The Campfire Trail: February 10

February 10, 2021
Day 41 - 324 Days To Go
19 Days Until March 1
Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Highlander Grogg (Butterscotch/Rum flavors)

Even though we are back in Missouri and far from the Keys of Florida, I felt like sticking with that trip for an extra day. Something about it reminded me of my grade school days that I hadn't thought about for years, even decades. Once a year a traveling adventurer would stop by our school and share with students all of the interesting things he had collected from his world travels. His Name was Al Bell. Al Bell was a world traveler and adventurer who would bring his stories to school kids all over Iowa. Over 400 schools were treated to his stories of far away, exotic places. His story telling was enough to captivate our minds as we heard about places in the far corners of the world.

Why such a strange story of childhood? I think as children, it's easy to embrace adventure because we mostly begin life in a bubble. This bubble is our known environment and since it's usually quite small when we're young, everything we encounter from outside our known experience is new and exciting. Al Bell brought that to us in a way very few others could. I believe as we age, our experience grows and, unfortunately, our honest quest for adventure and the unknown begins to wane.

Shelley and I have recently discovered the adventure of cruise ships, but mostly, it's "civilized" adventure. Our experience with Treasured Times broke through the formal, staged adventures of cruising excursions and opened up the possibilities of uninhabited islands, sleeping on the water where the scenery fits the imagination. Experimenting with diving, snorkeling, spearfishing, and simply exploring on our own terms. Heck, after the treasure museum in Key West, we may even do some treasure hunting with some under water metal detectors. It's an adventure that fits the "Adult Adventurer" in us. The one we forgot somewhere along the way. Who knows, perhaps we can be the "Al Bell" to not only the wide eyed curious kids, but to the adults that still secretly long for an adventure to satisfy that urge for the unknown experiences that always seem to be beyond reach.

Here's to Al Bell and here's to Mike and Adreane, who are not only living their personal adventure, but willing to make that adventure available to all the rest of us as well.

Adventure Quote: “When we venture in that unfamiliar sea, we trust blindly in those who guide us, believing that they know more than we do.”

― Paulo Coelho

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