COA & GMA Ceremony

On August 19th, 2007, Outpost 106 held a Council of Achievement. Pastor Dustin opened us in prayer and Commander Wes gave a great devotional. Lots of boys got certificates for merits and some got certificates of participation for Surfing, some for Canoeing along with the 50 mile patch. Several boys were given their Ranger Kids medals. But that wasn't all! Sectional Commander Ron Ward attended along with District Commander Tim Bruder and his wife to award Bronze and Silver medals to Dominic DeSantis and, wait for it, the Gold Medal of Achievement to Gabriel Arciniega! After, we had pizza and cake and Capri Suns. Boys all went home sufficiently sugared-up. And hopefully with dreams of their own GMA some day in the future. Check back later. Pictures will be posted soon.

Surfing Weekend 21 & 22 August 2009

The Outpost 106 Adventure Rangers Surfing Overnighter was quite a challenge this year but was still lots of fun. As luck would have it, the Women's and Men's ministries planned a "retreat" in the church for the same weekend (August 21 & 22) 7pm to 10pm Friday night. But since they were going to be in the church and we would be in the Learning Center, we changed our plans so we would play our night games inside. We had planned to make camp tables on Friday but we could not get the wood cut in time. So instead we were going to have an evening of just fun, play dark games downstairs in the Learning Center until the "retreat" was over and then go outside. But then late Friday afternoon, we found out the people coming to the "retreat" were dropping their children off in the Learning Center down stairs classrooms. So much for our dark games. Instead we sat around, did a devotional & skit, watched a movie and waited until the kids left, sometime after 10pm. But then everthing got crazy! Commanders Walker started the dark-game insanity! I don't know what happened and I hope I never do. Teams of three went down happy and five minutes later came back saying how they had thought they would never see the light again. After, we moved to outside for some really great Capture the Flag. After two wild games, one that lasted almost 50 minutes, we moved back inside, ate ice cream and watched movies (thanks, Ben). Most of the boys drifted off before the end of The Scorpion King. Lights out was at about 2am. Somewhere near 2:20, my eyes opened to see several boys who will remain nameless seeming to play out one of the battle scenes from the movie. I called them over to me and asked them to get into their sleeping bags so I could get some sleep. And, imagine my dismay, they did!
Well, morning came quick after that. All's I can say is I have since deleted the reveille sound from the Alarm app on my iPhone. At about 6:30am Commander David went on a McDonalds run while Commander Larry and I got breakfast going. As soon as the McMuffins arrived, we woke boys up (I tried to do "rise & shine", Steve) and one hour later were on the way to the beach.
Overcast, a little nippy, good for us, we got front parking. Boys carried boards over the break-wall and after stretching exercizes, we waxed up the boards and did a little refresher on how to surf. Once given the go-ahead. boys grabbed the boards and it looked just like one of those movies from the sixties. All the boys tried. After a short while, some decided their board of choice was going to be the boogie board. But everyone had fun. At about 12:30, most of the older boys had left the water and moved toward sun bathing or girl watching. But most of the Adventure Rangers and a few of the older boys were still in the water going strong. At 1:30, we go packed up, cleaned the beach area, and headed back to BVCC. Parents got the boys and after putting stuff away, commanders all went home to soak in the tub or just pass out.
Can't wait until next year! Pictures will be uploaded and links added to this blog by next week.

Started the new "Year-Round School" year

So much for the lazy days of summer, eh, kids? Chula Vista schools have gone to Year Round. So, trying to keep with the program, Outpost 106 has promoted boys to the next age group. Boys in Ranger Kids who have completed 2nd grade have been moved up to Discovery Rangers, boys who finished 5th grade have moved to Adventure Rangers, and boys who have graduated 8th grade have promoted to Expedition Rangers. We had two boys--actually both are now adults--Gabriel and Mario who graduated form high school and are now ready to be Commanders.  Congratulations to you both.

Coming up, we are planning Council of Achievement for August 5th. This will be at our regular meeting time at the church. Boys will get their certificates for merits and advancements earned since the last COA. Parents are encouraged to attend to take pictures and to meet with your son's commander (you might want to contact your son's commander to make sure you boy is getting an award). Parents please considering bringing or sending a treat for your son to share in the reception after the COA, something like cup cakes or cookies or maybe sodas. The COA will also be when the District Commander will award Gabriel his Gold Medal of Achievement. So it's sure to be a grand event.

