Ol Blue

Today my brother-in-law towed away “Ol Blue” to Oklahoma. “Ol Blue” is a 1991 Chevrolet Silverado extended cab pickup truck. She has 210,000 miles on her and they were all quite hard miles. Towards the end of her operating life she burned a quart of oil in about 500 miles.

She was truly a scout truck. Her insides were always covered with mud, dirt and grime from scouts piling in and out of her. Brandon Daly noted tonight at the troop meeting that anything left in her was free game to the next scout that climb in to go camping. He bragged he still had a pair of sunglasses.

She took the troop to Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Colorado and all over Texas. Her 305 engine strained and pulled Troop 5’s trailer. Her driver ran her into poles, trees, bushes and through mud, pot holes and mesquite trees. Her pickup bed was the meeting place for PLCs and Scoutmaster Conferences. That same truck bed carried fire wood to OA Call Out and Ceremony Fires all over Worth Ranch and Sid Richardson Scout Ranch.

She had no place for the driver’s coffee. So the shortest scout in the troop became the “cup holder”. They would ride in the middle and hold the drivers coffee or diet coke. Fazan Chowan, Zack Wisch and JJ Michaels all served as “Cup Holders”. The radio was always playing loud for the scouts to play “Guess that Classic Rock Song.”

“Ol Blue” could find any Whataburger in the state on her own. As Brett cleverly noted today, more Whataburger was eating in this truck than any other vehicle in the United States.

Hopefully the shade tree mechanics in Oklahoma can bring her back to life, but she is done as a scout truck. Farewell "Ol Blue."