Boy Scout Camping, Suttetrae, Insekthotel and Dragons!!

The youngest has joined the local troop of Boy Scouts of America International and this past weekend the troop went camping. Other troop leaders couldn’t stay the full 2 nights, so MBH (My Beloved Husband)and I signed up to go. I was going anyway, because Boy Scout policy says any time there is a female troop member, an adult female must also be present.

The oldest, upon realizing she might have to go camping, – as quickly as she could – found a friend whose parents agreed to let her stay with them the weekend. She and her friend even got to go to a pop concert by themselves in Freetown Christiana Saturday night.

As for the rest of us…

We had intentionally left all our camping gear in Rochester – I shudder to think what it would have cost us in excess baggage to bring it all.

So I sent out a plea to parents in the troop and other parents I know asking if anyone had sleeping bags and mats we could borrow.

The troop had tents, cooking equipment, other camping gear.

Deepest gratitude to the Chris, Jennifer, Ros, Luke, Corina, Steve, Gregor, and Brady for loaning us sleeping gear.

When we planned transportation to get to the campsite, we thought we only had one car and not all 8 people + gear would fit.

So the plan was to put as much gear as we could in the car, and then take the train and a bus (and then a short walk) to the campsite.

MBH, the youngest, and I had about a 6 minute bike ride to the meet up station.

So we packed up the bikes.

Admiring the packed bikes. This is the best EVER. Two of my favorite activities, combined – biking and camping!
I accidentally took this photo too soon. MBH was on his way to smiling for the camera. Unfortunately, I only took one. The youngest is [mostly] always ready with a smile.

An hour or so before we were to meet up, I had gotten an email from a dad of one of the troop members and while the dad himself was not going camping, he very kindly offered to drive whomever needed it. I have to say, thank the stars and heavens.

Because if we had had to find our way to the campsite in the dark, from the bus stop, it would have taken us hours and hours. It took us at least 15 extra minutes just to find the parking lot. The few minutes (maybe 10-15) after we parked the car, and wandered around the site looking for our campsite, wondering if we were even in the right place, were sufficiently worried-filled (at least for me – I cannot speak for others – but as many of you know I’m quite and anxious traveler, even if it’s camping 30 minutes away from Copenhagen). It was cold, 100% dark, and foggy.

BUT! we found it!! YAY!

A bit blurry, but the campsite has been located! About 500m from the parking lot, so the scouts are hauling stuff in.
First things first, a campfire!
A little tricky since it was super wet and foggy.
But, the troop leader who joined us Friday night had thought ahead and brought dry wood. Thank you Steve!!!

While the scouts were building the fire, cooking dinner, setting up the campsite, I wandered around a bit (I was a few thousand steps short of my daily 10,000 steps goal). And saw this curious tree, that had stuff hung all over it. Pacifiers, some ribbons, a lot of plastic. I had seen a tree like this before and because this one had a sign “Suttetrae” with a description, and I had a bit of time on my hands, I took a picture, then googled it. Google comes through 98% of the time and I swear will own us all one day. Anyhow, here is what the wikipedia page shared:

Suttetrae – A teat tree. “A teat tree is a tree on which children hang their teats when they have grown from them or when their parents and educators like to see the children grow from their teats.”

The suttetrae at night.
Suttetrae in the daylight.
While I have to say that I’m not really a fan of the aesthetics of suttetrae’s, I greatly appreciate, what I [think] is a collective rite of passage for Danish children for giving up their pacifiers.
I imagine doing it this way probably makes it far easier for Danish kids to relinquish pacifiers than say, American children. How many American parents stress out over their children’s attachment to pacifier?
I got rid of pacifiers early on, but the youngest sucked her thumb until one day she just decided to quit, in the 3rd or 4th grade. Thank goodness, because I had no idea what to do if it was going to continue.
The suttetrae explanation reminds me of the rite of passage I learned about from friends living in Munich – for kindergarteners in Germany – where children are “tossed” out of their kindergarten building at the end of their kindergarten year.
Ok, ok, it’s not quite as dramatic as it sounds – the teachers gently swing the children onto a mattress.
But the children LOVE it.
A fun rite of passage.