Also coming up, August 21st and 22nd,is the Adventure Rangers Surfing Overnight. On Friday night we will do a little training and boys will each build a folding camp table to take home (picture). Saturday morning we will head to the beach and teach boys how to surf! Click here to go to the Outpost 106 website where you can get the flyer and forms. This is a "limited space" event so pay the $30 fee as soon as you can to lock you place. Last day to pay is August 19th. Call me with any questions.

 This year's Pow Wow 2009 for Southern California District Royal Rangers, Southern Division was June 5th through 7th. We took 18 BVCC boys for a really fun weekend at Lake Henshaw near Santa Ysibel, California.
 Here's a group picture taken right before we left to come home.

 You can see the rest of the pictures at the Outpost 106 website: http://www.outpost106.org/PowWow2009.html. Let me know if you have any pictures you took that I can scan and I will try to add them.



 Probably the most fun of all was had by Commander John who got to spend his afternoon--before coming to pick up the boys--waiting for the kids of San Ysidro High to get released by the bomb squad. Don't you just love Senior pranks, John???


 Friday morning Commander Larry and I got everything loaded (except Anthony's stuff)into the trailer and chuck wagon. Then, as soon as Commander Mario and Commander Dave and two helpful boys got there, we hitched up and headed to camp, first making a semi-quick stop at Lolita's Taco Shop, where patience is the essance of fine Mexican food, for burritos and horchatas (do you like my accent?). Then the senic view (Commander Larry and I missed our turn) and before long, a mere hour and a half later, we arrived. The camp was already busy. Campers form 37 outposts were setting up. We found a spot toward the north end of our reserved area with trees, water and (not too near) close to the public facilities--a brick bathroom building with signs taped over the Woman to say Men and over the Men to say Boys. The six of us got to business and before long had several tents up. I broke off to get the kitchen going. By the time the bus arrived with the rest of our campers, most of the tents were up and food was almost ready. Kids got their gear off the bus and Commander John headed the bus back to civilization.


Friday night service was everything you want it to be at a Ranger campout. The grass was covered with hundreds of boys all trooped in and found places sitting on stools and camp chairs, shoving and laughing, some in uniforms, while a band--made up of boys just barely older--played Christian Rock music on a stage silhouetted against the darkening evening sky. Commander Tim took the stage and welcomed us all, thanked God, and introduced our speaker, our chaplain, Commander Wes who showed a video of Marines and told us about being a warrior and what a warrior for God is all about, ending with an altar call. Three of our boys made their way forward and prayed for Salvation, and angels rejoiced!


After the service, boys ate meatball sandwiches, spaghetti, and at least one leaf of salad, followed by chocolate pudding with whipped topping, mmmmm! Before too long, all the boys turned-in and we commanders had peace and quiet until just before sunrise Saturday morning.


Saturday morning, Commander Mario was off to the Senior Commanders meeting at just after 6am. Cooks got up, made coffee and several of the boys volunteered to help make breakfast. Commander Mario cam back with the day's plans, we said grace, and everyone dug-in. We had plenty of food and a nice variety so everyone got their fill.  Once the eating was done, we headed to morning worship.


We sang songs and Commander Wes gave a devotion. Then Commander Tim introduced us to our missionary guest Dave Jenkins who told us about 13 countries in the world who's Christian leaderships have asked for Royal Rangers to come establish a children's program there. We took an offering and proceeds from campout patches were going to help fund his work.Commander Mario got his information so our Outpost can add his mission to ours.


After that, boys were dismissed to go have fun. There were several inflatables, paintball targets, a rock climbing wall, BB guns, archery, pudgel sticks, tomahawk throwing, and more. The missionary had a table and answered boys questions. While the boys were gone, some of the commanders got to finally relax back at the campsite. Until lunch.



Lunch was hot dogs and chips and watermelon all washed down with a bad flavor of punch. Several of our boys tried to memorize the memory verse but none felt ready to compete. So off they went again.


