Block Island Day 3

It rained over night. It seems it always rains on our Boy Scout outings. At least the rain didn’t dampen our bike ride yesterday, but how I dislike breaking down and packing up a wet tent. I am glad I packed way too much plastic. It will keep the rest of my gear dry since I had to put the wet tent in my rucksack.

We started the day with cold breakfast. Not cooking or even boiling water saves time when trying to get out of camp quickly. However, I use the term ‘quickly’ loosely, since the scouts seem to only operate on two speeds: slow and super slow. Therefore, the breakdown of camp always feels like it takes forever. Wake up was at 6:30, and it was nearly 9 by the time we were ready to leave camp.

We were on the road for less than five minutes when one of the scouts got a flat tire. The scouts unsuccessfully tried to fix it. Lucky, one of the dads is proficient when it comes to all things related to biking. He came to the rescue not only changing the tire but making it look extremely easy.

Despite the lost time and the tight schedule to catch the ferry back to the mainland, we headed up to the lighthouse at the northern point of the island. It was only a four and a half mile ride which the older scouts covered quickly. Once we reached the end of the road, we parked our bikes and hiked along to beach to the lighthouse. There wasn’t much to see at the lighthouse, but some of the scouts went down to the beach to hang out until it was time to return. The scenery was pretty, as it almost always is near the water. I just would have liked to stop a few more times to take more pictures. Actually, I would really like to return to block Island at some point. It is gorgeous here, but with the scouts I didn’t have the ability to explore it as thoroughly as I would have liked.

The ride back into town was mostly downhill so it was light and easy. We were supposed to have pizza for lunch at a designated place, but when we arrived, we learned that it was closed for the season. I suggested ice cream for lunch, but the leader in charge didn’t take my suggestion seriously. Both G3 and I would have preferred ice cream, but the troop had to eat together. We ended up at a pub that sold pizza, but the pizza slices were so tiny the allotted two slices filled no one. We all left the restaurant hungry.

Not only were we hungry, we were out of time. We needed to head straight to the ferry, which meant no ice cream. I am not sure who was more disappointed, me or G3. However, on the way home, I rode with one of the dads, and he agreed that ice cream would have been the better lunch option So,

we stopped for banana splits and sundaes on the road. Despite the traffic, it wasn’t a bad ride home thanks to pleasant conversation.

We got home late—after 8:00. By the time I dropped my car off at the dealership—I have an appointment tomorrow to find out what’s wrong with it—and I unpacked and showered, it was nearly 10:00. I had hoped to go to bed early. Oh well, I suppose I will be tired tomorrow. But it was worth it. The weekend was fabulous.