents and cleaned up our camp so we would be ready to leave at 6:00 am the next morning. We slept under our dining tents in our sleeping bags. At 3:00 in the morning a warning was sent out that a rain and lightning storm was headed our way. As the rain started to come down, we carried our gear up the hill to the waiting truck. It was a sloppy mess everywhere. At least we had some protection from our dining fly, but some troops were out in the open. Boys were seeking shelter in the showers, commissary, bathrooms or anywhere else they could find a roof. It sure made for a soggy end to the Jamboree.
(More pics to come when we get better internet connection)