Now was time for the Seneca Run. Boys had to get themselves into 4-man teams and then run a race for the best time. Teams had to be all same age groups or a mix, one each from Discovery, Adventure, Expedition, and a commander. The race course started a an inflatable obstacle course. Boys had to take off their shoes and then go through two at a time and all had to get their shoes back on before running a distance from station to the next station. The next event, Cat Box Hunt, each boy had to dig around in a giant bowl of what looked like Coco Krispies for a piece of Tootsie Roll, which they all had to have in their mouths before moving on. Next they ran to Paintball, put on goggles and then one after the other shoot one paintball toward the targets. Then off to the FCF village, for tomahawk throwing. Next they ran to Eat The Worm in a Bottle, each boy grabbed a plastic bottle from a cardboard box and had to eat a gummy worm from inside it and then set the bottle back in the box. The final event was the water slide. Boys had to remove their shoes and then all four go up the steps to the top of a twenty foot high water slide and plunge down one at a time, the clock stopping when the last boy hit the pool at the bottom. Our Outpost had three teams, two mixed and one Discovery Rangers. What a great time!


As soon as the race was over, it was time for Gabriel to have his GMA board. I sure hope Gabriel wasn't as nervous as I was--not that I had any doubts. Next and final step, the GMA Ceremony in August!

We headed back to the Outpost campsite where we found Commander Rick continued as Wagon Master and already had his crew working on dinner. I grabbed up our 50 foot long wharf rope, gathered up the boys, and organized a tug-of-war contest--commanders against boys (just like paintball). But in just a few minutes, all the commanders and boys from the outpost at the next campsite came over and suddenly we had a really spectacular tug-of-war going! Before long, all the boys were worn out and made us commanders stop. I am betting most of those boys took a nap while I rested my eyes for the next hour.


After dinner we headed down to the Council Fire where, after some praise and worship, Commander Wes wore cammo face paint and again talked to us about what a warrior is, sharing with us some pictures and stories of Marines in conflict areas, and talked some more to us about the Armor of God and the Holy Spirit, ending with an altar call. Five of our boys prayed for Baptism in the Holy Spirit. There is no way to describe the feeling of awe and joy I get when a boy I am praying with opens his heart to the power of God.


 Boys got ready to hit their sleeping bags as Commander Mario got a campfire roaring. We loaded them up with icecream while they sat around the fire listening to stories. Slowly they all slipped off to their tents and once again the commanders had a little bit of peace and quite.



Sunday morning boys got up for a pancake breakfast and then started tearing down camp. We went to the assembly where we won ribbons for our races and our flags and for being fourth best outpost at Pow Wow! They collected money for the missionary and said the proceeds from the patch sales would also go toward his work. We went back to finish packing and, as soon as Edwardo arrived with the bus, a whole load of tired boys (and really tired commanders) headed back to BVCC. Parents got the kids and commanders put away the gear and, before long, we too were enjoying our own soft beds.That night I dreamed of getting the Surfing Overnight planned, sometime in August!

Colorado River Canoe Trip 2009 and Wilderness Survival Campout 2008

On March 27th-29th Outpost 106 boys went on the San Diego & Imperial Counties 2009 Colorado Canoeing trip. Here is the group picture taken when we got back.

It was a great trip! Click here for a slideshow of pictures.

The whole things started on Friday after a 200 mile drive when our Outpost joined with dozens of Rangers from other churches at Walter's Camp, about 15 miles down-river from Palo Verde. Two days later, we were in Yuma!

Wilderness Survival Camout - November 14-16 2008

Wow! Wilderness Survival Campout was great! We had twelve boys attend November 14th-16th, 2008. I am happy to say all of them survived. Here's a group picture of the boys as we started the mountain hike.

You can view a slideshow of pictures by clicking here.

