Transportation of Scouts

[click23]

Another option is contact the Golden Empire Council and get the name of the local DE. Contact him to see if knows of any troops that have vans, they may be more than willing to help you guys out.

[scoutldr]

I would try contacting the local PD or Sheriff's Office and explain your situation. Perhaps they could assign an officer (or auxiliary officer) to escort (or at least keep an eye on) the troop as they hike back. Also, off-duty cops are always looking to make a buck on the side.

[scoutingagain]

This might be a little out of the box, but you might try the limo companies. Some may have a stretch limo used for proms etc. that if they are not otherwise engaged may be willing to give you a decent rate. At least not that much more than renting two minivans.

 

Just a thought.

 

SA

[Liz]

Hmm. All good ideas if the CDL driver falls through.

 

I *did* ask the lady at the council when I made the camp reservations. She suggested chartering a school bus. I did not ask the DE, but if push comes to shove I will try that. I know there is a wide range of how knowledgeable the volunteer at the front desk at the council is (or is not).

 

The ideas of checking for promotional rates from Limo companies or calling the law enforcement officers do have merit. The link to the Explorer posts might come in handy in that respect, too; maybe some officers and Explorers might be interested in riding the light rail from the camp to the train station with us.

 

Does anybody here on the board live in Sacramento? As a side note, my sister-in-law said there were some sections of the light rail which were considered gang "territory" and nobody should ride them at any time of day. I was wondering whether I could find out ahead of time what those are (or if she's just being paranoid). We're planning to earn the Historic Rail patch from the council down there, and that involves a light rail trip.

 

*sigh* I am so spoiled. My biggest safety concern around here is whether the pack of coyotes I heard last night is going to try to eat my newborn lambs.

 

-Liz

[scoutldr]

This is from the Sacramento light rail website. Sounds like they have their own security. I would give them a call.

 

Police Services

RTs Police Services includes full-time contracted Sacramento police officers and county sheriffs deputies, and RT Transit Officers. RT also contracts with a private security firm to monitor activities at light rail park-and-ride stations and on trains operating at night.

 

 

[CA_Scouter]

Liz,

 

I'm about 40 miles outside of Sacramento and have been to Camp Pollock. Its right along the American river and has a bike trail which we used several times for outings.

 

We recently rented vans from Budget for a trip to Yellowstone. They had no restrictions on not-for-profit groups ( they did for school groups however ) and though the G2SS says there is a 10 passenger limit in CA I've been told by a parent in my troop that the law was changed recently so that 15 passenger vans are acceptable ( she just got her Class-whatever license for driving school buses ). Budget rents vans at the airport only though, and that's a drive from Pollock.

 

I should note that Sacramento is not akin to Beirut or Baghdad. Though Pollock is not in a great area of town its not a war zone either. Depending on what time of the year you go, you could leave a little earlier and walk to the Amtrak station and hang out in the general area for a couple of hours. The Amtrak station is within walking distance to Old Sacramento which is a historical district and the train musueum is right in that general area.

 

BadenP's idea for renting a smaller van is good also. Its a short distance, rent one and you could just make several trips. Probably cost you less than $50.

 

If you want more info or get really stuck on something I'd be happy to help. When we went to Yellowstone we stayed at the local council's day camp in Idaho Falls and they were happy to help also. I'd like to return the favor.

 

PM me if you would like more info/help.

 

oh,.. and Calavaras Big Trees is probably a 3 hour drive one way from Sacto...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Liz]

Thanks, CA_Scouter! I have been to Old Town Sacramento a few times. When we went to visit my husband's siblings this summer we swung by to take a look at Camp Pollock. It looks like it will be just fine; I'm more concerned about light rail or going downtown after dark. They told me we need to post an adult watch at all times at the camp, so I'll follow that, but I don't actually expect any problems.

 

It's interesting -- I called Budget and they told me that they didn't have any 15-pass vans. I wonder about the law change; it's all very confusing. AAAAH!

 

A Mini-van would definitely work if we *only* wanted to use it to get the kids from the camp to Amtrak. I am hoping to do one all-day excursion up to Big Trees, though. I've been there before with my boys, but none of the other adults or youth in our unit have been. Enterprise can meet us at the camp at, say, 8:00 AM with the van, and we can pack everything up, go see the Redwoods, hike around a little, and be back to Sacramento by about 9:30 PM with more than enough time to get on the train and go.

 

Have you ever taken your unit on the Sacramento Historic Trail and/or the Historic Rail hike? That's something we're planning to do.

 

-Liz

[CA_Scouter]

I think Pollock just wants somebody on the premises to keep watch over your equipment. I hope they aren't implying a 'night watch' because we've never been told that and have camped there a couple of times with no problems. The bike trail runs by the side of the camp and its a public trail, so that's why they are probably warning you about posting a watch.

 

No, haven't done the historic rail hikes. We've done about 15 miles on the bike trail and that was enough.. ;-)

 

Oh sorry, I misspoke about Budget.. we had a 12 passenger van from them, Enterprise had the 15 passenger ( both gave us a discount. ) There were no issues with commercial licenses in either case and we identified ourselves as BSA both times.

 

I think we paid around $90/day for the 15 passenger van ( not including insurance ). I think two mini's might do you for roughly the same price.

 

Looks like you've got it pretty much worked out... but feel free to PM if you need more info or assistance.

 

btw - I met another forum member a couple of years back in Yosemite - 'Scoutmaster Ron' I think... My troop was hiking Half Dome and he was there with his son... we were shootin' the breeze watching the kids swim in the river and discovered who each other was... really fun... be fun to meet another forum member as well...

 

 

 

[Liz]

"I hope they aren't implying a 'night watch'"

 

They didn't just imply it, they told me flat out that they recommended a 24-hour night watch and wanted to make sure we had enough adults available to take rotations through the night. If I remember the conversation correctly, I don't think they said it was absolutely required to have a night watch, but I'm not sure.

 

If you and/or any of your boys want to meet up with us while we're down there, we'd be happy to have you along. :-) We will be there in March... PM me if you are interested in exact dates.

 

How did you get a discount from Enterprise? They quoted me $132 for the day (with unlimited miles so we could go to Big Trees; $122 with a mileage limit). Now, that's a 24-hour day, since we won't be able to return the van until after hours, and that might make a difference.

 

I should note that I talked to at least 4 different people at Enterprise before one of them told me they couldn't "knowingly" rent to a Boy Scout group unless we had a driver with a CDL. Since it looks like we have the opportunity to have a CDL driver along, I think I'll try to stick with that plan since it covers every possible scenario.

 

-Liz