Mississippi Camping

This past weekend was one of the weekends I look forward to as much as any weekend the entire year. It is my annual camping trip out on an island in the Mississippi. The weather was absolutely fabulous. We had a good group of guys out there. I am just going to get to the pictures. This is Friday afternoon as I showed up at the lock and launch. That is Tim and Nate in the boat as they were coming to pick me up.Friday night we started in on the Boones Farm right away. Of course we had 10 bottles to finish off over the course of the weekend. Most of which were "Sneaky Petes". Here are Tim and Borky celebrating with bottle number 1.Something of a group photo here. From left to right, me, Doug, U2 Bob, Eric, Borky, Tim and Bob. As you can see I am standing in a hole that I spent a good half an hour digging with my feet.This is one of the larger barges that went by our campsite. We would take shots at the barges with golf balls. Of course I never hit one. I don't think I drove a ball more than 40 yards on any one swing. Doug was the winner, I think he hit 6 different barges. We also took some shots with a potato gun but those never got close. You can see Borky down by the river fishing. And also note Tim's jet ski. I took that out for a spin. I have never been on one of the old school jet skis before. It took a little getting used to. And I nearly got run over by a cabin cruiser while I was still in the learning stages of riding the jet ski. And just to help stay in shape, Saturday afternoon I swam across the river and back. It was a bit cold but I managed. It is also something of a challenge swimming across with the strong current trying to push you down river.A requirement on the island that we camp on, duct tape shoes. While the island we camp out on mostly sand, it isn't the fine sand that you will find at some mexican resort. So the sand can be rather abrasive to your feet. Duct tape can be a blessing.Another group shot. Most of Saturday was spent sitting under the shade of the tree seen here on the left, and looking out on the river. We kept moving with the shade of the tree.Borky got in a bath in the river Saturday afternoon. Here he is looking rather fit.

Here is some video of the fire jumpers, Bob and Nate.

Here is Tim with our steaks. Tim and Bob did most of the cooking for our Saturday night meal. It is always the highlight of the camping trip. It was probably the best meal we have ever had on the island.

Video of the ring of fire.

Here is our Saturday night campfire with the ring of fire around it.

More fun with Bob the pyro. But he wasn't as bad as Borky who put a can of beef-a-rino in the fire without venting the can. That ended up exploding everywhere.