But let me tell the story. Everything went smoothly up until Friday. Boys brought their gear on Wednesday. Thursday afternoon, some parents blessed us and donated a minivan to our Outpost! That made it certain we would have enough transportation for the campout without having to ask parents to drive. We shopped on Thursday and Friday and were pretty ready to go at about 3PM. But that's when stuff started to go wrong. The pickup truck we planned to use to tow the Outpost trailer was late. At first we thought it was just going to be late. Out planned time to leave was 4PM. At 4:30, everyone was there and ready to go. But still no pickup truck. By 5:00 we had to change plans. Commander Mario went home and got his tow hitch. Mrs Cdr Jeff went to Little Caeser's and got the boys pizza. By the time Cdr Mario got back and we got the trailer hitched up, it was well after 6 and already after sunset (San Diegans hate daylight savings time). An hour later, we arrived at the campsite on Cdr John's property in Barret Junction. And the wind was blowing! Southern California has something called a Santa Anna wind, which hit us with about 35 MPH winds. The campout plan went out the window. But, realistically, the boys were in a true survival situation. The problem was going to be getting to cover the stuff needed for the merits. But first things first, shelter. Usually on this campout boys are supposed to make a primative shelter and sleep in it overnight. I looked around and thought about boys stumbing about in the dark with camp saws and ropes and trying to gather debris in the gusts and decided, rather than have the boys start their shelters, we had them put up tents. We hooked up our emergancy power, got some lights up. While boys put up tents, Commander Bradley made a latrine and some of the rest of us commanders grilled up burgers. Boys gathered around for fellowship, ate, and got to know each other better. By morning, three of the five tents had at least partially blown down, all tents had either rocks or logs pinning them down.

Saturday morning started out with a quick but good breakfast. Everyone learned how to use the latrine, happily we have no pictures as everyone is glad to just forget the experience. Once everyone had eaten, boys gathered on the fallen tree for a chair. Each was given a binder filled with survival instruction. We spent the morning covering how to build a shelter, start a fire, purify water, signal for help, find and cook food, make traps & snares, how to find their way when lost, and what goes in a survival kit. The wind was too strong to attempt fire starting. Boys worked some on their shelters. At about noon, we broke for lunch and boys asked if we could take a hike up the mountain. I looked up, seemed like maybe 300 or so feet to the top, and agreed. We grabbed our survival kits, water, and I passed out MREs for lunch. We crossed the creek and started our way up. Boys took off ahead and us commanders tgrudged along after. In just a little while we reached the crest of the hill only to find another maybe 300 feet. Talk about trickery! We continued up and, believe it or not, at the top we found yet another 200 feet up. As they say, in for a penny in for a pound. We followed. By the time I reached the next top I looked at another 100 feet to go and was nearly ready to have boys try out their CPR skills on me. A steady strong wind of prabably at least 20 MPH was blowing across the top of the hill. My first frantic thought was that boys would run to the last top and get blown off the edge on the other side of the mountain and plummet the 1000 feet and oh, oh, oh, started to hyperventalate and then Commander Bradley pointed out how the boys had stopped. I was amazed! The boys were were standing on top of twelve foot high bolders and leaning way into the wind like ship sails, certainly past any point of recovery had the wind somehow stopped. Some of the commanders jioined them (I stayed on the ground). Looking back down the way we came, our camp was like you see on a diarama or game board, with what must have been Commander Mario who stayed back at camp sitting on a chair soaking in some rays. But before I had a chance to get woozy, the boys started to climb up to the top again. But, with the wind so strong, we stopped them and instead headed back down the mountain, heading down another direction with a more gradual slope. Soon we came to a stop at some rock formations with a rather large cave. Commander Bradley gave a class on how to heat and eat the MRE's (meals ready to eat) which we acquired at GI Joe's Army Surplus in El Cajon. The boys all seemed to enjoy them.

After our return to camp, boys finished making their shelters. The high winds added to our remote location sure helped it seem we were really in a survival situation. Dark came soon after that. We got ready to cook our wilderness meals. But still the wind blew. Boys were able to get straw to catch fire from flint and steel but as soon as we saw strands of burning straw start to blow away, we put an end to that. Boys use the bow & drills to learn how to make them and get a cinder but we stopped before having a fire. Instead we started up the propane grill and Commander David had wilderness food for all in short order. After that we took a night hike and star-gazed. We reflected for about an hour about God's wonder and then returned. Boys found their shelters and settled in for the night. Sometime in the early morning the wind died enough to let us all get to sleep but in the morning, it picked back up again making it still unsafe still to try to start fires. We finished our traps and snares training as well as completed other areas and then began to pick-up. By lunch we had the cmp dismantled and packed up and were headed back home. We stopped for cold drinks in Delzura and were back at the Church parking lot by mid afternoon. Parents arrived and got their kids, the commanders and I all sighed, we survived another campout!

