Packing Day

We are busy packing up the car for the big trip which starts bright and early tomorrow morning. The plan is to drive Sherrill's car to Somerset, Kentucky, stay with her parents for the 4th of July, and then head on to St. Louis on the 5th in the Stanton's minivan.

Nathan had to do some prerequisites for a wilderness survival merit badge he will be taking at the Scout Camp in Utah, so today we started three fires without using matches. The first was easy, using a lighter (which seems like the easy way out, but the merit badge requirements actually suggest a lighter.) The second way was a bit harder but still possible using flint and steel to cause a spark to ignite dryer lint which then lit paper and twigs. The third way was a bit unusual. He used steel wool and a 9 volt battery. The battery causes sparks which then ignited the dryer lint. In the first picture the white stuff near the battery is lint (it kind of looks like smoke, but it isn't) Way to go Nathan!! There are pictures of the 9 volt battery technique below and also the map of our route.