Scout Camp-out

Kin Blue Beach

This weekend the guys camped with the Troop up at Kin Blue Beach, just outside of Camp Hansen. Beautiful location where the boys got to camp right above the beach- the sound of the soft waves on the shore lulling them to sleep.

They met up at the scout hut at 4:30 in on Friday afternoon and after loading all the Troop gear they were on the road by 5:15. I drove up with the Troop- just to drop off and come home. We took the Expressway up- the first time Mike and Matt have been on the Expressway here in Okinawa...it's almost like driving in the states! Got all the way up to 100 KM per hour- which is about 62 MPH(shhhh! Speed limit is 80KM- but even the locals don't drive that slow!)

By the time we got to Kin Blue it was almost full dark. We pulled the cars together and left the headlights on for the boys to set up camp. Matt and David didn't know what to make of THAT....they're used to hiking in to the camp sites, then setting up by headlamps of it was already dark. I stayed for awhile to watch the fun, then bugged out for home.

Mike gave me a call Saturday morning and I asked how everyone was doing. "Okayyyy...". Humm...what does that mean? "Well, I woke up at midnight power puking...threw up all night." Ouch! He was just glad no one had been tenting with him. So Mike had a rough night throwing up and dry heaving. He had planned on going on the hike with the boys, but he ended up opting out of the and tried to catch some of the sleep he didn't get the night before.

I had to wait around the house Saturday morning for some movers to pick up our couch we sold but after they came around 11am I hit the road to head back up to the campsite. When I arrived Mike was still trying to get some sleep. I was sneaky and snapped off a few shots before he woke up.
The scouts were still out on their 10 mile hike so I had a few minutes to play around and take pictures. Ended up ducking back out to a Family Mart to find some Sprite like soda for Mike. It was hard to find the signs for the Family Mart...I almost missed it (NOT!) That huge sign on top of the building was pointing to the Family Mart directly across the street...which had another sign almost as big in the parking lot. Guess they don't want anyone to miss them! Notice the sign includes the fact that they have toilets!

I passed the scouts coming back from their hike on my way back in.












This is where the boys pitched their tents.



Standing at the campsite and looking North along the coast.I joined the troop for the last mile of the hike (they had only hiked 9 miles and needed to do 10 miles for it to qualify for the Hiking Merit Badge). We walked up one of the service roads and then back along the beach.
Matt stayed behind to keep watch on the camp site...This was a huge leaf from an Elephant Ear Plant. The leaf must have been at least 2 feet across. The light was catching it just so- it was just glowing in the shadows.




On the walk back along the beach, I filled my pockets with shells and sea glass...just couldn't resist! The beaches here are usually usually a mix of coarsely crushed shells and coral.

The scouts had a chance to play around at the beach while they were gathering drift wood for the camp fire. The water was so clear!














As we were leaving Marine Security stopped by to check on everything. His dog was HUGE-and a total sweetie, He told us he was young still. I asked how much he would weigh full grown- maybe 200 pounds? He said the grand sire had been 240 lbs, the sir 280 lbs...and this guy was the largest of his litter. Can you image a dog almost 300 pounds??? Yikes! We visited with the puppy dog a big...and got drooled on a lot!