GimletBlog

A steady stream of out-of-town family members arrived throughout the week to attend Bopa’s memorial service last Thursday, and several are staying through the weekend.  Saturday we took Grandma and Grandpa Gimlet to Ebey’s Landing National Historial Reserve on Whidbey Island.  Grandma Gimlet had never ridden on a ferry before, so we had to remedy that.  Then, as we drove across the island, we were surprised to see about ten bald eagles circling, then landing, in a field.

The day began a little overcast, but by the time we arrived at the beach, the sun was out, and warm enough to temper the ocean breeze.

Thing One has a reputation for being a polar bear, but even Thing Two didn’t need to wear a jacket as he ran up and down the shoreline, throwing rocks in the water.

The GrandGimlets also found plenty of interesting rocks and a nearly complete crab shell.

The last time we went to Ebey’s Landing, Thing Two was very fearful of the waves, but today he wasn’t scared and was able to relax and have fun.

Has it really been almost two years ago since our last visit?  Next time we won’t stay away so long.

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Before the summer gets started, here’s a look back at some of Thing One’s Boy Scout activities this year.

In January the Gimlet took some of his scouts to a Friends of Scouting breakfast.  Not only would the area’s scouting supporters get to meet and talk with local boys about their experiences in Scouting, but the guys would get to meet some of the Seattle Mariners and get their picture taken with the Moose.  And the appeal of a big breakfast to teenagers cannot be underestimated.  Win-win!

Next was the traditional Winter Camp at Paradise on Mount Rainier.

Plenty of snow this year for snow caves, snowshoeing and extreme sledding.

One of the adult leaders, Sam, took some great action shots and generously shared them with us.  This year two young men who had recently moved to the US from Africa (and had never seen any snow) came along with the troop.  Reports are that they were quite cold (never fear, they were provided with plenty of warm gear) but had a lot of fun playing in the snow for the first time.

Group photo under the mountain.  Look at how big these guys are now!

Skipping ahead three months, last week Uncle Q joined Thing One on the Mount Si hike.

It was a bit too foggy for photos, and it snowed at the top, but they had a good time.

The traditional OA visit to Evergreen-Washelli to place flags at veterans’ graves was bittersweet this year.

Looking ahead, Thing One has been hired to work on the staff at Camp Pigott for the summer, and following that a second year of NYLT staff.  We can hardly believe that he’s old enough to be on staff, and measurements taken last month revealed that Thing One is now taller than both his parents.  When did this happen?  We’ll try to be better about posting scout photos throughout the summer.

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Thing One has been busy with scouting activities over the past two months, between helping out with Order of the Arrow unit elections around the city, attending his first campout with his Jamboree troop, and other activities.

This has been a very mild winter so there was some question how the troop’s traditional snow camp would work out, but there was enough snow at Mount Rainier’s Paradise to keep everybody pretty happy.  No snow caves this year, but the sledding was as exciting as ever.

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Autumn sunshine.  A Friday off from school.  We needed no further enticement to spend the afternoon on Whidbey Island.

After a short ferry ride and drive we stopped in Coupeville to explore the waterfront, pay a visit to Rosie, the gray whale skeleton at the wharf, and enjoy an ice cream break.

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Editor’s Note: After finding a Seattle Historical Hike report on kitsapscouts.com, The Gimlet thought it would be fun for our scout troop and cub scout pack to do the hike as well:  after all, this is our city!  The older scouts would like to earn their Hiking and Backpacking merit badges this year and get in shape for longer summer backpacking trips; to that end, they planned to extend the historic hike beyond its end at the Center for Wooden Boats to a ten mile hike, ending at Woodland Park in North Seattle.

• Download the Seattle Historical Hike map and worksheet from the Chief Seattle Council (PDF)

At 8:15 Saturday morning we got on the express bus to downtown Seattle.  About half the troop rode the one bus.  We arrived about 8:40 which was 10 minutes late and met with the rest of our troop.  Our guests were an Eagle Scout father, his Scout son, and Cub son.   In total we were eight Scouts, two Cubs, and three adults.   We were all eager to get started.  The Scouts who were working on their 2nd Class rank advancement showed me how to orient the map and then we were off.

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Peaceful, scenic photos in the Gimlet Gallery.

The final hotel on our Southwest odyssey was Ruby’s Inn, which has been welcoming guests to Bryce Canyon since 1916.  Team Gimlet had mostly good experiences with their lodging along the way, and Ruby’s Inn was a highlight; with plenty of shops, entertainment, and activities, it was a fun place to stay.  As with Moab at the beginning of our journey, we’d like to return to Ruby’s Inn and stay a little longer.

Unfortunately that evening a few of us experienced a touch of altitude sickness (Bryce Canyon is at 8000 feet, and most of the viewpoints are well above that) but a good night’s sleep and our faithful water bottles helped prepare us for the next day’s tour of the canyon.

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It’s like being forced to watch vacation slides!  See all the photos in the Gimlet Gallery.

We had decided to stay inside Grand Canyon National Park to give ourselves the most visiting time; our budget, family size, and room availability sent us to the Yavapai Lodge complex on the outskirts of the Grand Canyon Village.  It wasn’t the El Tovar in looks or proximity to the South Rim, but it was clean and comfortable and suited Team Gimlet just fine.  Still running on Philmont time, we woke up at sunrise (who would have guessed that a scout camp would be populated by lunatics, a.k.a. unbelievably cheerful morning people?  But out of necessity we got used to it, and by way of disclosure we must admit that Your Humble Narrator is the only non-morning member of Team Gimlet.).

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More travel photos in the Gimlet Gallery!

We spent the next morning in Moab shopping for souvenirs.  We found a delightful quilting shop across the street from our motel (more details are forthcoming on Sinister Craftiness), and a bookstore that would be an excellent resource for local maps.  Team Gimlet definitely wants to return to Moab, perhaps on a school break, and spend more time exploring.

After lunch it was time to get back in the car and drive, drive, drive.  But wait!  A few minutes out of town we were lured to stop by large signage for “Hole N The Rock”, and we remembered it was the location of a penny machine, so of course we had to pull over.

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