Boy Scouts from a Mom’s Perspective

Posted on September 5, 2017 by

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Both of our sons are Eagle Scouts and I was recently asked to write a post for the national Boy Scout blog, The Voice of Scouting. It was quite an honor, and you can read it here:

https://voiceofscouting.org/one-moms-perspective-on-scouting

Boy Scouts enriched our family in numerous ways. We learned valuable information in many areas, had lots of quality time on camp outs, ski trips, and hikes, and volunteered countless hours in the service to others.

I will be forever grateful to Boy Scouts for its part in helping our sons become the wonderful young men they are today.

 

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Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”

Hunter S. Thompson

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It was a good ending to a pretty epic trip. Madrid is such a beautiful city. Seeing my beloved Don Quixote and Sancho Panza was a highlight of my life, although waiting for all the Instagram stars to get their perfect shot with them was an exercise in patience. I would be willing to bet that I was the only one who has actually read the book. The hot chocolate and churros at the famous Chocolateria have ruined all further hot chocolates and churros for the rest of my life. And finally, a nice soak in the Blue Lagoon was just what our achy bodies needed. I want to thank all the wonderful people we met, who made this trip one of the best of our lives, and to two of our best friends who have passed the “never travel with friends” test. We still adore you. To me the most important part of travel is connecting with other people and we are leaving with many new friends, including an Instagram friend @fuinki who took the train up to meet us, and is now a real friend. People all over the world may have different day to day lives, but the thing that was evident over and over is that at our core we are more alike than different. To my new friends, I say “bisaha” and, “yalla” forever!
View of Porto from the bell tower in the center of town just as the sun was going down. The next day we began the Portuguese route of the Camino de Santiago. If I’m totally honest, I wanted to do it for the adventure, and not so much as a pilgrimage, however over the last five days I have prayed so much. I have cried twice, once out of thankfulness after an especially harrowing stretch, and once because I didn’t know if I could do it. I know now that I can. We will reach Santiago tomorrow after six days, 221 km (137.3 miles), and the most technical and steep mountain biking I will ever do in my life. We didn’t walk it due to time constraints, but I started off thinking I wasn’t a real pilgrim and I’m ending it knowing I am. #caminodesantiago * * * #believeinyourself #youcandoit #youarestrongerthanyouthink #adventure #pilgrimage #portugal #porto #traveltheworld #theunknowninfluencer #emptynestadventures
We missed our connection from Casablanca to Fez. It was the middle of the night, and we were exhausted. After several hours the airline got us on a bus to Fez and as we were loading our luggage, I said something to the bus driver and he replied “no English”. At that point we were the only passengers and concern was starting to creep in. How would we ever find our riad in the middle of the night? Just then a man and his wife approached the bus with a huge cart full of luggage. “Do you know where you’re going?” he asked me. I told him I only knew the name of our riad. “Give me their phone number,” he said. He spent several minutes on the phone, then several more talking to the bus driver. “Don’t worry, I have told the bus driver where to drop you off and you will be picked up.” I could have cried. For the next four hours, while Brett and this man’s wife slept, I talked to Mohamed. They were returning from the pilgrimage to Mecca and I asked a million questions. He had a million answers. He gave us water and snacks and I honestly felt like he was our guardian angel. Mohamed and his wife were dropped off first and he gave me his phone number saying to call if we needed anything at all while we were in Fez. Then on top of it all, once we reached the riad, we were told that Mohamed had called to make sure we had made it safely. I was so thankful to have missed that flight and to have had the privilege of meeting this caring man. When we were leaving Fez, I called him to thank him for all he had done for us and I got a bit choked up. People are good. #fez * * * #morocco #pilgrimage #newfriends #traveltheworld #letsgosomewhere #beautifulplaces #thankful #theunknowninfluencer #emptynestadventures
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We are sitting in Casablanca now waiting for a bus to take us to Fez because we missed our connection. It’s going to be a long night, but I’m thinking of the sunrise this morning and what a special one it was. Had to climb a mountain of sand to see it, but I’m guessing it will be the one and only Sahara sunrise of my life. Morocco has exceeded my expectations in every way. #morocco * * * #northafrica #berbers #sand #sunrise #hike #hiker #cameltrek #amazingworld #travel #letsgosomewhere #theunknowninfluencer #emptynestadventures
Evening falls over Marrakech. It’s the second night we’ve been treated to a lightning storm on the riad rooftop. Now I need to go delete the 200 photos I took trying to capture the lightning and failing.⚡️#marrakech * * * #morocco #northafrica #riadmatham #traveltheworld #amazingworld #storm #beautifulplanet #letsgosomewhere #oldmedina #ancienthistory #newfriends #theunknowninfluencer #emptynestadventures

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