This weekend was the 14th year of the annual "guys campout", also known as "Piss Out The Fire"*.

The whole shebang started in the spring of 1993 (our senior year in high school) when Clint, Kurt, Chris, Hay, Schultz, and myself went on a campout to Danville, IL during our spring break. We had such a great time that we've done it every year since (with the exception of 2006, and also of 2005, but that was considered "okay" since the whole group got together for a mass 30th birthday celebration).

The guys who went this year were Hay, Jason, Clint, Schultz, and myself. And that's pretty much been the "core" of this campout. We've had some supporting players along the way (Clint's brother has come a few times, and Jenkins actually made it once), but the five of us have been at almost every single campout (Jay missed the very first one, but that's been the ONLY one he's missed. I missed 2002 and 2004 but that's all). Even though he lives in Austin now, Clint still flies into Chicago for POTF.

Times have changed for all of us. We're all married now, and Clint and Jay both have kids (Hay is going to be a father next month too!) but some things do not change.

This is a group of guys that I see about once a year. Jay and I talk a little more often than that, but otherwise, this group is a once a year occurrence. But the great thing is, that does not matter. Yes. we do our fair share of nostalgic remembrances of campouts past, but we also build new memories every time we go. Our conversations have changed as we've grown older, but we have all grown closer. These are guys who I feel 100% comfortable sharing everything with, and having no fear of being judged, rejected, or laughed at.

As we all grow older, we have fewer and fewer new friends. I just think that's a function of growing up - it's normal and it happens. But that makes it all the more special to have a core group of people who, while I may not call them up on a Thursday night to have a beer, I know that I can trust, depend on, and most of all, eat Swiss chicken out of a dutch oven with.

I can't believe that next year will be the 15th anniversary of this trip.

And I can't wait until the 30th.

* - The actual urination on the fire has only happened about once, and it was a long time ago. And let me assure you - it's a BAD idea.

Tags: camping

Jay just sent me the campout pictures...

( Camping piccies! )

Tags: camping

Just got back from the annual campout.

Ever since 1993, a group of us get together once a year to go camping. I've missed the past two years, but before then I'd never missed one. So I was really excited to go this year. The guys who go change slightly each year, but there are some standards, which are Clint, Jason, Hay, Schultz, and myself. This year Jenkins finally made it to a campout (he has suppsed to go three times in the past, but never made it).

We went up to Pike's Lake in the Kettle Moraine State Forest in Wisconsin. Friday afternoon we set up camp and went hiking; Friday night was spent listening to the Cubs game on the radio and playing cards.

Saturday we went horseback riding (I'd never been on a horse before), which was fun. Although at the end, my horse got spooked by a truck and just took off! That was exciting and a little scary. Saturday night we listened to the ballgame, ate delicious food from the Dutch oven (Schultz is a outdoor cooking genius), and then had to repair to the screen tent because of the typhoon that hit our campground :)

I just got home and am going to go shower to remove the smell of campfire from myself. It was a really great trip though - these are all guys I've known for over ten years, but we rarely see each other anymore; Schultz, Jason, Hay, and Clint are all married, and Clint and his wife just moved to Austin (he flew in for the campout). While the conversation may have generally changed (lots of talk about wives, houses, and pets), there are still some things about this weekend that are exactly the same as our trip to Danville in 1993 - we still eat food made in Dutch ovens, we're still using the same Coleman stove, and despite the fact that we were all Boy Scouts, we still have trouble starting the fire.

I hope we do this for ten more years.

Tags: camping