Departure and Travel Day – Sunday July 14, 2013

The long-awaited day of departure has arrived with early morning wake up calls in order to be able to arrive at the Morristown Armory by 6:00 am where five Boy Scout Troops of 40 youth and adults and three Venture Crews of 10 youths and adults each filled five tour buses for their trip to the National Scout Jamboree.  After the obligatory check-in to ensure all paperwork was properly completed, the Scouts where wished well by their families. Quite a few tears where shared amongst the Scouts and families, but everyone quickly realized that for many this was an adventure that was anticipated for two to three years.

The convoy of tour buses departed the armory by 7:10 am and traveled down Interstate Highways 78 and 81. While the Troop B410 bus was initially quiet, most likely due to the sleep deprivation associated with last preparations and early wake-up calls, by the time of the first rest area stop outside of Hershey, the group had already warmed-up to the fact that this social structure was going to be their family surrogate through July 24 and were striking-up loud interactive conversation. The group was met with their first challenge at lunch.

Unlike travel down the Interstate 95 corridor, the rest area dining services along Interstate 81 are non-existent, thus an off-highway stop was required. Fortunately the experienced bus drivers chose to pull off the highway in northern West Virginia into an area where there were multiple food options tightly clustered in a concentrated area. The fives buses commandeered the Pizza Hut parking lot and many Scouts quickly overwhelmed the capacity of several employees to serve such a large group. The resource gatherers amongst the Troop members used their reconnaissance skills and assessed that slightly more distant options included a Burger King, Shoney’s. Subway, and Sheetz gas station which helped alleviate the congestion. Interactions with locals validated that the area was anticipating the arrival of the Boy Scout Jamboree with open arms.

A conversation with a member of the 167th wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard confirmed that their members as well as those of the Army would be present on the Jamboree grounds. A local (retired) Scoutmaster volunteered that he and his colleagues were planning to visit the Jamboree as visitors. 

The buses pulled onto the grounds of the scenic Concord University campus in Athens, WV at around 6 pm and enjoyed a country style buffet-type meal prepared by the university food service.  There was an abundance of choices to meet the gastrointestinal satisfaction of even the most discerning Scout. By 8 pm, the Scouts occupied the entire 10-story South Tower of the university dormitory. The double occupancy two-room suites serve as the overnight accommodation option for the Patriots’ Path Council contingent. The pool was available for Scout use until 10 pm along with other recreational opportunities. 

Wake-up calls will be around 5:30 am on Monday with breakfast served at 6 am and planned departure for the Jamboree site at 7:30 am in order to allow the contingent to achieve its 9:00 am scheduled check-in objective. The Scouts will transform a wilderness to a fully functional city of 40,000 people in a matter of hours on Monday.