We were all in our sleeping bags by about 8:30pm.

Some took our time getting out of them in the next AM. It was quite cold and this closer-to-middle-age-than-I’ve-ever-been-before-body just doesn’t take to camping sleeping pads like it once did.

Gregor, the troop’s chef, and a very good one at that, was up at 6:30am [still dark!] to get the coffee, bacon, and eggs started and ready by the time everyone else was up.

Unfortunately, the stove did not cooperate right away, so he cooked in the daylight.

And had some moral support.

Luke, keeping the chef company.
This is the coffee. I had never heard of cowboy coffee before (we take our 12 cup espresso maker, always) and was impressed.
Our sleeping shelter, the Vikinghus. Very well made. Beautiful wood carvings. And a nice living roof! And yes, those are huge bags under my eyes. Camping out in the woods is worth it.
MBH. Waiting for coffee.

After breakfast, it was time to light the fire.

A few (who shall remain nameless) went to look for firewood [all wood around us was super wet] and came back with a wheelbarrow about half full.

They told us they found a lovely supply of firewood underneath the “Insekthotel.”

It struck us a bit odd that that’s where they would keep extra firewood. But in any case, the scouts got the fire lit…It was cold, upper 30s [for the Americans reading this, 3C for everyone else].

A few folks [who shall remain nameless] went back to the Insekthotel to get more firewood, and came back to say that while the piles underneath the Insekthotel looked like they were just set up perfectly for campfires (kindling in the middle, split wood on the ground on the left), in fact, that material was insekt habitat.

If I were an insekt, I’d totally want to live there – just not on the ground level.
Perfect kindling right there.
Perfect split logs for a fire!
Right!?!?!?!?

However, the 2nd time around members of our group (who shall forever remain nameless) told us there was a Dane who set them straight on their error. And fussed at them to tell them that in fact, everything underneath the structure was *part of* the insekthotel, and what we had used for our fire was actually insekt habitat. Damn damn damn. So sorry little insects. And I mean this – no snark, no sarcasm. Insects around the world are in serious and significant decline and need all the help we can give them.

And while I admit I was relieved our somewhat open sleeping shelter had zero bugs (visible to my eye, anyway), it also had me thinking a whole lot about the impact humans are having on the natural world.

In any case, the actual firewood pile for campers was located and brought back to the campsite. In hindsight, maybe we should have added some split logs back to the habitat.

After collecting the firewood, and warming up a bit by the fire, the group headed out for a walk in the woods to explore the park.

Heading out for a stroll in the woods. In case you were not already aware, Denmark is an incredibly flat country. Makes for fabulous and fast cycling and biking, but not so great for serious hiking enthusiasts (like the youngest).

We walked for about 45 minutes, early on passing another group of campers who told us that “over there a ways” there are the remnants of ancient viking burial site. We tried to find it, to no avail.

This is the 2nd campsite in the park. From what we could tell there were only 2 accessible from the parking lot where had been dropped off.

Three members of the group had to leave to get back to Copenhagen by 11:30 or so, but those of us who remained decided to keep walking.

We took a group photo before parting ways.

All smiles. We’ve warmed up a bit.
And being in nature is just good for any soul.
The remaining crew.

After wandering around a few trails in the woods for an hour or so, we headed back to the campsite.

There was this one place where the trail crossed a fairly busy 2-lane road. There was a path that went underneath the road with a sign with an arrow and a bike on it.

The group decided it was better to try and avoid the cars on the road than to try and avoid the cyclists on the path going under the road… Danish cyclists will run you over…

Gregor sprinting across the road. Stan keeping an eye out. I kind of love this shot. Didn’t even have to use a burst to get it…

We got back and it was lunch time. But before lunch, we had to light the fire. Not only is a campfire fun and relaxing, it was also an important addition this weekend as it was cold, and damp [maybe I mentioned this once or twice or 1000X already? I think we are more obsessed with talk of the weather here than talk of the weather in upstate NY].