Fall Sectional Campout 2008

Another campout, well done! The San Diego & Imperial County Section Fall campout was at Cibbets Flat, a small park in the Cleveland National Forest just inches off the Pacific Crest Trail. The campout was attended by just four Outposts but with dozens of boys. Click here to view campout pictures.
Friday night boys put up tents just before it got dark. Then, with the camp being nestled in Fred Canyon surrounded by hills over 4500 feet above sea level, there was no sign of city lights and a zillion stars filled the sky. We sat and visited with the sound of night peepers filling the air. When the moon came up, it was almost bright enough to read by. Before long, it was time for lights-out and boys made their way to sleeping bags, all of them tired enough that they barely even noticed the grunts and groans of a pack of bears, several buzz saws, and even a motor boat, all starting just after the last commander hit the sack.
Saturday started at sunrise. Most boys were up and about just after 6am although at least one needed a splash of water to get started. Breakfast was coffee and some other stuff everyone else had. Yellow Jackets joined us for every meal. After breakfast, the day went on, non-stop! Boys ate great food, played relay games, built fires, did a nature scavenger hunt, got wet, hung out with new friends, climbed some pretty nice rocks, went on hikes, learned to tie knots, and enjoyed every minute.
As it got dark, we made our way to the Saturday night assembly where Commander Ron told us about Jed Smith, God's mountain man, and read us Psalms 23. After, we went back to our camp and sat around the campfire, thanks Commander Larry. Commander Mario and the Outpost 106 commanders all took turns speaking about why they were in Rangers. A couple of dads told some great stories. Then we had S'mores. Mmmmmm! And Jiffy Pop! The next morning was Sunday and we had church. All the other Outposts met at our campsite and sat in the shade to listen to Commander Ron as he reminded us about Jeb Smith and how his legacy lives on. He challenged the boys to leave a legacy of people they talked to about Christ. Wow!
Boys who brought in their scavenger hunt bags all got handfuls of candy, like early Halloween! All wrappers went into the trash and Commander Larry made sure we left no trace, nothing but footprints, as they say. Once all the tents were down and Commander Mike was finishing-up getting the trailer loaded, Commander Monique showed kids how to make sunprints. Then she was the first to dunk for apples--as she put it, I ain't putting my face in there after a bunch of boys.
Soon we loaded boys on the bus, gave God thanks, and then we were on our way back home, all of us better for the experience, full of stories to tell. Other than a spontaneous bloody nose for one boy and a bit of rash from stinging nettles on a leg of another, we had no medical problems. We thank BVCC and our moms and our wives for letting us go. Next event, Adventure Rangers Wilderness Survival campout, November 14-16 on Commander John's property in Barrett Junction--more info to follow.

September 2008 Unit Reports and campout reminder

Well, our Summer break has ended. We started BVCC Royal Rangers again on September 3rd. All commanders returned happy and ready to go.

Boys need to pay their annual Charter Dues $8 by the end of the month. Get the form on the website: www.outpost106.org.

Now, we are only a week away from Sectional Campout! Your gear and your payment and permission forms should be turned in this Wednesday. Campout is Friday September 26th, leave the BVCC parking lot at 5pm. This is going to be so much fun! Hope to see all boys there. As always, our events are open to your friends who are not in Rangers. Get more info and download forms on the website: www.outpost106.org. Call your commander if you have any questions. Cost is $35.

Remember, if you need to borrow camping gear or if you cannot afford to pay for campout or anything else we are doing in Royal Rangers, let your commander know as soon as you can so he can find a way to help you.

Here's what we have going on in our Wednesday meetings right now:

Expedition Rangers, boys in 9th-12th grade, are working on the Computers merit. Expedition Rangers Commanders are Albert and George.

Adventure Rangers, boys 6th-8th grade, are working on the Christian Service merit and the Romans Bible merit. Adventure Rangers Commanders are Jeff and Larry. In the next few weeks we will interview a lay worker and a pastor, we will better understand what a ministry calling is, we will we will memorize the Salvation verses and learn how to use them to walk a friend through the steps to Salvation. Note from Commander Jeff: I am always excited at the beginning of the year to meet the boys who just moved up in their grade, for Adventure Rangers that means 6th graders, in elementary schools they are the BIG kids, in middle schools they are the new scum. We will try to make them leaders who one day will be strong Christian men. So welcome 6th graders. Our new Senior Guide and both our Patrol Guides are all 6th graders. What fun!

