Travel Log

When I am going out of town I don't like to announce it to the world. I prefer to let the world think my house is occupied always, but later I post to say, ?ah ha! I was away!?

In June my family traveled to Minnesota, and in July I went with our Boy Scout troop to summer camp in Pennsylvania.

June: Minnesota

"Why, Minnesota?" you might ask. Well, have you ever clicked on my "Efraimson" tab and read my family stories? In 1905 my grandmother was born in the Iron Range of Minnesota. Her sister, Jennie, was born next. They lived in a sod shanty, and my great grandfather, Alfred, was working as a miner. Alfred and Emma had a total of 12 children. Arne died as a child from complications of appendicitis. The other 11 grew to adulthood.

The eleven offspring were Esther (my gram), Jennie (never married), Eino (pronounced "Aye-no"), Emma (became O'Brien), Josephine (Jo) (became Larson), Hilda (became Gregor), William (Bill), Viola (Vi) (became Lampela), Carl, Rudy (never married) and Rupert (never married). 

That generation is gone now. Of the twelve, four never married. I was in Minnesota for a family reunion of offspring from the other eight siblings. It was short, sweet, and we had a great time. It deserves its own blog post.

Independence Day

For the Independence Day, my cadet marched in our local parade (center of first row). This mom is proud of her young man!

Boy Scout Camp

As I did last year and the year before, I went with the troop to Boy Scout Camp. I am an Assistant Scout Master for the troop, and the adults who went voted me the Acting Scout Master for the week. I didn't anticipate regrets for that, but what was I thinking. Can't really post it here, but oh my! 

This year we went to Camp Freedom. It rained for seven days straight. "They say that we'll have fun when it stops raining!" (Camp Granada) It stopped raining Saturday morning of day seven. We drove home. See how wet the boards are in my tent? See my Old Schoolhouse tote on the cot?

Seriously, it did not rain the whole time, but the tents leaked, and everything constantly felt damp. I gave up showering -- couldn't get dry. Waited to get home. This, too, deserves its own post, so I'll try to do that at a later time.

Today

Today I am excited about some books that arrived by UPS for an upcoming Crew Review!