Morning started early for our boys as most were out of bed by 6:45 A.M. and eating breakfast within the following hour. Breakfast this morning consisted of eggs, bacon, toast, peach, milk, and juice. After clean-up everyone was dismissed from camp after receiving name badges, safety cards, and meal tickets. Each name badge is a hard plastic card similar in size to a typical credit card and has the name, council, troop, and a special barcode for every participant. The barcode is the Jamboree’s method to scan a boy’s card to pull up any information on the individual specifically in case of a medical emergency. The meal tickets are for the boys to receive their lunch while out and about the jamboree site. This is setup so they won’t have to return to camp to fix and clean up afterwards, which would take away from their time and experience.
This was around 9:30 A.M. when everyone finally took off to explore what the Jamboree has to offer. With a day full of activities many had the chance to take in all sorts of different events. I heard stories of SCUBA diving, snorkeling, buckskin games, earning merit badges at Merit Badge Midway, and of course patch trading. Several have caught the fever of trading patches with other councils around the jamboree. This craze gets the boys to meet and introduce themselves with other scouts around the nation and some parts of the world.
Each boy has their own story to tell and each one will be different. Although each scout must travel with a buddy to all the activities, scouts get to choose what they want to do and when they want to do it, truly making the jamboree a unique experience.
Personally I visited several of the National Exhibits today on my adventures, my first stop was at the National Guard area where the have information on the various branches of the armed forces. After taking in the patch wall and a few sections of the armed forces branches, I stopped for lunch at one of the kiosks. The turkey sandwich with chips, Jell-O, pineapple tidbits, and apple juice was a good lunch for on the go scouts trying to have a good time. Continuing my journey I headed down Thomas Hill Road to take in the NESA (National Eagle Scout Association) tent, Sea Scouts, Smokey the Bear balloon, religious awards tent, and many more. On my way back to the campsite I stopped by Merit Badge midway to find many scouts hard at work earning merit badges. Getting back to the campsite close to 4 P.M., several had already arrived and were talking to anyone that would listen about their day’s events. You could just see the excitement and fun that everyone was having.
The patrols began to prepare the evening meal (tacos), while continuing to brag about their day, the people that they met, and the different patches they traded for. After supper we had a dance practice to refresh our dancing skills and spark interest for our first public dance tomorrow night. Marking the end of our activities for the day some took the opportunity to take showers in the near by facilities, while others just had a good time.
Then after a brief meeting with the patrols, in which the patrol leaders discussed the day’s events and informed them of what is going on tomorrow. Many closed their meeting with a discussion of thorns and roses before everyone was sent to bed with the intentions of an early wake up call. The first arena show takes place in the morning and we have to eat breakfast and be prepared to move to the show by 7:30 A.M. So I close this post with my own retiring for the evening, goodnight to you all and god bless.
Each boy has their own story to tell and each one will be different. Although each scout must travel with a buddy to all the activities, scouts get to choose what they want to do and when they want to do it, truly making the jamboree a unique experience. 
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