Discovery Rangers, boys 3rd-5th grade, are working on the Rope Craft merit. Discovery Rangers Commanders are Rick, and Manuel, and Tony.

Ranger Kids, boys Kindergarten-2nd grade, are learning the Ranger Code and memorizing Psalms 23.  Ranger Kids Commanders are Dave and Monique.  Note form Commander Dave: I have badges and rewards for boys who complete their memorizing. We are talking gift cards. And, as always, don't do drugs.

I hope to talk to the Unit commanders this weekend to find out more of what what each age group is working on. I'll update this then.

As always, let me know if you have any suggestions for this blog. Cdr Jeff.

Commanders Family Picnic

Thanks to Mike & Pat for hosting yesterday's Outpost 106 Commanders Family Picnic. Click here to view a few pictures. All the Unit commanders and their families were there along with Steve & Sharon. It was quite casual, starting at around Noon with nearly everyone arriving close enough that we began to start eating right away, thanking God for a wonderful gathering, great weather, lots of food & drinks, and what ended up being a great time!

Even though we had activities and things to do, a lot of the time was spent just visiting. Which was a good thing. We see each other in passing at Church and at Wednesday meetings (except when they are canceled for two months) but it is too casual. And over time it seems we become more like acquaintances rather than people marching in ministry together, depending on each other for prayer and support. It is also good to do this so wives can meet and spend time together; Royal Rangers is a very intense ministry and there is no way any of us can do what God has called us to do for these boys without the full understanding of our families.

Mostly we sat around and soaked in the sun, ate some really good food (thanks for the breadsticks, Rick!) and plenty of ice cold sodas, some watched Olympics and debated if trampoline is really a sport, and Mike even opened the Jacuzzi. Kids played at the pool table and the dart board (rumor has it there may have been some video games covertly played). The only thing that might have made this a greater success would have been if everyone had been there. We broke up in time for those of us going to Saturday Church to get there on time, each of us blessed with one another's friendship. And I guess I owe everyone prayer brownies.

Outpost Website: www.outpost106.org

This past weekend—August 1^st & 2^nd 2008—Outpost 106 Adventure Rangers had our Second Annual Surfing Overnight . It was a great time! Click here to view pictures.

The weekend started with an Overnight/Lock-In in the Church’s Learning Center. 13 boys wandered in somewhere between 5pm and 6pm, the last two showing up just before 8pm (Ms Santa’s oldest was at his 13^th birthday party and had to come late). The boys’ ages ranged from 10 years old up to senior in high school. Out of six commanders who had signed up to be there, four had to work. That left me and Cdr Larry, and he would be late. Earlier that day, I had Rudy, one of the church maintenance guys, cut me some four-foot one by six boards and as the boys got there, I let them try to balance on a 2-liter soda bottle, my home-made version of an Indo board. Most of them took right to it, some eating or drinking to show off. Some went flying. I'll leave it to your imagination what happened when I tried. I prefer to say I always want boys to learn from the benefit of my failures.

Once most of the boys had arrived, yet while still waiting for Cdr Larry to get there, we went outside and sat in the patio where I went over surfing safety and surfer etiquette while boys tried real hard to seem interested. I reassured them that there was no realistic possibility they would be bitten by a shark, stung by jellyfish, or skewered by stingrays. And as long as they didn't try to catch a crab, no crab was going to bite them.

We had a copy of Andy Irons "Learn to Surf" video (rented from Netflix) which I started up, thinking kids might rather watch that than hear me drone on, but instead the boys played and visited, so I asked and none of them really cared if I turned it off. So we went into surfboard practice. Boys practice lying down on a board, paddling, foot placement, their style, and soon got bored.

So we tried to order pizza. I had one of the high school boys call Costco to place an order for 8 pizzas. He was told by the Costco employee they refused to take an order that large over the phone, reason being there had been two fake orders placed already that day; we needed to come in and pay first. So, long story short, Mrs. Cdr Jeff had to go up and get pizzas. We went outside and played Capture the Flag until she arrived. The boys ate at about 9:00pm. After that they played dark games in the basement until about 1:30am when I finally convinced them they needed to sleep if they were going to learn to surf in the morning.

