Fathers & Sons Outing

The fathers and sons outing for our ward was on the night of May 7th and morning of May 8th. We did it at Kingman's Wash, on the Arizona side of Lake Mead, not far North of the Dam. On the way out, the boys and I stopped at Wal-Mart and got fishing poles and tackle so that we could go fishing. They were very excited to pick out their fishing poles.

The boys had a great time hiking, fishing (but not catching), playing in the water, and running around with their friends. At the outset, Jesse, not wanting to wait for me to fix his fishing pole, snuck a jar of Power Bait when I wasn't looking and took a handful down to the lake. Then, he began chucking it in the lake! Bob Burch and David Benavidez both told him to stop, knowing that that stuff isn't cheap, but Jesse being Jesse completely ignored both of them. I thought it might at least chum in some fish, but if it did, they weren't biting. Of course, who could blame them with a noisy group of little boys throwing huge rocks into the water and constantly chattering about who would get to "cast" (I use that term loosely) the hook into the water next. It didn't matter, though, because they had so much fun. They even both casted pretty well after only a little instruction. I was pleasantly surprised by that as I thought it would take them a while to get it.

It was one of the best camping trips I've ever had. Perfect weather, right on the water (which was like glass, by the way), lots to do, and a good camping spot where we got a great night's sleep. Only bad part: dumb dad left the tent flap open after he set the tent up, allowing 5,000 mosquitos in. When I finally realized my mistake, I closed the tent flap, only for Rhett to go in five minutes later and leave it open again. Needless to say, it looked like that "Off" bug repellent commercial in the tent by the time we were ready for bed. I thought we were going to have to sleep in the van but Troy Thorton saved us by letting us use his bug spray. After a liberal dousing of the inside of our tent, the bugs were pretty much dead. The ward provided a nice breakfast the next morning of sausage, eggs, pancakes, and dutchoven peach cobbler, so no one went hungry.