Blogger Camping Retreat

     Sorry for my lack of posting, I have been quite busy the past week or so. I am stuck between two classes, ARTS and OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT and I have had double the workload with school as of late. I only have one more week of two classes then I am back to only one for awhile.

    As some of have you have read on my better halves blog, JUGM has done a post of our weekend trip to a local historic retreat we enjoy going to and relaxing while we are there. We managed to make this trip with a few group members, DUKE and REBEL and their families. I don't know what it is about camping with good friends and family's that makes the stay much more enjoyable. Since my schedule has been quite hectic, I have been waiting for this weekend to get away and have some fun. I hit the road with the motel-on-wheels around 2:30pm and after a little drive, I get a text from DUKE, "we are here, what is you ETA?" I respond while driving, yes I multi-task while driving, have voice-texting on my phone, so my fingers don't have to type "On the causeway" After about 10 mins, I shoot DUKE another text, "On the Island". His response, "ARRRR" All I can do after reading that is have reflections of Pirate Girl, that is another story in itself.

    I arrive at the campground, and Duke is pretty much set-up, so he wanders down a few sites and BS while I am setting my home up. I usually try to leave before the better half and kids do. If you have small kids who are non-stop asking questions and getting in the way as you are trying to work, then you will understand my standard operating procedure when camping in close proximity to home.

    Dinner time is around the corner and Duke and I wonder when REBEL will get here, so the text messages fly. He's on his way. Well REBEL shows up, in all his galore with the SPACESHIP. I walk over to his driver side window and ask, "Why aren't you playing Close Encounters of the Third Kind Music as you pulled in?" REBEL is a pro at driving his beast, couple minutes later he was backed into his spot.

 

 

     The first Item REBEL set-up was this. Duke's rig is in the background.

 

 

 Here is a picture of my rig and motel on wheels.



 



    At this point, we all took a break, REBEL had to set his Spaceship up and cook dinner, Duke and I were cooking, so we all gathered with the family's later.

 

 

 



     Fireside chats are always good for relaxing, talking, and laughing about everyday problems and experiences we all face. This fireside chat finally ended a bit after midnight with Myself, REBEL and DUKE the last one's standing.

 

    Morning comes and we are all up and about, DUKE was up with the roosters, the rest were up around 9am. We all have our own breakfasts, here is some bacon cooking on a Coleman model 413G and a Lodge Cast Iron Griddle. This Coleman stove was purchased from a flea market for $10, with a pump rebuild kit and dumping the pump gas and flushing with two tanks of denatured alcohol, this baby works just fine.

 







     After breakfast we lounge a bit and decide to hit the road with our bicycles to the historic district. We all were amazed at how the boys, NW and ND made the whole trip on there tiny bikes. It must be nice to be young. I'm jealous.......

    After our long bicycle ride and in the historic district, ND was about wiped out from his excessive energy usage, so I told him that he needed to re-charge his batteries with some Ice Cream, there were no objections from him at all. Imagine a 6 yr old who has a father who knows that he needs Ice Cream to re-charge. I love him to death, even though he has caused more grey hairs than the Navy.

   After the Ice Cream, the ladies take to the shops and Myself, REBEL and DUKE keep a close eye on the park bench. Since I was the youngest out of us three, I had the privileged of watching them sit and I stood. Actually I was babysitting the kids as mom was shopping. I can only imagine the boys riding their bikes and hitting a liberal. LAWSUIT!!! Well lawsuits only work if you sue someone with money, well that is one thing I dont' have so.... Do the math....

 

 



     The coral of bikes:



 

     One of our final stops before heading back to the camp was to make a stop by the book store. This book store was located in the old infirmary. While inside, DUKE and REBEL pointed out a book for me. Of course I took a picture of it, so you can figure out my thoughts of why I took this picture.

 

 

     We all make our way back via the Millionaire's Row of homes and The Jekyll Club while making our long bicycle trip back.

 

 

 Once back, cooking for dinner began. DUKE and REBEL had steak, which I had that the first night and decided to make a good ole Beef Stew.

 

 









     I like to use my Coleman equipment as much as possible, this is why I have two going. We all joined up together and had a group gathering to enjoy our dinners with great food, conversation, and company. After dinner, we all gathered around the Fire Side Chat, REBEL cooked up a peach cobbler in the dutch oven, and he and I had a plan to mess with everyone. I had bought one of those multi-color flame sticks to throw in the fire and before REBEL threw it in, I found some ring tones on my phone of Islamic calls-to-prayer. I started playing them and the flames start changing colors. Everyone was saying, look at the flames, and of course I say it's the call-to-prayers causing it. However, in his smart little brain, NW says, "Dad, where is the thing you bought to change the colors in the fire?" Well, that blew my cover, DAMN!!!!

 

     Of course, the last three standing around the fire at 00:15 were myself, DUKE and REBEL. We all go to our berthing areas and retire for the night. Sunday morning comes upon us and I wake up and look at my watch and it reads 0844. I jump up, wide awake and get dressed. I walk around in the camper and the wife says, what are you doing? I say, "It's 0844, I have to get started on packing up." She says, "Did you set you watch back?" The reality of the time changed set in and I felt like a dumb ass. "Uhh, no...." So I say "I'm awake, no use in going back to sleep". "I'm starting the coffee"

 

     Everyone is finally up, and preps for our departures start. The fair winds and following seas soon begin to follow. I really hate it when trips with you brothers end. When you are with close friends and it's time to go your separate ways, it sucks. We all had a great time this weekend, between hanging out in the campground, to bicycle riding, hanging out around the fire, the bird sanctuary, eating meals together, and just BS'ing. This was a fun weekend and can't wait til our next one.