I'm on a Boat, Motherfucker!

Except instead of a yacht, I'm going hardcore on a canoe. I've got my swim trunks but no flippy floppies (Because open-toed shoes are a BAD idea for this trip). If you're on the shore, then you're sure not me-oh (Since I will be in places only reachable by canoe).

. . .

Ok, enough of that.

After only three days in civilization to recuperate from camp, I'm heading out on my canoe trip into the wilderness of Algonquin Provincial Park. To be honest, I'm actually kind of freaked out.

For 10 days, I am one of only two leaders completely responsible for the safety of seven scouts. At camp there's a full staff on hand to help out if shit hits the fan, but deep in the park you're more likely to see moose than people. There will be three Eagle Scouts (myself included) on this expedition, so we should be all right, but this is still way more responsibility than I'm used to.

What also freaks me out is the complete cut-off from communication. Even at camp, I can access the internet at the nearby town's library, and we actually got decent cell reception at our site this year. However on this trip, there is none of that. Remember that big power outage that knocked out electricity to most of the Northeast five years ago? Yeah, I don't. That happened while I was on this trip as a scout. When we got back, we didn't believe it had happened until we saw news articles first hand and experienced the rolling blackouts in town. Who knows what will go down this time I'm off the grid.

Yet as much as I'm freaked out, I'm also crazy excited. This trip was one of the highlights of my time in scouting. The scenery is beautiful (as long as it doesn't rain), and the park is the most pristine location I have ever seen. I would do this for free, but they're actually paying me to go! Who knows, if this whole aerospace thing doesn't quite work out, I might look into making a living doing this kind of stuff as an outdoor guide of some sort.

I hope you all have been having a great summer, and I wish I was better at keeping in touch. As I will be officially unemployed when I return, road trips might be in order. So if you live within a day's drive of Rochester, be ready for surprise visits.