National Jamboree Day 7

BMX track

Today started like all others, the cooks woke up at 5 AM and the rest of the troop woke up at 6 AM. We  had breakfast and packed our lunches for the day. Afterwards we headed out on the trail.

I was fortunate to accompany a few of the scouts today. We walked for a good mile to two miles before arriving at our destination, the BMX track. We attended a safety briefing, received safety gear and the scouts hit the beginners track.




Obstacle Course for blindness awareness

The tracks are set multilevel. You  have to complete one track effectively before advancing to the next. The boys I was with were working on this first small beginners track when we received a lightning alert. We are receiving these daily. There seems to be two different types, a twelve mile from the area and an eight mile from the area. This alert was an 8 mile so they shut down the BMX tracks.

We headed over to the Disability Awareness Area and entered into a discussion about disabilities. We then entered into the main area where we went to a blind person obstacle course. We were given a blind persons cane and had to navigate an obstacle course. It was very  difficult.

We then played a game of blind person baseball. It was interesting. The ball makes a sound so you can always hear where it was located. When a ball was hit the players attempted to get the ball before the batter reached the base. The base also had a distinct tone. The game was fun but I found I could not even tell if I was facing the right direction. 

While in this area we bowled from a wheel chair, played one armed golf, learned about the difficulties of ADD/ADHD and more.

Again there was a lot of patch trading and visiting with friends. We were also able to visit the CONSOL Energy Wing Tip Bridge, which is a suspension bridge across the gorge. The boys liked this bridge. You could go to a viewing area beneath the bridge and get out of the sun. Many scouts across the camp liked to eat lunch under the bridge. There is so much to do here it is unbelievable.  

I think we are all walking 5 to 10 miles per day. Each day it has been a little warmer. Nights are cool and require light cover after midnight. Everyone seems healthy and appear to be having a good time. I have heard no complaints.