I think the AHG troop last visited Noccalula in the Spring of '21, but everyone had a great time, and we had a plan to attend the PowWow this time, instead of visiting the park. We arrived at a good time on Friday afternoon (even after a call from work delayed us by about 1 hour), before the crowd of folks, and had our pick of locations. Then as I laid out the easy up tent, and quickly went to set it up, I heard a snap, and realized that my attempt to get the tent up fast had backfired. One of the poles had completely snapped and shattered. So our campout began with an expensive trip to Walmart to get the fun started. I also bought some duct tape, but that old tent was quickly just thrown in the garbage. Oh well.
The girls wasted no time getting started with the fun while I was gone. Belle got her tent put up, and then the girls played like a mini version of gagaball. We were able to get the flag poles lashed together, and all of the new AHG girls to sign our flag. That night around the campfire, the PiPas had some oranges filled with chocolate cake (yummy).
Saturday morning began with some breakfast that I cooked for the family over at the nearby Jacks. And Magan appreciated the coffee I brought back. Magan had a fun craft that morning to make pictures with the falling leaves. And while all were doing crafts, I ran down to the falls (starting a repeating occurrence of disappearing from Magan on this weekend). I really wanted to get a feel for the hike to the falls, so I could share with others that might want to go later. About 1 mile, and only 15 minutes...but I should have stated later that was one way, haha.
We next drove over to the PowWow, and got to experience some of the Native American culture. We began at the large teepee where one of the men spoke to the girls about Native American history and the weapons they used. One of the weapons he showed the girls was the blowdart, then he demonstrated how accurate it was by shooting it into a target. It was pretty cool, but the target was on the other side of the kids, and the giant needle was shot directly over all the kids...so that was something I saw at the Powwow. Next all of the girls lined up to practice throwing axes. So I slipped away looking at all the booths, and apparently Magan was looking for me. We got a picture with the teepee, then I slipped away again, and met Mickey Roberts.
Mickey was I think 1/8 native american and told me about his time in Vietnam. He wore a shirt that interested me that stated "Sprayed and Betrayed". He was one of many that came in contact with agent orange while in helicopters in vietnam. While the Government had finally helped him with his many symptoms, he was worried about many of his friends, including a brother, that also served, and were experiencing the same symptoms with little assistance. He told me that COVID had about taken him out. But seemed in great spirits, and enjoying the festival. Cool Stories around the Powwow, but then I found out Magan had been looking for me to get them lunch.
Lunch was native american fried bread that about wiped out all my cash. We had to try all of it, we got the fried bread hotdog, the fried bread taco, the fried bread with special fruit preserves, and the fried bread with cinnamon and sugar. So we sat and ate our lunch, while we watched various different tribal dances. Anabelle got a new pair of earrings for her souvenir, and Ruby got...well she got a white rabbit skin...and LOVED it. It was her new best friend. She even named it Louie.
After the powwow, we went back to the campground, where some went to the playground, and others just took a nap in the shade. It was perfect weather for the campout, really only getting to the upper 40s at night, and during the day reaching into the upper 70s. We did later that afternoon get to hike down to the waterfall. And Noccolula has a great location where you can walk down to the edge of the water...well you can when the falls is just a trickle. Me, and Belle, and Ruby got to touch the waterfall. I was able to share with the girls about this being one of the few places to see the backside of water and the chemical formula being O2H. One of the other moms said she tried to help get the girls attention as I was about to share that information. She told the girls "Mr. Scott has something serious to share"...then she told me later, she immediately realized that was probably incorrect.
That night we had a really fun campfire with a meal of tacos...with guess what...fried bread. It was good, altho I missed the Dorito bags we usually use. The Tenderhearts had a skit where Ruby kept falling, with finally all the other girls saying "See Ruby Falls". I joined the Explorers as a pilot with the President, the smartest person in the world, and an AHG girl on the flight...which had a fun punchline. And Belle and the PiPas shared with us a skit about a turtle that came from a Native American tale. I shared a poem about the code to the bathroom...35 hundred and 92, that is the number you need when you go to the loo...yes, it was in a british voice. And we closed the campfire with the retirement of three flags.
And then on Sunday morning, we woke to a sleepy morning where I pulled out the leather keychains that many of the girls like to make. I just try not to get hit by the hammers. Rashann provided a good devotion, and then we began the paper plate awards. Ruby won the award for taking care of unstuffed animals. Belle won the award for being the PiPa leader on the hike down to the falls. Since I did not have a group this year, they let me do the awards for the little brothers and sisters that had joined us, which was fun. And then it was over. Another fun campout complete. We packed up and headed home.
So what were the boys doing this weekend? Sam went to a Robotics tournament in Montgomery, which was also at a fair. So they had fun competing with the robots, but also getting to ride some rides. Davis went with the Boy Scouts to go mountain bike riding at Chewacla state park. And since he and sam had both tore up their bikes, he took mine with him, and guess what...Yep, he broke my derailer on the first trip out. So he had to borrow other kids bikes for the other two bike rides that day. So three weeks later, Davis now has a new bike...and we took mine and Sam's today to be repaired. Davis is no longer allowed on our bikes.
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