Camping Part 1

Before I begin on my recap of the camping trip from this past weekend I would like to post a disclaimer. May years ago an employer of mine once told me, "Do you know what the difference between a stupid person and an idiot is? A stupid person can get smart, but an idiot is always an idiot. You are an idiot." Since that time, that employer has spent time at the gray bar hotel and has lost the legal right to carry arms and vote. But maybe that statement is still true. I am not going to say that we were on our best behavior on the island. And I don't think anyone should attempt to recreate or reenact any of what you see here.

Here is my truck loaded up and ready to go Friday evening.I have been working on my trebuchet for a while now. And it is not perfect. The current version we are on, is version 2.0. Going into the trip the furthest I was able to launch anything was maybe 50 feet. I knew going into the trip that the most important aspect of the trebuchet was the sling and getting that to work correctly. The one brainstorm I had was to cut an old basketball into quarters and use that as the sling. It worked great. My goal going into the weekend was to hit a barge with a golf ball. That didn't happen but the trebuchet was a success. My prediction, in 2 years we will be launching people. Not smart, but it will probably happen. After the first couple of launches, a crack appeared at the pivot point. It was bandaged with duct tape and held the remainder of the weekend. I foresaw this crack possibly happening, and made 3 of these wooden plates, but I left the 2 spares in my garage.Here is Borky doing a beer bong.Nate in his $25 swing he bought on Amazon.com. A very comfortable chair. I may get one.Here is a launch. It is hard to see, but as I said, projectiles were making it to halfway across the river.

Somehow Nate got his hands on the radio and started playing Christmas songs. Here is some blurry video of fireworks and Christmas songs.