Block Island Day 2

I slept exceptionally well last night, until I woke up and couldn’t fall back to sleep. By six fifteen I gave up, got dressed, and got out of my tent. While I waited for the scouts to boil water, I read. The 57 Bus is a nonfiction book about two high school students a decade ago. While riding the bus, one boy sets fire to the skirt worn by a nonbinary student. The story takes you into both their lives, giving you both their perspectives.I just finished the chapter that introduces Sasha, the victim. The author did a fantastic job of pulling the reader into their life.

For breakfast—i brought my own food, preferring my dehydrated food to chance—I had cream of wheat and coffee mixed with hot chocolate. After eating, we waited around for the scouts to clean up and get ready for the bike ride. There always seems to be lots of hanging around and waiting on these Boy Scout trips.

I am in love with Block Island. Not surprising, it is reminiscent of Long Island and Cape Cod. Maybe part of my affinity for the sea is it reminds me of Dad. It dredges up memories of not just my childhood but much of my adult life. Being near the sea, I feel Dad’s presence, or maybe it’s just memories rising to the surface. Memories of time spent swimming in the ocean and bay, memories of kayaking, of Dad taking G3 fishing. Being here I realized how much I miss both Long Island and Cape Cod. Long Island used to be my happy place, the home I escaped to when I was upset or overwhelmed with life. Cape Cod was the perfect vacation place when G3 was little and my brother had the condo and he let us visit every summer.

We headed out on our bikes at eight thirty and rode around the southern part of the island. I was assigned to ride with the older scouts which means they were all much faster than I am. However, they stopped at every intersection to ensure that we all stayed together. Our first stop was at Dorrie’s Cove. On the way, as we were rapidly coasting down the dirt road, one of the scouts wiped out. His elbow looked like a cheese grater got the better of him and his hip slammed against a rock, but they were mild injuries, Nothing a bit of water and a bandage couldn’t patch up.

The beach at the end of the road was quiet and deserted. On a giant rock, half submerged near the shore, several cormorants perched. Another reminder of dad, since he used to point out all the birds—cormorants, swans, and osprey—for G3 when he was little. G3 wanted to go swimming, as did I, but the rule for the weekend was “no swimming.” I couldn’t allow G3 to break the rule in front of other scouts. And so we all walked back to our bikes to continue our ride.

Our next stop was an overlook where water laps at the base of jagged cliffs that jut up from the shore. G3 and another scout wanted to hike down the wooden staircase to the water. I went with them to take pictures. The hike down was easy, but heading back up was not. From there, a short two minute ride landed us at Southeast Point Lighthouse where we ate lunch. I brought a few fruit bars, pretzels, and dried mangos to eat. It wasn’t the most exciting lunch, but it was something to fill my stomach.

Our final stop was in town where we all immediately got on line at Aldo’s for ice cream. For four years, G3 has talked about Aldo’s having the best milkshake he’s ever had. It was good. I definitely enjoyed it. But it didn’t blow my mind which was a bit disappointing.

After ice cream, we scattered to explore the shops in town. I still regret not buying a baseball cap at the national parks in Utah, so to make myself feel a little better, I bought myself a block Island cap. G3, I later learned, bought himself a nice tee shirt. Next, I ducked into a few other stores and walked out across the rocky jetty before making my way to a nature preserve. While there, I discovered a trail leading down to a public beach. I saw the sign and temptation defeated me. (Me being this close to the water on a gorgeous hot day and being told not to swim would be like handing a heroin addict heroin and telling them not to shoot it.) En route to the water, I ran into one of the scout dads who accompanied me down to the water. He didn’t try to stop me. If anything, he encouraged me. Oh well, the rule was really just for the scouts, right? I took off my shirt—a sports bra always doubles as a bathing suit top—and dove into the water wearing shorts. The water was lovely. The temperature was perfect and after sweating all morning on the bike ride the swim was incredibly refreshing. I’m not sure when I enjoyed a dip quite so much. It was the highlight of the weekend thus far. And I’m sure dad would have approved. He loved swimming too.

We are now back at the campsite with nothing planned for the next three hours. Some studious scouts are doing homework. I am not sure what G3 is doing. I am obviously writing, and when I finish, I will read.

G3 was bored and wanted to go out for another ride. I couldn’t blame him. I was up for going out again as well. Hanging out at a campsite when there were beaches in the area seemed not the best use of time. Why not further explore the island while we are here. But we couldn’t go out together. It would have violated yet another rule. I try not to break too many in a three hour span. But we found other adults and scouts—mostly the younger ones—to head out with us. We didn’t go far, but we detoured down a dirt road and ended up at a beach. G3 and another older scout ran down to the water and dove it. What can I say, he’s my kid. The lure to swim was simply too great. I could not be mad at him considering I had already gone in. By the time the younger scouts got to the water, G3 was out. The boys took off their sneakers and went in up to their knees. They had a great deal of fun splashing each other and joking around.

We only left because we were already running late for dinner. The extra miles upped our total for the day to seventeen miles.

Back at camp we ate dinner—-dehydrated food—and then had our campfire. The skits were better tonight than usual. I actually laughed during a few of them. When the campfire program ended, the scouts went off to do their own thing and the adults sat around the fire to talk. It was actually an enjoyable evening.