Untitled, originally uploaded by Random and Odd.

Summer is officially over my daughters. Shea started 8th grade and Alyx entered high school as a 9th grader this year. In 2003 I had 5 kids standing out on the lawn to get that ‘first day of school’ picture and now in 2011 I only have two left.
Kara bolted out the door on the girl’s first day of school to get in the picture even though she graduated last year.

With the summer coming to a grinding halt I got bummed out. I only have a few weekends left before Kara leaves for Virginia. The sun is still shining so I came up with a few things I want to do.
That said, I have a new huge tent my dad gave me and all my gear sitting there begging to get used and so I am going to do just that. My coworkers had a camping trip ‘kinda’ planned and I invited my friend Matt to go along with me. He’s at a place in his life where he’s up for doing fun stuff and he needs a wingman to keep him out of trouble. Who better than me to take him on a trip with a bunch of married women and limited access to the outside world. I could see him trying to wiggle out of the commitment he made to go…until I changed the plans. This will be BrokeAsHell Camping Trip 2011. I scrapped the idea of going with co-workers and asked if my friend Bonnie and her kids want to meet out at a local lake for a weekend of living off the land. By living off the land I mean having PB&J and soda for 2 straight days.

My sister is egging me on for a few more hiking trips up in her area. She was telling the woman at her gym about the Lassen Hike and how it was ‘hard’. I laughed and said, “Actually, it was really easy…” and told her I would research the others she is looking into to make sure she’s not getting in over her head. She is the one who made me fall in love with the outdoors so it’s very special to be able to spend this time with her.

With all that I have planned for every weekend until the end of the year…I think the weekends need ONE more day to them.