Scout Outing on the Gila River-

I went back to my newly found favorite AZ camping spot on the Gila River. My nephew Ted drove me up before the rest of the scouts because I was worried about how many people would be camping there. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized we were the only ones down there.

As we were looking for the perfect spot to set up camp Ted’s truck got a flat tire. I guess we will be camping there I told him. Since Ted forgot to bring the lug wrench we were basically stuck there until the rest of the troop came up. Hopefully they would have a wrench that would work on his truck.

We found a ‘man made cave’ nearby where we got the flat. I’m pretty sure I never would have found that if we had not gotten the flat. When the scouts came up, I tried to tell a scary story before we went into the cave, but I couldn’t deliver it very well. I think I was the only one the story scared.

We camped near the train tracks, and Ted and I were able to gather up a bunch of old railroad spikes. As a presentation, I gave one to each boy encouraging them to be strong like the railroad ties. When the train passes over the tracks it is the spikes that keep the train from going of course. It takes tough boys to avoid the evil aspects of our culture. Hopefully the railroad spike will remind them to be tough when facing a monumental challenges.

The boys shot rifles and played in the river. I got in the water with them, but we didn’t spend a whole lot of time because the water was too cold and running too fast. We did get a couple of great pictures. I especially like the one of my laughing. I can’t remember what made me laugh so much, but I had as much fun in that river as I have had in a long time, and I think that picture is proof.

Scott