Teamwork. Don’t Fall In!

After fire starting and lunch, the scouts were looking for things to do.

Now it was time for some roof climbing shenanigans.

Gregor first, the youngest on her way.
Stan enjoying a marshmellow before attempting the climb
We have conquered the Vikinghus roof!
Stan on his way!
Before deciding it was too slippery
The youngest walking along the ridge of the roof.
Carefully coming down. Each in their own way.
Gregor: I’m descending this way…
Campfire, yes – but if you look closely you’ll see a pink marshmellow. Actually, I think it’s supposed to be red as its a Jule marshmellow (Christmas marshmellow) And holding that stick is a little Danish girl.
She, her sister (not much older) and their dad were visiting the park and stopped by our fire.
Danes have a reputation for being reserved, not quite as open and friendly as say, Americans (who, admittedly, can be kind of over the top outgoing).
But in my experience I’ve found lots of Danes just willing to come on over and strike up a conversation.
Like this dad and his daughters (his wife was on a girls-weekend with friends). They stayed for about 30 minutes, chatting (the dad – the girls were quite shy).
I’m still at a point of being reluctant to ask folks to take their picture for my blog. I need to be braver and just ask…And carry little business cards on them to hand to people when I take their picture…
*Sigh* all the good ideas I have that tend to just stay “good ideas.” In this case I did not ask, so I have a picture of one of the Jule marshmellows, the little girls were roasting.

After lunch, MBH and I decided to go out for another walk. Given Danish weather, we’ve decided that if it’s not pouring, we are going to be outside – especially as daylight is disappearing fast.

So we headed out to explore the park and the forrest. Discovered lots of things – logging areas, old growth forrest, horseback riding trails, mountain (“mountain” is a bit of a stretch – more like off-road) biking trails, maple trees being tapped for syrup, frisbee golf course, a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm, and a very very cool playground.

Came to an area that had been logged, and young saplings were growing.

I assumed when we walked into that grove of pines, it would be another area being grown for logging. To our surprise we found it was actually quite old growth forrest. No underbrush at all.

Bright green moss everywhere. It was beautiful. In spite of the gray.

How many more pictures of me are you going to take today? Me: not sure yet.
Smile!
Another section that had been logged as well. But earlier. The saplings here are a bit bigger.
Until I went back and looked at these pictures, I hadn’t noticed how different the 2 sides of the path were. But there you have it. I think old growth on the left and logging trees on the right. And I could be totally wrong about this. Feel free to correct me.
Two horseback riders. Another instance where I wish I’d asked them if I could take their picture. I think the horse in the front was a Friesian or Friesian cross – a stunningly beautiful horse breed.
Trees marked for logging.
Sign says “contaminated soil, do not walk on” It was a fairly big area and made us curious to know what the contaminant was. We couldn’t tell and did not find out…

Made it back to the camp site, fairly close to the park’s very cool playground, with DRAGONS!

Dragons! ROAR!
Viking trying to control the dragons [and subsequently giving children a rope to balance and walk across].
Climbing rocks with wood carvings on top.
Hello hatching baby dragon!

Of course this place doesn’t just have fun and games for children. It also includes a frisbee golf course!

Here’s one hole, in the middle of the Christmas tree farm.

The Christmas tree farm

Christmas tree farm!
Alas, the two days for cutting them yourself are when we will be out of the country. Hopefully we’ll find A Christmas tree to put up.

After all this exploring (we covered 8 miles in all, on Saturday) we headed back to see what the scouts were up to.

Managing the campfire of course!

It is 4:30pm in this picture.
I was already ready for bed.
Note the 3 people in the background. 3 Danish teenage girls maybe 14 – 16 years old. Just out for a night camping by themselves. I love the freedom and responsibility given to young Danes. There’s no way I would have been able to go camping by myself with friends when we were 15!!! Turns out, the skill of lighting a fire and cooking food over it is taught in kindergarten… Awesome… The campsite and shelter was definitely big enough for both groups. The food they cooked (over a fire) looked amazing, stews, and crepes and more…

We went to bed fairly early, and while I have to say I was a bit worried the chattiness of everyone in the shelter (our group + the Danish teens) would go on all night, by 2055 everyone was quiet.

