Peterloon 2024, Bike Riding

Peterloon 2024

We spent Saturday at Peterloon 2024. This is the premier scouting event for the Dan Beard Council. Scouts from all over the country come here for the event and for good reason. It is a ton of fun with lots of things to do. This was our first time participating in the event, which happens every two years. We came with Troop 8 and used their camp as our base. We did not camp here over the weekend having found ourselves very busy Friday. I originally took Friday off but found myself so far behind on my house chores and projects that I spent the day catching up on those instead. We ended up spending that evening with our neighbors letting the boys play in the cul-de-sac and then came to the event very early Saturday. I am glad we did that instead because I found the Troop camped next to the port-o-lets. If you’ve ever been to a large event, it is not the smell of the port-0-lets (although that can be ripe) but rather the sound of those doors slamming all night, so perhaps we came ahead. We did not camp Saturday night because frankly I didn’t know how to get my stuff from the lot to the camp via bus. Now that we know the layout, we’ll just put our stuff with the troops and let them haul it in via the trailer.

The event itself stretched over both camps, Friedlander and Cub World. We walked all over sampling as much as we could. The first visit was to a falconry club where we checked out their hawks. Then to the castle where some medieval knight reenactors had a melee in full armor. Ted was able to swing around a sword and axe which he enjoyed. We then went up the hill to Friedlander and ate lunch there. We also visited the trades demonstration where we did some welding, saw large construction equipment, and played around with robotics. There were also lots of smaller stations where we learned yo-yo, talked to some museum representatives, and did some classic Scout activities. Ted also visited with some Army reps who let him get into their Humvee. There was so much to do and we had a great time.

Bike Riding

One of my goals this year was to get Ted riding a bike. We finally encouraged him enough to try it and despite a crash at the end he did really well. We are big bike riders here and having him join us on the bike trail is a plan in the making for some time. I hope we can make our way over this fall and ride as a family a few times before it gets too chilly. I also spent some time rollerblading myself. I am just a big believer in learning new things and I’ve wanted to roll some more cardio into my routine as well. What better way than getting on a pair of skates to do so? I am still trying to get my footing on them with some more confidence and it is getting easier. There is a park next to us I can visit during lunch and get a few laps in. I am of course a little worried about injury but I now have enough padding and learned enough about technique that I can minimize anything too serious.