At about 2am, most of the boys were still up and had their PSPs on. Seems the church has a wireless router in the building with an unsecure network. The boys were on-line playing games against each other and were loud enough to wake me. I asked them to put them away, giving them a few minutes to save or log-off or what-ever. All got quite again and I dozed off again. At about 2:30, the noise woke me again. I told the boys to get up and we all went outside and sat. I told them to go ahead and visit. I took a Bible and started reading about King David. The boys seemed to think I was punishing them and just sat there. I reassured them they were not in trouble, I just didn’t want them talking while others were trying to sleep. We talked about horror movies (something I hate) and I have no idea what else. After about ten minutes I sent the really sleepy ones back inside. About 3am, we all went back in. I fell back asleep. At 6:10am, Cdr Larry was waking me.

So after microwaving and then feeding boys frozen waffles and breakfast croissants and cold cereal, we got the boys and our beach gear loaded into three vehicles. Cdr George arrived just in time for us to leave and we headed to Coronado beach. Most people go to Coronado beach and park in the large parking lot just south of the Hotel Del. Few people know about the tiny city parking lot with about 100 free unmetered spaces between the Coronado Shores condos found at the end of Avenida de las Arenas. The public beach dead-ends into restricted off limits Navy property about 1000 yards to the South. The slope into the water is very gradual right there. When the tide is all the way out, the beach is about seventy-five feet wide, when the tide is all the way in, it’s about 25 feet.

It was a wonderful day for surfing! Mid Seventies, the water was just about 72 degrees, the tide had turned at about 5am, there was a nice off-shore breeze WNW of about 5mph, swells were between 2 and 4 feet, a bit of marine layer so it never got too sunny.

We pulled into the parking lot and were met right away by Cdr Mike’s brother, Roger who told us he and a friend, Rob, were already there. I cannot tell you how proud I am everywhere we go with Royal Rangers boys. None of them ran off or started bickering or tried to get out of work. They were all standing there eagerly waiting for Cdr Larry and I to direct them. Thirteen kids all on the edge of becoming men, but today all swim trunks and smiles. The boys got all our gear and walked to the end of the parking lot. There the sea wall stands a good twelve feet high, a ramp leads to the sidewalk on top, a slow walk until their eyes got high enough to see what we came for. In moments the boys were on the sand and looking at ten surfboards they had waiting for us to use.

Some of the boys wanted to just get in the water. Between us we had one more surfboard and about ten boogie boards. I asked all the boys to at least attempt to learn to surf. Cdr Mike got there and so did Cdr Rick. We now had six teachers in the water with Cdr Larry on beach duty, as per our 8 rules for water safety. Before long, several of the boys asked if they could switch to boogie boards, all had taken a surfboard and had tried (some succeeding) to stand up. So I said okay, cautioning them to stay clear of the surfing area so they wouldn’t get konked by a loose board. Mrs Cdr Jeff and Mrs Cdr Mike showed up for a while, brought some snacks, and took some pictures. Several of the boys were doing okay on their own, some were still in need of help. Soon it was clear who was now a surfer. Roger and his friend Rob left at about noon and took four of their ten boards with them.

By the end of the day, when we left the beach, six boys had learned to surf and could stand up confidently riding the waves. Three others had already been able and showed their style at least once. Four boys just had a fun day at the beach. Just like Cdr Jeff; after about ten minutes of not being able to stand my out-of-shape self up, I swapped my surfboard for a boogie board and joined Cdr Rick way out in the heavy surf.

What a great day! Be sure to check out the pictures! We gathered up our stuff, picked up the beach, got back in our vehicles and returned to the church. There we polished off the remaining pizza and waited for parents. Can’t wait to do this again next year!

On September 3^rd we start up our new year.

Our next event is the Coronado Beach Hike on September 13^th. We have our Fall Sectional Campout on 26^th-28^th. I’ll keep you updated.

Announcing the Royal Rangers Outpost Blog106

Hi! I am the Adventure Rangers commander of Royal Rangers Outpost 106, Bonita California. A scouting ministry for boys at Bonita Valley Christian Church.

Starting this September 2008, I am going to do a weekly blog. The objective will be to inform parents, giving them a way to see what their boy's Unit is up to. I hope to be very timely and have it posted and ready to read by Thursday mornings but certainly no later than Saturday night.