enter the wild

the guys and i decided to venture back into the wilderness over the weekend because evidently we didnt learn our lessons well enough last year (raccoon anyone?). so, friday we packed up and headed for the great outdoors for a weekend of fun and frivolity. having purchased for myself a new 5 man tent, i was fairly confident that i would have enough room to at least sleep without being mashed up against the sides of the tent all night (flashback to last year in my '2 man' tent where i was wadded up, drenched, freezing, and mumbling nasty words to myself). which makes me wonder, how can the people at the tent company get away with claiming their tents can sleep 5 comfortably? i'd love to see the head moobly goop from the tent factory try to sleep comfortably with 4 of his moobly goop buddies piled up on top of him in one of their 'spacious' outdoor pavilions (unless, of course, they're a bunch of oompa loompas or something).

we get to the campsite, set up our tents, and waited with wide eyes and white knuckles to see what john, our campfire chef, had in store for us this year. turns out, dinner was quite good. beef stew with onions, carrots, potatoes and cabbage (downside was the campfire dog that slurped about 3 big mouthfuls out of the pan before we could run her away). breakfast, the following morning included eggs, bacon, campfire biscuits, and fried potatoes (again, very nicely done, and no dog slobber this time). actually, everything 'Cookie' threw at us was very good, including a delightful stew of freshly plucked chicken and a side dish of seasoned crawdads. the nights were a bit cool with temps dropping down to the 40's but we somehow managed to keep anyone from freezing to death (which was good being that jen had warned me not to let any of her babies die from exposure). there was a plethora of activities to do including fishing, hiking, and small arms target practice. jonathon attempted to earn the coveted 'pooping in the woods' merit badge but was denied the opportunity when the limb he was using for squat support broke and 'dumped' him smack dab in the middle of the intended target area. (he decided to skip the whole ordeal and wait for more manageable conditions). the guys especially loved the new 'mountainman rules' that we established on the first day:

1) nobody has to shave

2) nobody has to take a bath

3) if you can catch it, you can eat it (assuming 'Cookie' can cook it)

4) playing in the fire is encouraged

5) roasting hotdogs is permissible anytime you want

6) if you see a bear, dont run towards camp (no sense in all of us being eaten)

7) rule 6 applies to mountain lions, T-rex's, and Bigfoots

8) if you do something stupid and almost die, you cant tell mom when we get back home

we had a great time, everybody came back in one piece, and we're looking forward to temping fate next year...