Hey, Magic!

The magazine hasn't shown up here in The Twin Cities, yet, so thanks for informing me that Stu actually ran the story in THIS issue!  I never really know before I see the story in print in a given issue.  I hope the magazine shows up in the mailbox today as my goal was to present Charlie (I mean "Chuck") with it at tonight's cul-de-sac Christmas Eve get-together.  Maybe there's still hope!

First, however, I should point out that I got great tips (as usual) for traveling with youth from QJer's.   This time it was QJ's own dynamic brotherly duo of Snow_Dog & Old_Salt who pointed me in the right direction. 

Snow_Dog especially reminded of stuff I learned when taking my own two young sons into the park years ago but was about to ignore during my trip planning (ie. "paddle less, fish more").  Old_Salt is the one who, years ago, SHOWED me the precise spot where Charlie caught his lunker lake trout [OS - I'm NOT telling if you're not!!].  Presumably, Stu printed THAT pic, right?  Generally speaking, he maintains that I suck at photography (and I do) but how could he NOT run the pic of a kid who's smiling like that?  I'm betting that pic made it!

Magic, you're absolutely right about doing a trial run or two before hauling a youngster into the wilderness for the first time.  I simply got lucky with Charlie.  We didn't run into adverse paddling conditions until later in the week... and, by then, we'd had plenty of practice paddling together.

Also, be sure to assign your young person some camp chores... like setting up his own tent, gathering kindling/firewood, cleaning dishes, picking up around camp, etc..  When a kid gets some flesh in the game he really begins to "share" the experience, thereby earning the pride he will take in his accomplishments and a great deal of self-confidence by the end of the trip.  Charlie had never even camped before.  He responded well.

Taking Charlie into the wilderness was one of the more satisfying things I've done in a long, long time.  I heartily endorse your plan, Magic, and encourage other QJ'ers to think about doing the same.  There's LOTS of help on this website to get you started... all you have to do is ask!

Thanks for the good news.

Jimbo   8-)