It poured rain all night – makes for lovely sleeping weather. Although I still think my days of sleeping comfortably on a camping mattress – no matter how thick and luxurious, are over.

We slept in a bit (7am) but Gregor started the bacon and eggs and coffee as soon as we woke up.

Conversation at breakfast was fun.

“So what is worst thing you’ve ever eaten?”

Gregor: “Kangaroo tail – served like steak, but tough.”

Stan: “Well, one day, some friends of mine and I just took a bunch of leftover meat in the fridge – bunch of different kinds of sausages, put them in a glass, poured in some milk and sugar and then blended it up like a milkshake.”

We immediately declared Stan the winner. And I am going to laugh [while holding back gagging] forever at this story…

Then it was time to pack up and head home. To get it all to the parking lot, we were most grateful for the wheelbarrow.

Headed to pick up 2nd load.
And look who’s resting on her laurels while Dad schlepps the stuff? Thumbs up for the camping weekend {and reading her book in the camp chair while Dad hauls the stuff. I think this was mostly due to the fact that the scouts really did handle most everything for the weekend, so MBH was happy to contribute. Does not excuse the youngest from relaxing at this particular point.
Stan and Gregor, final wheelbarrow load. I also really love Stan’s hat.

Stan’s dad Alex very generously picked us up on Sunday too. I shudder to think how we would have gotten back by bus and train. Well, the answer is, we likely would not have without recruiting a few sympathetic passengers to help us.

A huge shout out and thank you to Alex.
Alex is Stan’s dad, who so graciously drove us up Friday night and came and picked us up on Sunday morning.
The [camping] Kelley’s in the back of the van, headed back to Copenhagen.

I was sorely tempted to take a long afternoon nap when we got home and had finished unpacking, but was then reminded of how little daylight we now have, so decided to have a cup of coffee and head out for a run (ok, ok, run/walk – working my way back up to “running”).

And on my way home, lo and behold I saw the sunset.

And just had to take a picture.

All in all a lovely weekend, exploring, observing, experiencing, and living. All things I’m really enjoying doing here in Denmark and hope to do more of when we move back to the U.S.

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9 Comments

  1. Once again , you made me feel as if I was there with you (I could almost smell the trees). Love the camping house, they need to start building those here in the US

  2. Live this, Neely! Great job! Ditto previous comments! Wish I had done SO much more of that in my younger days! Love to you all! MOM

    1. Thanks Mom:) One of the things I’m realizing is that I think we all participate in these sorts of experiences more often than we realize.It’s just rarely do folks have (or take) the time to write about them. It *is* quite time consuming. But I very much enjoy it.

  3. Thank you for sharing this. It’s nice to get the details of the weekend because all I get from my son is “It was good. We are all the marshmallows.” I’m glad that you enjoyed camping.

    1. You’re welcome! Regarding the marshmallows – on the second morning as we were packing up, the remaining scouts said, we should eat all the remaining food. I found some clementines “here are some clementines, would you like these?” Response “oh, no thank you.” “Here are some almonds, want to finish these? Response “no thank you.” “here is some chocolate and remaining marshmallows, want these?” “OH YES PLEASE!!!” made me chuckle : )

  4. Great blog Neely and some really good photos. You guys tuffed it out in some rather unpleasant weather, but with a good campfire all seems right with the world. The Danes are pretty creative when it comes to playground figures etc. Love the dragons with the Viking at the reins. Martha is really growing up isn’t she. I hope she sticks with the scouting as it’s a great experience.
    LYMI
    DAD

  5. Thanks Neely for documenting this camping trip I got more information from your blog than from my son 🙂 , and thanks for taking care of him, he had a really good time
    Alex

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